After a three-year hiatus, Le Labo has launched a new scent, Tonka 25 and loyalists of the Grasse/New York City-based luxury, soul-filled brand are inhaling deeply.
Overflowing with 25 notes (obviously), the number of notes mix-mastered into each Le Labo bottle is listed as part of the scent’s name. This new eau de parfum is one part intimate with musky and balsamic notes, another familiar comfort with it’s combination of woody cedar and floral orange blossom and a third part engaging courtesy of sweet and warm vanilla and its namesake note, tonka bean.
Yet, none of these factors are why women and men (the parfums are all unisex) are spritzing.
Tonka 25 represents a new twist in perfumery’s gourmand category. Formerly associated with tooth aching sweetness, this vertical in the perfume world is renowned for it’s cotton candy, buttered sugar, ooey gooey delectable scents. So if the word gourmand has Thierry Mugler’s Angel and Prada’s Candy wafting to the forefront of your mind, you’d be right. Except that this time you’re not. Because fragrances like Tonka 25 are giving gourmands a savoury sensation by incorporating more traditionally masculine notes, like cedar trees and styrax shrubs into their confectionary elixirs, making them more versatile for our gender-bending culture. And it’s got the industry buzzing about the potential subversions perfumers can now make within what has been until now, a predominantly, very feminine range of fragrances.
So keep your eyes open, because Tonka 25 is certain to be just the tip of this trend and its savoury gourmand elixirs. But if the anticipation is too much to bear, you can get another quick fix soon. The fragrance will also be available as a perfume oil, liquid palm, shower gel, massage and bath oil and body lotion in the New Year.
Le Labo Tonka 25 is $250 for 50 ml, available online at www.lelabofragrances.ca
