Les Indemodables

Les Indemodables exemplifies how little concept matters when a perfume can tell its own captivating story without any explanation.

I first saw them at a Milan exhibition in 2019. The advertising brochure mentioned something about a perfume wardrobe and parallels with the fashion world, which, to put it mildly, is nothing new and rather depressing. But I tried all six fragrances (at the time) and lost the desire to go anywhere else. Les Indemodables' booth was located at the very end of the exhibition, near the treasures of the Osmothèque de Versailles, and the fragrances felt like a continuation of the Osmothèque project – restored classic masterpieces from materials no longer in use. A magnificent green and citrusy chypre, a toxic, bewitching fougère, and dirty musk sounded very unusual in Italy, then fascinated by the Middle East. But the brand's owners, Valérie Pulveray and Rémy Pulveray (who also runs L'Atelier francais des matières – a laboratory for the production of natural raw materials), made it clear they had come to the exhibition to find distributors, not the press, so I didn't even remember the samples.

My second encounter with Les Indemodables took place in the fall of 2022, in a relaxed, homely atmosphere, with a bag of hefty samples sent by the Czech store Rafinad. This turned out to be the best way to get acquainted with the fragrances. Days and months of reflection helped me understand and love their distinctive French tone – a courtesy without familiarity, a distinctive rhythm, and a decisive coquetry. I recommend starting with a sample set and then deciding whether you need larger bottles (the answer is yes!).

Even if it all began as a wardrobe idea, it's now the story of fragrant raw materials. What distinguishes the "material" Les Indemodables collection from countless others is that we don't simply discover materials; we learn something new about them and their combinations. We see osmanthus transform into suede, and vanilla into a drunken plum in chocolate; we taste amber and myrrh as they were before and in the roles they once played; we play with illusions, observing how iris and patchouli create the sensation of natural musk, while melted snow, sage, and mimosa paint a gray iris watercolor. To help those who enjoy mind games, L'Atelier francais des matières has released Le Coffret "GRANDS CRUS"—a box of ingredients in wax bases—two key ingredients for each Les Indemodables fragrance. With their help, you can get a rough idea of ​​the raw material's sound and its magical metamorphoses in the finished compositions. The set is expensive, but it's good for training the sense of smell and forming new neural connections, even for seasoned perfume lovers.

What's in these samples and the bottles you ultimately purchased?

Escale en Indonesia is the perfect citrus cologne, pure, unadulterated happiness in a bottle. Fresh and penetrating, more air than liquid, it makes you rejoice in the new day and breathe deeply. The initial citrus burst lingers for just over half an hour, then the scent melts on the skin with the tartness of white tea and the bodily warmth of natural amber. Utterly vintage in its score, it sounds natural and modern, as if cologne as a genre has been reinvented by today's downshifters, Luddites, and fugitives from civilization somewhere in a bungalow by the waterfalls of Bali. I gave myself a bottle for New Year's and am watching its contents rapidly disappear.

Escale en Indonesia Les Indemodables,

Amber tincture 5%, Calabrian bergamot, Sicilian lemon, bitter orange, Australian sandalwood, Egyptian jasmine.

So far, the most difficult journey from sample to bottle has been with Rose de Jamal. This was due to the fact that I have a fair number of roses in my collection, and the fact that the best time for this fragrance is spring, not our autumn with its low skies and central heating. Rose de Jamal needs wind and sun, it needs an open neck and a fresh sense of smell, and then it transforms into a healing salve for the heart. It contains traditional rose oil and pink Turkish delight with strawberry juice, the light green of geranium, and a hint of minty coolness. Rose and geranium melt in transparent sandalwood oil, yet remain just as creamy and light. There's nothing grounding about it. Not a rose from the bush or in a bouquet, not a herbarium or a rose garden. Rose de Jamal is more like a traditional attar, or a cream, or a truly magical potion to rub into your skin and float away. Beautiful!

Rose de Jamal Les Indemodables,

Antoine Li

Moroccan rose absolute 5.5%, cedarwood oil 2.8%, pink peppercorn Co2 from Madagascar 1.7%, lavender.

Oriental Velours also didn't open its doors for the first time. You'd expect something spicy or ambery from a fragrance with the word "oriental" in the name, but the story of Les Indemodables is much more complex. Apply to skin, warm it, and you'll discover the scent of an autumn park, where green is already mingled with red, and a mattress of fallen leaves springs underfoot. Bare branches streak the opal-gray sky with black. Red-headed aspen mushrooms protrude between old stumps, smelling of the underworld and salt when freshly cut. In the Les Indémodables "GRANDS CRUS" fragrance palette, Oriental Velours is represented by myrrh and vetiver. Myrrh in a wax base has a very subtle scent. All the beauty of this magical resin, with its viscous camphor tones, candied orange peel in honey, star anise, and dried porcini mushrooms, just dropped into boiling water, is much more vivid in the fragrance itself. Haitian vetiver in Oriental Velours brings dark greenery and coarse black salt mixed with ash. Overall, it's very beautiful and pleasantly strange.

Oriental Velours Les Indémodables,

Florence Fouillet Dubois

Indian Grand Cru jasmine 5%, Madagascar Grand Cru vanilla 2.5%, Somali myrrh 15%, Haitian Grand Cru vetiver 10%, alpine fir oil

Ambre Supreme by Les Indemodables is pure sex. It smells like vintage Rue de La Paix Guerlain perfume has evaporated from kissed skin, leaving behind a light scent of jasmine and tiny garden carnations. Ambre Supreme has the freshness of morning cologne, the bitterness of herbs, a drop of scalding honey, and a ghostly, sleepy corporeality under a heavy blanket. Keep in mind that this isn't a spicy accord with vanilla absolute, known as "amber," but rather the mischievousness of perfumer Antoine Lie—a tincture of natural ambergris, a renowned fragrance fixative since ancient times. In perfume, it smells transparent, animalic, slightly salty, and seems to echo the sounds of flowers, like a reflection in a puddle echoes the blue of the sky.

Ambre Supreme Les Indemodables,

Antoine Li

Sage, aldehydes, pink pepper, cardamom, patchouli, neroli, jasmine, ambergris, immortelle.

When they told me at the Rafinad store that Vanille Havane Les Indemodables was a bomb, I didn't believe them, and I was wrong. It's not the vanilla you're used to, though, and I'm indifferent. This is a fine single malt whiskey, aged in a Pedro Ximénez barrel. A strong spirit with aromas of dried persimmon, greenish apricots with pits, thyme, and chocolate-covered plum. There's no sweetness, though. A perfect gourmand, reckless and cheerful.

Vanille Havane Les Indemodables,

Antoine Li

Grand Cru Comoros Vanilla: 9.1%, Grand Cru Cocoa Extract: 3.1%, Grand Cru Egyptian Jasmine Distillate: 0.2%

Cuir de Chine – the fawn's smoke break. Ripe apricots with fluffy skins, intoxicating night-blooming jasmine, sly forest spirits with tobacco pouches, and yellow-eyed goats. The mosaic of Cuir de Chine is composed of osmanthus, which disintegrates into delicate fruity, slightly soapy, and leathery aspects, and sage with its astringent, herbal, and animalic scent. Of the many osmanthus-themed fragrances released recently, Cuir de Chine is one of the most harmonious.

Cuir de Chine Les Indemodables,

Florence Fouillet-Dubois

Chinese Grand Cru osmanthus 10%, Grand Cru Egyptian jasmine absolute 1%, tobacco absolute 0.2%, alpine sage.

I already have all these beauties in bottles, I'm still deciding on the others, and next up is Iris Perle. This is undoubtedly a perfume for a bright-faced angel who feeds exclusively on nectar and pollen. The intimate and gentle scent of gray iris, the honeyed, tart, leathery spirit of mimosa absolute, and the fruity sweetness of lush Indian jasmine.

Iris Perle Les Indemodables,

Antoine Li

Grand cru orris absolute 0.3%, mimosa absolute 0.25%, jasmine absolute 0.7%, ylang-ylang oil 0.7%, alpine sage.

Musc des Sables is a pure illusion, in which the tart, vibrant aroma of musk is created by slightly fermented patchouli, the sweetness of orris, labdanum, and fatty, salty ambergris. This earthy, balsamic scent fills the imagination and every available space. It changes little over time and grips you by the throat as firmly as Musc Tonkin Parfum D'Empire. I like both, but I have enough of them in samples.

Musc des Sables Les Indemodables,

Antoine Li

Green mandarin 4.9%, patchouli essence 1.1%, ambergris tincture 0.7%, orris absolute 0.7%

Chypre Azural is the very scent that stopped me in Milan in 2019 at the Les Indemodables booth. I couldn't imagine then that in our time it would be possible to so accurately reproduce the structure of a chypre, with its emphasis on lively and juicy citrus, extending that green ray from the bright peaks into a mossy, swampy, miasma-filled darkness. Chypre Azural, like an anatomy skeleton, can be used to study the structure of a chypre's body, its vertebrae, elastic ligaments, metacarpal and metatarsal bones. You definitely need this if you're lacking chypres (I'm fine).

Chypre Azural Les Indemodables,

Florence Fougère Dubois

Sicilian orange 10%, Indonesian Grand Cru patchouli 5%, amber 2%, Grand Cru centifolia rose 1%, Alpine tarragon.

Fougère Emeroude is one of the strangest fougères I've ever tried. A classic fougère structure with rotten hay, a lavender field in the morning mist, moss, and a nonexistent fern flower leading the weary traveler off the path into the impenetrable thicket is woven with poisonous tuberose. Powerful, with fruity, green, and putrid undertones. Tuberose is a treacherous witch. A peculiar scent and very much an acquired taste. I'm not him.

Fougere Emeroude Les Indemodables,

Florence Fougere Dubois

Indian tuberose 15%, Grand Cru lavender 3%, Grand Cru mimosa 1%, tonka bean 3%, alpine sage.

I didn't have time to really wear Escale en Haiti—I ran out of samples. My memory is of a light, slightly salty vetiver cologne without any distinct characteristics. Nothing special has caught my attention yet, but maybe it just seemed dull compared to its more vibrant siblings.

Escale en Haiti Les Indemodables,

GRAND CRU VETIVER OIL 22%, pink pepper CO2, juniper, tonka bean, myrrh.