Cologne Indélébile by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle
Bottle Design Frederic Malle
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7.3 / 10 152 Ratings
A perfume by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle for women and men, released in 2015. The scent is citrusy-fresh. It is being marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
Pronunciation
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Main accords

Citrus
Fresh
Floral
Green
Spicy

Fragrance Notes

NeroliNeroli LemonLemon BergamotBergamot Narcissus absoluteNarcissus absolute Orange blossomOrange blossom White muskWhite musk

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
7.3152 Ratings
Longevity
6.9117 Ratings
Sillage
5.9113 Ratings
Bottle
7.6121 Ratings
Value for money
6.430 Ratings
Submitted by Michael, last update on 17.04.2024.

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions
8
Bottle
6
Sillage
6
Longevity
7
Scent
Meggi

212 Reviews
Translated Show original Show translation
Meggi
Meggi
Top Review 29  
Det Uudslukkelige
An indelible cologne - do I even want that? Isn't this like Michael Ende's mud muffling? Well, somehow a permanent freshness has something, of course, at least I don't appreciate Laliques 'White' for nothing. And indelible Acqua-di-Parma header notes would also be a good idea.

But first I had to think spontaneously of one of my favourite symphonies: The No. 4 "Das Unauslöschliche" by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen, written during the First World War, was an homage to life, vitality, the will to live. Such a title is a great demand on the tone presented below, which the work certainly fully does justice to. The timpani duel in the final movement is singular.

Hm... Pretty lordly to put such in relation to a cologne, which... Well, how is it then?

A lot of 4711-Neroli opened, in short almost sharp-cutting in appearance. A few splashes of harsh stem green, in direct transition to the narcissus, quickly join in. Thus the overall impression for me quickly turns away from grandma's brocade doily on the WC cistern (the good old '4711' was originally with her!). The narcissus spreads a rather austere freshness, which would fit perfectly to more sedate ladies - which is by no means to be understood negatively. Could again be owed to Ropion's alleged approach to lifting old school florality into the present.

The softening ingredients play a decisive role here: The orange blossom appears after a slow quarter of an hour already softly creamed. I feel the musk responsible for it to be green rather than white, which means the freshness seems to me less laundry than botanical. The daffodil seems to be making her mark on him, too. And as a bonnet of originality, after a good hour there is even a hint of an almost cinnamon-like spice over the fragrance (perhaps petitgrain?), as if the orange...

No, I'll start differently: An indelible Cologne will last until Christmas at the very least, even after a certain amount of marketing eye pressure has been deducted. And that's why today's orange may have garnished itself with a trace of eugenol. A tribute to the sibling fragrance 'Noir Epices', which evokes an offensive Christmas?

That certainly led too far, after all, orange blossom is more like orange blossom than orange. And in combination with the musk she turns the scent a bit more towards laundry towards noon, but undoubtedly a noble botanically scented one. Cologne Indélébile' is therefore simply more dignified than, say, the 'Puredistance I', which is similar in its appearance, so to speak "formally".

Not much happens any more: throughout the afternoon there is citrically dabbed cream, as it is not too difficult to imagine in the interaction of neroli, orange blossom and musk; from below there is a tiny amount of artificial wood. That is pleasant, soft and well wearable especially for ladies, now without restrictions of all ages up to the very young. And of tidy durability overall, though not exactly indelible.

From the habitus of the rear 80-90 percent of the fragrance, I finally refer to the original Danish title of the symphony, which, like many Danish words, sounds friendly to our ears, almost cute:

Det Uudslukkelige.

I thank Gerdi for the rehearsal.
23 Comments
7
Bottle
6
Sillage
7
Longevity
7.5
Scent
Serenissima

608 Reviews
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Serenissima
Serenissima
Helpful Review 7  
Cologne forever
Before testing any typical "eau de cologne", a "fragrance water" based on the well-known classics, I think:
"There can't be anything new anymore."
And yet I am always amazed.
This is also the case with "Cologne Indelebile", a creation by Dominique Ropion for "Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle".

This fragrance is light and elegant; the freshness of Hesperides is just a little tingling on the nose.
This gives me hope, as this is the first hurdle I have to overcome with this type of fragrance:
If the citrus freshness bites too much, we won't become a couple; sometimes I have to sneeze for a while and my eyes water.
But here, with this "Cologne Indelebile", a pleasant freshness announces the start of a fragrant day with an elegant companion through a southern sunny day.
In early summer, the daffodils dance on their long, slender stems in a light breeze and stretch their flower heads towards the light: How delicately they smell and how generously they let me share in this promise of spring!
So graceful that I want to watch them for a while longer, sit down on a bench and turn my face towards the sun that I have missed for so long.
A fine aromatic hint of neroli and slightly tart orange blossom envelops me in musky warmth, as if a loved one is taking me in their arms.

Bright and stylish, with quite a rich sillage and longevity for a cologne, this composition conquers my skin and thus my senses:
It promises something that is currently sorely missed and also promises a fragrant, unobtrusive accompaniment through the rest of this year.

No, "Cologne Indelebile" is not new either, but it is different and fresh:
It has its very own southern charm, is present without being intrusive.
This early summer captured somewhere in the flacon gives hope:
"It'll be fine!" it seems to promise on this still dark, very windy morning.
3 Comments
ColinM

516 Reviews
ColinM
ColinM
4  
Meh...
Frederic Malle scents are really a mystery for me. Some smell nice, some smell cheap, some smell just as designer in a cheeky sleek-chic disguise. Cologne Indélébile falls halfway the last two categories for me – it smells a bit cheap, and it smells like something nearly any low-mid level cosmetics brand could make. Or probably has already made. Following the “eau de cologne” trend which seemed arising among niche brands in the past years – ah, the luxurious realm of creative freedom and pure artistry with no boundaries gifting us with long-awaited ripoffs of drugstore classics – Cologne Indélébile is, well, a very classic, very flat neroli-musk fresh scent with a delicate “laundry” feel of lavender and orange blossoms and an odd sort of nondescript aldehydic-woody base.The “grey” musk notes are rather strong, as soon as the zestier and rather pleasant citrus-neroli head notes tame down, that’s pretty much what you remain with. Sort of a clean, gentle, pleasantly dusty blossoms-infused musky drydown reminding me of Kurkdjian’s style, just tamer and drier. Just to be clear, Cologne Indélébile smells nice, but... I don’t know. I just really don’t see the point of paying so much for an astonishingly dull and uninspired sort of muskier take on 4711, or any (I mean it - any) other clean neroli-musk “eau de cologne” with no added value or higher quality - and surely no “niche” facet whatsoever, excluding the ridicolusly overpriced tag. It’s even wryly short-lasting. But who am I to judge - if it worked for Tom Ford, why shouldn’t it work for Fréderic too.

5/10
1 Comment
7.5
Bottle
5
Sillage
10
Longevity
7
Scent
Drseid

819 Reviews
Drseid
Drseid
2  
Proof That An Eau de Cologne Can Have The Longevity of an Extrait...
Cologne Indelebile opens with a very natural smelling bergamot, neroli and orange blossom trio before moving to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the orange blossom remains in diminished form as underlying support for an emerging effervescent, slightly sharp lemon, yellow narcissus flower and clean detergent-like synthetic musk trio that takes over control, with the synthetic musk the most prominent. During the late dry-down the lemon and light synthetic musk blend together, sans effervescence as the orange blossom gradually grows back into a co-starring role through the finish. Projection is average, but longevity is outstanding (especially for an Eau de Cologne) at over 15 hours on skin.

This was a blind buy that I really didn't know what to expect. I knew the nose behind the composition, Ropion, when "on" is the best in the business and does his best work under Malle's direction. Aside from the nose and that the composition was an Eau de Cologne I knew little else going in... When I sprayed Cologne Indelebile on skin the first time, I thought I might be in for a very traditional Eau de Cologne, as the natural smelling bergamot and neroli that primarily open things up are very traditional indeed. Once the composition entered its early heart, thoughts of a traditional style Eau de Cologne quickly evaporated, as Ropion shifts gear to a synthetic clean laundry detergent-like musk focus, with significant sharp effervescent lemon and narcissus flower joining in. It is difficult to describe the overall effect, but the closest composition I can think of in *spirit* to this is Mark Birley for Men. During the late dry-down, the orange blossom makes a reappearance, as it joins with the lemon and the white musk, now all melded as one without the detergent and effervescent aspects, settling in for a very long lasting, sublime finish. I suspect that this is going to be a "love it" or "hate it" kind of composition. For one, the composition gets a pretty heavy dose of the synthetic white musk, especially during the early heart section which may be too much for some and indeed, I had some trouble with it myself. It is really not "challenging" per se, but rather a bit over-the-top for a time when paired with the narcissus floral. Once the narcissus vacates leaving the orange blossom to reemerge joining the lemon and musk things get much better. Another potential downside is while the heavy use of musk is an interesting facet that separates Cologne Indelebile from most others in the Eau de Cologne genre, at the end of the day it still is an Eau de Cologne without a whole bunch of interesting twists and turns along the way, making for a less innovative outing than one might expect from Editions de Parfums. On the whole, however, the positives far outweigh the negatives making Cologne Indelebile an excellent option in the genre, especially for those who want an Eau de Cologne style composition, but want much better performance metrics. The bottom line is the $260 per 100ml bottle Cologne Indelebile is an interesting, slightly innovative take on the genre composed by the best nose in the business but at the end of the day it is still an Eau de Cologne, earning a "very good" 3.5 stars out of 5 and a solid recommendation. As an aside, it should be mentioned that while the price being charged is extremely high in relative terms for an Eau de Cologne, when one considers that *this* Eau de Cologne has longevity exceeding many extraits, the price is not as outlandish as one might initially believe.
0 Comments
Mercer

78 Reviews
Mercer
Mercer
1  
Close to great, but just not enough
This is so close to being perfect:

- not as complex as Neroli Portofino Forte by Tom Ford
- not as sweet as Sun Song by Louis Vuitton

It's something in the middle of the two. In the air, it leans more towards Sun Song than NPF.

In a world where NPF and Sun Song are both discontinued, this is a good alternative...but it's not as good as those two and it leaves me wanting something a bit more.
0 Comments
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Statements

1 short view on the fragrance
KingPinKingPin 5 years ago
8
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
8
Scent
Excellent classic neroli/citrus/musk. Even though you really sense the quality, there are many options in this genre that are better value.
0 Comments

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