Balu

When they say gourmand, THIS is a gourmand! A creamy, syrupy, almost buttery sweetness. This is gourmand heaven. After a short while, the sourness of the condensed milk gets a little softer, and makes room in this dessert bowl for a wonderfully smooth chocolate/cocoa that blends perfectly with the creaminess. This fragrance is like if molasses, dates, butter, condensed milk and cocoa are being stirred in a pot made of pure vanilla, simmering over a gentle flame. This has a dry down very very similar to saint Julep of imaginary authors, but it's distinguished in the creamy butteryness, while Julep is more sugar focused. Just the dry down is similar, to be clear lol. Lasts a good while, projects moderately nothing crazy. Also like the other two fragrances in this collection, based on Burmese folk lore, hence the name Balu, an ogre in Burmese myths.

Soo beautiful! I got the sample set for this and the other Myanmar folklore–inspired perfumes because my partner is from Myanmar, and they were really impressed by how much it actually smells like people’s houses back home. Balu really comes through with dates and molasses, super sweet, a little acrid, almost syrupy. It also feels somewhat like humid weather, kind of oppressive. The projection is intense, and the longevity is wild. I’d definitely avoid wearing it in tight, enclosed spaces... I’m pretty sure my fellow commuters did not appreciate it on the 7 a.m. train. :D

Just utterly delicious. I don't personally wear gourmands, but this is gorgeous regardless. The date and the black currant at the top separate it from other similar dessert-style gourmands. This might just be me but it almost has a smoky, incense quality to it? I don't know how Gabar does this but all their fragrances have a lightness to them, even when the notes are typically very heavy. A really great southeast Asian take on this style of fragrance!

What is going on here. I Absolutely love lactonic and sweet scents, and I just can't seem to get behind this. Its sweet, I feel the dates, but there's just something slightly off-putting about it. There's a tinge of something synthetic, maybe its the molasses, maybe its the condensed milk, since both of those are relatively artificial smelling. I'm wondering if it's the blackcurrant, as that's a sour, piercing fruit, thats undercutting it? I don't know, but I just can't get over it. Something's massively throwing me off. I didn't try it on skin, maybe that's not helping, I really wanted to like this one.

I really wanted to love this because the note breakdown sounded amazing on paper, but the actual experience left me a bit underwhelmed. The opening is sharp and not as smooth as I expected,with something almost chemical peeking through before it settles. Once it dries down, you do get some of the promised sweetness from the dates and cocoa, but it feels a little heavy and flat rather than rich and layered. The creaminess that other people mention is there, but to me it leans more cloying than comforting. Longevity is fine and projection is moderate, but overall it just doesn’t feel balanced.. more like a syrupy dessert that needed a touch of freshness or spice to cut through. Not a scrubber, but not something I’d reach for often either

Balu sounded absolutely perfect to me on paper: blackcurrant, condensed milk, cocoa, molasses, vanilla, tonka bean. I expected something rich, creamy, dark, and comforting — almost like a luxurious milk dessert with chocolate and syrupy depth. Unfortunately, on my skin the blackcurrant completely overtook the opening. Instead of creamy sweetness, I got a tart, sharp fruitiness that immediately clashed with the gourmand direction I was hoping for. The condensed milk note never really materialized in a realistic way, and the cocoa felt muted beneath the sharpness. What disappointed me most is that the fragrance never softened into the warm lactonic comfort I expected. The molasses, vanilla, and tonka stayed frustratingly distant, while the sharper aspects remained front and center. The result felt oddly disconnected from the note pyramid — more abstract and perfumey than edible or cozy. I can imagine this working beautifully on someone whose skin amplifies creamy notes differently, because the composition itself is interesting. But on me, the tart blackcurrant and persistent sharpness prevented the fragrance from becoming the rich gourmand experience I was hoping for. This made me realize that I’m probably much more sensitive to certain modern amber/musk structures than I initially thought, because even fragrances built around dessert notes can suddenly turn sharp and diffuse on my skin.

i ordered a sample directly from the brand, eugh wtf is this?? this smells nothing like the notes listed. not to mention it’s borderline disgusting. smells like straight nail polish remover for the first hour with some weird smoky sweetness throughout. then it dries down to be more bearable but still i can’t detect any of these notes it smells like a completely different fragrance. shame because the notes made it sound like it was gonna be delicious.

Deeply inventive gourmand. This has a tart fruitiness that juxtaposes with a warm and creamy sweetness. The balance is one of a kind and not what I would expect at all.