Tonka 25

Interesting. I definitely like it but I’m not sure I quite love it, however, I could see this potentially being something that grows into a love, especially in colder weather. It has quite a bit in common with some other unique scents that I love, like Roja Dova Musc Aoud most notably, also a bit like Keihl’s original musk, even a slight bit like Armani Privé Myrrhe Imperiale and others that aren’t coming to mind right now. First off, while this definitely contains a good bit of tonka, it is primarily a musk perfume first and foremost. A dark, sweet (in an oriental way), animalic, resinous, chewy, ambery musk. It reminds me most of all of Roja Dove Musc Aoud but it’s softer and of course, lacks the oud (with cedar instead in its place) and therefore isn’t as intensely animalic as that one, but it’s definitely animalic albeit in a cleaner way. Imagine RD musc aoud crossed with Kiehls original musc and a bit of Prada original amber pour homme and you get something close albeit not identical to this. I smell myrrhe in this for sure, quite a bit of it actually, so either it’s unlisted or it’s an illusion created by other notes, most probably the tonka, styrax, and vanilla. I think that’s likely the case and maybe the orange blossom even adds to it by giving a bit of a soapy effect that myrrh can sometimes have. The combination of notes also seems to be responsible for the illusion of an amber note in this. This fragrance is dark and cozy and soft, it’s a winter scent 100% and while it’s dark in a way, it’s not an evening scent to me, or at least not a going out scent. This, like most le labos, is 100% a stay at home cozy type of scent, curled up on a winter’s day, perhaps by the fireplace, wrapped in cashmere, a cup of hot cocoa or chai or cappuccino nearby, or actually more like mulled wine or bourbon is what I get with this scent. Actually the more I wear it the more I like it, which is how most LL scents have been for me so no surprise there. It probably would’ve been an instant love if I’d tried it in a cooler season, right now it’s really heating up here and I’m craving lighter, fresher scents but honestly this is a gorgeously crafted fragrance and I’m going to save the rest of my sample for when fall/winter rolls around again, or at least for the next coldest day. I will DEFINITELY be considering adding this one to my wardrobe when it gets colder. Right now I have too many other bottles to buy. Btw as it dries down more it starts to remind me a bit of Illuminum’s rajamusk, another one I’ve sampled recently and LOVE. Rajamusk is still considerably lighter/more warm weather friendly than this, but odd thing this does is it actually seems to get a bit lighter and fresher as I wear it. At first it was a total blast of resins and animalic musk, but now it’s got more of a cool creamy sweetness to it that almost reminds me of...vanilla ice cream? What an interesting turn and I do wonder if it’s going this way *because* of the warm weather and if perhaps in colder weather it would stay more darkly resinous like in the opening? Or would it be the opposite effect (as it usually is) where it would actually come off even lighter and fresher in the cold, more like how rajamusk is on me now? I guess we’ll have to see. Performance on this is superb as with every Le Labo I’ve tried so far. Overall: unique, gorgeous, dark, cozy, magical, and will definitely have a spot on my shelf this fall and winter. 100% unisex, does not lean either way. If you dig dirty(ish), sweetish musks, you need this. I’ve already changed my opinion from the start of the review btw, this is a love after all. Another masterpiece from Le Labo.

Well, well, well....Here we have another fragrance from Le Labo that totally captivated me. I have learned that you CANNOT judge Le Labo fragrances until you get at least a few full wearings. The scent is different on paper then it is on skin and there is such a journey in every bottle, that you simply cannot review it until you have worn it multiple times. Le Labo has almost ruined designer frags for me. The quality is unbelievable. Anyways onto the scent. Because of the quality and because of the journey in each bottle, I was prepared to give a timeline-review....Here it is..... Initial Spray - Powdery, dusty, woody, old-man, black licorice/anise. Its rather displeasing. I was a little bummed by the initial spray. Im not even sure what notes I got from the initial blast because it was so intrusive and trespassing. 10 Minutes - It becomes less powdery, but still maintains a mature-woody vibe with the black licorice/anise being up-front. Still unattractive for my taste. 20 Minutes - The orange blossom is appearing and its bringing a white-floral-powdery nuance with it. The musk and tonka are just now surfacing. 30 Minutes - At this point the anise is fading into the background. The orange blossom is still bringing the powdery punch, the musk and tonka are still working their way in and now the cedar is saying hello, but still very shy. 40-50 Minutes - The powder phase finally leaves us and now the meat of the fragrance is taking over....The tonka and musk is leaving a semi-sweet woody note similar to what people are saying "nutty." There is now a peppery background giving this fragrance a backbone for the dry down. The Dry Down - Now this juice is absolutely a woody-nutty, sort of sweet, peppery blessing. The dry down is beautiful and masculine in my opinion. It really reminds me of Another 13, but with more sweetness due to the tonka bean which is addictive. This is not a typical tonka fragrance. It's more woody and less sweet than most frags highlighting the tonka bean note. OVERALL: This stuff starts off fairly offensive, transitions into something less offensive, and then turns into a truly phenomenal fragrance. I love this fragrance because of the story it tells. I don't like it in the beginning, but love following it's story. I simply respect it. It's fun in a bottle with a surprise ending! Le Labo does it again. Hats off to you!

Le Labo Tonka 25 is probably the first Le Labo release I can remember (since fragrances became a hobby) being quite excited for, certainly of the main collection, if not the City Exclusives as well. Tonka is a fun note and is central in some fragrances that I love--particularly, deeply rich and sweet gourmand fragrances--so naturally, I was curious to see what Le Labo did with it. Tonka 25 does not seem like it'd be an opulent gourmand, though, from the note breakdown list, and the actual scent confirms this prediction. In addition to the eponymous note of tonka, sweet and subtly nutty, there are strong contributions from cedar and musk, rendering the blend, fittingly, woody and musky. The musk is definitely of the "sweet white musk" variety, not animalic, and the cedar makes a fitting partner for a smooth, easy dry down, an easy partnership of sorts. In the dry down, it's darker, as well, the musk fading with the tonka actually becoming heavier and more enveloping, rendering the fragrance even more comforting as a whole. As with most higher-end brands, Le Labo's increasing pricing makes, with each year, for more challenging decisions of the value and merits of its fragrances. The saving grace is that the main collection (contra the city exclusives) is sometimes discounted by store-wide coupons (at, for example, Saks Fifth Avenue), so there's some relief. The retail pricing of Tonka 25 is $270 for 100ml, $184 for 50ml. Le Labo at least retains the unique quality, among higher-end brands, of incentivizing the purchase of smaller bottles by offering to refill them at lower costs than the juice + bottle original price (exactly how much lower, I'm not sure) in lieu of buying wholly new bottles as replacements. Still, all of Le Labo's offerings now fall roughly into the category of needing to love them in order to buy them. Tonka 25 is an easy one for me to love, despite it not pushing boundaries in terms of scent profile (it's agreeable, unisex, versatile) or performance (it's good, more than just satisfactory, but not outstanding), but this is a clear winner from the house as its scent goes, as far as I'm concerned, and I'll give serious thought to acquiring a bottle. 8 out of 10

A very unique and pleasant surprise. A light balsamic Oriental. This is great because of the unique Tonka/ Styrax accord. What I like most about Tonka 25, as in Santal 33, you get the main note, that's clear, dominant, and natural smelling. I like the tonka smell. Its in many favorite frags, as a secondary note. It's nice to smell it dominantly here, with its unique nutty smell. I can see how other houses, as Guerlain I believe, take tonka into gourmand territory, making it sweet, adding chocolate, vanilla, or hazelnuts. Here in Tonka 25, its a very pleasant and unique, earthy, and nutty smell. I put it in my top 5 for Fall. The styrax blends into an accord with the tonka, that works well, taking the tonka more towards a woody interpritation, rather than gourmand. Although, a sweet vanilla note, makes it creamy and slightly gourmand as well. I did not get the musc for the longest time. There was something mixing into a very bright atractive accord with the tonka. Now I get it, its the same animalic musc or civet in vintage Kouros. I normally dont like that in your face animalic like in Kouros, but it's very discrete here; nucely done. They snuck it in.. The orange blosom is a nice nuance, just adding a vague lightness to the frag, for balance. I think the orange blossom gives it a slight anamalic vib, as its slightly indolic. This orange blosom note does have an orange peel or fruit smell. Its more of a neroli, but hardly noticable. Overall I would put it in a light oriental, woody genre, with a nice tonka, somewhat dominant note. Selfridge dep store sells 15 ml Tonka 25 for $60 on line, Nordstrom $85. Rating: 8.25/10 God bless. John 3:16

Upon the initial application, I was greeted with a very musky aroma complemented by a rich, creamy tonka/vanilla backdrop. The primary notes on my skin were these two, which remained prominent for the first 2-3 minutes. After that, secondary notes of green woods from cedar and a softly spiced incense joined the fragrance profile. The scent profile remained consistent after this, creating a linear experience. Overall, these notes reminded me of a luxurious winter soap, akin to something you might find at a Lush store in the mall. In terms of performance, it has a soft projection of about 1-2 feet from the skin and lasted for six hours. So, don’t expect it to be a powerhouse; this fragrance is classy and meant to be discovered over time. For me, this is a very comfortable and relaxing scent. While it is marketed as unisex, I feel it leans slightly feminine due to the musk. However, I believe it is still suitable for men as it becomes more unisex in the dry down.. To my nose, this fragrance would perfectly suit a woman over the age of 30 wearing a nice cashmere sweater while out with friends. Although it may come off as a bit mature, I wouldn’t categorize it as an "old woman’s" scent. In conclusion, while I appreciate this scent, it’s not quite for me. I recommend it as a try-before-you-buy option for any man who enjoys a clean musk aroma.