B. Balenciaga

This perfume kick-started my genuine interest and curiosity in the world of olfaction. I remember the day I bought it. It was around 6 years ago and I was out by myself in a nearby city. I had some pocket money that I planned to spend on something nice. I wandered into a large chemist, that stocked a nice selection of perfumes. For whatever reason, this is the first one that drew my attention. Perhaps it was the gorgeous frosted glass bottle. I sprayed the tester and immediately adored it. I had never smelt anything like it before. I stood there for quite some time, sniffing my wrist and feeling all sorts of feelings. They were selling 2 different sizes of the perfume; I can’t remember the ml exactly, but both of them were on sale. I contemplated which one to buy, but ended up deciding on the smaller, cheaper one. I was delighted. Fast forward 5 years, I realised I had almost used it all up and without any second thought, I knew I needed a second bottle. I googled it and couldn’t see it for sale anywhere online. I quickly learnt that it had been discontinued... my heart dropped. Strangely enough, the chemist store where I bought the perfume had also disappeared. It hadn’t even been renovated into something else, it was just gone. I felt so frustrated and upset. I rarely left the house without adorning myself with the fragrance. I emailed Balenciaga this big heartfelt essay begging them to bring it back (lol) and then desperately began searching for a dupe or similar fragrance. This lead me to wanting to find out the individual notes of the perfume; something I had never done before. This also inevitably lead me to discovering this platform, Fragrantica. Up until that point, I had always just bought or been gifted perfumes based off of a ‘ooh i like that’ or ‘nope i don’t like that’ basis. I had never even wondered what makes up a perfume. I would walk into mainstream retailers and often just blind buy a scent often based solely on the packaging. Perfume to me was simply just a bottle of something you’d spray on yourself before leaving the house to smell good. Nothing more nothing less. I wrote down each note that makes up B. Balenciaga and began my mission of trying to find something as similiar to it as possible. I went into stores like Boots, Debenhams and Superdrug and presented the list to the staff members, who were rarely any help of course. They would often just mindlessly hand me a bottle of something or try to market a new release to me. Anyway, the first fragrance I smelt that made my eyes light up was Santal Blanc by Van Cleef. It is certainly similar to B, but instead of the green freshness of the pea and lily of the valley, it has a citrus freshness from the mandarin. What makes them smell alike is their addictive creaminess, and of course the hint of violet. This was enough for me, so a few months later I bought a bottle of it. I still feel remorseful for not buying the larger bottle of it in the store that day. Bottles of it now sell for up to thousands of euro now, so I doubt I will ever get my hands on it again. I still have about 1/8th of the liquid left in the bottle. It sits alone on top of my bookshelf, where it will stay as a cherished, prized possession. The fact that it was discontinued is of course extremely significant. If it was still being produced and was readily available, it wouldn’t be half as meaningful to me, obviously. When something you love is no longer in your reach, you want it so much more just because you know that you can’t have it. I am grateful for this perfume, and I am also in a way glad that it was discontinued, because I know for sure that I wouldn’t be in the position that I am now in today otherwise. All good things must come to an end and an ending always leads to a new beginning. For me, the discontinuation of this perfume opened up a whole new world for me. I now have a passion for fragrance. Since undertaking the mission of finding a dupe and finding Santal Blanc midway through 2023, I have discovered dozens of niche brands, bought several discovery sets from some of these niche designers, and have found a small, niche fragrance boutique that is very close to where I currently live. I’ve realised how much experimentation, creativity and soul and story telling can be put into the making of a scent and that a perfume can be so much more than just a pretty bottle and a nice smell. My eyes, mind, heart and soul have been opened up. There is so so so so so much to learn and discover. I can’t wait to keep learning and discovering and see where this journey takes me. B. Balenciaga will remain close to my heart forever.

Oh B. Balenciaga, you have stolen my heart. You’re not the kind of fragrance I’d usually reach for, but you’re a gem. Let me tell you all about it. I was given a 10ml rollerball sample when this perfume was released, and though it’s not one I would usually reach for, I decided to give it a try seeing as though it was free. I had nothing to lose, right? I’ve found that I can sometimes be sensitive to certain smells, so I very rarely blind buy - I need to give things a chance on my skin before committing to the purchase. As soon as I tried this, however, it instantly made its way onto the very top of my wish list. The first word that comes to mind when describing B. Balenciaga is ‘green.’ This is a clean, fresh, modern green juice with chypre notes that’s light, airy, and not overly floral, while still remaining feminine. Another word that comes to mind is ‘cold’ (if that makes sense). This isn’t an overly warm scent at all. It reminds me of the fresh dewdrops that collect on leaves on a cold winter morning. As other commenters have said, I can also detect notes of celery and edamame, which are unusual scents for a fragrance to feature, but somehow they work! The sharp opening eventually dries down into a soft, musky powder with a touch of lily. Silly me put off buying this for a while, telling myself I already had too many perfumes in my collection, and I only recently realised it’s been discontinued. I’ll never know why it was discontinued, but luck was smiling down on me the other day when I found a couple of bottles of it for an absolute steal in a pharmacy - $50 AUD for 30mls. I’ve noticed that some people are selling bottles of this online for super inflated prices, so I was thrilled to be able to grab a couple of bottles for cheap, as this juice is close to being one of my favourite fragrances of all time. And finally, for the performance! Sillage is moderate - enough to be able to catch whiffs of it throughout the day, and enough for people to notice, but definitely not overpowering by any means. Longevity is excellent; I can still smell it on my skin and clothing in the evening, after spraying it in the morning. I love this fragrance and will cherish my bottles until the very last drop.

My partner wears this... unlike me, she tends to adopt one signature and wear it faithfully but sparingly, so that the impression of its association with her presence develops very slowly (sounds nice, doesn’t it? It is) Anyway, these are my impressions... For me the ‘edamame’ accord is very unique, but is less a standout singularity than part of an overall smooth, green-hued, monochrome sheerness with hints of cool grey (iris), a flit of damp white flowers, and tender amber that gains a tinge of pink on skin as opposed to paper. There is little sweetness for the sake of being ingratiating and absolutely no solicitous powder nor animal undertow. A sleek, piquant muskiness redolent of tomato leaves reminds me of scents I’ve known that use violet leaves but also lily of the valley (I sometimes wear vintage Fahrenheit, which certainly has some of these features; our son owns Narciso Rodriguez’s grisaille fougere, and there is a hint of a similar ozone/violet leaf/musk melancholy.) It is all a bit of the feeling of sunlight about to break through clouds, poignant and forthcoming, a morning-light scent, fresh and transitional. In my imagination it’s become kind of a 21st-century grown up wood nymph, with a bit of the sense of a tart remark conspicuously withheld so as to warm up to brisk but comforting affection in the negative spaces of day to day conversation. I appreciate how little it reminds me of ‘perfume’ (not that that doesn’t have its place) and how lightly it wears her from one day to the next. Sharp but delicate, discreet but memorable, it's a linear signature that is first interesting but consistent & last consistent but interesting. I can't imagine it on anyone else, so I guess this is not really an objective review, unless that bigger issue (style and the person, and how they get mixed up together) matters to you. Anyway, lovely on her.

I come here frequently to see if any has found a new dupe of this & to reminisce about this lovely tragically discontinued fragrance, my all time favorite scent ever. I’ve found a few fragrances that have that cedary powdery woodsy green mossy fresh rain thing that I’m chasing going on but they’re just not quite right. They’re usually a little off, have some note that I don’t care for, a little too strong, or too masculine on me (like Le Labo Santall 33, Glossier You, Billie Eilish Your turn). This was a softer feminine version of that fresh woodsy green I like. I keep hoping Balenciaga will revive her. Had I known it would be discontinued I would’ve ordered more than just two roller balls back in the day, I only have a teeny tiny bit left of one roller ball. Come on Balenciaga, give us our green lady back 😭 Edit: back again to say I bough a bottle of Katy Perry Indi because it’s reported to smell like this, & it’s alright. Not B, but I see the similarities. It is discontinued, but for now there are plenty of bottles available for very cheap on resale sites. I’ve been looking to buy some of the other fragrances listed above that are reported to smell like this but I’m finding that a lot of them are also discontinued 😭. The ones I’ve tried to find so far are: Zara Accord No 3 Woody Tommy Hilfiger - The girl DSQUARED2 - she wood velvet forest wood Byredo - Byredo All of these are discontinued and hard to find. Good luck.

I bought this a couple of months ago and am wondering how come I haven't written a review about it yet! But all in all not that bad, as I've had enough time to try it several times. Balenciaga B. is very different and distinct from what you find normally in the market.It smells like pure fresh woods, mixed with some natural foody ingredients and a touch of creaminess(maybe musk?) and although it sounds strange I do smell green peas and it smells great in this composition. It reminds me somehow of She Wood, but She Wood is more floral and feminine, while this one is mostly unisex. Also reminds me of daisy series (maybe because of violet leaf), but it's much better and more original than that. I think it best fits rainy days, because of the fresh woody smell, but I won't mind wearing it at any time of the year. Sillage is very mild and I don't see it as a negative point, because sometimes strong perfumes make me sick, but this one definitely doesn't go on nerves. The bottle looks great here in the pic, but in reality, it could have been better. My main problem is the cap that is supposed to be like B alphabet, but looks like a strange piece of cubism art on the bottle! Else everything is ok in this fragrance. Not a masterpiece, but a different high quality contemporary perfume.