L'Immensité by Louis Vuitton (2024)

This is my third candidate from the Louis Vuitton series. "Orage" and "Sur la Route" have thrilled me without exception. I was also curious about "L'Immensité" and this especially because the grapefruit I like is present. At the same time, however, we are also dealing with Ambroxan, with which I have had less good experiences in the past, as it often appeared to me in the form of a chubby "on-devil-coming-out-masculin" note. I only think of "Sauvage", which I got to know in the eau de parfum variation and whose Ambroxan overkill almost dissolved my nasal mucous membranes. By the way, it still haunts me, be it at university, at the cinema or on the train. Many fragrances, which are always said to be "mainstreamers" and can be smelled everywhere, I hardly or not at all notice in my everyday life. At Dior's Cash Cow, unfortunately, things are different. If many carriers don't get it baked with the dosage, it often gets really nasty in combination with Ambroxan, the sillage-creating agent from the chemistry kit. In Louis Vuitton's "L'Immensité", this substance is - this much I can anticipate - rather less problematic. On the other hand, other weaknesses reveal themselves during the fragrance process, which I would like to reveal to you subjectively and objectively.

"L'Immensité" begins with a tangy, wonderfully sour grapefruit that comes out very naturally. This fruit is very refreshing and immediately puts you in a good mood. Monsieur Cavallier-Belletrud has succeeded here in creating an outstanding fruity, unsynthetic opening, from which other perfumers can take a slice. The grapefruit in Chanel's blue bestseller, for example, already ranks on a high level, but is clearly outdone in comparison with "L'Immensité". The ambroxan, which appears very subtle here, I also hear, but it doesn't bother me that much. It scratches and tingles a little and gives the whole thing something tingling, which in combination with the grapefruit reminds me of sherbet powder. So far "L'Immensité" is doing quite well.

I chose the "So far" I have just written for a reason, because it doesn't take long before ginger is added and the downward spiral begins. This one has a very bitter taste. Although it can be spicy, as I already know from everyday life in the kitchen, here it has a completely bitter appearance. I can well imagine that Monsieur Chavallier-Belletrud wanted to protect the grapefruit-ambroxane opening, which is present in its DNA in many easily testable and purchasable designer fragrances, against the "evil" mainstream. But this protection went pretty much to sh*t here, as the fragrance doesn't quite know where it wants to go. Is that supposed to be something fruity and spicy? After all, we have ginger here. Or should it go more in the aquatic direction because of the bitterness - with spray and all? I mean, the tendency is to go more in the aquatic direction, because ginger is ultimately very bitter rather than hot.
I personally think in the end that this pseudo-moderate otherness could be dispensed with, as it simply did not succeed here. On the other hand, one could ask where the Louis Vuitton fashion house would have gotten the justification from if it had stayed with the grapefruit-ambroxan combination, which you can also get much cheaper in the "mainstream". Truly, the perfume could have been sold simply by name, and in the end it will, of course, but I at least - probably many others as well - would put the sample aside with a smile and head for the next big perfumery, if they are interested in a fruity fresh scent with Ambrixan, since one is somehow also out to spray the best offer at the end of the day ... uh... to shoot. This should not be an attack on those who know this fragrance in their collection - really not. Personally, I just can't feel any enthusiasm for it. Nevertheless, the rating is better than that of Dior's bestseller, because I'm not killed by the chemical warfare agent ambroxane and therefore I don't have the desire to drag the creator of this scent to The Hague.

PS: Dear Monsieur Chavallier-Belletrud,

one more thing.

I have no objection in principle to amber notes as they are present in your composition, as they can lend interesting facets to fragrances - including powdery, slightly animal or or or. However, if amber - and I am sure this is responsible for the impression I have just described - evokes associations with musty clothes that have been left wet in the washing machine, then that is something I cannot be enthusiastic about. Fortunately this phase lasted only 15-20 minutes. Should this musty smell also be part of a special aquatic concept, I recommend to avoid it. But as I already said, only my nose smells here, which I do not want to use as a reference or as a general rule.