L'Insoumis, from Lalique was released in 2016. The perfumer behind this creation is Fabrice Pellegrin. It has the top notes of Basil, Bergamot, and Rum, middle notes of Clary Sage, Lavender, and Pepper, and base notes of Oakmoss, Patchouli, Vetiver, and Woody Notes.
I could either write a massively long review or a super short one for this, reason being it's not straight forward but then again it is....let's see how it goes anyway. The opening was a surprise, much more masculine and earthy than I expected but then modern does of the generic cleaness and freshness there to keep L'Insoumis relevant, But is 'relevant' really what we want from a perfume? Personally I'd like them to reflect back on 80's powerhouses or classic fougeres, it's about time they had a renaissance in the mainstream. Lalique kind of do this but also fall short quite a bit. Don't get me wrong I love the house, they don't really play along or dance to the tune of the mainstream and I think this avoids that too by being classy, retrained and in keeping with the brand aesthetic. This being said I don't think they have any real masterpieces among their repertoire. Oh just reading a few comparisons to Sauvage, style wise...I don't entirely disagree but smell wise it's nothing like...could there be a hint of ambroxan in here?...I'd say yes but it's low in the mix and likely the other elements of Sauvage that remind people of this scent. The style is very much in the mould of a Sauvage or even an Aventus, fresh fruity top and smoky, earthy base, a classic men's combo. The clary sage, vetiver, pepper and all conspire to make a clean, modern yet earthy brew. The note I get prominantly is patchouli from start to finish and with that clary sage it's the right balance of masculine dirt and modern, powdery, clean, This is a tightrope walker of a fragrance. It's carefully measured style could easily be mistaken for the mundane but when you've been around enough fragrances you can tell what is accidental or bandwagon jumping and what is deliberate, and L'Insoumis falls into the latter catagory. I enjoyed it and found it very wearable the performance was pretty god, subtle but present drydown and the bottle looks nice. All in all I'm glad I blind bought it.