Balenciaga L'Essence

My second review for this, almost one year after my first one (when I had just received this perfume for the first time). After one year of wearing L'Essence almost daily, I thought I'd add my experience. First of all, this being a light and somewhat airy scent, my nose has grown so used to it that I hardly detect it any longer. But then I suppose that's quite common. Over the last year I have received a lot of compliments on this (EDIT: and that's quite something, as people over here in Europe are usually not quick to compliment anyone on anything, especially not scent) and even more silence, usually because it's simply too close to the skin to be detectable by anyone who doesn't enter one's "comfort zone". I have found however that spraying it in the air then walking through the mist will grant it a much more powerful and lasting presence - perhaps because scent clings to hair more easily than it does to skin, I don't know. This way however ensures that people will get a very quick, very fleeting whiff of it whenever I pass by. It's there and then it's gone, like a whisper of paradise just out of one's grasp; a dream that lasts for less than a second. This makes people curious and most certainly helps L'Essence's "enchanting" quality. It's that je ne sais quoi, that thing that you just can't put your finger on. Compliments have ranged from 'beautiful', over 'flowery but at the same time not flowery' to 'soft'. 'Soft' tends to be the general consensus along with 'indescribable'. And yet I find it heavy-ish, yet extremely light and not heavy at all... It's truly a symphony of contradictions; soft but sharp, light but heavy, elusive yet present... Words simply do not suffice to describe this, as it really is an experience. This scent tends to catch people off guard. They simply don't know what they are smelling and experiencing, nor how to put this sensation into words - but somehow it always leaves them wanting more. It really has its very own kind of magic, a dream-like quality like a Sofia Coppola film. On a somewhat less positive note, this ethereal quality sometimes has people either noticing it but forgetting it immediately afterwards and sometimes not noticing it at all. L'Essence is definitely very elusive. On a somewhat negative note, one of my best friends doesn't like it. She considers it an "old lady" scent, which is probably due to the somewhat powdery note the violet brings to this. Personally I find the powdery note to be very, very subtle (I don't like powdery perfumes at all. It's one of THE notes that make a perfume "perfume-y" in my opinion). Fortunately, this powdery quality takes a seat at the very back in L'Essence letting the green, the wood and the dew stand in the spotlight. I still stand behind my original opinion on this: it smells like a lush, green forest just after rainfall. It's very natural and not at all a "PERFUME". I can still vividly remember the day I first smelled this. This is odd because it was a very unremarkable day. The day before I had received a letter that my order couldn't be delivered because nobody had been at home so my package had been dropped off at a nearby post office where I could pick it up the next day. That day in late May started warm, grey and a bit humid. The week before had been quite warm with lots of sunshine so all the trees and flowers were positively blooming, yet aching for a bit of hydration. I left for the post office in the late morning (around 10am) and a slight drizzle started to come down from the heavens. When I stepped outside the post office, this drizzle had turned into full on rain - not pouring like a summer storm, but still quite heavy. For some reason I enjoyed this chilling shower immensely, decided not to put on the hood of my jacket and take the long route home which leads through a large park with an abundance of trees, shrubs and some flowers. As the rain started to soak my hair and rolled off my skin, I took off my jacket, letting my light summer clothes underneath become soaking wet, cooling my entire body. It was weird, I know, and more than one person - who were hiding underneath trees - gave me some curious looks. But it felt absolutely amazing. I felt so alive, so refreshed, energetic yet deeply calm and at peace; this experience touched the very core of my being. And the smell that went along with it was exhilarating. Now when walking through a forest or park in summer sunshine, the flowers will decidedly steal the show. The woods are still there, but more as a backdrop. But when it rains, the roles will be reversed. The woods and leaves and the green will become more prominent, enhanced by the wetness of the rain, all against a faint backdrop of soft flowers; all of them revived and rejoicing in the life that this much needed hydration after a time of drought and heat provides. This walk home was like a dream. When I arrived at home I did not want to shower. I wanted to hold on to that moment as long as I could. So I unwrapped the package which contained my sample of L'Essence. I took a whiff of the bottle and immediately thought: CRAAAAAP! Total waste of money. It was so extremely woodsy and masculine - I think it's the cedar and vetiver that simply overpower all the other notes when smelling it from the bottle - it even had a very artificial quality to it, like cheap hairspray. So then I went on and applied it to my wrists which smelled neutral at that point (so no shower gel/body lotion/whatever that would distort the fragrance. Just plain me). Initially it smelled just like the bottle and I was ready to put the small bottle away in a drawer so it may never see light again. But then - after a mere minute or so - I was suddenly back in that park between the trees and flowers, thick, fresh raindrops soaking and refreshing me to my very core. A waking dream, a transcendental experience. At that very moment I fell in love with L'Essence and - with it being discontinued (how could you, Balenciaga?!?) - if I were to win the lottery, I would immediately buy all the available bottles the internet has to offer. I really cannot put it into words any better. I could use adjectives like 'elfin', 'airy', 'light', 'enchanting', 'nymph-like', 'forest-y' but the fact of the matter remains that this scent CAN'T be described properly. No one description could do it justice. I can say that it's green, that it's lightly floral, woodsy, ephemeral, airy and it certainly has an "aquatic" vibe to it. But it's not aquatic in the traditional sense; it's not a marine scent. It does not feature any “sea-like" quality. There's no salt, no ocean breeze nor sand. No. This one has a breeze, the breeze that the long awaited rain after a warm, humid week brings with it. It's dewy and fresh, but not in a soapy way, nor is there a citrus accord to it. Again, it can’t be described with words. There's a scene in the tv-series ‘Versailles' in the very first episode that depicts a dream of young Louis XIV. He dreams about his future palace and along with it a young, mysterious woman who is only credited as ‘Nymph'. It can be watched on YouTube here: youtu.be/jy1osHWrgG8 And this scent is exactly what would go along with it, even more with the accompanying piece of music which can be listened to here: youtu.be/z129yIOHEPQ L’Essence really is very unique. This is something that everyone who has smelled it on me can agree on. It is otherworldly and enchanting and extremely intriguing, as there really is no one note that particularly stands out; they're blended together like a beautiful Monet watercolour. All elements flowing into each other, yet somehow still distinctly present. Over the past year there was one time when I had finished my bottle and could not afford to buy a new one, so I had to go without L’Essence for about one and a half months. By this point I could hardly smell it anymore as I had grown so used to it. But when I finally got it again, I fell in love with it all over again. Some may say that this is not signature material, as it's too soft, too unremarkable, too fleeting... But I dare to disagree. As long as I can keep getting my hands on this, I will.

I've received a tester of this for which I've paid far too much, because I was intensely curious. Let's get one thing out of the way right now: this is definitely unisex. In fact, I believe that 9 out of 10 random blindfolded people would guess that this comes from the men's department. But I think this is mostly because of what mainstream perfumes dictate as 'masculine' and 'feminine'. 'L'Essence' does not care about such labels however. In fact, I've never smelled a scent that's more averse to letting itself be labelled than this one. It's indescribable. So let me just tell all you ladies who conform to the 'traditional' femininity as it is dictated by Lancôme for example (and there is nothing whatsoever wrong with that): this is not for you. 'L'Essence' smells like a walk through a fresh, lush forest during and after rainfall. And just like nature, it does not have a gender. So instead of calling it unisex, I'd say that this is simply genderless. Not even androgynous, just completely without any gender associations. The scent opens very sharply, a sharpness that will continue to exist through the entire ride, which really shouldn't come as a surprise, what with violet, violet leaf, vetiver and cedar. In its heart the scent becomes a bit softer and more forgiving, without ever losing its intense freshness. Happily this freshness is nothing like the freshness most are used to which usually comes from citrus - which I detest. No, this one is fresh like a forest is fresh; the light, misty air, the green leaves glistening with thick raindrops and dew, swaying softly in the breeze. Though this is not a light forest, it's a dense, deep, dark forest. The forest that holds mystery behind every tree, where you can't spot a single animal, yet you know they're there, probably hiding from the rain. And it's green. So. Intensely. Green. It reminds me a bit of my grandfather's aftershave and his Paco Rabanne, though it's not nearly as definitively masculine. This association may also come from the fact that my grandparents' house bordered a deep, dark forest in the back. In the morning granny usually opened all the windows and the fresh scent of the dewy morning forest would enter the house like an invasion. It often rained there during the night, and this scent is very reminiscent of that. So this might explain my association with my grandfather's scent as they were always a part of his morning routine and went hand in hand with the forest smell. (This is probably also the reason that I imagine Van Cleef & Arpels's 'First' a wee bit - my granny's signature). The more it dries down, the softer it gets, even revealing an extremely subtle sweet note under all that wood. Yet it still never becomes traditionally feminine, just like nature doesn't. This scent really is a journey, an experience. It's not a perfume at all. I've worn Prada's Iris with a lot of enthusiasm. I'm very fond of non conformist fragrances. And while that one was always the odd one out in the mainstream ladies' department, Balenciaga truly takes the biscuit in this regard. It's unique, extremely unique. I can promise you that if you wear this you will smell unlike anyone else. For some this will be off putting and that's alright. For others - like me - this will be exactly what they're looking for.

I agree with everyone who thinks this fragrance could be worn by either a male or a female. Well, most fragrances are this way, but this lends itself to more traditional gender fragrances roles. That said, I am a woman, but I come by it as someone who grew up in the country, playing in the woods with boys, experiencing nature from 4 seasons. I am probably more tomboy today than the girliest of girls. I rarely if ever reach for an overt floral fragrance, so this fits that bill wonderfully. My first fragrance was Dior's Eau Sauvage, so clearly I love vetiver, citrus, and basil. More recently, I discovered Ellen Tracy's Bronze. The violet notes in this are exactly the same as this fragrance, so perhaps I am a violet lover as well. Although after that these two fragrances go in separate directions. L'Essence concentrates on more woody, damp mossy black earth. It is a walk in the woods after a rain. I keep thinking it takes a turn downward, down in mood, down rolling around on the ground squishing damp violet leaves. Bronze is much brighter. It uplifts the spirit with oranges and sparkling lemonade before it settles into violets, cedar and vanilla with a hint of coconut. It is a summery day fragrance. So you might ask yourself, which one do I prefer? Bottles alone, no question, L'Essence. Juice is more difficult because I think that it just depends on your mood. Today, I am coming out of a cold, rainy, dreary day that was yesterday. (I wore Mitsouko yesterday). The weather today is sunny, a bit warmer but still cool with the remaining dampness. L'Essence fits that day in my mind. Watery, cool, clear but not yet bright. It is the mountain lake after a rainstorm. Everything is calm, the water like glass albeit a green inky glass. Still.

I don't have that much experience with the original Balenciage Paris - only sniffed it once at the department store, after having already worn this one, and I didn't like it as much as L'Essence. I remember smelling L'Essence on a magazine strip and thinking, "I have to have this". It was very me. i'm 25 now, i must have been 19 then. for some people thinking that this is an old-fashioned scent, i would disagree. before i was into perfumes, my 19 year old nose was drawn to this because it smelled classy, elegant, and expensive (not coincidentally). i remember having a guy around my age ask me out after remarking how nice this perfume was on me too! I don't even know how to describe the way this smells. Sure, the violet and vetiver are the prominent notes, but... it's so much more than that. It's just so luxurious, and i have a hard time comparing it to any other perfume that I own. It's a very special one -- something I would wear just for me though, not to impress anyone at a date, or a job interview, or a girls' night out. This is one of my "me" scents... i wear it for private enjoyment and to feel like an otherworldly classy lady. It's just elegant, if I had to describe it in one word - without the soapiness or aldehydes that you get in other 'classic' scents. It's very sophisticated, and I don't think it is for everyone - you need to be a certain type of woman to pull this off and rock it. It's not an old fashioned scent, but it's definitely for an old fashioned type of woman, be she young or old.

I received a large bottle of this fragrance when I purchased Balanciaga Paris. I can honestly say that I would never have tried this on my own based on the notes and because I almost NEVER go for watery clean scents; I prefer florals. Man, oh man, am I ever glad to have met this fragrance! I am so in love! This scent reminds me of the first time I backpacked through Europe. I would say that the women in Paris were pretty much "sex-bomb" sexy, meaning, that they had such a feminine sexiness that they really played up, like Bridget Bardot. But in Rome, I noticed that the women were "elegantly" sexy, meaning that they also oozed sexiness, but in a much more subdued elegant way, like Yvonne De Carlo in her modeling days. This is how I would describe Belanciaga L'Essence; it's elegantly sexy, not sex-bomb sexy. It's subdued and mysterious, not va-va-voom vampy. The first few minutes was a blast of vetiver that almost smelled too masculine to me, but I stayed with it to see where it would go. The woods came out next, along with the ozone, then it settled into a soft violet and watery scent, THEN, much to my surprise, it smelled exactly like a light feminine version of Dior Fahrenheit, probably THE sexiest scent ever on a man! I even looked up the notes on Fahrenheit, and found that many of them were the same. I love love love this fragrance and I am looking forward to spending lots of time together.