Indochine 25

Wow! This stuff is supremely smooth, I don't know what keeps happening? I keep saying I'm not a big honey fan and yet something about honey, beeswax, Immortelle just keeps dragging me back in. The word 'Indochine' reminds me of two things, The song 'Viet Nam' by The Minutemen (because there's a lyric about 'French Indochina') and The movie American Psycho (and possibly mentioned in the book I can't remember now?) there's a restaurant named 'Indochine' along with the infamous & exclusive 'Dorsia' Just shows what a simple mind I have really. In any case this is a stunning fragrance which opens like a beautiful caramel but not that overly sweet, Mula Mula caramel saturation or Ethyl Maltol, this is a very subtle and gorgeously soft caramel comprised of honey and benzoin amber/vanilla. The top notes are unusually bright and doesn't feel heavy for a woody oriental which has a caramelised balsamic and honey dominant heart. The honey actually gives sweetness but for me isn't that characteristic until after the opening has settled. Then the perfume becomes much more deeply woody and about sandalwood but I also get a breathy, alcohol and warm mammal, ambergris note, clear as day but only very fleeting making me wonder if I imagined it or smeared some Ambergris tincture on my jacket and that's what I'm smelling? This has a smoothness that is almost reminiscent of milkshake but it's not creamy or too sweet the woods and honied elements are in such a harmony, the key element to this fragrance is the skill of Guillaume himself. PG25 doesn't need to be loud or overly gourmand to make it's statement it's just a cosmic woodshop/bakery of heavenly delights and most importantly it has the element a perfume needs, light n shade, elegance and restraint...just a pleasure to wear this one. I never think I want to buy another gourmand or warm fragrance because that's my think and I often seek out different looks but sometimes you should just embrace what you like, because you like it for a reason.

This is one of the few fragrances I've ever smelled and was like, this is a sexy scent! I imagine a rich young man entering a gorgeous club in Southeast Asia. The honey and wood together smell like absolute wealth, it has the kind of daringly insistent sweetness (it punches for the entire wear time) that could never be an accident. It's got old money exoticism, full of mystery and confidence. It's absolutely alluring. The texture of it is very thick and dense; the honey note is extremely powerful and melts with the resin in a way that bubbles around the wearer. There's a touch of spice and granularity running through the thick deluge of honey, and a creamy sandalwood note comingling with that as well. Indochine is a great example of why I've been falling in love with Pierre Guillaume perfumery. Every note is chosen intelligently to create an acute and exotic concept, no extra noise, no apologies. And yet everything he makes smells incredible and wearable! You just have to know who you are and what you want, and something in his line will sing to you like the prettiest song. Though Isparta 26, inspired by the Turkish city, is my best partner from the line, Indochine 25 is a distinctive and escapist fragrance to my nose. I find this leans very masculine; it lends a touch of basso profundo, a touch of mystery, with a note profile that feels somewhat out of place on me as a twenty-five-year-old female. Though I love it for what it is, I find it hard to wear because of its solicitous, heavy energy. If wealth/celebration is your seduction mood, you simply have to try this.

OMG! This is SO BEAUTIFUL! Right up my street! It is so subtle and restrained. I bought it on a whim after reading about benzoin on wikipedia I believe- wikipedia is useful for non-political subjects- where I found out that this is a number one example of a high-benzoin containing perfume. I thought "what the heck" and bought it from Lucky. I am only bummed that what I got was 50 ml instead of 100. Because i will go through this! Anyway it is soft and subtle like some vanillas but it has no vanilla. What I mean is there are no edges. The cardamom is super subtle. The reviewer below me was reminded of several scents which I don't know.. I am reminded of Imperial Oppoponax, another one of my favorite perfumes, by Les Néréides, because it too is warm and resinous. But this one is more mild and subtle, buttery smooth without smelling at all like butter. I can't believe that until the reviewer below me, a year (nearly) would pass between reviews here. It is fun to go with my intuition sometimes and to disregard the hype which has steered me wrong so many times. Not always of course but often. One last point i wish to mention. I only found one review of this by Ouch 110 from five years ago on YT. He was underwhelmed and said he wouldn't buy it! So I just wanted to point out here how wonderful it is that we are all so individual. I have come to really believe that no one has taste quite like mine!

Pierre Guillaume is a beautiful human being, perfectly melancholic sculptured introvert-face, so no matter which creation from his imagination I test – I see his face in front me, that goes before everything else. Which makes it difficult, to stay on task and think solely of the Perfume. I already sold about his Praline de Santal and Aomassai - and Indochine is only completely glued me on. Being French, Guillaume obviously was thinking of the legendary French movie about Vietnam–sweepingly romantic “Indochine” from 1992 with Catherine Deneuve as a plantation owner, during last quarter-century of French rule in Southeast Asia. Love those gorgeous landscapes of Saigon and surrounding areas by the way, - people, street-food, opium pipes and other exotic things to follow. Indochine as a perfume is quite a journey as well, only more of a spiritual one. By resinous, calm touch of exotic woods to sweetness of smoky benzoin, it always stays deep, calm and reflective. I enjoy, how honey is made, it turns and twirls into some Asian creamy –sweet treat, like a soufflé, yet never slips into gourmand category, because smoky woods are prevailing and sort of “guarding” the fragrance. To me it gives a sense of peace and presence of other reality and goes into “big loves” category.

I first tested Indochine alone at home, surrounded by my dog and three cats. Gave it a couple spritzes from a sample spray, let it settle, inhaled, and then... an audible gasp! My pets were a little freaked out. Indochine is *literally* breathtaking. Subtle and dusty, like small motes of honey and immortelle and cardamom have just floated by to rest their sweet and spicy accords against this most precious of woods. Smelling Indochine, my mind goes to others of my beloved spiced-wood scents: Givenchy's Organza Indécence, Chanel's Bois des Îles and Égoïste, Guerlain's Samsara, Serge Lutens' Féminité du Bois family, Pierre Guillaume's own Aomassaï... In comparison, Indochine seems to render them all garish and overblown, too ostentatious. It's as though Pierre Guillaume has taken whatever it is that makes this genre of scents so compelling, then through alchemy, boiled it down, reduced it to only essential components, and refined and refined and refined it even further. Indochine is a truly special perfume, receiving my utmost recommendation. May you, too, gasp at its beauty.

I reviewed this ages ago and I want to again, in part because I saw someone mention a possible reformulation. I think this is a scent that perhaps changes a fair bit as the bottle ages. My original bottle of this is nearly a decade old, and when I pulled it back out after not having worn scents for some time I still adored it. And I immediately ordered a backup bottle, because this is one I don’t want to be without. Yet something was not totally the same - it was heavier and sweeter than I remembered it being. I wondered if my chemistry had changed in some way. But no - out of curiosity I just sampled the fresh one I just purchased from LS and it is lighter, more sparkling, the pepper and cardamom lifting it. I think perhaps with age the pepper fades and it becomes more benzoin-forward. The fresh bottle smells exactly as I remember it, though. Knowing that, I suspect I’ll be going through it more aggressively; I had put it aside to savor, but it loses just a touch of ethereality.

Oh so sweet - yet somehow not sickly. More the heart of a gorgeous living wood infused with spices and still full of resin. This one plays tricks on me: I thought it was laced with caramelised cinnamon, which was probably the mix of cardamom and benzoin; thought I smelled coconut too, but that must have been a facet of sandalwood. But it's all fine because every trick is pleasing and amusing, not lying in wait to bludgeon you with anything savagely dark. The sweetness also mutates, in waves, into pulses of deeper spiciness sharpening almost to sour or sweat - that thanaka wood has a serious, almost raspy kick at times - then ebbing back to its calm sweet heart again. Confusing yet fascinating and makes me want to go back to it again and again, to learn all its tides and currents and understand it better. A Southeast Asian sea journey, indeed. Slow boat to Saigon please m'sieur!

141) Honey skin Indochine is a real melting of spices, like a chocolate fondant: dry and crisp on the outside, soft and flowing in the center. And most importantly, delicious. Its crust pepper and cardamom crackles under the nose with a little something of toast, black and dry. Then benzoin starts slowly to pour the flood of sweet resin, vanilla, powdered, soft like white sand. Already, a first contrast between dark cold spices and enveloping milky balm. Honey is slowly making its waxy and animal facet participant in turn to a new dimension of flavor, more syrupy, which evokes a black licorice slightly aniseed, such absinthe or ageless whiskey. On the skin, Indochine takes root, its mineral and syrupy animality clings to the skin without looking tacky, with a discreet diffusion. Like all the PG creations the longevity and the sillage is disappointing.

Gourmand without being especially sweet. I'd recommend this for someone looking for a spiced chai scent. Deeply, warmly, and edibly spicy (despite the lack of a named cinnamon note I'm nearly certain that cinnamyl, or however you spell the cinnamon ingredient, must be on the ingredient list) with only a light sweetness, like you added honey to your chai. I generally have problems with cardamom, it tends to go oddly... well it's as if getting perfume in your mouth had a smell, but I don't get that with this one. I'm not sure I want a bottle as I don't really have a need for another edible spice scent, but a very very strong like bordering on love.

This gorgeous Benzoin based Oriental beauty radiates both warmth and tranquility and truly evokes the image of a leisurely river cruise along the Mekong or a Kerala lagoon. It starts off with a burst of cardamom and honey ( and as many reviewers correctly note the smell of an Indian dessert like Rasmalai) and then dries down to reveal the more complex elements like Burmese thanaka wood and black pepper. This is a shimmering beauty of a composition with moderate sillage and projection that induces warm euphoric and nostalgic feelings. Not for those who do not like sweet compositions, and in one word, delicious.

This is a spicy-woody fragrance. The name is rather misleading though, since it doesn't really smell like 'Indochine'. Then I would have added perhaps lemongrass and star anise - which is one of the main ingredients in the Vietnamese Pho soup. Can't say that I sense Thanaka in the fragrance either. It has a sweet powdery woody smell, and it much used in Burmese cosmetics, so not a part of Indochina anyway. Apart from the misleading name, I like the fragrance. It has good projection and is long lasting. PG seems to be especially apt with woody-spicy-patchouli based fragrances.

I really love this perfume and can totally smell the good stuff--benzoin, honey, and precious woods with cardamom lingering throughout. I just wish it was stronger. I do catch it drifting up to my nose, so I wouldn't call it weak, but my personal desire for a perfume like this is that it would be a sillage monster. Nevertheless, I bought it, and I simply spray once more than I normally would. It's an ambery-cardamom dream on a woody base, kind of gourmand, but not totally. Reminds me a bit of Malabah without the tea.

Gawd, this is GORGEOUS. Spicy without being heavy, sweet without being cloying, warm warm warm, and pretty perfectly unisex. I wear it just fine as a woman but can see it being great on a man. My only complaint is that I wish sillage and longevity were better -- within an hour I have to sniff pretty close to get it. I tend to spritz my clothes with it because it lasts better there and I want to be able to keep smelling it! A smell this good shouldn't be so secretive. Still worth it because it's just that lovely.

This smells like someone sophisticated, clean but not boring, a bit mysterious if you want. Someone that looks neutral at first glance and then you talk to them and you think "ohhh you're so cool". For me the cardamom is very prominent, if you like cardamom you will probably love this one. I mean, I see it as a scent that's veeery hard to dislike. Like almost every Pierre Guillame I've smelled, super well done and high quality. Very very beautiful, probably one of my next buys.

At first it seems too much, but let it dry down and let it blow your mind. Delicious, well-rounded, dark but not piercing. Some note or a combination of notes makes me think of oud even though it has no oud. Penhaligon's Halfeti has this same type of yummy sweet earthiness to it in the drydown which is hard to find. Goes straight to my purchase list!

If you like benzoin, PG25 is a perfume where 1/3 of the composition is benzoin then paired with honey in perfect harmony. The honey brings the overtly syrupy sugar tones whilst the benzoin seems to want to play the spicy notes. Balancing that interplay with the rounded, sharp spice of cardamom is the key to Indochine’s outlook.

Mysterious, unique and beautiful. Melting benzoin and animalic honey coated with smoking dark spices. At the end, I smell a kind of peacefull sandalwood. It is for ''high temper'' kind of peoples...

wow, love at first sniff, resin, woods, cardamon , benzoin. absolutely love this fragrance, can smell sweet tobacco but it's likely the honey. would recommend.

it is sophisticated and warm, even though it’s barely there. I imagine this could be a good scent for doing yoga.

God this is so rich, luscious, captivating and sensual. I could bathe in it.

I do a lot of sampling and usually I have a pretty clear picture of a fragrance and how I feel about it after a couple of days' wear - even if my opinion sometimes evolves afterwards, I mostly have a pretty good idea about the direction it will evolve in. But sometimes, even using up a full sample isn't enough to begin to get to know a scent, and Indochine is one of those for me. I like it, it's all about honey in an interestingly none-gourmand context, very nice in combination with the soft cardamom in the top and the light resins and woods in the base. It's definitely one of the more straightforwardly enjoyable scents of those I've tried so far from PG, very wearable, but I also feel like there's more to it that I haven't quite grasped. I think it might be one of those perfumes that would make a great signature, although maybe not for me personally - one that doesn't reveal all its secrets at once, one to grow into. It's also definitely an intimate scent, very hard to overspray, which is unexpected with this list of notes. I personally like to notice my perfume throughout the day, so I'd like it to be just a little bolder, but this subtlety could also be very sexy in the right setting. Then again, it's not impossible that all of that is just me being overly generous because it's PG, a house I love, and I'm just not entirely sure what to make of this one. I don't think so, but I won't know for sure until I've spent (a lot) more time with it...

This starts with the spicy woody base, and for just a moment (or a minute or two) it hovers there in a place where I'm not sure which direction it will go. But as soon as the liquid dries on my skin, the honey explodes and takes over. This ALMOST gives me a tobacco smell, but I assume that is a combination of the spices and woods, along with the fact that so many honey-centric scents have tobacco in them, so my nose is looking for it. It's quite sweet, but it's also liquid and on the fresh side. This is not dark honey that globs onto the spoon, but light clover honey that is a bit runny. It's like honey in tea. As the scent dries down further, the honey becomes part of the overall composition, rather than the screaming lead singer. It is quite a lovely woodsy spicy scent that I expect would be perfect for fall. Because it's lighter, I would also imagine this being quite nice in the summer and spring. I feel like this is a really drastically minimized Volutes. A lovely scent that I would really enjoy if I had a bottle. But alas, I only have a spray sample generously sent to me from a very lovely Fragrantican so that I could experience what is probably my only experience of this scent. Nice, but it doesn't call my name.

Very spicy! The opening is like rolling through a spice rack. Black pepper is very prevalent here, but I smell more mixed spices than just pepper and cardamom. It's a very warm scent with balsamic and resinous notes and not a single drop of anything fresh or cool to cut through it, so you really have to be in the mood for something warm to appreciate it. The honey unfolds slowly and is very nicely done. It is sweet, I mean it's honey, duh, but it's neither cloying and overwhelming, nor does it go down the gross and urinous road that some honey fragrances take on my skin. It's just very deep and natural, like a jar of dark honey. Smells like you could lick it off your skin, though I'm sure you shouldn't. Besides that, there is no huge development. I don't share the opinion that this is a weak scent. It doesn't have a huge sillage, it won't overwhelm you, but closer to my skin it's clearly perceptible all day.

This is an interesting one. Well, everything by Guillaume is.. However. It starts off very manly. The black pepper is very intense and it's mixed up with something cold and aftershave-y that I actually find quite pleasant. The deepest part of the black pepper stays close to the skin, so putting my nose against my wrist almost blows my mind. 100% nose tickling black pepper. When it dries down the powdery, ladylike animalistic sweetness (probably the honey) comes out and creates some kind of Jekyll/Hyde complexity. The sharp, cold, manly aftershave-y pepper is still there but mixed up with this lovely romantic sweetness. It gets very airy in a way, even though it's a big scent. Strange, but very very beautiful.

Honeyed spices (cardamon predominant) on a resinous woody base. It starts off with a blast of cardamon which blends beautifully with the honey, both sweet and spicy. The smoke and woods come next, bringing me back to holidays spent in the relative quiet and isolation among the paddy fields of Ubud, reclining on a veranda and watching the sun languorously descend, its last rays serenely giving way to the impending darkness, a wistful glow caressing every surface goodbye. The honey is reigned in by the wood and spices and although sweet, Indochine is more of dry, spiced woods than gourmand on my skin. It has a good sillage on me and average longevity.

Benzoino latteo mielato, spezie sommesse, una dolcezza quieta. Profumo "da mattino", per svegliarsi con tutta calma e tempo per pensare...La persistenza è bassa , non supera l'ora, come tutti i PG, purtroppo ( esclusa la sua ultima rosa, Isparta, che riesce a raggiungere le tre ore...Un PG un po' più intenso finalmente...! ). Un bel profumo rilassante, elegante, sobrio. Per chi ama le fragranze lattee e raffinate. Forse è proprio tutto questo latte che me lo fa collegare ad una colazione di domenica mattina... Carino.

light, ethereal warmth that glows and hovers with a vanilla'd benzoin that makes me gleeful. sadly it is so short-lived. to me this is a cardamom snoball on a hot summers day from my favorite snoball stand in new orleans named hansen's. they have the softest ice and make their own syrups. they're a force to be reckoned with. this perfume is cold and refreshing yet warm and just delicious. too bad it leaves so soon just like my snoballs are always over too fast. slurppp!

From PG website: Kampot pepper, Tanakha wood, Benzoin, Cardamom, Honey, Incense, Amber. A tale of two perfumes: 1st act (lasted about 2-3 hours) a beautifully rich benzoin with honey and spices (there was a moment where it reminded me of Chergui), then 2nd act (another couple of hours) is all about the Tanakha (it really is a wonderful drydown). My only criticism is that I wished those two parts blended together seamlessly, and also that the experience lasted longer.

I don't usually go for sweet fragrances, but the benzoin here is so rich that the honey is balanced out perfectly. Something about this (maybe the benzoin-spice combo instead of labdanum/vanilla?) makes it smell a little different than the typical amber. Rich & lush but not headache-inducing - doesn't give off a screechy synthetic vibe at all. Really addictive.

Peppery, sticky sweet woods dusted with fresh cardamom. I almost can't call it a perfume. Just smells like I spilled some Indian dessert on my wrist and wiped it off. It's pleasant, warm and yummy smelling, but with linear development and very mild-mannered projection. I'd wear it, but I wouldn't buy it.

Testing my sample; opens with a rich cardamom and honey, gets woodier and more vanillic as it dries down, powdery too. Keeps sweet but isn't an on-the-nose gourmand. As strong as the notes are it doesn't feel 'heavy', wears like a cloud around the body. Lovely for the autumn and winter.

One of the most concrete benzoin solifores out there (Yes, they can be THIS sweet without honey) not unlike Le Labo's dryer woodier city exclusive. If you prefer benzoin over plain o' amber, this is a must try—It's the gold standard for me!

Honey, honey, and more honey!! I do not smell any of those other notes, sorry folks. I like Indochine. it is a soft honey-rich whisper. Soothing like a mother's hug.

Beautiful! Warm, spicy, powdery. The perfect fall/winter scent. I agree that it's similar to Chergui but much easier to wear.

108 Update: 5/21/22 I wore this on a warm day and was able to smell a little more of the other notes. Now that I understand benzoin better, I can appreciate the caramelized vanillic spice(cinnamon-like) of the resin and I do like it. I can see where musk for me crosses into powder for others. Musky powder or powdery musk. It still isn’t the original fragrance I smelled from a decant, which had stronger sweet spices, specifically cardamom is lost here. ————— I liked this a lot from my decant and I believe I had an older formulation. I bought a FB not long ago because I loved the notable sweet creamy spices(big cardamom, gentle cinnamon, clove, vanilla) from the original decant. It smelled like the best chai scent with a touch of musk!!! Now I don’t know what they did to this fragrance, but suspect it was heavily reformulated. The FB was nothing like my decant(spices were barely noticeable, specifically the cardamom which was most noticeable originally). It now became a nauseating synthetic MUSK BOMB. You know, the kind you can smell 10 feet away and it slams into your face, you feel everything burning (eyes, nose) and it’s suffocating you. What a complete waste of money...I am so pissed because it was such a nice warming chai before this FB. 7/10-weak, Would not repurchase.

The opening is clearly cardamom and pepper, but the projection is very weak. By the dry-down, all that’s left is wood, but very weak.

I can't believe there is no vanilla in this fragrance. It smells peppery and spicy (cardamom) and of sweet honey (and vanilla) upfront. Over time it gets powdery from the benzoin (but not overly so) and stays sweet. My initial impression is that this is a beautiful unisex perfume for anyone who loves spicy/sweet fragrances. Smells like delicious rice pudding and vanilla ice cream served in a wooden bowl. Delicious! -

Oriental, woody. But not catchy, imho.

Probably my favorite fragrance of all time, or at least top 2. I guess I have hesitated to review this because of how much I love it. The first time I tried it though, I was taken aback and maybe even crinkled my nose. It was so odd--sweet bread, old wood and a hint of expired aftershave? What the heck? I had more samples to go through as I had just received a large shipment in the mail. Later I decided to get to know it better, put it on my skin and let it do its thing. W O W. I just needed to be patient for a hot second. It completely intoxicated me, entranced me and I was just utterly mystified. I hadn't smelled anything like it before, and the perfect balance of notes was making it so creamy and soft and warm. It had that little quality in a fragrance that I so adore--it felt like it was playing with me, like it had phantom notes. I would get random whiffs and just be stumped at its beauty and not able to understand it. I have a full bottle and I'm going through it so fast because its all I really want to wear, and what feels most like myself. Now, compliments. I think it might be my most complimented fragrance ever. People don't just say "you smell nice"..they are always floored when I hug them. "YOU SMELL AMAZING...oh my gosh" "how do you always smell so amazing" "wow..your smell, its incredible" etc etc. it really is astounding how delicious it smells on me. It lasts so long on me too, I can smell it on me the next day, especially in my hair. And it makes me soooo happy. I adore you Indochine. The cardamom, pepper and beautiful thanaka wood keep the very resinous elements from being too syrupy or sweet, and just perfectly balance it out. Pure magic in a bottle.

I love the inspiration behind this fragrance, I've visited the Mekong delta and was really exited to read that all of the ingredients come from Indochina. This has a surprisingly foody opening, kind of like a spiced bread. I'm not sure I like that part of it. The combination of pepper and the caramel like tones of the benzoin make this smelly gourmand. The benzoin in this glosses over the other notes and is always there bubbling away in the background. This is really fleeting though and the perfume quickly changes from foody to something more sensual. Once the thanaka wood kicks in a bit (which is supposed to smell very similar to sandalwood) this becomes much more wearable. Think..Madonna's truth or dare naked but more expensive smelling. Both this and that have the same combination of benzoin and woods which make it smell sexxxxy! :) The spices calm down after a while and this finishes off being a lightly spiced, caramel with sexy woody tones. The disappointing thing about this fragrance is the longevity and projection. It becomes a skin scent and I really have to sniff hard to try and smell it. While I ADORE the inspiration behind this fragrance, I was underwhelmed by it.

"It is called 'tanakha' and it has a rich history in Burma being in use for over 2,000 years. It is made out of tree pulp from a perennial tree grown in central Burma and it is sold in powdered form at local markets. The powder is obtained from the bark and roots of the tree and it is said that a tree must be at least 35 years old to bear premium 'tanakha' powder. The powder is placed onto a flat stone and a small amount of water is added. A mortar is used to blend the powder into a paste that is then applied to the face (usually after a bath). Women (and children) use it in daily life to cool and refresh the skin and it also a natural way to protect skin from the sun. The word tanakha actually means 'cleansing agent' and 'cosmetic for beautifying the face'. It is used also in ceremonies as face painting is a sign of cultural significance, nobility and purity." (c) ChildTRAC on youtube

This is very lovely, but the sillage is so soft, I had a hard time smelling it. I had a 2ml sample and had to use about half of it just to get a regular soft sillage (I usually go for perfumes with a softer sillage, so I don't think this is a case of me wanting something too bold). I have to really press my nose to my wrist to get this, but I will say that when I do, it's delicious. It's a predominately honey and benzoin scent on me. Very warming and a touch animalaic. I wear Haram by Brecourt often, and I feel that's a much better version of this - with added cinnamon. Mostly because I can actually smell that one easily. I commented just yesterday about how impressed I've been with PG's longevity, but this one was gone in under 2 hours. Nice when I can smell it, but far too feint for a full bottle.

My goodness! I am very taken by this offering from Parfumerie Generale. Indochine opens with a resinous benzoin drenched in honey that is so sumptuous it will make your eyes roll back in your head. Lurking just beneath this partnership a peppery accord is detected, but is by no means aggressive or overpowering. Soon after, the wood comes through, but not a wood I'm familiar with. I have no idea what Burmese thanaka wood is, but I believe it the the secret ingredient here that transports you to somewhere warm and exotic. I agree with others who find this to be unisex. The opening few minutes tends to veer toward the masculine side, but only just, and the honey keeps it soft and sexy. This is very easy to love, and definitely my latest 'crush'.

The overall theme of this fragrance can be boiled down to three elements in delicate balance: resin, wood, and spice. The opening presents the benzoin note in an unusually forward way, with an almost thick, sticky texture. Lurking just behind that is a sweet, rich heartwood note and a really quite gentle spicy element. As it dries, I don't get much sweetness, which is actually quite a nice twist on the woody-spicy family of fragrances. For me, this works best as an accompaniment to an evening out. The dark, resinous structure on which it's built seems to work better for that than daytime or all-day wear. Accordingly, longevity is moderate (4 hours or so on me), wearing quite close to the skin.

This is not a girly perfume! It is smoky, and resinous. I don't get sweet here; for me the honey rounds things out, but is not obvious. This is deep and dark, but a fun woman with confidence can pull this off and make it rock! Definitely smack in the middle of unisex. I love it. A mother in my son's kindergarten class wears this as her signature scent. It so fits her. She's bold, beautiful, full of energy, and her aura just exudes confidence. I thought I couldn't possibly buy this. It's so different, she would definitely hate me for wearing her only scent. But I have to have at least a large decant. I promise I won't wear it to school. :)

Indochine is a more alluring name than Gingerbread, but Gingerbread is what I get. The name for gingerbread in Swedish is "Pepper-cookie" - suits well here. Pepper for sure, but how come ginger is not a note mentioned here? Honey makes it sweet, and sweeter yet in the dry down. Its all more cool than warm, like having your pepper-cake in the middle of Swedish winter. Can't make this one work with me. (I already have both the cookies and the chill.) All this to be seen in contrast with my too romantic & exotic expectations from Indochines lovely name. Adding: some silage, and pretty good lasting-power.

I bought a sample from Luckyscent & bought a Bottle immediately. I have tested 3 times, just to see if It was too close to something I already had. OMG, what an amazing scent! This may be signature for me for a while!! I see similarities with some of the Sandalwoo ds I have (Even Adam Levene), but this has MORE. Way more. I am totally in love! I have found in the last 2 years I adore Cardamom & Pepper & already knew I love Sandalwood. This just might be the perfect mix. My bottle will be here in 3 days & I'm like a 6 yr old 3 days before Christmas. Just wow. 11 out of 10 for me.

This is really unusual and lovely. I'm not getting cardamom but the honey and benzoin are stealing the show. Honey is always an interesting note as it sometimes becomes skanky, which I think is part of its charm. There is a powderiness and a muskiness here that is almost animalic-- that is what honey almost ends up being-- insectic? I'm not doing a good job describing this fragrance because it's quite difficult to describe. Honey, spice, some kind of animal-insect natural musk, it is warm, peppery, quite unexpected.

Thick, spicy, somewhat sweet opening. A vague fruit impression hits me, something reminiscent of baked apples. Juicy, caramelised, slightly burnt apples. Quite mouthwatering. And very spicy. But in no way overpowering. I wouldn't say it clearly smells of apples, more like a subtle hint to it, in the midst of all the spices. A dry wood accord balances out the sweetness of a very clean honey. Quite a linear fragrance except for the creaminess it develops over time. Moderate projection and longevity.

Very rich in cardamom, so spicy it reminds me of tiger balm ointment, but sweetened with mild honey (not beeswax). I much prefer the base where it's more about the benzoin and the tiger balm vibe has faded somewhat. Super natural smelling, like there's nothing synthetic here. Also, if you spray on clothes instead of your skin, it lasts the whole day.