Noël au Balcon (2007)
by Etat Libre d'Orange

Begins with a sweet, honey laced mandarin and apricot note. Not heavy on the sweetness, which is good as too sweet and I can’t handle it. A vanilla spiciness then enters that eventually transforms into an incense-laden musk. Overall, a nice fragrance and a good gourmand that I can’t think of anything to compare. For me though, it is something that I would rarely wear.

25th July, 2011.

Mmmmmmm -- spicy cookies . Love it up. Wears really well. One caveat -- it seems to have a floral musk as the drydown, which is unusual. Well it is ELdO.

7th July, 2011.

This is the best I have tried from ELDO. It starts out with a honeyed orange (I am not too good with notes) and then it transitions into spices. There is nothing groundbreaking in the scent but it is very well done and like other ELDO scents. This last a very long time on me.

It gets my thumbs up!

28th February, 2010.

Etat Libre D'Orange Noel au Balcon

Noel au Balcon is the beginning of a Freanch proverb "Noël au balcon, Pâques aux tisons." Which translates to "If the weather is mild at Christmas it will be cold at Easter". In November of 2007 Antoine Maisondieu created Noel au Balcon as an exclusive to European Sephoras for the holidays. It was discontinued with the close of the holiday season in 2008. That's a shame because this is one of the best scents I've tried from Etat Libre D'Orange and with a wider distribution could have been a mainstream winner for the line, I think. The beginning of this is a beautiful honeyed fruit as the honey drenches a mix of orange and apricot. This is a restrained sweetness and it is a hallmark of this scent as M. Maisondieu uses notes throughout that if used with an unsubtle hand would've ruined this scent. This scent then takes a turn into the spices and pepper, cumin and cinnamon are the prominent notes in the heart. This could be a jarring transition but in this scent it is not. The progression is unusually smooth and the spices are a refreshing contrast to the sweet beginning. The base returns to a mix of sweet as vanilla and musk bring this one home. M. Maisondieu has created a beautiful interplay of sweet and spicy here. One thing is for sure this is not a "mild Christmas" so I can look forward to a less chilly Easter.

4th April, 2009.

A gourmand for those who might otherwise be wary of the genre.

Very wearable, without the fear of smelling like a marzipan factory outcast.

One thing I'll say about ELDO as a house, they don't mince words with their fragrance notes. For a perfumer whose adverts could otherwise fall a bit into frippery, their listed accords are pretty spot on.

Try this one, if you get a chance, although it by no means falls into groundbreaking territory. I'm hard pressed to think of a scent-twin, but I know I've smelled something like it before, many times. What I will say is that this EdP has insane longevity, and after wearing it to bed last night, I awoke to a scent so sublime, that my first memory of this day was a smile on my face. Not bad for something in a bottle!

26th February, 2009.