Insense by Givenchy

A beautiful, under-the-radar masculine floral that will remain etched in my memory forever.

They gifted it to me in the 90s when it wasn’t even on my radar; I was more into scents like Kouros. I recently spotted it online and wanted to relive it upon learning it’s discontinued. It’s a pity the top notes came out a bit spoiled, with that typical muscatel smell, but within minutes, that rich bouquet of tightly packed flowers emerged. It lasts for ages and has a lovely trail. What a shame these jewels are being lost.

It was alright, but many, many budget fragrances from the 90s gave it three to one; it was very heavy and matronly, extremely sweet and floral with a ureic touch, projecting as if it were nuclear waste. It was unique and interesting, so for those who enjoyed this type of scent, it became a fragrance that defined an era. I wore it for several years, and not infrequently on public transport, people would kill me with their looks or outright try to vomit; I don’t blame them, I sprayed this as if it were being gifted. At some point in my crazy youth, I thought I could use it to kill cockroaches in the kitchen. In short, for the 90s and when I was young, it was an excellent option to make a statement, show style, and attract attention; today, no, today it would be like walking out dressed like The Fresh Prince.

Hello!!! Those of us who had the luck to own and use it at some point… know that: It’s the Holy Grail of perfumes! Best regards.

Hi @virginia1976. You can get it on Amazon USA (just a couple of months ago a cousin brought it for me and it cost 110 USD). But if you can’t source it, the closest thing to that scent is Nino Cerruti Pour Homme (which is also discontinued but not as hard to find as Insensé). Similar-smelling commercial scents include Quartz by Molyneux and one by Ajma. Good luck with your search. For me, it’s the best fragrance in history. I’m just about to sleep and I put it on both hands :).

I picked it up in ’94 and haven’t seen it since; only the Ultramarine version remains, which loses the original soul. I have incredible memories of that year when I left school and used it in my first year at university. The scent is etched into my memory and nothing compares to it. EDIT: I forgot to say what it smells like; it’s a very green floral, with notes of basil and white flowers at first, then a coniferous wood as it dries, I’m not sure if cypress or fir.

I don’t have much appreciation for masculine florals, but this one is fantastic. Alongside Le 3ème Homme by Caron, Insensé stands out in the genre, and for good reason. Mine is an original bottle from 1993, not the 2007 reissue by Les Parfums Mythiques (also discontinued). It’s a clean, complex fougère that mixes bright aldehydes, green florals, and citrus on top, with dark fruits, animalic notes, and crunchy, sombre coniferous woods on the bottom. It’s an exceptional mood-lifter and surprisingly radiant: you feel an aura of sunlight on the skin, as if a Vivaldi choir were ascending to the sky. Gloria in excelsis Deo!

My first bottle was a gift from a girlfriend I had back in the ’90s, and it was love at first sniff. I became obsessed with this fragrance, which quickly became my signature; the feeling was indescribable, the only thing I remember is that I felt unique, powerful, and very masculine despite it being a floral. I still have the obsession of searching for something to replace or resemble it, but the search has been in vain. Needless to say, for me it’s the best perfume I’ve ever had and a true masterpiece. The only current fragrance that gives me a similar vibe is Encre Noir Al’extreme, but let me clarify they don’t play in the same league. If anyone gets it at a good price, take it, it’s perfumery history.

I was 11 when this marvel was launched. Then came Ultramarine. I had the fortune and privilege of having a very close maternal uncle who worked in a cosmetics and perfumery importer and gifted me both. I used it between the ages of 12 and 17, simply spectacular. Nothing to envy fragrances like AdG, Sauvage, or other so famous and massified ones, but much more elegant than them. I’ve searched for it through heaven, sea, and earth without being able to get it. At this stage, I don’t remember its scent. My apologies for expressing my emotional memories here. But that’s the wonderful thing about fragrances; it’s not mere superficiality, they contain beautiful memories of what was lived. It’s inexplicable that they discontinued it.

To this olfactory jewel, this forgotten treasure, I give the nickname ‘THE PERFUME’. It is undoubtedly one of the most absurd injustices in perfumery. A sexy, noble, handsome, pleasant, witty, and brazen dandy, yet tender and innocent. Exiled to the confines of eBay at sky-high prices. Hopefully sealed on Etsy or a rancid miniature on Wallapop. A true ‘disappointment’ from the Givenchy House, a disaster for daring and knowledgeable noses, with an understanding of what lies behind the notes by Daniel Molière. SHAMEFUL AND UNJUST to delist this delicious marvel.

The best male floral that has ever existed. Probably my favourite Givenchy, even above the vintage Gentleman.

I am a woman and all I can say, and say a lot, is that no perfume has ever been as seductive to me as this one. A twenty-year-old boy or an eighty-year-old man could wear it, and I needed to smell it. I followed his trail like a dazed dreamer. If it existed today, I have no doubt I would buy it, even just to smell it at home.

It was a fragrance with harmony. Aldehydes with muguet flower gave it an ambiguous and strong character. It smells very similar to the Nino Cerruti perfume (which I wore for years…), older but not therefore out of fashion. Both stand out on their podium of masterpieces in memory. It is French, for a dandy who wants to stand out at formal gatherings. Of an older gentleman but young, because… because he likes velvety and floral fragrances, without ceasing to be masculine. It is not fresh and suited well to cold weather for personal enjoyment. I liked wearing it in its time. It reminded me so much of the Nino Cerruti one.

This Insensé (the name fits perfectly) was the first bold aromatic aldehydic floral that had not a drop of the sweat of certain beastly men of that era such as Animale, Shiseido Basala, Egoiste Platinum, XS and some of the many derivatives of the most macho of the bunch: Kouros. It has a unique and irrepetible formula of cranberries, mandarin, the best natural basil and flowers: magnolia, lily of the valley, iris, aldehydes and balsam fir as a final note (imagine the freshness of pine resins and woods at Christmas). The myth says that not only did the combination of notes fail, but its graphic advertising: a prototype of masculinity bordering on metrosexuality that would explode without fuss in the new millennium. Unforgivable in 1993. And the model’s pose? Not hard man, of course. And the flower-bursting background of the photo? For the creatives, only the answer to the graphics of its female counterpart, Amarige (we could say it was the praying mantis that devoured its male in record time and still enjoys an enviable health). Years and years of waking dreams to have it again only resulted in the launch of the Les parfums mythiques collection which never reached this hemisphere. It was the true end of the boy’s dream. The perfume industry continued to spin and reproduce geometrically, but nothing could save Insensé from its destiny and condemnation to oblivion simply for trying to break structures. An irreverence that still today elevates it to myth for those who had the fortune to enjoy it. A few months ago I managed to get that original juice in splash version, which as you can imagine I cherish with my life. The arrival of Hysteria relieves the relentless countdown that each use represented. I always feel like I am coming home when I wear it. I may not have it in sight, but imagining myself in it and automatically being happy. That is this oldie beast for me. Long life to the Insensé/Hysteria Kings.

As in so many other things, I arrived late here too; they have already said everything, fortunately. Fresh, floral, soapy, almost unisex but no, thanks to an acidic basil, the ideal fir (with ideal I refer to the fir born from the idea of the perfect fir), it was all that and yet, it was soft. A Masterpiece. P.S.: I will never understand why they discontinued it and why those derivatives did not suffer that fate, which, in my taste, are very inferior.