Balafre (Vintage)

Balafre is what Michel of Godard's À bout de souffle would've worn. Balafre is a chocolate brown wool suit; an engraved brass cigarette case containing Tareyton cigarettes. It's a worldly man on the verge of breaking free from the hegemony to live in a cabin in the woods, but just can't muster the courage to do it. Balafre stares at a floating Alexander Calder mobile and spaces out the colors. Balafre is a man advised by a guru to seek the anima within him, but would rather get lost in scotch and Scott Walker albums. Balafre has a Mattachine Review hidden in an issue of Gentleman's Quarterly. The sound it would make is incidental music played with a rhodes and celeste. It's a moody mossy number, flanked with resin-whipped lavender, dark green pines, and shady cedars. Herbal-musky, muted green and dusky. It's sonorous, but shows a gentle restraint. It feels like the relief of cool late September air after a long summer. It declares "it's just a glorious time to be alive!" It has that same distinguished man flair that Monsieur Rochas and Equipage have, however, the conifers are the centerpiece in Balafre. Unfortunately, it goes for a pretty penny nowadays, but if this captures your imagination, patiently await a modest 20ml vial like my own and apply judiciously.

Fantastic scent. I just want to get a hold of the original mix once again. It is so elegant and sporty for daytime use in the autumn, in the city or on the countryside among falling coloured leaves and fresh air. It is a sporty gentlemans perfume. I wonder why Lancome does not relaunch it. It is a classic by its own standards. Bad marketing management by the house.

Balafre is like Yatagan going to visit his parents in law. "Well, at least put on a clean sweater, and shoes on, you're not wearing those boots, and, remember to smile, honey." And Yatagan smiles, and actually feels quite good in this attire, at least for a weekend while. Truly a great perfume!

I know it's vintage and I'm heading that way myself but I find this fragrance so fresh and uplifting. Different to most of the modern popular mainstream scents which frankly are too sweet for me. Really love this fragrance it is so enjoyable to wear.

Why lancome discontinued this masterpiece? Please bring back balafre once again! Balafre is very close to Aramis & Bel Ami by Hermès❤️

it's re launch again by lancome and you can buy it at lancome's shop for about 165£! pretty expensive though!

My favorite uncle used to smell like this, I love it. He was an old style, working class alcoholic

Vintage but not dated the least... Balafre opens with oakmoss and sage with just a hint of bergamot to soften things up. Through the heart the moss sneaks further forward in the picture, while being supported by geranium, carnation, cypress and pine. By the time we reach the base leather and some musk is also introduced and blends in finely with the moss that has been present throughout the experience. Balafre (meaning scar in french) is foremost a masculine fougere, but also fresh, slightly soapy and understated. It does not seem nearly as dated as I expected, far from it and even my girlfriend praises this - which is unheard of for almost all my vintage stuff. Truly one of the classics and very much worth trying out if you stumble across a bottle.

The smell of being comfortably enveloped by a tweed jacket of a long-lost male relative. By ritualistically smelling this, his best traits are passed on to you. You feel safe, masculine & confident. Oakmoss & coniferous greenery are being enhanced with a tangy medicinal chamomille. The heart reveals a prominent tobacco note, which can't be found in the notes listed above.

This fragrance is a statement. A fragrance that gives man power. Often copied but never equaled. Reminds me very much of Rochas Monsieur and Hermes Equipage.

This fragrance is still wearable. It ́s kind of timeless. Today this would be called niche. Herbal without being too green or spicy.

I have had the occasion to test the original vintage one, e which was really weird balsamic woody foresty green and clean with flash of light. A real fresh shower. Made to make you feel inside of a forest. Made to be a pleasent smell of true living nature more than a perfume. The new version is made to be a perfume. Things are changed. Materials as well. This is a nice trip into the legend of that era. '68 was close. Needs of uncontaminated nature. So this is a tribute to a fresh sauvage dirty orgy of vegetal nature. But sporty and classy this time. Less rude. More office than the original then desecrated and deprived of its nature primary. At least it is a different choice if you want to surprise people and be unique. A lot of fresh oakmoss into the background. Unfortunatly it do not remains on so much.

This fragrance is really weird ( re-launched edition which is green). First I loved it, smelled like fresh lavander have some similarity with Caron Pour Homme but with less sweet and bought it then next days I smelled it again it seems very much different it was more smokey lavander, more like a dark forest feeling. Anyway after while I tried it again and started to like some of the notes that I started to notice. I dont love it but I would not buy another one. It is a nice scent.

I still have a vintage bottle of Balafre. Thirty years old it still smells wonderful. Balafre, you age well. So much for the general view that even the best perfumes start to lose their quality after five years or so. Mine is a spray, operating by means of a propellant. I must also point out that I do not use it often. Perhaps this might be the key to its aromatic survival. I haven't tried the eau de perfume that was released in 2010.

A very soapy opening with bergamot which gives way to pine, moss and lavender. Eventually you can smell leather, it's herbal and oldschool remniscent of Derby by Guerlain. It smells nice and is complex with many notes coming and going within the herbal mix. The only downside is that it only lasts a few hours and then it's gone.

there were two balafre-vert(green water) and brun(yellow water).picture on this site is vert.but they say brun is better.lancom issued it didnt notify that it is vert

Autumn. Wait for dusk... go in a dense forest, colours changing while it rains lightly, grab some crunchy leaves exhale freely, inhale deeply that's Balafre !

it is not available in market, when I asked in duty free shop they tell me it out from the market.