Tonkamande

This fragrance is like being wrapped in a warm, cozy, cashmere blanket. Tonkamande is one of those perfumes in which everything is blended seamlessly together, such that you don’t really pick up on distinctive notes. It has a soft, warm, enveloping feel. The almonds, vanilla, sandalwood and wheat are blended very smoothly together, making this delicately creamy and powdery. It’s milky, nutty and slightly sweet, but not overtly gourmand. Tonkamande is an unusual scent, but if I had to compare it to anything I would say it reminds me a tiny bit of Lolita Lempicka L'Eau en Blanc. Not because it smells the same, but it has a similar feeling to me. L'Eau en Blanc is sweeter and has a fruitiness that Tonkamande clearly doesn't, but they share a satisfying coziness that is both smooth and creamy. As others have said, the lasting power and sillage are both minimal. However, this is the type of scent that seems suited to a close-to-the-skin level of projection. It's a definite comfort scent. While I don’t apply perfume before bed, I imagine this would also make a relaxing “bedtime” scent for those who do.

On first sniff, Tonkamande smells very much like SL Louve minus the heaps of sugar. It's bitter almond, like an Amaretto drink, but very soft and cuddly. An hour later there's hardly any almond left on my skin; it's a milky, comforting scent, a blend of sandalwood and musk, barely sweet at all but still yumiliscious. Fragrance lovers looking for something in the spirit of Bois Farine (soft, relaxing, calming & cuddly) but on the more feminine side, should definitely try Tonkamande. However, I'm not into fragrances of the "just like your skin but better" kind and Tonkamande has zero projection. While lasting power is ok (~6 hours), I refuse to pay that kind of money for something that only I can smell. A small decant though, is not completely out of the question. Update: Wore it again yesterday and could barely smell it myself after a couple of hours. It's such a pity that such a beautiful scent is so faint and non-lingering:( Perhaps a liberal spraying from a bottle woull make things better, but I won't risk my money buying a FB of this, only to not smell it later.

oh my. surpised to see i was going to be second reviewer on this gem. i have been looking for milkiness so long - and now i got it - a dream come true! i can't stop sniffing on my wrist - and before saying anything i must pin down that i am not a fan of cloying or foody gourmand scents (i am a predator after all - i don't wanna smell like food ;) ) and yet this... the strongest i get is the almond milk and something nutty (guess that is the tonka bean but i never smelled them directly so i will not make assumptions). I could imagine a big mug of warmed milk with a little roasted almond bits stirred into could smell like this. I could fiddle around and say i can smell the rest of the notes. But honestly - even if they are there, they only provide a supportive role - as Kchild said - they might tune down the sweetness. All in all - i do not find it cloying but it is definitely on the sweet side. Seems i am going for a full bottle next time! Especially now that i could read it is limited edition

Tonkamande is a secret powerhouse. You look at the notes and she appears to be all innocence and light. She's not. She's like applying that rich, thick creamy dessert to your skin and then finding out that it has a bit of a dark side. It's the sandalwood & the tonka working as a team that gives off this wooden smokey depth. She's a dense compositon~she feels heavy to me. The aldehydes do their job beautifully and give her a bit of sparkle and lift but the creaminess even weighs down these efforts to a large degree. Their usual effervescence is minimized by the weight of the sandalwood. I truly like Tonkamande but I use it in very small doses. Just like that dessert if you indulge in too much you'll wish you hadn't. The almond really doesn't show it's lovely face until the drydown approaches and even then it's a very brief appearance. At the risk of being redundent I have to say that this is a Sandalwood and Tonka Cream creation. Spray lightly friends.....

Nice, very very nice. I have been sampling lots of powdery almond perfumes lately, and this one stands out to me as at least somewhat unique from the rest. It's not nauseatingly sweet, nor is it overly powdery. I definitely smell aldehydes because the first thing I noticed about it when I put it on is that it smells like "perfume" in the traditional sense of the word--not gourmand in any way, despite the almond and vanilla notes. While other similar perfumes smell edible like Turkish delight, this actually smells a bit sophisticated, like powdery almond mixed with a traditional French perfume. I can take it more seriously than perfumes that smell like candies. I don't know about wheat...but the fragrance does smell warmer and richer than others of its kind. I've considered Gourmandises, Loukhoum, Loukhoum du Soir, Heliotrope, and Sweet Oriental Dream, but I couldn't bring myself to purchase one of those. I would think more seriously about Tonkamande.