Byzance (1987)
by Rochas

Byzance is almost the perfect olfactory equivalent to Byzantium, a poem by William Butler Yeats.

It captures the essence of a long lost city, ancient and artistic. Byzance opens with heady florals, exotic spices, zesty lemon and powdery aldehydes. This opening is very strong, very 80's and very me.

Towards the heart, particularly with the entrance of the white florals, Byzance reminds me somewhat of Passion by Annick Goutal. Byzance is however, more powdery and more lemony.

As the heart settles, the florals, most notably the jasmine, become cleaner and slightly soapy. Due to this fragrance's ever-changing nature, I'd say that Byzance is quite complex.

This fragrance is very feminine, without a doubt. However, with that being said, this fragrance is womanly in an old-fashioned, bouquet of flowers, cooking spice and church incense sort of way. Byzance is essentially the scent of a woman from the ancient times - perhaps even the fragrance of Cleopatra herself, if I let myself dream so.

It is a pity that this fragrance is becoming increasingly harder to find these days. I will be truly disappointed if Rochas decide to pull this fragrance from the market.

27th August, 2011.

Big soapy aldehyde. So disappointed. Beautiful bottle though.

24th August, 2011.

Once upon a time this was a powerful, ambery floriental with a great hit of incense and tuberose in the grand 80s style. Today it seems to have been thinned out to be a soapy shadow of its former glory. I've given it 4 stars for nostalgia, but at present it's really only a 3-star fragrance.

On the plus side, you can still get a hint of what it used to be like from the current juice and it's very cheap to get hold of.

6th October, 2010.

There seems to be a wide range of notes that different folks get here...so maybe they have reformulated this? To me it's a sweet soapy floral lily musk. It seems to find it's sweet spot about 10 minutes in and then falls into a tedious mess. If there is vanilla..I don't sense it. If there is some ballast to it, it never comes for me. It's just a bit screechy and floral for me.

8th September, 2010.

Inside that pretty blue bottle, Byzance is a mildly startling pastel violet liquid. Don’t get too much of this stuff on your light colored clothing! A purple potion it may be, but the opening notes are white flowers, including jasmine and a very gentle tuberose, which together conjure a warm night on a tropical Pacific island. There is vanilla in the blend as well, along with some white musk that underpins the middle notes. A touch of wood, moss, and dry spices hone just enough edge on the central accord to keep it from straying into banal, overly sweet vanilla oriental territory. The drydown is moderately lasting and consists largely of musk and vanilla, with lingering traces of the flowers cropping up from time to time.

Byzance is quietly seductive, without being distracting or randy, as some heavier oriental scents can be. It is pretty, well crafted, and adaptable to many moods, environments and seasons. This is a good all-rounder that’s individual enough to avoid mediocrity without being too outlandish for everyday wear. Nice.

*Note: Oakmoss is listed on the box, so Byzance's market life expectancy may be limited!

23rd December, 2009.

My decant is from a reputable swapper, but my impression is so different from everyone else here. The lavender-colored juice smells fruity-sweet and blah. It wasn't a scrubber, but I don't care to wear it again.

21st November, 2009.