Rumba

Since this week I'm wearing RUMBA by Balenciaga daily in order to focus me entirely in on this extraordinary fragrance. Balenciaga's Rumba is a potent scent grenade , as it could not be stronger and more luscious for me. Someone describes it as "harmless" and suitable for warmer days, but I don't think so. On the contrary, I'm deeply pleased that many fragranticans do not perceive it as a " typical 80 firecracker ", which surprised me ... For me, Rumba is a madness mirage, as it could not be more intense and hotter . Perfect for the cold season. A composition like Rumba's one is no longer common today and it may shock younger noses. Rumba is an extrovert, fruity - chypre animal, floral, velvety and heavy stuff. Ultra feminine , seductive and hot. * Hot * would not be the right word for it: it's probably a mere understatement. In fact, it is fierce, sunny and dark, mystical and profound as Spain in XVI century would be: it is probably the scent that St. Teresa of Avila would have smelt during her visions. Rumba unfolds on my skin to a fiery scent cocktail. Two delicate whiffs and even my room smells enticing. This passionate fragrance is comparable to the strength and Sillage of Youth Dew, Opium or to older Oriental Serge Lutens fragrances. One can almost taste the Rumba on the tongue. The composition is balanced around waxe-y, sacred notes of honey and incense and they do not appeal to everyone for sure. It takes quite a bit of self confidence to wear Rumba. The fruity top note, especially the plum, floats throughout the fragrance flow which is probably obtained without banal synthetic-fruity manipulation. It smells more like a delicious compote or a spiced plum jam. The flowers in the heart notes form such a perfect unity that I can not smell one by one. Even the dominant tuberose for me is not recognizable and restrains, almost hides itself . The base note is similar to the overall impression, that doesn't change much during its impressive projection: more than 12 hrs. I would almost call it a linear fragrance, because everything is so harmoniously composed around honey and incense. You shouldn't overdose it, otherwise you'll probably induce a headache to the ones who dislike fierce fragrances. Everyone should be careful with this fragrance grenade. Ted Lapidus has taken Rumba in the 90's. Whether the smell has now also been reformulated, I can not notice any relevant difference between the old formulation and the recent one. My comment refers to Balenciaga's original .

Rumba is perfect for these cool coastal days and I will be enjoying this a lot in fall and winter months as well. I haven't worn it in warmest temps but it would probably bloom if modestly applied. I've had these little carded samples of Balenciaga Rumba for a long time. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to it as I have so many perfumes and samples as well. I had, however, been hoping to luck out and get some vintage Dior Poison but kept missing out. One day I was sampling the Rumba again and ran across the reviewer (conti-alessia) who mentioned this as being Poinsonesque. I kind of paused and it was like it finally made sense to me! I finally understood the lemming that Rumba was trying to answer for me! It really does have that same feel to me and I've forgotten about the Dior now. Rumba is my thing! I bought an older bottle of the Balenciaga version and when it came I sprayed it and thought it had gone bad. Then I remembered to spray it through the uptake tube and after that it smelled beautiful as ever. It is a smooth spiced floral and someone else mentioned it smelling like being surrounded but a hundred spiced beeswax candles. That's a very accurate description. Rumba makes me think of honeyed candied fruits and lush orange blossom bouquets. Rich and full and opulent. Here's the important part, DO NOT OVERAPPLY! This is a bold perfume and has potent power! One or two sprays strategically placed is perfect! It mellows down to a pretty scent that reminds me of a spicy clean smell not unlike the way clean fresh clothes smell (thank you Downy and Snuggle.) I mean that in a great way! I've also discovered that Burt's Bees lotion for dry skin is the perfect moisturizer to layer this over. B.B. has a soft vanilla scent and it gives the perfumed a honeyed base to go over. There's your PSA for today! So glad I didn't give a pass to Rumba! It's a new found love for my collection.

I was somewhat hesitant to even try this fragrance after hearing Rumba describe as loud and in your face. People who described it that way must have been talking about the Lapidus version because I'm certainly not getting that here. There is no denying this is a big fragrance, in line with other classical fragrances of its day, but it is not aggressive or overwhelmingly so. What I am getting are florals dripping in honey (love that tuberose 💖) combined with delectable, slightly boozy fruit. The addition of leather distinguishes it from other loves of mine in the same fruity floral vein, Dily's and Fath de Fath, modernizing it a bit and being different enough where it's not redundant having it in my wardrobe (as if I really needed a reason 😂). Though this starts out as a fruity floriental, it ends up as a gorgeous mossy, woodsy, fruity chypre. And despite the kitchen sink abundance of notes, I don't find it too much or unwearable at all, at least compared to other heavy hitters of the day. Then again, I did dab it on so spraying might give a more aggressive result. I am still curious about the Lapidus version though, but I can't imagine it smelling any better than this, especially since Lapidus is so inexpensive. I'm suspicious over whether the quality of ingredients is on par with this. Since I have my doubts about that I would like to get my nose on a sample to see if my suspicions are correct or not. Or even to find out if maybe Jean Claude Elena thought he might have been able to improve on the original formula. Whatever the case, as of now, I am just enjoying this mini that is so potent and long lasting with just a few dabs that I doubt I need anything bigger at the moment. It just occurred to me that this is how I imagined Rochas Femme would smell, but that pungent cumin note ruined it for me. So glad I found what I was looking for here.

Wow , what a perfume ! Very sparkling fruity opening which makes you think Rumba is a well chosen name : you feel like dancing beautiful gypsy dances ! Then a suprising spicy carnation appears to freshen fruits and ... what a second and big suprise for me : leather here is gorgeous as it is so well surrounded by santal ; oakmoss is not overwhelming and it is beautiful . A must have for all vintage strong perfumes lovers in my opinion as I find it quite unique .You would think of it as an oriental but in the end you feel the chypre soul : the rumba is danced by a couple unlike the gypsy Buleria :-) . A great BIG perfume and a perfect signature fragrance for these days ... if you apply lightly :-) In my opinion Rumba Passion by Ted Lapidus has nothing to see with Balenciaga Rumba . The former is a rather linear modern scent not to be compared in richness and depth to Balenciaga's and to classics in general and they do not smell the same at all as Rumba Passion is dominated by rose and patchouli . Anyway Rumba Passion is nice and longlasting too , both aspects are not that frequent in newborn fragrances unfortunately . I would never buy Rumba Passion but I could wear it sometimes as I ( strangely ) find its rose and patchouli pleasant for a casual scent . But Balenciaga's Rumba is another music and dance !

This is big 'ol fragrance from the 80's! Big, brassy, bold, in yer face! Even the bottle and packaging screams BIG 80's ... !!!!! First spraying amazing, big 80's, middle tones, big 80's but then comes the drydown and that is so gentle it's amazing too! Honeyed plum notes, the spices and vanilla just come together so beautifully! This is BIG and it shouts loud to start with. But so do a lot of the newer perfumes on the market - I can name Elie Saab for one - it is just that the newer compositions have, what we have come to regard as a more modern scent! But what is perfume - it is an art of composing a symphony to be worn rather than listened to; or it is a loving caress of our olfactory senses (no, not an assault on them as some of the more modern fragrance makers seem to think) it is like a beautiful piece of chocolate - to be savoured rather than gorged on! Rumba is all of these and more and I think the name could now be changed to Zumba rather than the more gentle Rumba; as it is far more complex, exotic and energetic.....!!!! You will definitely not be overlooked when you wear this and I can see it being worn perfectly with some of Balenciaga's more exotic haute couture gowns! NB: This review is for the Balenciaga version and not the Lapidus one!