Insensé Ultramarine (1994)
by Givenchy

Thumbs down particularly for the dry down. It manages to thrill for hours like mint. Only stronger. On me it has an eye watering effect.

The top is pretty much chemical. I assume by direct comparison to the raw material that Ultramarines galbanum is rendered by the use of Givaudans Pharaone. To some degree I enjoy chemical smells a lot. I appreciate how the perfumer covers the aggressive off notes of Pharaone and on the other side stretches the pineapple peel / tobacco aspect. This effort results in a wide panoramic olfactory sensation. Of course is doesn't resemble galbanum as it is known from Balmains Vent Vert for instance. The synthetic/chemical origin of the reminder to galbanum is obvious and it depends on Your taste if You like such. I do!

The middle notes chime in after about 10 minutes. For further 20 minutes some floral aspects reveal themselves under the Pharaone. The aldehydes are kept weak, the floral bloom is indicated by hydroxicitronellal, as known from linden blossom, lilly of the valley and other.

The basic structure of this Ultramarine is build up from various generic 'male' chemicals. Iso E Super, calone, vetiveryl acetate in huge doses.

If it had not the unbearable aggressive 'fresh' dry down, one could enjoy the weird Pharaone top note from time to time. But given the long lasting spoiler I recommend to carefully sample it before a purchase. It has nothing to do with the famous Insense.

12nd January, 2012.

Just got around to trying this sample today. I do like it, and the ladies at the office said they liked it.

My impression - smells quite similar to Calvin Klein Escape for Women.

21st July, 2011.

Insense Ultramarine is an exquisite fruity floral fragrance. I can sense a touch of the original Givenchy Insense here, mainly from the floral heart, but this one is eminently more wearable and much more masculine.

Its opening is like a fresh fruit salad with watermelon & blackcurrant being the standouts for me. The middle & base notes are very floral, but the presence of the tobacco & spice notes keeps this one quite masculine and a bit dry. When it’s in drydown mode it seems to get a woody musty sort of smell which reminds me slightly of soil after it rains.

I have to admit that having originally worn the original Insense a bit uncomfortably (not anymore though!) and reading comments here and elsewhere on-line about Ultramarine's femininity had made me a bit hesitant to purchase this. In the end I needn’t have worried. Insense Ultramarine is one of my favourite fragrances.

19th April, 2011.

I dislike aquatics, not because I dislike the general concept of smelling like cool sea water on flowery tropical air, but because most aquatic fragrances come nowhere close to smelling like that. Insensé Ultramarine, however, manages to come damn close. The salty marine accord that spikes its top and middle notes is boldly pronounced against a dense and palatable mélange of fruit and flowers. A peachy rose, circumspect jasmine, and dewy magnolia/cardamom arrangement fleshes out the core of this perfume, and all are smudged against the sparkling zip of calone and synthetic ambergris in the base. A bit synthetic, and more than a little saccharine, yes, but all within the bounds of the prevailing zeitgeist at the time of Ultramarine's release. This is a '90s fragrance, with all the bells and whistles that came with aromatic scents of that decade. If you know that you're getting a refreshingly sweet floral aquatic for men, you're not going to be disappointed. If you're expecting something that smells "sporty" or metallic, look elsewhere. This is a big, bawdy, blue-dyed French perfume, disguised as a men's scent, and that's reason enough for me to like it.

18th December, 2010.

Strange, spicy, floral, chemical, and down right confusing top. Spicy in ways other than spices; this just stings the nostrils. Not worth sitting through the top notes, this is a definite "scrubber" to me.

14th December, 2010.

Not so bad right in the top, actually similar to the top of the new Lanvin Vetiver. Soon becomes a chemical mess, though...REALLY bad. Hair spray, nail polish and/or remover...the smell of a busy beauty salon. By the base, there's no possible way anyone, man or woman, could want to smell like this. There's even some freshly molded plastic in there. I have no idea how they thought it would sell. And I don't like deeply colored juice either, but that's a separate issue.

25th July, 2010.