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.

Edit to my earlier post: I have been on something of a fragrance sample bender during the last few months due to my changing sense of smell (comes with middle age). I have found a few gems, both niche and commercial, that I am going use, but the major discovery was this fragrance. I simply adore it and will wear it year round. I think that the reason I enjoy this scent is that it is a not cloying, not too iris-y, not too sugary violet. In fact, it goes so well with the cedar and sandalwood and vetiver that it got me into vetiver fragrances as well (among them the masculine Encre Noir that is just fantastic for a vertiver loving woman like me). And so it goes with scents. I think that once you get the fragrance bug there is no escape. :-D I am going to turn to tuberose next. This is an amazing fragrance. I love violets but not many violet perfumes. This one is just outstanding in both composition and longevity. Simply perfect for spring. It smells green, elegant and complex, and lasted 12+ hours on my skin that usually eats up perfumes. The vetiver and cedar notes feel like a logical extension of the cool opening green notes (violet leaf) and violet. As I get older my taste is becoming more diverse and I once again appreciate green, herbaceous, earthy and even bitter notes so I stumbled across this gem at just the right time.

A graceful rider on a white horse is dashing through the morning mist on a beautiful spring day. The calm serenity of green scenery is surrounding her while the birds are greeting the arrival of the first light. The dawn is breaking, softly unveiling the mystery of a new day. The air is filled with a scent of fresh leaves, mist and a gentle scent of leather. This beautiful moment is captured perfectly in the soft, elegant and fresh scent of Balenciaga L’Essence. The composition is centered on the violet leaf with its gentle green and fresh beauty. It is so soft and calm, cool and refreshing. I love how the composition creates this aura of freshness without going into the laundry or straight-out-of-shower scent category. It is clean but also very sophisticated. As the composition develops, there is a gentle leather scent that is layered on the green notes. The floral presence is only slightly powdery and never overpowering. All notes are perfectly woven together creating this absolutely gorgeous and elegant scent. The scent is not too strong, but it certainly is noticeable and lasts for hours. This is a great everyday scent. Sophisticated yet subtle and easy to wear. I love this scent and would not hesitate to recommend it. Overall score 8.5/10

Bought this on a happy whim as I went on a little shoppingspree in my local perfume shop. I already have the original Balenciaga Paris, and I love that one. This one, I have seen before, and thought the bottle was so beautiful, (maybe I even tried it on as well, a few years ago) but now I had heard that it is discontinued. So I was surprised when I saw this on the shelf in this nice woman’s little shop. Decided to buy it, since I realized that I probably will not have another chance. Just 30 ml, but I am perfectly happy. I have got the original after all, a big bottle, and this is just a little something extra. I think it is quite much like the original, but a little deeper, with some extra warmth. The violet is prominent in both fragrances, but in this it is a little more like candied violets, or violet candy. And I feel a little trace of liqorice too, somehow. A little extra of both soft powder and some creamyness, almost like babylotion. I am glad that I got the chance to have both. Same same but different... 💜 P.S.: If they still would have both options, and it would be time for me to repurchase, and I could only choose one: I would choose this.

Balenciaga! Your perfumes are so unique and beautifully crafted! Paris L'Essence opens all green and violetty. Pretty, but in a fairies-and-elves sort of way, rather than a pink-party-dress-for-a-princess sort of way. Dainty and understated but a total work of art, nonetheless. As the perfumes dries down, a woody mossiness becomes stronger, but it also retains a subtle powderiness, and the violets never quite leave. There is a hint of lemon and patchouli in the dying phases. I'm not a fan of patchouli, but here the lemon (which I LOVE, though it's not listed as a note)violet balances it nicely enough to not be offensive. I'm wearing Paris (the original) on my other wrist, and find that one slightly bolder, a little more woody and a little sweeter (in a green kind of way!) I personally prefer the original, I think, though the two really are very similar and I'd be ever so happy to own either! (Still on the wish-list.) Might I add that the bottle are just B-E-A-Utiful too?? Biggest criticism of L'Essence is that it only lasts around 2 hours on my (dry) skin. Otherwise, the story it tells is very beautiful indeed.

The perfect Spring perfume. I love green perfumes, and this is one of the best I've smelled in quite some time. L'Essence has an aquatic vibe, yet it's not aquatic. I smell 100% pure, fragrant, freshly cut violet flowers and leaves. The soft powderiness of violet is perfectly balanced with the vibrant green leaves. What I love about l'Essence is that it gives the illusion of a citrus top-note, but I highly doubt there is any citrus in the perfume at all. It's a truly unique and remarkable fragrance. I would describe it as violet, woody, slightly powdery, aquatic, fresh, clean, bright, and green. Just gorgeous. The color and clarity of the bottle matches the scent of the juice perfectly. I don't agree with this being masculine at all. I would consider it if I needed to replace my Mimosa perfume by Christiane Celle, another green floral for women. This totally lacks the spicy and intensely woody base notes of traditional masculine aquatics and/or colognes. I'm not saying men can't wear this (of course they can), but I think most men would find the powdery violet to be too feminine.

I bought online Balenciaga Paris (which I like a lot) considering comming Spring but what I've got was Balenciaga L'Essence (never got a chance to test it before). That confusion irritates me for a while. Still, I've decided to give L'Essence a chance. Oh, my sweet, sweet Faith! Thank you! This one is melty, creamy, kind a greenish liquid Heaven. On my skin it's not hardly discernible, nor a whisper of fragrance (for that, I'm grateful). This scent melts on skin softly embracing it. It's feminene and innocent. Not girlish. Not exactly fresh. Soft. And again, creamy. L'Essence gives me the same feeling as Prada Infusion D'Iris but in a curvy way. While PID'I is kind a sharp and has a soapy edge, BL'E brings the "clean" sensation without being rough and "right in front of you" .This scent just floats on my skin. PS: If the main note I'm detecting is violet leafs (according to Your Votes) so I finaly found the perfect non-watery-green violet leafs in a fragrance. Bravo,M. Polge! Bravo!

L’Essence de Cristobal Balenciaga is a light airy perfume resembling the half remembered memories of an evening perilously misspent. Opening with an unexpected and unmentioned citrus jam note, the fragrance is soon subsumed into a vast array of flowers, all violets. One could be deceived for thinking this the scent of a simple and straightforward young woman. That would be a mistake. An internal accord of complexity and steely determination manifests itself in a vetiver, lawn grass and cedar tree background that gives the whole package genuine staying power and silage whilst remaining defiantly unsweet and uncute. This silk ball gown contains a young woman with a past that stretches back long before last night. And as for men? They will come and go and some of them will smell, for a time at least, of violets too. This is a concise version of the review, made brief for ease of reference. A full text can be found at theperfumeddandy.com

I love love love this. This ended up being the most reached for perfume over spring summer. Bottle almost over. I love everything about it, it has everything I like, each just a tiny tiny bit. Tiny bit of Woody greenness, tiny bit of floral powdered sweetness, doesn't stay for long on skin, but -like a reviewer here commented- worn in humid weather, it surprises you hours later when you cannot detect it anymore on your wrists, with gorgeous wafts of a scent that is different from what you smell on skin. (I thought it was someone else's perfume at first and kept looking around.) I just love it. This had me going on a search for violet perfumes, I found out I do like violets, but especially in this. Edit: after wearing this for a year, I love it even more. I tried many violet and green floral scents but nothing like it. Fresh, soft, ethereal, covertly sensual, calming, mysterious. I agree a bit gothic. Thank you Mr. Olivier!

Wow ! Tried this some months ago at Amsterdam airport, I liked it, the bottle is gorgeous but my husband said...nothing special. Now WEARING it due to a lovely swap with Jaspersen (thanks)- I have to disagree with my husband, cause this is ~ special ! The sweet and tender violet, cedar and soft creamy patchoulie is wonderful on me ! The first snif reminded me of Blvgari Mon jasmin noir that I have had and loved, it reminded me of the soft nougat in that one, though this one lacks. The cedar and patchoule is notes that are similar to both ! It also has a tiny character of Spears Believe, but dont tell that to this house...they may get discouraged ! This is lovely, to me very much like Mon Jasmin noir, even the bottle is as pretty I'm in love again ! could ́t resist getting me a 30 ml.... Mmmm This is even wearable a day with nasty headace...kind of soothing to wear !

This perfume is one of the most worn and most reached for in my collection. L'Essence Balenciaga is very similar to “Balenciaga Paris” (cream & yellow color bottle). It is unnecessary to own both in my opinion but L'essence is the more interesting of the two. L'essence is violet dominant, dry woody, sweet, and slightly powdery like the original Paris. The more bitter aspects, which include vetiver and the green violet leaf, counter the girlish nature of violet and make this a rather serious sophisticated scent. I find L'essence moderate in strength and a bit short in lasting power (~3 hours before I feel like I should reapply). I don’t know if others would agree with me, but I think this is a unisex scent although it is marketed to women. I hypothesize if men wore L'essence it would be very attractive on them.

i can't remember if i've reviewed this one. it was one of my perfumes before i even got into perfumes. i think i smelled it in a magazine and knew i needed it! i still have it in my collection today, as well as a small back up which i got a while back since it's discontinued. i liked someone else's description, this smells like "a summer morning before a rain storm" sometimes (often) violet irritates my allergies and it's suffocating for me, but this really isn't like that at all. it's so natural smelling you could almost imagine drinking it. it's really beautiful and classy. whenever i want to feel elegant in the spring time, i wear this. this was always much better for me than the original, which I don't really even like. that one smells too old fashioned to me. this is a lot nicer if you can find it.

L'Essence is very similar to Paris with prominent violet and violet leaf. The green, crisp metallic tinge is still present. However, it is an earthy, smoky, more soil-infused violet whereas Paris is an above-ground dewy floral. L'Essence and Paris share the same character, but L'Essence reminds me of the spring garden under a sky filled with grey storm clouds, a crisp wind is blowing, the air is thick with earthy smells and imminent rain. Paris is the same garden after the rain, fresh, floral, and moist, with the sun gleaming through the clouds. It's a little more introspective than Paris, but both are beautiful renditions of violet, dependent on your mood, and I find for myself, the weather too.

My imagination convinced me to blind buy L'Essence, just because the reviews mention words like green, dark, forest, and elves. I was intrigued. I don't own any green scents (not a fan, really), nor did the original Balenciaga Paris convince me to buy it, but I am so glad I decided to take my chances with this one! It took me a week before I decided to write a review and still cannot find the right words. I am enchanted. I reach out for it every day and cannot stop sniffing myself, I'm finding it delicious and love the way it evolves. Nothing sharp, nothing sour, feels like silk from start to end. Longevity is good, sillage is weak but I only mind because I wish others would experience it. :)

I absolutely love this! This was a cheap blind buy, 95% full with no box. This is perfection. I love green/powdery scents, and this is so wet and lush/juicy, yet soft and powdery, with pretty good sillage/potency/lasting power. The best part of this-- it reminds me of my favorite scent: Vol de Nuit, except juicy/wet with violets. The violets also remind me of Apres L'Ondee. So basically I call this a "Night Flight After the Rain" (combining the two Guerlain names). This is perfection. I would love to hoard it, and buy many backups, but this bottle was a crazy good deal and it's otherwise very pricey. I will treasure and use this to the last drop, and keep my eyes peeled for a backup.

This one surprised me. I got it in a blind swap. After reading the reviews I was apprehensive about the Farenheit vibe; not a fan. Soft, classy violets predominate. No 80's loudness here, this is a subtle skin scent with great longevity. Personally, I'm glad that the patch, vetiver, sandalwood combo is light-handed, not taking away from the sophisticated floral. It reads multi-seasonal to me, multi-functional, from a hiking trail to boardroom, to the opera, where whispering speaks louder than a brassy, shouting scent. It could be considered unisexy with it's "after the rain" vibrancy. What a delightful change for my unusually heavy white (floral) collection.