Tonka 25 Le Labo 2018 Eau de Parfum

Tonka 25 is my first fragrance from Le Labo.
For a long time, the scents hardly affected me at all.
Their minimalist bottle design, as well as many reviews or descriptions of various candidates, left me cold, especially in the rather high-priced segment.

Now the time had come, and Tonka 25 was part of a swap.
Regarding Le Labo, I first did some research and discovered two interesting things.
The bottles are generally refillable, which also comes with a monetary saving.
According to my research, refills are only possible at the Le Labo Store in Berlin.
While there are a few exclusive partners of Le Labo across Germany, refilling a used bottle is only possible at their own store in Berlin.

I was also curious about what the number behind each fragrance name means. If you take a look at the portfolio, it quickly becomes apparent that each scent is assigned a number.
Le Labo defines the amount of ingredients/fragrance components this way.
Thus, the Tonka fragrance contains 25 ingredients, Bergamote has 22, and Santal, for example, has 33.

Now let's get to the scent itself.
The tonka bean plays a central role, as the name suggests, yet it is not the dominant part as one might assume.
Much more, the cedar determines the direction and fundamentally provides a dry and woody character.
Tonka and vanilla clearly show that they are also at home here, but they must adapt to the cedar.
As a result, the adaptation means that the scent does not come across as too sweet, and the vanilla does not represent the often overwhelming component.
From my perspective, this is a delightful combination.

Minimal interference comes from the orange blossom. It is not perceptible on the surface, yet it mixes in intermittently and, upon closer "sniffing," does not seem harmonious to me.
As already mentioned, this note is rarely noticeable in the overall composition, at least in my experience.
I do not detect musk at all, but it likely contributes to a certain smoothness and pleasantness that the scent also brings.

In summary, Tonka 25 is a dense and voluminous fragrance, but by no means unpleasant or cumbersome.
Attributes such as woody, dry, spicy, slightly powdery, smooth, and characterful describe Le Labo's perfume aptly from my perspective.

Projection and sillage are socially acceptable, yet I would not want to call it a submissive scent.
The longevity on my skin is about 7-8 hours, significantly longer on clothing.

I really like Tonka 25 and find it truly wonderful and absolutely wearable on both men and women.