Cologne Indélébile by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle

Bottle Design:
Frederic Malle

See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Cologne Indélébile Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle 2015

7.4 / 10 173 Ratings

A perfume by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle for women and men, released in 2015. The scent is citrusy-fresh. It is being marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
Pronunciation Compare

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Citrus

Fresh

Floral

Green

Spicy

Fragrance Notes

Neroli

Lemon

Bergamot

Narcissus absolute

Orange blossom

White musk

Perfumer

Dominique Ropion

Ratings

Scent

7.4173 Ratings

Longevity

6.9133 Ratings

Sillage

6.0129 Ratings

Bottle

7.6138 Ratings

Value for money

6.042 Ratings

Submitted by Michael, last update on 07/13/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Neroli Portofino Eau de Parfum

Echt Kölnisch Wasser Eau de Cologne

Bvlgari Man Wood Neroli

Neroli Extreme

Grand Néroli

Eau de Memo

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/01/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

4

Meh...

Frederic Malle scents are really a mystery for me. Some smell nice, some smell cheap, some smell just as designer in a cheeky sleek-chic disguise. Cologne Indélébile falls halfway the last two categories for me – it smells a bit cheap, and it smells like something nearly any low-mid level cosmetics brand could make. Or probably has already made. Following the “eau de cologne” trend which seemed arising among niche brands in the past years – ah, the luxurious realm of creative freedom and pure artistry with no boundaries gifting us with long-awaited ripoffs of drugstore classics – Cologne Indélébile is, well, a very classic, very flat neroli-musk fresh scent with a delicate “laundry” feel of lavender and orange blossoms and an odd sort of nondescript aldehydic-woody base.The “grey” musk notes are rather strong, as soon as the zestier and rather pleasant citrus-neroli head notes tame down, that’s pretty much what you remain with. Sort of a clean, gentle, pleasantly dusty blossoms-infused musky drydown reminding me of Kurkdjian’s style, just tamer and drier. Just to be clear, Cologne Indélébile smells nice, but... I don’t know. I just really don’t see the point of paying so much for an astonishingly dull and uninspired sort of muskier take on 4711, or any (I mean it - any) other clean neroli-musk “eau de cologne” with no added value or higher quality - and surely no “niche” facet whatsoever, excluding the ridicolusly overpriced tag. It’s even wryly short-lasting. But who am I to judge - if it worked for Tom Ford, why shouldn’t it work for Fréderic too.

5/10

04/16/2015

7.5
Bottle 5
Sillage 10
Longevity 7
Scent

Drseid
821 Reviews

Drseid

2

Proof That An Eau de Cologne Can Have The Longevity of an Extrait...

Cologne Indelebile opens with a very natural smelling bergamot, neroli and orange blossom trio before moving to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the orange blossom remains in diminished form as underlying support for an emerging effervescent, slightly sharp lemon, yellow narcissus flower and clean detergent-like synthetic musk trio that takes over control, with the synthetic musk the most prominent. During the late dry-down the lemon and light synthetic musk blend together, sans effervescence as the orange blossom gradually grows back into a co-starring role through the finish. Projection is average, but longevity is outstanding (especially for an Eau de Cologne) at over 15 hours on skin.

This was a blind buy that I really didn't know what to expect. I knew the nose behind the composition, Ropion, when "on" is the best in the business and does his best work under Malle's direction. Aside from the nose and that the composition was an Eau de Cologne I knew little else going in... When I sprayed Cologne Indelebile on skin the first time, I thought I might be in for a very traditional Eau de Cologne, as the natural smelling bergamot and neroli that primarily open things up are very traditional indeed. Once the composition entered its early heart, thoughts of a traditional style Eau de Cologne quickly evaporated, as Ropion shifts gear to a synthetic clean laundry detergent-like musk focus, with significant sharp effervescent lemon and narcissus flower joining in. It is difficult to describe the overall effect, but the closest composition I can think of in *spirit* to this is Mark Birley for Men. During the late dry-down, the orange blossom makes a reappearance, as it joins with the lemon and the white musk, now all melded as one without the detergent and effervescent aspects, settling in for a very long lasting, sublime finish. I suspect that this is going to be a "love it" or "hate it" kind of composition. For one, the composition gets a pretty heavy dose of the synthetic white musk, especially during the early heart section which may be too much for some and indeed, I had some trouble with it myself. It is really not "challenging" per se, but rather a bit over-the-top for a time when paired with the narcissus floral. Once the narcissus vacates leaving the orange blossom to reemerge joining the lemon and musk things get much better. Another potential downside is while the heavy use of musk is an interesting facet that separates Cologne Indelebile from most others in the Eau de Cologne genre, at the end of the day it still is an Eau de Cologne without a whole bunch of interesting twists and turns along the way, making for a less innovative outing than one might expect from Editions de Parfums. On the whole, however, the positives far outweigh the negatives making Cologne Indelebile an excellent option in the genre, especially for those who want an Eau de Cologne style composition, but want much better performance metrics. The bottom line is the $260 per 100ml bottle Cologne Indelebile is an interesting, slightly innovative take on the genre composed by the best nose in the business but at the end of the day it is still an Eau de Cologne, earning a "very good" 3.5 stars out of 5 and a solid recommendation. As an aside, it should be mentioned that while the price being charged is extremely high in relative terms for an Eau de Cologne, when one considers that *this* Eau de Cologne has longevity exceeding many extraits, the price is not as outlandish as one might initially believe.

07/25/2023

Mercer
78 Reviews

Mercer

1

Close to great, but just not enough

This is so close to being perfect:

- not as complex as Neroli Portofino Forte by Tom Ford
- not as sweet as Sun Song by Louis Vuitton

It's something in the middle of the two. In the air, it leans more towards Sun Song than NPF.

In a world where NPF and Sun Song are both discontinued, this is a good alternative...but it's not as good as those two and it leaves me wanting something a bit more.

09/21/2019

5
Bottle 3
Sillage 4
Longevity 5
Scent

Drakecito
14 Reviews

Drakecito

1

Cheap cologne marketed like high luxury niche frag.

Citrus cologne, very musky with a very marked soapy effect, which resembles the classic 4711 (but smelling worse) and in musky appearance, to "Acqua Universalis" by Francis Kurkdjian (of which I am not a fan at all).

Perhaps that of Frederic Malle is somewhat superior than the Kurkdjian, with a little more successful citrus and with the floral notes of Orange Blossom and Neroli, nothing new or more inspired than hundreds of similar fragrances. All with a lot of synthetic musk.

The result is a "cologne" simply "passable", which has really left me feeling of smelling a cheap perfume with a value for money, which falls within the ridiculous and unfortunate. A joke in bad taste since paying for this about € 200 per 100ml, it seems crazy.

The performance may be somewhat superior to direct competition, although it is also nothing spectacular and the sillage is rather low, after the first 30 minutes.

I hope it is a mere coincidence, that the firm Frederic Malle, was recently bought by Estéee Lauder. I insist, I want to think that it is a coincidence that your first release, it came out like this ... ;)

03/22/2025

5
Pricing 7
Bottle 6
Sillage 7
Longevity 9
Scent

Muralglobe
16 Reviews

Muralglobe

1

My Easiest No-Brainer

If I don't know what to smell like, but I really want to wear a fragrance that day, I go for this. It's inoffensive, and maybe even unimpressive. I saw this with all the love in my heart, but if I caught a whiff of this in the air I would think it was someone's nice hand soap.

It's not soapy, but it is clean. The base of musks make this smell very clean, thinking something akin to laundry. Cologne Indelebile as a whole keeps me hooked with its use of florals and citrus. The neroli / lemon opening is tea-like in quality, holding a floral bitterness that neroli is known for. The musks are in your face from the get-go, and on my skin it presents a subtle sweetness that always compliments white florals wherever they go.

When Cologne Indelebile finally retires, it never smells funky. If I had laundry detergent that smelled like this, I would never be sad.

More reviews