Sublime Balkiss (2008)
by Different Company

Sublime Balkiss has brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy. I applied this to my wrist, and the moment I inhaled, I was transported back to when I was 13 and saying goodbye to the first boy I ever loved.

It was a strange occurrence that took a while for me to figure out. Back then I wore a deoderant called Moon Grass by a brand, Impulse. It broke my heart when they discontinued it because I no longer had a scent to remember him by. Seven years on, I've remembered him once again.

Sublime Balkiss is green and refreshing, with a subtle fizzyness. The berries are wonderful and very unique, as is the herbaceously green quality of the scent as it settles on the skin.

This is a somewhat odd fruity scent, almost alien in nature. I'm quite excited for Spring and Summer which will allow me to test this fragrance in a different environment.

While fruity, earthy and slightly floral, Sublime Balkiss gives me a clean sensation. A sense of purity and happiness.

As this fragrance dries down, lily of the valley and wet, earthy patchouli becomes more prominent. Like the other reviewers here, I unfortunately didn't sense the leather note.

I agree strongly with other reviewers who have stated, although "Sublime Balkiss is classified as a chypre - it is more of an aquatic floral". It indeed has a slight watery feel that is very obvious to my nose.

The lasting power and sillage are very good and I'm actually very impressed with Celine Ellena's brand and composition. I'm eager to test more from The Different Company in the future.

24th September, 2011.

Opening notes were bursting of uplifting blackberries that kept me sniffing but soon dried down to a cheap smelling watered down cologne after 10mins on me. Utterly disappointed, this being my 2nd purchase from TDC after my much-like Bois et Sens... definitely expected more at such a price point.

8th August, 2010.

I've been trying to wrap my head around this one... Do I like it? Yes.

What is it similar to? Kurkdjian's Lumierre Noir pour femme, another floral chypre with a patchouli/rose accord.

Does it last? mid-range, but it's a peek-a-boo fragrance- the scent comes and goes throughout the day.

Is it interesting? This is where i get stuck. I do like hte opening with the blueberry and forest berry combo, it isn't a sweet, juicy fruit of an opening, but more like the bark of the fruit tree. Nice. Dry down is lovely too. But any floral or fruity chypre is held next to Mitsouko for me. With this one I keep wanting a 'little more', more sillage, more oomph, more dark notes in the base.

I think if you sniffed your way through a row of expensive, high quality floral chypres this is not one you would remember.

8th February, 2010.

Sublime Balkiss opens on an crisp green fruity accord that smells like an herbed grapefruit, but which the published pyramid claims to be bergamot, berries, and currant. Whatever you call it, it’s lovely, and I’m glad it persists for a time on my skin. Next out of the stall is a light, dry floral accord, still kissed by a hint of tart-bitter herbs and grassy notes, and all the more appealing for it. This central statement is well-blended, but rose and violet are both detectable as single notes within the blend.

Sublime Balkiss is highly transparent, as befitting of a scent from a perfumer with the surname Elléna, but it is at the same time relatively potent. As a result, it garners attention without becoming grating or oppressive. The floral blend slowly loses its sharp, green edge and becomes more conventionally “perfumey” as it wears. This may be because the rose outlasts most of the other floral notes, so that the structure shifts slowly away from abstraction and towards a single recognizable flower smell. Whatever the case, the transparency remains, and that keeps Sublime Balkiss from devolving into a stuffy, old-fashioned rose soliflore.

The endgame is a rose and patchouli drydown, one much subtler and less earthy, I might mention, than Voleur de Roses or Bond No. 9’s West Side. The cocoa in the scent pyramid may be a nod to Christopher Sheldrake’s much commented upon chocolate/patchouli accord for Borneo 1834, but if it’s actually in there somewhere it is too faint for me to detect. While I regret that Divine Balkiss ends up much more conventional than it begins, I have to commend it as a very well-composed and well-constructed scent.

13rd December, 2009.

Very feminine, sligtly fruity and very floral. It's very fresh and sweet but has great personality. Though it's not in the "official" notes list I smell some orange flowers in it.

2nd August, 2008.