Encre Indigo

I have been patiently waiting for this to come to my country but it just never did! Lost my patience and just pulled the trigger on it. Got it straight from Lalique itself. Paying full retail price with no regrets. Even got the 150ml showergel for it. Total blind buy, been even trying to get samples with no avail. Since then I been speculating what it would smell like. I knew what I wanted from it and reading the notes I had a vague idea. For sure I wanted that mysterious, natural, dark forest vibe of the other 3 encre's. It for sure delivered on that. But what surprised me the most are the subtle nods to things like blue de chanel, suavuge and even oud wood etc. And by no means a clone to them, it establishes it self in the most unique way possible. I didn't mention those to put them side by side, mind you oud wood isn't even a blue fragrance. And even tho you could say this ''it's just another blue flanker''. It's so much more than that. Matter the fact I genuinely believe the wheel might've been reinvented with this one. Hear me out. When this one finally hits discounters. It has the potential to explode into popularity with the likes of sauvage I dare to say that. It just has that exact same factor that makes it so likeable for everyone around you. An everyday, always clean, mass pleasing, attention grabbing fragrance. But at the same time it also has this niche artisan nuance that requires an attentive wear so to speak. While not being as loud. A lot of people don't seem to know that Lalique is just doing fragrances as a side hussle, their main thing is actually glass works. So unless they don't commit to the distribution and advertisement this one will remain a gem. Walking around the house with it got my first compliments already and even my sister was right away like ''OO MYSTERIOUS!'' So what does it exactly have? As mentioned before, it got that same mysterious dark wood effect like the OG, Extreme and Sport. It's fresh like the inappropriately named flanker Sport. But I consider that one a straight on petrichor vetiver scent that nods you at something like tom ford's grey vetiver. This is nothing like that. This time it comes with such a fruity juniper berry opening that feels so natural and fully rounded that gets delivered by a tartness of bergamot and freshness of pink pepper. When that settles, a calming, meditative black tea note appears combined with a evocative saffron note and a subtle camphorous binding. That saffron can also give this ambiguous leather accord and the tea note goes slightly metallic at times, I love that! But most notably of course is that dark, calming, and deeply mysterious vibe that the saffron really gives off. Of course, a pure vetiver at heart, a lot of people complain about performance but honestly it has the exact same performance and projection as the others. But now with the madagascar variety, still grassy, still earthy but now with a leather undertone. In the base ambroxan very present, earthy patchouli musk, all of it feels super clean, natural and foresty. To go back on the performance, its the exact same as the rest and that's like 3-6 hours. With moderate projection. And trust me, people do smell it on you. The volume is just dialed down slightly but I just think that's the nature of a pure vetiver. You gotta really love it. Oversprays work wonders for it. Sadly I paid full retail so I have to restrain myself from emptying it within 2 weeks. As tradition goes, I compared all of the line in different forest settings. the OG being just dark and gloomy, extreme is that same forest but with a vampire castle, sport is that same forest but after it rained and now Indigo. For some reason it reminds me of a stark dark blue night sky with a bright full moon with the silhouette of a howling wolf. Because it for sure evokes that blue and dark feeling however the forest is in the background and the indigo night skies create the scene. It's a banger, wish it was just more readily available and cheaper. Lalique, get to work!

Gorgeous niche approach to a blue fragrance. Possibly the ultimate cooler, rainy day sort of scent. I received a sample of this directly from Lalique and was very pleased with the scent profile. Definitely has some slight similarities with L'Eau Bleu Issey with the way the juniper is used, but, that's about as far as it goes. While Bleu is the "closest" scent to Indigo, they are far apart in scent profile and are very different from one another. This is smooth, refined, and airy with a slight minerality to it. Tea forward, whereas Issey is rosemary forward. Issey is hiking a wet forest in spring with a bottle of Italian herbs and spices, while Indigo is a tea party in an English garden. Instead of green tea, this is blue tea. It has a cooling effect, and is essentially a really smooth blend of tea mixed with vetiver and juniper. Very baroque. Depressing... yet, hopeful? Like a small shaft of light coming through the grey in a storm. A Victorian gothic take on a blue scent. I don't have anything in my collection that smells like this, and I respect that. The Encre line was always about pushing boundaries and going outside the norm, afterall. Longevity is unfortunately the biggest downfall of this scent. Very disappointing at 3-4 hours, 5 if you're lucky. Heartbreaking, really. I very much wanted this to last as I love the scent itself. Projection is pretty awful as well. Very soft and barely manages an hour of being an intimate bubble around you. I may be purchasing a full bottle when prices calm down, because right now they're still ridiculous. So until they begin to reflect the typical bargain prices of the Encre Noir line, I don't think this fragrance is worth the current pricing by any means. It'd be a completely different story entirely if this scent actually performed, but as that is not the case, I can't justify the current asking prices, even from discounters. Despite being "blue", this isn't a safe blind buy, either. The rating on this fragrance was a bit shocking to me, and had me worried that this was a flop. I think people are disappointed this is marketed as a blue fragrance and think it's probably "generic." I couldn't disagree more with that sentiment though, because as far as blue fragrances go, you will be hard pressed to find any that are even remotely similar to this one. This is a blue addition to the Encre line and I think it fits in just fine. I mean why not? We already have the green approach with Sport, so to me this is a fine addition. I honestly wonder if many of the people impulse voting have even smelled this. It's still "blue" based on the technicality, but I feel in a much more interesting way than the norm. As mentioned, it's a niche approach to a blue fragrance which I really appreciate. Really enjoying the scent profile on this one. Hard to recommend, however, based on the awful performance and current high prices. If not for the performance, this might be one the greatest rainy day scents to release in a long time. Such a shame.

I don’t really like ratings, but I feel it necessary to contribute to boosting Encre Indigo’s standing on the site, and it is one of the rare perfumes that will work perfectly as a year around signature scent if you like it. The opening has a lot of citric impressions that quickly fades, so I recommend you test this on your skin if you wish to give it a fair judgment. In the course of ten minutes, it establishes itself nicely. Saffron works well here and gives a nice, lightly spiced suede impression, and the juniper is somehow more aromatic than coniferous I think. It might be the citrus and ambergris combination that keeps it in check, but what do I know. The most important personal impression at this stage, is that it is impossible not to think of Ganymede. And yet: If Ganymede is the perfume of classic science fiction films that smells of an imagined spaceship interior, Encre Indigo is the perfume of the writer who penned the film’s manuscript. So it is not a comparison I will take too far, and Encre Indigo is probably less polarising and projects less. There is no akigala, and although there are mineral and metallic effects, they feel more natural and rounded, which is probably the somewhat omnipresent vetiver effect. On the other hand: the reviews that complain about performance could, at least some of them, reflect an expectation that Indigo should work as the vetiver totem that is Encre Noire does. But as with many EDPs, you are fooled into thinking that it should smell stronger the closer you stick your nose towards the skin. It does not. A bit like with Eau Sauvage Parfum, the strongest scent is 3-6 feet around you, and I could not help revisiting a few reviews that complained for that one too. Ask someone around you who was not recently drenched in scent themselves, and I am certain that most people would be convinced that it is there. I also get a few seconds sillage effect for the first maybe three hours. If you are a city dweller like me, I would be surprised if the person next to you on the bus, tram or metro service did not notice it on your way home from work. Revisiting the Ganymede comparison, I would say Encre Indigo is rather well behaved, and where I reserve Ganymede for specific occasions, Encre Indigo is far more office friendly and apt for daily use. Yet it is important ti say that it is far from being a daily barbershop scent. It behaves niche-y; rather a tongue in cheek role play with elements from the style Sauvage, perhaps Chanel Bleu and the like represent, but there are also youngish, fresh and a bit cheeky nods to those various leathery styles that rather try to focus on date nights and seduction. After three hours, it becomes more vetiver centric and starts reminding more about Encre Noire. But it manages to keep many of the fascinating initial aspects, albeit more subdued, until it fades after ten hours’ time. Obligatory to try it, methinks.

This is the fourth of five Lalique reviews I'm doing as a series this week and the first of the set that wasn't created by Nathalie Lorson. In her stead, Annick Menardo takes over the nose duties and Encre Indigo, the most recent release of the bunch brought to market in 2023, goes back to its roots a bit. It feels, right from the off, as an aquatic reimagining of the original Encre Noir. Indigo retains the inky, moody feel of the original but is a bit more complex and I feel more appropriately-priced, coming in around twice what the original costs. Make no mistake though, it is still incredible value for what it delivers and like the original is very fine niche quality in a very fine bottle with class, individuality and sticking power. The juniper and bergamot in the top notes are more evocative of Encre Noir Sport and the way they work with the black tea notes here evokes a fresher The Noir 29 by Le Labo to me but without the challenging bitterness at its edges. There is a petrichorian waterfall accord to this that I find really attractive. It moves the feel of this fragrance to make it more moist than the dry original but without losing the moody vibe. Again, it is superbly well judged. You really get the watery vibe after about an hour of wear but it is linear after that. It goes for about an hour or so less than the original and the Sport and a couple less than L'Extreme. The vetiver is like a familiar friend at this point and runs through this top to bottom as it does on the previous three I reviewed. Indigo is another study on inky, moody vetiver but approached from a different angle. I absolutely love the addition of ambergris in the base notes. It is strange because even this deep into this review series I'm still not sure if I truly love vetiver as a note, but I enjoy it across all of these Encre Noir releases. I especially like how all four are similar and all are studies on vetiver as a theme, but all four are distinct and interesting enough to demand a place in my collection in their own right. All four are very wearable, much more so than I was expecting when I went into this with five blind buy bottles. I enjoy an aquatic fragrance and this is a bit underrated I think. You think of Acqua di Gio, Bvlgari Aqua, Sailing Day by Maison Margiela and of course the iconic Cool Water by Davidoff and this is as good as any of those, but I would say doesn't have the slightly cloying chlorine swimming pool synthetic feel that you sometimes find in this sector. Encre Indigo is more interesting than all those fragrances as well. If you enjoy an aquatic fragrance with a bit of personality then I would very much recommend giving Encre Indigo a try. Three Word Summary: Vetiver And Water Scent - 8/10 Drydown - 7/10 Sillage - 7/10 Bottle/packaging - 8/10 Performance - 6/10 36/50

Just purchased this. I look forward to wearing it and allowing it to grow on me. My first impression is that the saffron and somewhat soft spices, in combination with the woody vetiver, actually reminds me of Tom Ford's Oud Wood. I thought I was going crazy until I saw it was top five on the "reminds me of" list. But truly it doesn't smell like a clone by any means, it is just the saffron and smokey woods that are in the Versace Oud Noir and Tom Ford Oud Wood DNA. Anyway, that's just me. My entire family loves this fragrance. My mom, who grew up traveling too and from Iran, says that it reminds her of the smell of Persian tea and the household during breakfast (the black tea note, bergamot, and saffron). My brothers both said that it smells good, one agreeing with the earl grey tea vibe, the other thinking it just smells pleasant. Someone also said that to them it smelled very woody. My little sister, however, who is like the worst fragrance reviewer ever lol, says that it smells "sour." Upon further injury and attempts at articulation, what she meant was that it smells citrusy and fruity, but not really sweet. To me, after only two wearings, it is warm but fresh, has some fruitiness off the top, definitely saffron, and for sure has the Encre vetiver in there. I will say, so far, projection and longevity are personally letting me down a bit, but I wouldn't say they are terrible. Just somewhere on the weak to moderate spectrum. I will probably make another real review after a long while of wearing this. I also just purchased the sport version and look forward to finally testing it once Jomashop actually decides to send it to me.