Rumba

I have been on a vintage kick lately, in my perfume journey and it's so much fun to revisit "old friends"...back in the days when everything was big, loud, outrageous and so very fun! I saw this for a good price and thought to give it a try once again. I sprayed Rumba on and oh, the memories. I love the boozy plum opening. The sweet honey- carnation-rose heart, with the bombastic plum-sandalwood-patchouli base ... that lingering honey note...it's a strong and polarizing perfume that, thank goodness, hasn't been reformulated far as I can tell. I canNot believe the price these days, as this was NOT cheap back in the day! This is the strongest toilette I've ever used...and to think I used the perfume! Beastly performance. It trails and wafts in the breeze. Sexy...my guy loves it. So did my UPS delivery guy the other day. I have spent so much on perfumes you have to reapply constantly, it makes me wonder...this cheaply priced baby, outperforms MOST of those in my large collection. It does smell vintage, so the youngsters who have Britney Spears as their signature scent won't be able to appreciate it. It's certainly not for everyone. (But it's really hard to take anyone seriously , who picks a run of the mill celebrity perfume, from the drug store, as their signature scent. Just saying). The long drydown is all honey rose and patchouli. If you don't like patchouli, the drydown won't be your cup of tea. Still, any vintage lover will appreciate this. It has that signature of a time when no one held back. ...this perfume certainly doesn't!

Rumba is, whichever way you decide to approach her, a work of pure art. I remember owning a bottle of her perhaps five years ago, and now I own a new one, as I foolishly gave away the first one. Back then, she was a fragrance that was as potent as they come, a fulgurating fury that seemed to smash a bottle of herself on everyone’s head around me, dousing them with her contents, just from the sillage I was carrying and emitting from several sprays to my body. Today, she is maybe a tad tamer, but still very, very strong. I wore her once before bed and, in the morning, she was still clearly detectable, if considerably faded. The composition cannot be unsmelled or forgotten, she is that original. Honeyed plums, bunches of rustic flowers, dollops of oakmoss (even if my bottle omits to mention it), shiny, polished leather, all manner of goodness is inside, seamlessly blended and endlessly beautiful. I feel like this is the perfect fragrance for a romantic stroll through the city on an autumn Sunday, arm-in-arm with your stronger half, soaking up the last sunny rays and maybe venturing into a museum or art gallery - Rumba is pure romance. Many strong fragrances come across as over-the-top excesses, leaving an impression of gaudy, immoderate taste. Somehow, Rumba avoids falling into the pitfall of corrupt power. She is strong and immaculate at the same time, an aristocrat among women’s perfumes.

Rumba is sexy and religous at the same time. Smells like burning candles. A bit too sweet, but worth the effort.It is too much really, but it is an experience. Really fantastic, although I know that not everyone likes this perfume and that does not really surprise me. I think only a person who is really into fragrance will appreciate this one. It does have and unconscious uplifting and emotional effect on me, and for that reason alone I do love it. If I want to wear something I find really special to set me in the mood for the night, like a drug to which I am addicted, intoxicating, I will wear Rumba and, believe it or not, it does bring about good things, maybe because of the special aura in which it envelopes me. It is intense, and the scent is really really special, not like any other oriental fragrance. Also, I find it extremely comforting, maybe for the resemblance to church smell, burning candles, although I am not religious and rarely have set foot in a church. But that might be the reason why the resemblance to church smell might comfort me. From a nonreligious person's viewpoint, it might be seen as a quiet, intimate, tranquility inspiring place. And, by no means nearly as important, I love the name and the bottle. A smashing fragrance. Also love what they say and totally agree: the perfume of a woman (or a man) who wants to be unforgettable.

I love the honey/sweet and salty/sour notes in Ted Lapidus Rumba! It's a really rich and interesting fragrance, opening with what seems like a blast of citrus, developing into a sweet & sour, underlying rich note that borders on rotting fruits, rich, smoky, and leathery, but still winds up being gorgeous, all around. I think the mirabelle plum -- also found in Chloe Nomade -- may give Rumba that awesome funk; something about mirabelle plum is sour and almost citrusy, if that is, in fact, the note I'm smelling in both (they both boast oakmoss, too). But while Nomade verges on the masculinity and cheapness of an Axe body spray, and to me has a grudging and depressed mien, Rumba stays spicy, enthusiastic, outgoing, and fun. Even though its mood is totally different, its closest relative to Rumba that I know of is Rochas Femme, with its leathery, salty/cumin, dark plum. But where Femme is dark, brooding, mature and a little world-weary, Rumba is ready to go out for the sunny day and dance late into the starry night... However, it may be necessary to reapply because I'm not sure its longevity is as great as its sillage. I love Rumba and will definitely enjoy it for years to come. <3

I don't know where to start. She’s badly good! i don't bother you by describing the scent because it’s extremely complex and unique to my nose. All i can say is this is a very good fragrance and it’s very inexpensive. If you enjoy classic fragrances, do yourself a favor and grab a bottle. It’s easily 10/10 for me. Jean-Claude Ellena and Ron Winnegrad knows how to do it right. When two masters work together, you know the result is something special. And indeed this is a special creation. For such a low price it’s very surprising that how great it is. Though we have lots of good stuff that are cheap, but this one is on another level. Extremely sensual-sexual-very romantic-passionat-joyful-somehow sad and happy at the same time-very complex-deep-full of contrasts-balanced-thoughtful-meaningful It’s create a very clean and clear picture in my mind with all the details, but it gets too long for share. Don't fool by notes and main accords, you should experience it. And it’s chypre. Performance is excellent. Masterpiece *_* ( beware is not for everyone )

It starts medicinal and herbal, similar to an after-shave, then mellows into decadent indolic flowers and waxy honey. I got this as a blind buy for the tuberose, but jasmine is the most prominent flower to my nose. Strangely, patchouli is a top note here. It screams at you at the first spritz, but it fades out gently. The incense and the wax make this scent devotional, reminiscent of a gothic church. I get no rumba, no sexy, sweaty brunette in a black dress dancing the night away. No, this is a woman who sneaks out at night to engage in secret, kinky actitivies then buttons herself up in black lace and goes to church the next Sunday morning like it never happened. A perfect scent for the female main character of My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne du Maurier, a widow who is passionate about gardening and concocting herbal remedies, goes to church regularly, and when no one is looking seduces gullible men.

This is perfume perfection. I sprayed some this morning and 10 hours later I can still smell it. It is flower bomb booziness...but no soft flowers here, it's very strong like you were smelling a bouquet of the headiest tabbaco flowers soaked in fruit liquor. It has the spicy sparkling quality of old Yvresse - YSL, but this one is aged in ambery woodiness. It is reminiscent of Talisman - Balenciaga, even Diva - Ungaro without the powdery feel. It remindes me of my paternal grandmother but not in the sense that it's old fashioned. She was ahead of her time, emancipated and well educated, she loved to travel, smoke and talk politics, drink greek style coffee and a shot of whiskey from time to time, she wore bespoke dresses with colorful prints...she was always an apparition. Her apartment was full of art, curious objects from distant lands and books. This perfume smells like that.

From the moment I sniffed the bottle, she called me inside to a time when life was much less simple. A time when women did not yet know how to exercise their independence, because they were still fighting for it. A time when smelling like flowers and cigarettes and skank and a little bit of demure sweetness was the closest thing you got to walking out on "your place." Perfumes in the 1980s were a time of self discovery and self expression. Big hair, big shoulder-pads, and big scents compensated for insecurity of what tomorrow would being. For just a moment this scent grounds me in that time. This is a gorgeous blend. It reminds me a lot of Caesar's World Women (I'm sure many will disagree). The leather is present but does not assault the nose. A successful blind buy!

This fragrance is absolutely gorgeous. Upon first spray, it is immensely heady and glamorous, if not slightly overpowering. A little goes a long way...2-3 sprays do the trick and it lasts for 10 plus hours on my skin. I did not look at the notes, but It smells waxy, like red lipstick or candles, spicy, rich and sweet. It reminds me of Chinatown By Bond no 9 because it smells vintage like, like a movie stars dressing table...dark wood, white flowers...cosmetics. I am wearing it now, despite the heat just because I love it. Rumba is definitely a more mature scent, reminiscent of the 80's and early nineties, so be prepared for that. You simply cannot beat the price...so if you blind buy it, as I did, your investment will be small. Love it!

Que DELICIA de manjericão!, nossa, ele brilha na minha pele e combina perfeitamente com essas frutas gordas e esse mel (que parece explodir em mim desde a saída ), em seguida o festival de flores desabrocham e os cravos e tuberosas estão em peso nessa festa saudando o mel, as frutas carnudas e os seres verdes, este perfume parece ser algo divino, ritualístico, para atrair fartura e prazer, sabe? É maximalista e nunca imaginei que algo assim pudesse ser tão elegante e sedutor, imagino que quem contribui fortemente é a nota de couro e com toda certeza é um dos perfumes com construção mais prazerosa que senti na vida. Perfume de mulher pagã que cultua a natureza. ✵✯✶⚝✧٭*

A triumphant hymn to femininity, a fragrance with an extraordinary, kaleidoscopic olfactory pyramid. Rumba by Ted Lapidus first Balenciaga, a masterful fragrance created by the great master Jean-Claude Ellena. The historic feminine fragrances are magical, mystical, full of surprising, wonderful shades, difficult to understand if you don't love them deeply. Rumba is an exciting symphony orchestra of chords and notes: amber, animalic, boises, fruity, floral, with an immense heart of palpable honey, which is the vibrant soul that holds the entire blend together in its sparkling beauty. Rumba is the fragrance that represents femininity par excellence. Masterpiece

Well wasn't this a delightful surprise! A delicious amberesque escape vehicle from a cold dark winter's day. I bought this warm day in a bottle to up my cart in order to recieve free shipping and I am so glad I did! I think I might even like it more than the bottle of Kenzo Jungle which accompanied it. It's so well blended that you can barely discern one note from the next and yet it is so warm and inviting. I just can't stop sniffing it, which is easy given that this beast RADIATES like a monster with a will to do harm! Don't estimate the power of an 80s throwback, give it a try, because it is dirt cheap and outbeasts many fragrances of its elite callibre.

This definitely has a vintage flare and I don't mind. Rumba is an older more mature relative of Givenchy Amarige...honeyed peach with marigolds are main players here followed by leather and oakmoss...gardenia gives it a slight creaminess and lily of the valley adds a soapy touch. I could totally see a guy rocking this as well as leather and oakmoss keep this scent from being too sweet. Hard to believe it's an edt as it behaves like an edp. To me this is a night out scent probably best suited for fall/winter. You'll appreciate this scent only if you're into vintages otherwise might find it polarizing. For me it's a nostalgic Love.

After all these "fragrance years"....I finally sniffed Rumba !! Then I HAD TO have a bottle. Rumba is old school classic....ect....... It is similar in "vibe" to quite a few other scents, IMO, like Montana Parfum de Peau, Sisley Eau de Soir, Animal, ect...Which I do own and like a lot. So, Rumba for me is "just another brick in the wall", and OH ! what a wall it is !! LOL I love it !! I need to try the vintage Balenciaga version some day....???....!!! Rumba has surely/obviously been re-formulated....but it is still a powerhouse scent. Welcome Rumba, let's dance !!!

Lovers of syrupy sweet and fruity fragrances will hate this. Rumba is a grown up mossy delight with lots of woody notes and a few florals to balance it out. It reminds me of the heavy hitters everyone wore in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Aldehydic, persistent and aromatic. I love the bouquet this evokes upon spraying, you‘ll enjoy it on your skin for a good 6 hours and you’ll get compliments but mainly from men...some of the ladies at work are walking LVEB dispensers.

Just finished my first bottle today and thankfully I have a backup ready to go. This is the perfect cold weather scent. The wafts in clouds with utter extreme boujee vibes. Sweet, ambery, raspberry, honey, 80's lipstick in a New York tower wearing chic couture. Up close, it's dirty, animalic, smokey and offensive. I love both sides of this fragrance, but it's the wafting clouds that makes this such a rich, complex, old money "Pretty Lady" frag. 10/10.

I ordered the Balenciaga version, but got Ted-Lapidus instead...was not happy about that. Scent wise, its core is very, very similar to Ysatis, which I absolutely LOVE. The only difference is the top fruity notes and the touch of leather in the dry down of Rumba. If you love Ysatis, you will love Rumba. I've ordered an older version of the Balenciaga, so I will come back and compare the 2 once I've received it, and tried both on my skin.

This is a typical 80s powerhouse bomb with loud floral opening almost repulsive, for a second there I was afraid if it’s too overpowering and offends my family. But the dry down is so beautifully earthy. This could be Boucheron older sister, but it is infused with a dash of earthy vetiver of dioressence. It’s impressive given the cheap price tag. As I am writing this and sniffing my arm, I’m already thinking of stocking up on this one.

Wow! There is a lot going on there! Its as if it morphs into a new incarnation every 15 minutes. It starts off like fruit in a forest but there is also wood, tonka,patchouli,smoke,leather and musk.It starts of very masculine in my opinion. A half hour later flowers, leather, musk tonka and patchouli.An hour later the fruit and flowers are withering and it softly smouldering. The whole scent rests on a heavy base Very nice.

This is really beautiful. It's definitely got a vintage feel from the carnation, marigold and heliotrope. But the honey and vanilla smooth this juice out and the raspberry and plum add a fruity complexity. The ambergris is subtle and brings such a nice richness. It's Very lush and deep and complex. This is one of those that's gets better the older it gets. We need to make vintage perfumes vogue again.