Jolie Madame (1953)
by Pierre Balmain

I wore Jolie Madame back in the early 70's. When I purchased the new EDT I was very surprised at how green it smelled. I didn't recognize the scent until it had been on me a half hour. I am new to Basenotes and don't have the language and should probably lurk for awhile, but Jolie Madame was the scent that got me started back into the world of perfume a couple tears ago. Yes, tears, because I have spent money stupidly. Now I sniff BEFORE I buy, usually.

Jolie Madame is definitely related to Bandit - an old-fashioned (even the reformulation) (in the best possible way!) green/leathery chypre with some added floral sweetness. It's softer than Bandit, less hayfever-inducingly, juicy green and a little more generically "perfumey", which makes me love it less, but still a great classic!

This is easy to describe: Jolie Madame is a smoother Bandit with violets. It’s a beautifully assembled fragrance – elegant and sensual at the same time. Exquisite if you like leather and violets, which I don’t… but the sensuousness, the passion, and the creativity is very real…

Jolie Madame is distinctive and very well balanced, but then its creator, Germaine Cellier, was an exceptional perfumer, being the creator of the iconic Fracas, as well as other beautiful fragrances like Visa and Vent Vert.

I particularly love the vetiver note in Jolie Madame, and I even like the violet which, tempered by the leather, manages not to be too sweet.

Jolie Madame is one of my favourite chypres. I always get compliments when I wear it, and it has an uplifting effect on my mood.

Jolie Madame = pure joy!

I have tried vintage form of it. At the opening a heavy gardenia appears and all off a sudden comes the killer neroli. Well i really hate neroli oakmoss classicals. after the neroli top is gone, i tried hard and hopelessly to get all these lovely flowers. All left to my nose was some greens; coriander over vetiver and patchouli. Very bad.

Balmain Jolie Madame Shootout

Left Arm: Vintage Balmain Jolie Madame
Right Arm: Balmain Jolie Madame

Jolie Madame Notes: gardenia, artemisia, bergamot, coriander, neroli, jasmine, tuberose, rose, jonquil, orris, patchouli, oakmoss, vetiver, musk, castoreum, leather, civet (from Bois de Jasmine)

First thought in my mind--these two do not smell like the same fragrance AT ALL. The vintage juice is fruity, peachy, a little boozy, sweet with a burned sugar note. The modern juice (I am assuming it is modern, so I may stand corrected on this) starts dry, powdery, tart. It also has some boozy fruit underneath, and a hint of sharp white floral. I have tested 2 vintage fragrances today, and both had the burnt sugar top note. Now I am wondering if that is an ingredient that oxidized or changed over the years. I can't say it is unpleasant, but I am not sure it is necessarily congruent with the rest of the fragrance. I will have to ponder this one, especially as I try more vintage juice in the future.

Development...the burned sugar note remains in the vintage, but it is becoming a bit more dry and powdery--a dry oakmoss chypre and light leather note. The modern is still powdery--at this stage, it is a different kind of powder, and I suspect this one could be "oakmoss free" because it does not have the same mossy smell to it. It is also possible that the quality of the oakmoss is different, or it is attenuated by the other ingredients. The light leather is also present in the modern one, and the powder note is dry and pleasant. The vintage is more sour-dry, the modern is more acidic-dry.

These two are fairly well matched at the dry chypre powder stage. The differences are so subtle--seems that the modern reformulation is rather good. But, but, but, there is just something about oakmoss. I love it. The oakmoss in the vintage seems just a tad more friendly, a bit less bitter. Of course, it could be the vetiver which adds bitterness to the modern frag. I just love how the vintage one is softer and more plush, with a small amount of sweetness to balance the dryness. In contrast, the modern formula seems very cold and a lot more green. Still, the character seems roughly the same for both vintage and modern. No matter what, Jolie Madame is an amazing chypre, and to me it really doesn't smell dated at all (1953 is the original release date according to the directory).

Afterthoughts on the late, late drydown...I definitely think the modern formulation drydown is more dry, woody, bitter and smoky due to the vetiver. The vintage juice dries sweeter and fruity, almost like a light liquor infused with powdery orris and a hint of oakmoss.