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Donna Karan Essence: Labdanum DKNY 2005

7.5 / 10 26 Ratings

A popular perfume by DKNY for women and men, released in 2005. The scent is resinous-spicy. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Resinous

Spicy

Smoky

Oriental

Leathery

Fragrance Notes

French labdanum Leather

Leather

Musk

Green notes

Perfumer

Rodrigo Flores-Roux

Ratings

Scent

7.526 Ratings

Longevity

7.222 Ratings

Sillage

5.720 Ratings

Bottle

6.726 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet · last update on 09/29/2019.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Incense

Reviews

3 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/23/2012

7Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Missk
1357 Reviews

Missk

1

Exotic yet smooth labdanum

I'm not too familiar with particular resins and their scents, so discovering Donna Karan's Essence collection has managed to broaden my horizons in terms of recognizing certain notes.

Essence Labdanum is quite an interesting and simplistic fragrance. I would define this fragrance as being very unisex and rich. It has a lovely, smooth and spicy leather quality with a subtle touch of sweetness.

Ambery in nature, Essence Labdanum, (while very linear), is beautiful when layered with other amber-based scents or anything really. On its own it smells woody and leathery, however when blended, Essence Labdanum has an interesting smoky incense quality that comes to the fore.

This fragrance tends to remind me of the Middle East, somewhere exotic and culturally rich. The lasting power is not bad, lasting at least six hours, and longer when layered. The sillage is only moderate however.

I do believe this same fragrance was released in a body lotion and a candle, which intrigues me greatly. Having a home that smells like this beautiful fragrance would be breath-taking.

02/19/2013

8Scent

Bertel
236 Reviews

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Bertel

Helpful Review 6

A Lesson

"Labdanum" by Donna Karan is sincere and honest, as it is exactly that: Labdanum.

And it is distinctly perceivable and detectable in its considerable range, from slightly honey-like barely sweet amber to woody tones, all the way to dark, strong leather with slightly animalic notes, in the drydown then also rather light-balsamic and finally (as is fitting for a resinous substance) with clearly smoky undertones.

Unfortunately, I have no further information here, but I suspect that a similar concept was pursued in the composition of this fragrance as was done by Messrs. Ropion and Fléchier for Malle with geranium and rose: deconstruction, precise analysis, and then reconstruction and emphasis as well as a detailed elaboration of the characteristic components and molecules. Thus, a prototypical labdanum has emerged and is clearly perceivable, like an educational entry in an encyclopedia or an olfactory textbook, which vividly presents the scent quality and note "Labdanum" and makes it excellently usable in combinations and layers due to its clear structure and synthetic construction.

This is quite interesting in theory and also practically useful, for example, for layering with the other Karan essences. As a scent in itself, it may also appeal to those who appreciate soft balsamic-smoky fragrances - for me, it is a bit too one-dimensional and unexciting without any additional notes. Layered, for example, with Olfactive Studios' rather flat "Chambre Noir," its plum and leather notes come out very softly and powerfully, deepened by several octaves and enveloped in dense smoky fog, very interesting ;-) And so, for layering and combining, it is, if I understood Ms. Karan correctly, also intended.

07/22/2012

7Scent 2.5Longevity 2.5Sillage

Arioch
86 Reviews

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Arioch

6

The Little Brother of Frankincense - Myrrh - Rose Maroc and Incense

For all those who have always wondered what this scent by Donna Karan smells like, here’s the answer:

It is a softened, less feminine version of "Frankincense - Myrrh - Rose Maroc" by Regina Harris.

Why less feminine? I believe the floral aspects are missing.
I have also compared this scent with "Incense" by Norma Kamali, and indeed, parallels can be drawn even in comparison with Labdanum. It’s as if they took only the purely pleasant parts of "Incense" and extracted them.

Do I like that? Well, I prefer it when my scent has a bit of unpleasantness. Don’t get me wrong.. Not unpleasant in the sense of smelling bad, but I need edges and corners. That’s why "Incense" is better than Labdanum.

Aside from that, this Labdanum is like a fart - gone quickly. The scent clings to the skin so closely that you can hardly perceive it. The sillage is far too low for me. My skin chemistry, you know.

Nevertheless, it’s a successful scent that also comes in better variations. But as I said: If you don’t like edges, you can definitely go for this one. It smells mystical in any case!