Carnet de Bal

I'd like to call Carnet de Bal the wildflower chypre, It feels crepuscular, not quite nightfall, with a spice patina—cloves, nutmeg. Before I obtained it, I saw the note of chamomile listed, and concerned myself with the power of suggestion, but I swear, there is a dusty apple-pear digestif glow of roman chamomile overshadowing the florals, and I love it for that. It's similar to the texture that is felt in Aromatics Elixir. Sweet animal musk advances, tangled in a brocade of oakmoss, underpinned with warm amber. It is a glow in dim light, without the plangent qualities of the typical chypre, and this nuance is its standout feature. It's a mezzo piano, gentle yet not reedy. One who demands "showy" in perfume may accuse it of being obtuse, and that would be a shame, because they may miss out on its covert wisdom. [70s version Parfum de Toilette]

My nose is not nearly sophisticated enough to be the basis of the only review! Someone please join me. In the meantime, here goes: I have the exact vintage flacon of the extrait pictured above, which had never been opened. Top notes are gone. I'm left with a gorgeous floral leather musk. I can detect the rose, the jasmine and the ylang-ylang, but they are well-blended. Very lux, very sexy. ETA: The flacon was apparently made to look like a cognac or brandy snifter when flipped. (It's clear--the orange in the picture above comes from the contents.) I may be suggestible, but the juice in the bottle smells to me quite like cognac. On my skin, though, it's all serious, old-school French perfume. The Société Française des Parfumeurs Paris classified Carnet de Bal a floral-aldehyde-chypre, FYI.

The absolutely tiny mini I ordered on eBay just arrived in the mail and I'm trying it now. I get the patchouli right away! Of course, since it is a tiny mini with a label I've never seen before, I can't be 100% sure it's authentic. EDIT: Since this mini is actually shaped exactly like a cross section of the bottle, I'm going with "yes" on the authenticity front. Trying it out today without any other frags on - I couldn't wait yesterday so I just dabbed it on a wrist, but it deserves to be in the spotlight. I do still get the patchouli right away but it dries down into something very understated and sexy, nothing like any of the others in my collection.

I have a mini from the mid 1960s. Any fruits and subtle notes like chamomile have long left the building. Instead, I'm left with a carnation/eugenol animalic musk with a hint of resinous woods. If I wear a LOT of it (eg - douse myself in the rest of the bottle), 8 hours later I have a slightly sour, animalic musk. Definitely old school. Worth seeking out if you are educating yourself on mid-20th century perfumery. I found mine in some "French perfume" airport mini sets.

I claim to have it, but that's kind of pushing it on my part, because what I really have is a nearly empty splash bottle (which is also the smallest sample splash I've ever seen.) There are what looks to be about two generous drops in the bottom corners of the molded glass, which have dried to something sort of gelatinous or otherwise non-flowing substance. Photo matching suggest to me that this is a 1960s edition, and it smells super yummy and awesome, even through the rubber stopper which has disconnected from the brass lid and is wedged in the neck of the bottle. I don't think I can claim to know the full scent, but what I am getting (from what I am able to get) makes me really hope to be able to get my hands on a wearable amount someday. I guess you could say I'm not really adding to the conversation, but I like what I've seen so far (er, smelled) so much, that I just wanted to hang out with the cool kids who have liquid product for a bit :> HI, COOL KIDS. How did you afford yours?? Ok, bye!