Reviews of Balenciaga pour Homme (1990)
by Balenciaga

Balenciaga PH seems to me to be a toned down Kouros with some of the more potent and rough edges smoothed over. I like to wear the YSL on occasion and in small spritzes, but the Balenciaga seems to be a fragrance that has more versatility and isn't as polarizing.

They are not the same mind you, but there are definite similarities and I like that Balenciaga is the more wearable of the 2. I received very good longevity from this juice and the sillage was exceptional as well. A definite powerhouse that has gone the way of the dodo. Too bad........

Trebor, foetidus and others have explained it very well. I'd like to add that I like how Balenciaga is geared more toward the oriental theme, yet utilizes cinnamon, honey and orris like its heavyweight counterpart. The amber, labdanum and patchouli are nice addition to the basenotes. All in all, this scent is a winner and a worthy addition.

I miss Balenciaga Pour Homme terribly and I pray that they consider re-issuing it. I wore this a lot during the mid-1990s and I regret not buying backup bottles. It's one of the most potent fragrances I've ever experienced, as well as the most unique and strange. The initial patchouli blast attacks you with face-punching brutality right out of the atomizer and dries down to what I consider a bizarre and almost moldy-smelling green moss accord. Basically, Balenciaga Pour Homme is a green, mossy patchouli sledgehammer with unbelieveable longevity and sillage. Hard to believe you could buy a big bottle of this masterpiece for like $15 at Marshalls just a few years ago. Two huge thumbs up for Balenciaga Pour Homme.

Balenciaga Pour Homme: i dont smell anything when i first spray it on..coz my brian gets numb on first whiff..isnt that how you feel whn you have morphine..? so i have heard.. :) Civet..civet overdose with a dash of aldehydes, and honeyed floral notes.. i simply loved this one. when i first received it, it was in a splash format (mini)...the macho that i am, i splashed a decent amount on my palm and dabbed it one liberally around neck and forarms...whoa! for those who have tested this would know exactly how that feels. it's a experience to say the least. very intense notes of honeyed florals and aldehyde with a liberal dose of vanilla (not pods..more like the ice cream itself) with an strong overdose of civet giving it a "bite". the notes may sound like it's leaning towards gourmand, but it's surprisingly not! it stays on pretty gritty for the firts hour or so thereby turning into a remarkably soft floral with a unique combination of Sandalwood, Vanilla, Incense and civet. it was an experience indeed and i enjoyed this scent every last bit :) where is my back up bottle..wouldnt ever wanna be without this one. for a quick reference, it smells like Ted Lapidus for men mixed with Kouros...now, hows that :) only difference, the basenotes is more like Lapidus pour homme than kouros.
This is for someone who likes scents like Lapidus Pour Homme and YSL Kouros.

After all the hype surrounding Balenciaga pour Homme, I just had to try this stuff and ended up getting a mini.

I’m not going to mince my words here, but this stuff smells VERY SIMILAR to Kouros (but with the urinal cake / detergent smell toned down significantly). It’s just as masculine and sophisticated, but the honey, caramel and incense notes make it a lot smoother to wear. However, for what Balenciaga pour Homme makes up for in the drydown, it loses in terms of longevity – it’s still strong stuff (with great sillage) but I wouldn’t say it’s as ‘nuclear’ as Kouros.

Other reviewers have been wondering why this one was discontinued and I think the answer is pretty obvious. Balenciaga pour Homme was never in the same league as YSL (in terms of fashion influence and sales) and this offering was probably seen as a blatant Kouros rip-off (no matter how much of an improvement it was). I’m sure that, at the time, most consumers would have preferred purchasing the ‘original’ rather than some ‘high quality imitation’ (I mean, even the bottles are very similar!).

Although this should never have been discontinued, the writing seemed to be on the wall at the time (and the executives at Balenciaga acted accordingly). Personally, I prefer this to Kouros and, here's hoping Balenciaga will someday have the good sense to re-release this in its original formulation.

[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

This has THE booziest opening I've ever encountered. It's probably banned at A.A. meetings.
I'm lying.
No, not about the opening. About my neutral rating.
This has got to be either a thumbs up or down, but you have to decide which.
If you like JHL, chances a you'll love this. On the other hand, if you feel you raided your grandmother's cabinet, stay away.

Especially if your grandmother was a patchouli addicted hippie.

This is Givenchy Gentleman falling down drunk at U.C. Berkeley.

I once wore this to a party at work and someone walked in and asked who had sprayed Black Flag in the room. I never wore it again. I liked the fragrance, but I did not want to suffer that kind of humiliation again. Perhaps too outre for its own good.

I agree with Trebor, I was immediately reminded of Kouros from the opening. This stuff is less potetn in that aspect and the drydown is very different, much more powdery lemon and dry woods. Good stuff if you like the smel and scednts with excellent longevity.

Posh vanilla confections infused with delicate floral perfume, virtually guarantees it's wearer won't be mistaken for a man in dim lighting.

Yikes! This stuff is extreme! It practically jumps out of the bottle with harsh greens, aldehydes, and something that smells an awful lot like warm vinegar, delivering a roundhouse kick to the sinuses. All of this settles down within moments to reveal a fascinating, nutty accord of artemisia, anise, vetiver, and leather. Balenciaga pour Homme immediately aligns itself with scents like Antaeus, Van Cleef and Arpels, R. de Capucci, and even Yatagan. Only tough boys need apply.

Balenciaga continues to pump out anise, aromatics, and leather for quite some time, though the projection and sillage seem to diminish rather quickly. This is not all bad, since it makes Balenciaga a bit more wearable. The principal accord also sweetens quite a bit as it develops, as amber and an elusive floral note join the blend. As time goes on a very suave sandalwood emerges and melds into the blend, softening the overall effect without elbowing out the still vibrant anise.

Smells very much like Kouros. Very unpleasant to start, the nauseating smell does die down very quickly to almost nothing.

This is what came about 9 months after Kouros shared a night of hot, steamy passion with Lapidus for Men.

This "love child" is -- IMHO -- the strongest, headiest scent from this Eighties/early Nineties era. And, as much as I love Balenciaga Pour Homme, I have to admit that I can, on some level, see how it and others like it might steer a generation towards the insipid world of Tommy and Nautica and all their similarly ugly little inbred siblings.

In a word: CAUTION. This is delightful stuff, yes, but it can quickly overpower even the most jaded of noses if it's applied more than a spritz or two at a time. Wear too much and you'll smell like Disco Stu, or possibly an overdressed mafioso straight out of "Wise Guys."

Great stuff, nevertheless -- why Balenciaga saw fit to discontinue this one (and Portos!) will remain forever beyond me.

Ah, the package/bottle combination is so much tied to the time of its release: Really, couldn`t be anything else but the year 1990. It`s not kitchy enough to be 80`s, but certainly not "correct" enough to be much younger.
I like that white-green thing, btw. I like it alot.

The start of this scent is not that pleasant, but it immediately is captivating: To me the top notes smells exactly like a bit raw rhubarb was dipped in honey. It`s very tart, biting start indeed.

At this point it is extremely hard to believe that this is actually an Oriental fragrance. And to be honest, to me this ingredulous feeling follows all the way through the duration.
Okay, let`s call this Oriental, but I think it`s very borderline: It has some heavy Fougere nuances, and more less Chypre ones. Complex scent, that don`t even need that much to be categorized.

After half an hour that sharpness has quite much settled. Still at this point, to me this scent is very raw and unsensual. Like a squeezed lemon juice in a jar of floral-honey. Few drops of diswasher detergent thrown along. Interesting, but not too likeable.

Quite strangely, after one hour or so, this scent seems to change its course in remarkable style: It must be the benzoin that takes slowly over the tarty citrus notes, while honey is obviously still in predominant part. Scent is very close to the skin. It`s still a bit sour, but benzoin gives it some caramelisized charachter, yet not overly so. Actually, well done balance with sweet and sour.

This is one of the most liveliest scents I`ve ever discovered. And the most amazing thing is that now that I`ve test this few times, it seems to behave quite differently everytime! And another thing; this is one of those scents that seems to disapper in sometime, and you already are disapointed with the longevity...And then suddenly, there it is again - out from nowhere seems to come that honey note again, and you are eager to catch a sniff what else is still in there. This is amazing, and quite frankly, sometimes quite irritating quality, this lost and found.
Naturally, it must be the case of skin temperature here. And, that is why I think this scent is actually at its best in the summer - I`m sure the heat will treat it nicely, indeed. I can`t wait to try this when it`s get hot!

Traces of a basenote in this scent reminds me of one specific candy I know. I`m not sure exactly what`s in that candy, but it is slightly flavoured with honey, I suppose. It is not actual honey-candy, but there must be some essence used...It`s quite sticky and juicy, too.

Also some woods appears to be in the base of Balenciaga, giving it just slightly a insency quality. Honeyed woods in the vein of Kouros.

Yes, Kouros!!! This is only another scent of the two that occured to my mind with Balanciaga. (Another one is Miel de Bois, but Balenciaga is eventually much more wearable, much more sensual)

No one could ever claim that Balenciaga Pour Homme wasn`t some sort of relative, even close one, to Kouros. It lacks of the animalic vibe, as well as most of the greens of Kouros. But that honeyed, a bit urinal, and a bit detergented character with insence accords is so similar, that I honestly think my headline for this thread is at least justified.



apart from the scent itself: What is it with these discontinueses?? For instance this one, I wonder who was that
idiot-enough person to make that desicion? And what was it all about??
Yet, I`m the first to admit that "discontinued" stamp adds a huge load of charisma to the scent. And harder to get, better, and more exciting. That`s the way it goes.
And so, how do I wish to get a large bottle of this someday. Until that, I have to manage with my two miniatures.

Great lavender / bergamot opening balanced with greens and citrus. Almost from the start I get a mellow patchouli, too. It’s a classic beginning and elegantly constructed. The opening doesn’t last long—the florals and the sweet from the middle move in very quickly along with the patchouli from the base. I can’t determine much separation in the florals in the heart notes but it is a beautiful accord—not really masculine but not feminine, either. I don’t notice any caramel and to me the honey element is present but not prominent—the florals and patchouli dominate—but it is a sweet accord. Also in the background is a powder that adds a warm sensuality to the floral sweetness of the heart.
Everything through the opening and the middle makes Balanciaga Pour Homme a very good fragrance. But with the base factored in, the descriptor changes from ‘very good’ to ‘superb.’
I find the dry down is quite multilayered—carrying many levels and intricacies. The dry down features a delicate but prominent incense and cedar: The incense is splendid and seems the natural extension of the previous pyramid levels. It is supported by an aromatic cedar, lightly touched with the delicate sweetness of vanilla, and wispily shadowed by the earthy patchouli. It is brilliant. It lasts into the next day.

FOOLS!!! Why would Balenciaga discontinue the BEST of their men's fragrances? This was one of my favorites for a long time. They discontinued their namesake fragrance for men. What does that tell you about the company? It most likely and very probably has to do with greed. Perhaps they didn't sell as much of it as they had wanted, but why did they keep all the other fragrances which don't even compare to this FABULOUS fragrance?!?! The only thing I've found that comes close is Lapidus EDT by Ted Lapidus. I wonder if Balenciaga will ever bring this fragrance back, perhaps when the fragrance fads change. They were definitely stupid to discontinue this GREAT classic fragrance. Perhaps poor management or just plain disrespect for those customers like me who LOVED the original Balenciaga for men.

I get the caramel and honey straight away! lovely straight out the bottle! unfortunatly the drydown smells of posh toilets! Still, had a lot of positive comments and very long lasting.

This is one unique scent. I'm not even sure how to describe it. It starts off as a very strong spice (tons of spice in the topnotes) and mossy woods scent, not sweet but not overly dry either. I might get a little of the honey and caramel notes listed, which serve to give this some "thickness," but I wouldn't call this a honey or caramel scent. As it dries the incense base becomes more and more apparent until it is mostly incense slightly sweetened or rounded out by just the right amount of vanilla. Reading the notes I would have guessed that this might be a sweet (honey, caramel, and vanilla), almost gourmand scent, but it does not come off that way at all. I really like this scent. It's dark but not angry, sad, or brooding; it's more intellectual and classy, sophisticated, reflective, thoughtful. This is perfect for a night out at the theatre or opera house, or a nice dinner at an exclusive restaurant, or even better, an evening lecture by a renowned professor. Finally, its longevity is very good, especially considering that it has an incense base (which I usually associate with poor longevity ala Passage d'Enfer). Pure class.

Classic 90's aromatic oriental. Patchouli and honey married with caramel and vanilla - could have been sweet but tempered by light florals and citrus, and warm dry woods, the result is surprising and intoxicating. Unlike anything else out there. This arrived 10 yrs too early and could easily be taken to be a Lutens creation. A winner.

God wot! Thick spice inside my armour! Almost medieval fumes. Lash it on gently, knaves, for fear ye distress the damsels. (de Charlus).

anything by balenciaga is of highest class. This cologne included. the smell of honey and caramel are noticable and give this cologne a unique and warm and smooth smell. I highly recommend it.