Guerlain – Insolence eau de parfum review

Insolence is a perfume and contemporary classic of the French brand Guerlain, which appeared not so long ago, in 2006 and at the very fruitful moment for the perfume industry, when many modern classics such as Dior Homme were created. Many were skeptical whether Guerlain was able to make another perfume masterpiece since the company was in dire straits. Acquisition by megacorporation LVMH and the transfer of super talented Mathilde Laurent to the Cartier team, the woman who practically set up the Aqua Allegoria collection and made Pamplelune, one of the best citrus perfumes of all time, certainly did not help. Neither did the withdrawal of Jean-Paul Guerlain from the perfume industry and transfer of creative direction to a new man, then a rising star in the perfume industry, Thierry Wasser. But in spite of all these troubles, Guerlain has shown why this company is on the throne of the perfume world for two centuries now. The overcoming sentiment towards Guerlain today is that this company is able, like it was in 1828, to alchemically turn everything it touches into gold.

Insolence can be translated as disobedience with an attitude. The kind of disobedience that comes from the very core of conscious beings, the desire to know and try new things. The disobedience of Adam and Eve when they picked up and tasted the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, thus jeopardizing their existence in Paradise. But there are things more desirable and more exciting than happiness alone, the things that make us, break us, and remake us again. The things that make life an adventure and not just a glittering array of perfect beads like in a pearl necklace. Guerlain Insolence unites all this, as well as the eros of a woman’s being, eternally torn between purity and passion. Another perfume which also skillfully balances these two seemingly contradictory worlds is the legendary Chanel No 5 which refuses to accept that a woman is either a sinner or Madonna and depicts her in all the colors and never loses a drop of her magical character. One century later, Insolence Eau de parfum did the same.

Insolence perfume composition is fruity floral, very similar to the famous Angel. The difference between Insolence and countless copies of Angel, mostly bad, though there are some good as Calvin Klein Euphoria, is that Guerlain succeeded in playing with a megapopular combination of patchouli, caramel, and currant, to exalt it and enrich with the skillful introduction of violet and iris. With this move, the composition is enhanced in all directions, the scent became fuller, the texture more natural and more pronounced, almost tangible, the experience complete, as a perfect bite that simultaneously satisfies the need for all four tastes; sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Despite the intention to make a linear perfume, modeled on the famous Lancome Tresor which won’t fail with the unpredictable development of the scent on the skin, the Insolence is, nevertheless, a journey. The way from sweet fruit to aphrodisiac vanilla, the one only Guerlain knows how to make, never neglecting the muse of this perfume – violet, a flower that has been adored for thousands of years, from the ancient Greeks and Romans who mixed it with wine and chose it as a symbol of the city of Athens where no ceremony could pass without decorations made from her petals, to Napoleon Bonaparte whose favorite flower was violet. If you love violets, try Insolence. If you love floral perfumes, try Insolence. If you love perfumes, try Insolence. If you love … try Insolence.

Perfume creators Sylvaine Delacourte and Maurice Roucel.