Miss Balmain (1967)
by Pierre Balmain

Mmmm I love this! So green and mossy and rich and delicious! I like to wear it while sipping rye on the rocks and pretending to be Lauren Bacall. I think it would go nicely with the smell of pipe tobacco, and could work as a masculine, though the name and old-fashioned would scare most guys off. I would love to smell it on a guy or girl of any age, but I probably never will... sadly. Maybe if was renamed and marketed as gentlemanly... in the 1940s.

This stuff smells great on me. Where it touches my skin I get an almost immediate drydown and I mean DRY. The smell is leathery and a bit harsh. However the liquid on my hair and clothing retains a rich floral integrity. Together they are yummy. I would imagine this smells a bit dated on women, however. I would change the name to encourage a more unisex interpretation of this gem

This review is based on my vintage [B]Miss Balmain[/B] extrait, of which I wore a small drop today. This is a just-up-my-street kind of chypre, and so confidently and skilfully complex that it is a real joy trying to pick apart its notes. All hail the great Germaine Cellier!

Couldn't quite recall why I hardly ever wear this scent ... But then, just a half-hour later, I remembered -- IT HAD GONE! Escaped from my skin in moments like an elegant, but blase, woman, who dazzles briefly with her presence, then turns her back, leaving only a mocking, scented trace.

Such scented encounters can often be alluring, but this almost enraged me, and left me feeling slightly disdainful! Miss Balmain is all top, with a bit of middle, but has no bottom!

A distant relative of Bandit and Cabochard, more "watery" and cool than any of them, a little flatter and more plasticky/soapy/perfumey. The cumin is rather interesting and subtle enough not too disturb, and there seems to be a warm wood note somewhere underneath the cool greens. As a vintage chypre it's ok but not one of the best.

I understand you now, Miss Balmain. It took some experimentation, but I have found the ultimate perfumey pleasure with you. The secret is to keep you off my skin and sweeten you with Jo Malone's Orange Blossom. Then! Ah! Extraordinary delight overwhelms me. I think the coriander is what makes a bitter impression on the skin, but spray Miss Balmain on an envelope, and the recipient will swoon. Put her on a pillowcase, on the shoulders of your blouse, and she will put Cabochard, her nearest smell-alike, to shame. Again, add Orange Blossom, and I can virtually guarantee an orgasmic experience. I may never know a more beautiful fragrance experience--how's that for a testimonial?

I so want to love Miss Balmain - the bottle, the design, the name, the history - all make me think of Lesley Caron in An American in Paris. However, I have to agree that it is rather flat. There is also something strange about it that makes me think that i'm smelling something unidentifiably bad - this effect doesn't hit you in the face, it's too bland for that, but it's definitely there, lurking uneasily at the bottom of the scent.