Balenciaga
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Those aldehydes crack open immediately like struck flint, amplifying the bergamot and lemon into something almost sharp—peach softens the edges just slightly, whilst coriander adds a faint savoury spice that's genuinely arresting. You smell expensive restraint, not perfume trying too hard.
The iris emerges as the aldehydes recede, revealing an almost herbal greenness that interacts beautifully with the lilac's gentle florality. Jasmine and rose arrive in the background like a proper string section, providing warmth and body whilst the lily of the valley maintains that crystalline quality, creating a powdery, iris-focused floral heart that feels both soft and intelligent.
Sandalwood and vetiver establish a woody framework as the musk and amber settle into skin, creating a tender, almost musky-woody base with just enough tonka sweetness to prevent austerity. The fragrance becomes increasingly intimate here, dissolving into something barely-there, which—given its notorious longevity issues—happens rather sooner than one might wish.
Le Dix Balenciaga is a fragrance that feels like stepping into a 1947 atelier—all controlled elegance and architectural precision. Francis Fabron has constructed something deceptively simple: an aldehydic floral that refuses to whisper. Those top-note aldehydes don't create soapy abstraction here; instead, they sharpen the bergamot and lemon into something almost mineral, cutting through with the bracing quality of a crisp shirt collar. Peach arrives as a subtle sweetener, never jammy, whilst coriander adds a whisper of spice that keeps the composition from becoming too precious.
The heart is where the perfume reveals its true ambition. Iris dominates, but not the powdery, cosmetic iris of lesser fragrances—this is the green, almost root-like quality of iris root absolute, which sits beautifully against a trembling lilac that feels genuinely floral rather than synthetic. Jasmine and rose provide warmth without sentimentality, whilst lily of the valley acts as a crystalline thread running through the composition, preventing the floral accord from becoming cloying. It's powdery at 76%, yes, but it's the sophisticated powder of talc and orris, not cheap face powder.
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4.2/5 (347)