Rumba (1988)
by Balenciaga

I'm inclined to agree with the nay-sayers on this one. When I read the list of notes I thought for sure that this was something that I would love, however, it was not to be. Fortunately, I had purchased the 4-5 ml mini on ebay one night, so I wasn't out of lots of money. I really wanted to like it so I tried it on a few different occasions, but as someone mentioned earlier, all that keeps coming to mind is the loudness of a scent like Giorgio, even though it doesn't smell like it. Rumba has an over-the-top fruitiness that can become a bit cloying after a while. It would have been nice if that fruitiness had been tempered at some point by the oakmoss, sandalwood and cedarwood, but that never happens on me so the scent just sustains the same cloying fruitiness throughout to the point where I wanted to scrub it off. For sillage, think Giorgio, a little goes a long way.

VERY SIMILAR TO CAPUCCI DE CAPUCCI, IT SMELLS BRILLIANT, LUXURIOUS AND ELEGANT

I was astonished to learn that Rumba was created by Jean-Claude Ellena as it is in NO WAY representative of the sheer, elegant fragrances that I associate with his minimalist, subtle style (eg. Bvlgari's Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert, Hermés' Un Jardin Sur Nil, Frederic Malle's Bigarade Concentree and L'Eau d'Hiver, the Hermessence line, etc..).

Rumba is a loud voluptuous floral animalic oriental perfume that smells like one of those cheap air fresheners that dangle from a rearview mirror. As if all that cacaphony weren't enough, the drydown is reminiscent of a poor quality "incense cone". One way to think of Rumba is to imagine her and her cousin, Giorgio, noisily chewing gum, walking around in designer jumpsuits with metallic high heels, big hair and lots of jewelry.

Mr. Ellena- Please tell me what possessed you to make this??

This fragrance could have been created by Houdini. If it was a 'hard to find fragrance' (on Luckyscent for instance) it would be ten times the price.You think you've grasped it & it disappears and reappears in another form. Nose pressed against skin, it's rich, juicy golden plum on a bed of dry animalic spices. There is a period of warm florals set in bees wax and then bone dry, scorchingly hot, freshly ironed shirts (no kidding). It's sweetened by plum, peach and raspberry but it's not gourmand like modern fragrances, it's a raging oriental of the 80's - think Opium, Poison, Beautiful, Paris etc. It doesn't smell one bit like any of them but it's that kind of robust floral & juicy oriental. What's enigmatic about this fragrance is that everyone around you will comment that they can smell incense burning. I've never had so many strangers comment on a fragrance before. In addition to wearing it, I spray it in my bedroom (on the bed linen or in the air) and within minutes I am surrounded by dozens of slow burning church candles (bees wax) and sweet smouldering incense. Jean Claude Ellena should reconsider his evolution to 'minimalist' parfums. This is a masterpiece and anything but minimalist.

Even with all the fruit and florals in the top and heart, Rumba does not come off as sweet and flowery — rather it presents an opening that carries depth and darkness—and an awful lot of passion. This is a fragrance with a Latin heart and soul. Deep passion and loads of sensuality presented in balanced and rich accords. Hot is right—at least for the first half. Later the scent quiets down to demure levels, not putting out excess sillage, but hanging tight to the skin with a quietly lush ‘80s patchouli / moss / leather drydown with just the right touch of vanilla and tonka. With this fragrance, you can have it both ways: Wild and restrained, but in both cases deep, dark and rich.

Urgh! Disgusting! A friend of mine have this one and it is terrible... She's 20 somethings years old and everytime she wears this, she's like 100 years old! Too strong! Maybe perfect if you live in the middle of nowhere, with snow all around you!