Tonka

The clove with the honey and labdanum create this deep smoky/leathery churchy, super syrupy smell that its a bit too much for me in the opening, because the clove is too thick, warm-spicy on its own already, and the honey here is syrupy and warm as well intensifying the clove's warmth. The jasmine with the aromatic solar anise make this lighter and airy compared to Flavia's Tobacco Vanilla which is very clove-heavy, austere tobacco-cacao and thick with moderate sweetness from the vanilla-cacao. Tonka Rem is sweeter and the honey here also has that Marc Jacob's warm honey floral sweetness. It's a bit of a culinary crime here for me in the opening and first minutes but once I get used to the clove, it doesn't bug me here, but in Flavia's Vanilla Tobacco it's too much throughout. In Flavia's perfume, the clove opening has a herbal tobacco undertone and a balsamic whiskey-like effect right away, and we don't have that effect here, the hay-like tobacco effect nor the balsamic whiskey-like, just the aromatic anise-bergamot and the honey-labdanum, a lighter balsamic effect. The honey here is a tad syrupy-dusty at first, as in Bee Ellis Brooklyn, but here it's more tolerable - it's a lot more dusty in Bee. The honey becomes very balsamic paired with the ambery deep labdanum. It all calms down a bit, emitting an aromatic solar jasmine-infused, leathery warm scent, but still very balsamic- churchy which I don't mind. It just feels like I'm in an orthodox church more than even Good Fortune Elixir Intense which smells churchy too in a different way. I love incense and all resins, benzoin, olibanum and myrrh and I prefer their balsamic churchy sweetness over the honey-clove's, but it's still an addicting scent because of the honey-anise and tonka. I'm not crazy about honey in most perfumes but I am a honey addict - in Greece we have too many varieties and I always loved exploring them taste-wise. After 30 mins the perfume feels softer and I get more of the almondy tonka with the bitter almond and the solar aromatic anise, all notes that I love while the clove shows its more attractive softer side, and its warmth is a beautiful touch. The honey at this point is gorgeous, subtly solar comforting, aromatic and delicious with the jasmine-anise influence. When I smell up close the scent has its initial more syrupy honey and labdanum's leathery smokiness still trapped within and I kinda like it, but the projection is as I described a softer spicy aromatic warm churchy tonka-honey scent. Here the tonka and the clove spice create the tobacco impression of Vanilla Tobacco without the hay-herbal trait in Flavia's perfume. The tonka sometimes has a tobacco smell minus the hay effect of the actual tobacco note which I also love - see Potion Arsenic Police and Super Gorgeous MK. Since it lacks the actual tobacco note of Flavia's Vanilla Tobacco, it doesn't have the balsamic whiskey-like aroma of the tobacco there so it's a more feminine honey-jasmine fragrance with an oriental thick base, and only a balsamic effect from the labdanum-honey pairing that leans amber-y. This lasts longer than Flavia's Vanilla Tobacco and the latter has coumarin, a hay-like sweet note which is also warm like candied almonds and I do get a sweeter almondy element in the drydown of Flavia's perfume, but it stays a dark scent with a sweet vanilla-coumarin effect. Tonka Rem smells more dimensional and stays brighter from the jasmine-honey, and more balsamic and churchy from the labdanum too, while Vanilla Tobacco is more tobacco-cacao-clove thick and serious-dark. Their later drydown is similar, but still Flavia's is cacao-thickly sweet. The amber-y effect of the labdanum has a unisex feel later in the drydown, but this to me is a feminine scent overall. This perfume gets better and better every minute. I loooove weirdos like this one. I wish they still made this perfume.

Wow! Eventually a scent that moved my soul, at least for memory reasons. I knew it was about to come out but I forgot, then I noticed it on a shelf and just had to try it! I like Reminiscence because they make scents which are both original and not too complicated. Musc is modern musk, Ambre is powdery amber, Patchouli is hippie patchouli... I just don't like the blue Rem line. Before spraying Tonka I expected a tonka bean scent in the style of Guerlain's Samsara (lost one!) drydown, powdery and delicately Woody. Instead I was shocked by explosion of anise seed which I like very much. Maybe some bergamot was there, no clove identified. Soon after came the HONEY in cubital power and ate the anise that was trying to pick out. Honey won and for a good hour that was all. Honey. Not my favourite stage. I have a love-hate relationship with honey in perfumes. Along the years I noticed that eating honey was not good for me, especially my throat. I had a strange reaction of clenching. But this reaction came first with the note of honey in perfumes that is much more concentrated even if probably not the real thing. The positive side is that honey in Tonka doesn't become stale on my skin as for other scents. Just a tiny bit. Then tonka bean came... Jasmine? Bitter Almond? Maybe a vague trace of them. Instead the tonka bean is there quite present but overwhelmed by honey. It's a sweet tonka with a light powdery effect, similar to Guerlain but less powerful and more shy in the blend. Basically it's a fragrance about honey, at least on my skin. In spite of all this honeyness, Tonka is a true beauty. I think that it is a sexy scent, or better sensual/ cosy, intimate like a couple hugging in front of a fireplace in the mountains. Along its life all the stages come and go, so the scent is not flat. It's an interesting effect that keeps the wearer captivated, softly teased. When I try a perfume and like it on the spot, I usually make a quick comparison spraying also Samsara on the other wrist, even if nowadays is tester of the diluited monodimensional EdT. If I like the new one the same or more during all stages it means that I really like it :-) Well, today with Tonka it was different because I immediately noticed that there was something purely emotional about this scent. I may not like it, but there was a familiar feeling. It took me about one hour to remember but it happened. I must be old and like many older people I cannot remember what I had for lunch and dinner yesterday, but sudden memories of decades ago come out. I had a flash of myself very young, propably aged 3-4 looking at my mother who was polishing the dark wood furniture in our old flat with a spray called Pronto Mobili, very common and still in use, in the vintage bottle of the '70s. I saw myself following her in the house, staring at her with love and adoring eyes, trying to catch her attention and being focused on everything she did and all her moves. In the flash I could feel that atmosphere again and also details like the cloth for polishing with a flowery pattern and the light coming from the balcony hitting the light green wall. That spray is based on beeswax. I'm not saying that Reminiscence Tonka smells like a furniture spray, but it comes close :-) ps. I want it.

I bought DUA's Golden Spice Latte and it is like Le Monde Gourmand's Latte D'Or mixed with Tonka Reminiscence. It has the warm, woody and balsamic oriental base from the tonka-vanilla-benzoin combo, similar to the warm tonka-vanilla-ambery labdanum base of Tonka Rem, minus the churchy effect of the latter. The benzoin in Golden Spice Latte along with the turmeric give a sweet honey-like and anise soft spicy impression of Tonka Rem without the heavy cloves that add to the churchy vibe of the latter. No tobacco effect there no cloves so Golden Spice Latte is a lighter scent. Golden Spice Latte smells like herbal tea at first and this quality becomes its distinct DNA throughout. It is intensely like Latte D'Or is, a sweet spicy kinda herbal tea scent, like Latte D'Or always smelled like a milky spicy herbal tea to me, but Golden Spice Latte has an intense honey-like sweetness like Tonka Rem has along with its oriental balsamic base so it is better than Latte D'Or. Also Golden Spice Latte has a soft spicy sweetness similar to Flavia's Vanilla Tobacco due to the vanilla-tonka and spices of the latter, but Vanilla Tobacco is too heavy in the cloves-cacao and tobacco department so it deviates from the character of Golden Spice Latte which has no tobacco note or scent. As I said the turmeric throughout in Golden Spice Latte, gives a ginger-tea impression pretty identical to Latte D'Or's crude ginger milky tea character, more intense, balsamic/oriental than the latter given the benzoin's honey-like sweetness and warmth. In Golden Spice Latte there is no strong milky element - no coconut there - while Latte D'Or is very milky and more plain like simple herbal ginger tea - no complexity. Golden Spice Latte still has some ''latte'' quality to it maybe from the vanilla, and along with the intense aromatic soft spicy, herbal vein from the turmeric, it's like a sweet turmeric tea. Golden Spice Latte lasts forever on me and projects amazingly. It also does not feel too oily or the notes muted or drowned in the opening, unlike some other very oily DUAs. I have requested them to create Tonka Reminiscence, but this is a good alternative. Some people list Turmeric Latte by Lush as similar to Tonka Rem and Golden Spice Latte is an impression of Turmeric Latte, so I may assume that Turmeric Latte may be likewise similar to Latte D'Or too.

I am having a love affair with Reminiscence. They have become one of my favorite "cheapie" brands to blind buy. Of course I always check out the reviews first on Fragrantica and have found that going with majority hasn't lead me astray yet. This is no different... Tonka is a more recent obsession for me. If I see a perfume is Tonka-based then I want it! This one is beautiful, yes sweet and gourmand-oriental? Not exactly foodie-gourmand but delicious and warm. Even though this perfume isn't a thick ambery fragrance, I find the tonka in it to really stand out (kind of like it does in BDK's Velvet Tonka). This perfume is "thinner" though, even though it has the ambery, warm, sweet vanillic facets. The almond is perfectly married with the tonka too. Honey isn't a main player but I can see it being in the mix. And the top notes really don't shine - if you are afraid of them - don't be. This isn't a cumin bomb or anything. This is very smooth and easy-to-wear. Delicious and comforting. Easy reach. Great addition to my Tonka collection. And to my Reminiscence collection. Others from Reminiscence... I do not recommend Santal Vanille unless you want a super watered down perfumey-smelling sandalwood vanilla. It was quite sad. Patchouli is a very thick heavy dark chocolate type Patchouli. I hardly wear it but will always keep it in my collection. I love trying to layer it with other fragrances to see what great combos I can come up with in the cooler months. It is special. Must like Patchouli though. Dragee and the other 2 in that collection - Amazing. Just get all 3. If you like powdery almond gourmand types. They're beautiful. ...next I am looking to pick up Rem Coco. Anyone else have other recommendations from this house? I feel it has a little bit of a cult following and I'm here for it.

i bought a bottle about a year ago based on the notes and the steep discount at the time, and I was not all that thrilled. I was hoping it would be a less powdery version of 'what we do in paris is secret,' which seemed like the fragrance neighborhood this would be in, but the clove note dominated the whole first half of the drydown along with the bergamot and gave a cold, medicinal vibe that overbalanced the tonka/vanilla/almond. I used it a few times over a couple months and didn't find it improved, so I put it away. a year later it's a very different scent. The spiciness is still there underneath but the honey and amber have finally come out, with tonka-vanilla richness and a bit of subdued jasmine that makes me think of jasmine extract or jasmine tea more than a jasmine flower scent. But the main feature is the spiced dark honey syrup and creamy nuttiness, like baklava or gulab jamun in perfume form, strong sweet and rich but missing that powdery cloying quality that many "sugary" perfumes have. It's hypnotic, very smooth and honestly I would wear it year round, including in hot weather because it's sweet but it doesn't feel "heavy" or fatiguing. Longevity is astonishing, too! There is also a faint touch of smokey sweet tobacco about it, perhaps from the tonka, which does make it a close cousin of TF TV and yes, it is like a less fruity BDK rouge smoking, so if you like anything in that family it's worth checking out. However, you have to be incredibly patient with it, it took as I said, more than 6 months for it to macerate and balance out in the bottle. edit: layer with guess seductive red for extra juicy cherry and dark sweetness! they go together really nicely 🍒❣️