Description
The house of Robert Piguet presents its new fragrance L’Insomnuit in July 2016, exclusively at Harrods. L’Insomnuit, a dark and mysterious perfume with a name that alludes to insomnia, is announced with an eerie but alluring campaign, Edgar Allan Poe style: “The new, haunting fragrance” that asks the question “What keeps you awake?”, promising to bring #ChaosOfTheNight and #MidnightIris.
Presented as dramatic and bewitching, L’Insomnuit combines flowers, resins and woods for a “haunting” midnight iris effect. The key notes include iris absolute, iris concentrate, tonka bean absolute, cedar and sandalwood.
Available as a 100 ml Eau de Parfum at the price of £165.
marisha25 – :
Very debonair … a sort of Sotheby’s catalogue in scent, smelling expensive, all-the-way upmarket, and full of genuine artistry. Deceptively gentle, seductive, powdery iris at first, which had me sighing with pleasure – not sweet, but not too earthy either, just perfectly pitched in the sweet spot in between. Absolutely reeking of high-quality ingredients as formulated by people who truly know what they’re doing – nothing whatsoever screechy or fake about it, just an initial enveloping cloud of orris-heavy loveliness, without any of the waxy/fatty feel which turns some people off the note. However, there’s a kicker: this one gets much, much, much darker and dirtier as time goes on, with the wood seeming to me nose to darken well past sandalwood into an almost-oud aura (slightly raspy cedar maybe?) – which never makes it unwearable, but does give an unmistakably nearly-bitter medicinal tang. Always rich and characterful and extremely classy, but I’d want a proper full day’s trial in isolation before going for a full bottle of this. Don’t blind buy (even if this looks great to you on paper), but for true iris fans it’s likely to be a big hit. 100% unisex in my view, with moderate sillage and longevity.
zbd724InsuffBooni – :
Oh yes, this is stunning alright! This is a five-groan fragrance. That means that as I was putting it on the first time I groaned in bliss five times – and there are not many that get that score.
It’s one of those that make you wonder why you ever bother with anything else. Of course, when it’s worn off and you go back to a more ordinary perfume for more regular use, you remember – you don’t really want to be brandishing olfactory ordnance of this sheer grandeur on a regular basis; but whilst you’re wearing it … nothing that is not something of at least this calibre could possibly have served.
Vfczyz – :
This is a stunning fragrance. Right from the outset it delivers a hearty punch of jammy fruit notes like a kinda plum vibe. Then there’s the heady whack of a balsamic, amber like accord which then gives way into the heart of iris and sandalwood. L’insomnuit does have a gourmand type appeal to it which I would say might come from the tonka bean, but it’s not typical in anyway and is nothing like a deliberate gourmand. I get a sense from this perfume that it’s not trying too hard to be anything in any category and is a light-hearted exercise in how to make something fun and smell exciting with a mix of notes I think are great together. I was hooked from the first whiff.
alex07.62 – :
Beautiful combo of powdery iris, tonka/vanilla and sandlewood. I’m not really picking up too much cedar. This is a formal kind of fragrance for me.
FriendMckenna – :
Extreme vanilla iris.
Since the iris is a weak note that vanishes quite fast, within 5 to 10 minutes this fragrance is leaft with vanilla and bits of sandalwood and hints of iris with tiny bits of anise and cedar.
It is a vanilla fragrance than iris or sandalwood and it reminds me of “Nuit Velours” from the same house.
There is a silver edition i have seen in Selfridges Oxford street, and i remember the lady there said it was an exclusive there!
Bottom line, it’s a good vanilla fragrance.
Таллер – :
That orris is beautifully ‘orrible. Smells like gin. I’m tee-total these days, and was never a fan of G&T in the way that a middle aged middle class woman ought to be, but I do like the smell. Its sharpness sort of bites you on the nose and that’s always good, but I would want it to be wrapped up in something warmer, a little sooner, as a sort of an apologetic kiss on the bitten nose. I would also like the PR bumph to admit to the orris, rather than call it “boozy plum”. To me, the boozy gin (orris) note just doesn’t go away, doesn’t open up to allow anything else through. Maybe a different story in winter, for summer I will put it back into the back of the perfume larder.
Vikopel – :
I was looking forward to trying this as I am a fan of some of the Piguets (Calypso, Fracas, V. Intense), finally did, and was disappointed. Everything about it seems harsh, jarring, and just “too”. Intensely sweet, cool iris and tonka with an overdose of harsh, synthetic, generic woods(maybe mostly identifiable as synthetic cedar) and probably ambroxan. They seem like 2 separate entities rather than a smooth mingling of woods, resins, and orris/florals. Honestly, I think it smells cheap and those acetone woods do NOT scrub off!!. So, yes, this would definitely give me insomnia, but more in the way a buzzing mosquito in my ear or a migraine would.
STEPA1973 – :
A beautiful cool powdery opening which is typical of orris. The tonka adds the perfect amount of warmth and sweetness. It’s a love duet between these notes. Perfectly balanced and singing in total harmony.
After a while you detect the sandalwood and wood notes.
It’s for me a comfort scent. Nice for casual wear. You won’t be able to stop sniffing your wrist.
Low to moderate silage but good longevity.
Tiss1992 – :
L’insomnuit promises so much, both sniffed from the nozzle of the sprayer and in the first spray onto skin. It is beautifully balsamic with a feeling also of amber, and is soft and gentle. After an hour or so I caught a fleeting smell of hot tarmac on a summer’s day, but that passed very quickly.
Projection after three sprays was about arm’s length and at no time did I get the impression that this could clear a room… The projection stayed at about this level throughout the life of the perfume.
After three hours, the fragrance was still unchanged on my skin and I was beginning to wonder whether there was actually anything else to come. Certainly I liked this, but with no change at all it would not become a love. Another hour later it remained the same on my skin but on my clothes there was a very faint hint of non-specific flowers.
Five hours in, I was bored with it. It has a Shalimar-esque feel to me, as did Bijou Romantique, but both BR and L’Insomnuit fail to move past first base on my skin. There is no heart and no drydown. To get through the rest of the day without scrubbing, I added a hint of rose, which worked well with the balsamic base but which had the effect of showing me that I also dislike that rose. Not a good fragrance day. I find this too linear to be FBW. I will happily buy and wear linear fragrances if the first spray is overwhelmingly beautiful, but not when it is only OK.
I have had this kind of problem with all the Piguet fragrances I have tried, so I think it must be my skin chemistry reacting badly to something used. I simply smelled nothing but the balsamic opening. To give L’Insomnuit its due, longevity is excellent and projection, as already noted, is at least average. It is a beautifully crafted perfume and I envy those who will be able to wear and appreciate it.
Серега3 – :
This is absolutely wonderful! Divine! Strong!!!!! Fantastic. Glorious.
LeCiel – :
Beautiful but strong! Orris is the main player to begin with, then its settles to a vanilla/tonka, woody, powdery iris and it’s glorious! It’s winter, I’ve had a bath and am in my jammies wearing this beauty, I’m one happy bunny 🙂
parrottedss – :
Holy MOLY! I received my 1ml spray vial today and spritz one tiiiiny little spray. An hour later it still fulls the room. When you try this, be gentle lol I love people crushing sillage and this is at the top of the list! I like the composition but it is around 100 today and it’s just not its weather. I cannot WAIT to try it in cooler weather…..probably COLD weather. The cedar that comes through is a little screechy in this heat. You will get your money’s worth.