Insensé 1993 Eau de Toilette

Insensé (Eau de Toilette) by Givenchy
Bottle Design Pierre Dinand
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8.5 / 10 191 Ratings
Insensé (Eau de Toilette) is a popular perfume by Givenchy for men and was released in 1993. The scent is floral-green. It was last marketed by LVMH.
Pronunciation
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Main accords

Floral
Green
Fresh
Spicy
Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
Mandarin orangeMandarin orange BasilBasil BlackcurrantBlackcurrant
Heart Notes Heart Notes
Lily of the valleyLily of the valley MagnoliaMagnolia MasticMastic IrisIris
Base Notes Base Notes
Fir balsamFir balsam

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.5191 Ratings
Longevity
7.7160 Ratings
Sillage
7.2147 Ratings
Bottle
7.1144 Ratings
Value for money
7.922 Ratings
Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 16.04.2024.
Interesting Facts
The fragrance was re-released in 2007 as part of the collection "Les Parfums Mythiques".

Reviews

16 in-depth fragrance descriptions
6
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
10
Scent
SnoopDog

9 Reviews
Translated Show original Show translation
SnoopDog
SnoopDog
Top Review 18  
Summer meadow at the edge of the forest
I'm an ISENSÉ ULTRAMARINE fan.
As far as the ISENSÉ is concerned, I always wanted to test it, because it gets super grades throughout. But getting it is a bit like getting a 6 in the lottery. Even in relevant online auction markets it is a rarity and - if ever offered - changes its owner for expensive money. I recently shot 50 ml EdT for 70.00 euros. That's what I call good deal!

Whether there are differences between relaunch and vintage, I cannot judge. The vintage scent is almost impossible to get anymore.

Well, the fragrance is unique, not from this world and was apparently created for something special. It stands out from all the Douglas standard fuel EXTREM. You'd think it was literally created a quarter of a century ago. Because he has absolutely nothing of the flanker mainstream and the hyped everyday and advertising fragrances a´la Sauvage, Acqua di Giò, BOSS Bottled. JOOP! Jump and what they're all called... May they also have a right to exist (at least Sauvage) but, Fragrances for the Masses are not for me.

INSENSÉ:
...seems to me supernatural, sensual, dreamy.
He's so unisex to me. Because he is so feminine that women could wear him well, even should. If I smelled him on a woman (which is as likely as a 6 in the lottery) I'd go after her - I think. I'm going to try it out on my own tonight...

...result is comming soon!

The woman,
who wears ISENSÉ, is between 30 and 40, bright (e.g. blond), youthful type, playful, sensual, childish (Lolita) and jumps like a little girl in summer through a field with meadow flowers. She drives FIAT 500 or Mini and has a dog.
The man,
who wears ISENSÉ, is around 40, sporty, individualist, gentleman, funny, charming, gourmet, bon vivant and definitely doesn't drive a VW Passat.

Top note:
Fresh floral and intense, a hint of citrus fruit. Bang: Mandarin! I'll say. But it's not sweet enough for mandarins. Peng Black Johanna! Yeah, tangerine mixed with blackcurrant do it pretty well. Basil? Maybe he was wrong in the test tube. I don't notice any basil at all.
What a top note: 10 points

Heart note:
I can't smell anything of my magnolia at the moment (winter), I pick it up in summer and have a look. I don't have magnolia in my nose right now either, so I don't know. But what is mastic shrub, please? Google: Wild pistachio, aha. Yeah, it could be - I don't know. I'm overwhelmed! Iris and lily of the valley are right - after all, they are meadow flowers. I guess the heart note is Givenchy's secret. Let's just agree on
Wonderful summer flower meadow.
What a heart note: 10 points:

Base note:
Indeed, there is something spicy in this sea of flowers. The closer you get to the base, the spicier it becomes - you walk out of the field into the coniferous forest. Tannenbalsam, I would never have thought of that, but yes - it could be. With the base comes seasoning and a little (fir) wood. He keeps his sensual character nevertheless or perhaps just because of it.
Basis: 9 points

Shelf life: all day long, above average and clearly perceptible to the end - a fragrance that won't tip over!

Silage: discreetly perceptible, reserved, diplomatic, charming and yet present. In the base only very close - perfect

Flacon: sh... no matter, the relaunch flacon is quite good, lies well in the hand (100 ml even better al 50 ml, I know it from UM), the war´s. It's just from the '90s. Guites mean halt.

Conclusion:
Isensé, you are my goddess! Thank you Givenchy for this masterpiece and shame on you that you set it.

One of my TOP10
3 Comments
9
Scent
Ysbrand

84 Reviews
Ysbrand
Ysbrand
Very helpful Review 14  
Gives me butterflies!
Spring is definitely here to stay. It might rain again eventually, but at this point, it would only be a summery rain. Its just monday, i have a trillion things to do, there is not, indeed, any particular reason to be happy but still i cannot but smile to the sunny day and i feel light, flirty and silly. The Insensé season is officially open.

Insensé became part of my life when i was 15 years old and it has been a beloved spring/summer constant ever since. If i own a fragance that is crazy, fun, romantic and extravagant, it is Insensé, like something a maniac scientist would create by mistake.

Take a big fat bouquet of spring flowers: magnolia, sheer iris, a touch of hyacinth maybe and the more dominant muget, wrapped in the shinny cellophane of aldehydes. A spark of bright citrus amplifies the heady effect of aldehydes; the refreshing touch of cool basil rounds this exhilarating opening, and you feel like high on infatuation.

So far, this could have perfectly been a ladylike fresh-green floral, but then, the cornerstone of Insensé is an odd but comforting balsam fir, that veers the fragance into the realms of the mysterious and reassuring. Curiouser and curiouser. Insensé cannot be understood without this ingredient that is both sweet and fresh. So, lets say, that healthy dose of spring flowers and aromatic herbs, comes through the sweet/balsamic notes of conifers and lentiscus, reminiscent of the night stroll in the woods of Nuit Etoilée, creating daring unsmelled accords.Happy,insolent, masculine, glorious!
4 Comments
ColinM

516 Reviews
ColinM
ColinM
Very helpful Review 11  
Masterpiece!
Insensé is one of the many fragrances I shamefully underrated for a long time, I guess for my lack of experience and proper taste. I always misjudged this in the past, always trying it quickly from samples or decants, and always ending up in considering it only a really nice albeit a bit boring and kind of heavy sort of “overly feminine fougère”; I am really glad I grabbed a deal recently and got a small 30 ml bottle of this some days ago, so that I had the chance to wear this at its fullest and give it a proper chance. And I got, as they say, a true “epiphany” about this – from mild enthusiasm to sudden devoted worshipping. It is indeed the hyped masterpiece many rave about, and the hype is fully justified. Actually, no, it even gets way less hype than it should. For me, Insensé has now jumped straight on top of the – however limited – chart of the best floral fragrances for men ever made, because it is hands down one of the best, if not the best one ever. And easily among the best masculine offerings in general ever made. Luca Turin once mentioned two key features of this, which perfectly reflect what I also strongly felt while full wearing this the first time: “melancholy and mystery”. It is exactly how I also view Insensé: this a dramatically romantic, rich and slightly decadent scent which stunningly blends decades of masculine and feminine perfumery in an enigmatic, completely new, clever, breathtakingly creative and above all, irresistibly good unisex floral blend. Which indeed smells mysteriously “different” from anything else. Like a prism, it reflects echoes of perfumes ranging from Cristalle, to Diorella, to Caron’s 3rd Man.

The smell is complex but seamlessly beautiful: there is a rich heart symphony of green herbs and flowers refreshed by a subtle fruit-pine breeze, contrasting a deeply dark, smoky base accord of woods and aldehydes which provide “weight” and baroque gloominess to flowers and herbs. The overall feel is soapy, smoky, lightly waxy, aldehydic to the bone, floating between a nostalgic green-chypre powderiness and a fresher, more austere balsamic-woody feel of many classic fougères. Not simply a juxtaposition of different styles, just a true rewriting using selected key notes and accords from all those inspirations. It may sound simple or boring, it’s definitely not: as I said it’s truly a sort of triumphant gathering of decades of perfumery blending together to compose this incredibly handsome, unique mosaic. Distinctive, bracing and sophisticated in a quite peculiar, decadent way to say the least, probably also quite “gothic” to a certain extent: surely “not for the faint of heart”. Totally worthy the high prices. Leave that shitty niche boutique and save your money for this.

10/10
0 Comments
7.5
Bottle
7.5
Sillage
7.5
Longevity
9
Scent
GothicHeart

86 Reviews
GothicHeart
GothicHeart
Very helpful Review 9  
Freeze!...
There was a very famous bank robber in Greece during the '70s, who used to enter the robbed-to-be bank with a sawed-off unloaded shotgun hidden inside a posy of sword lillies. And yes, bank robbers can achieve rock star status, cause banks, directed by vampires in expensive suits, are not exactly the most popular establishments. He also used to give the flowers to the ladies working in the bank, before running away with the money.
He got caught, escaped prison, flew to another continent, got caught again, and during his deportation flight he gifted fragrances bought in the duty-free shop to every hostess on board, leaving them wondering whether he was a shipowner or an oilman. Or both.
He died at the age of 35, following the "live fast, die young" motto to a tee.
Every time I spray some of this short-lived quirky little gem on me, I feel like I'm ready to enter a bank along with him and run with the money.
And on a sunny, yet frigid January morning some years ago, vintage Insensé on a paper strip was one of the two best things I've ever smelled in my life.
Having the guts to do something just because you can, will always be a solid example of insolence yelled in the face of norms and poise. Insensé came and went unnoticed, scorned by the defenders of uber masculine fragrances, for it smelled like walking in a forest in early spring or late winter, while holding a bunch of blue flowers in one hand. The fact that a rifle was in the other didn't seem to be in its favour. All the more that it was not there for hunting.
A brave little soul, which left its gentle mark by the pen, in a world echoing with the clang of swords and the roar of faddish waves. And despite its failure to smoothly conquer it, it will always be acknowledged for its gallantry and whim.
For it did. And they didn't...
0 Comments
LovingTheAlien

9 Reviews
LovingTheAlien
LovingTheAlien
Very helpful Review 11  
Truly deserving of its praise.
When I first obtained my bottle of Insense, I was expecting a floral assault of a fragrance. What I got confounded me - a green oriental? A salty pine-pastry? Must De Cartier over Anais-Anais?

Well I can say I understand it now. I'm wearing it on a beautiful, cool, and dry day and it is enveloping me with its lovely aura. This is an aromatic fougere taken into abstract territory. Lily, galbanum, and a very intense Iris play nicely with the lavender and bouquet garni. This is a sunny miracle of fragrance. It's not so beloved because it is daring and pretentious - this is lovely because it is so carefree and beautiful. It's complex, but its beauty lies in the whole picture, not the details. This is the scent of masculine youth. Clean, innocent, and virile, in stark contrast to Kouros's unashamed sexuality.

This is truly a singular study in perfumery. Nothing else even comes close. Everyone should try this before it's all gone.
2 Comments
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Statements

3 short views on the fragrance
HugoMontezHugoMontez 3 days ago
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
10
Scent
Don't know why i'm only commenting this masterpiece after 4 years of owning it. Super complex, creamy florals with fir balsam.
0 Comments
Charilaos77Charilaos77 12 months ago
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Masculine florals is not my favourite DNA, but this frag is so beautiful and comforting! Clean soapy floral green vibe..
0 Comments
MatuxMatux 3 years ago
4
Bottle
10
Sillage
6
Longevity
10
Scent
A perfectly executed floral blend for men - full bodied and complex.
0 Comments

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