Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Bal à Versailles or Cabochard
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Bal à Versailles or Cabochard

post #1 of 19
8/10/08 at 1:35am
Thread Starter 
I've been lurking at these two as my next winter scent. As I have an awful lot of bottles, some of which I don't use, I was thinking of getting only one of these two and reduce my collection to the perfumes I wear only plus decants.

Bal Ã* Versailles and Cabochard (vintage) are both described as leathery and sensual scents. Which one would you suggest ? I've never tried them.

Thx.
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
post #2 of 19
8/10/08 at 2:13am
Bal a Versailles is sensual sweet flowery musky-civet scent.
Cabochard is austere green-brown flowery leather-castoreum scent. More masculine and alike Aramis (but with more greens and flowers, more refined) scent, which is my favourite for all weather and every season...
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 19
8/10/08 at 2:30am
Thread Starter 
And which one would you see onto a woman ?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 19
8/10/08 at 2:46am
Oh, dear one-
BaV can be had often-
Go for Cabochard !

It is one of a kind.
[I love and have them both....]
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 19
8/10/08 at 3:06am
Cabochard, every time.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 19
8/10/08 at 6:05am
I agree with Cabochard as a great scent for Winter. Tho do try and test BaV, its lovely, but something I personally prefer in warmer weather
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 19
8/10/08 at 8:12am
Nope - I loathe oakmoss and Cabochard is the ultimate in vile to me. I vote for Bal a Versailles. And if you'd like a bottle of Cabochard for just the cost of the P&P, send me a PM and let me know.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 19
8/10/08 at 8:46am
Hmmm... I think both Bal and Cabochard are great fragrances, but to me they each a very different "feel". Both are aloof, but the overall impression of that aloofness comes across differently.

Bal is rich and opulent - even in EDC which purely by chance I happen to be using today - and there is something almost woody about it that gives it strength against the warmth of the rest of the composition. If I smelled this on a woman, the image I think that would go best with this would be a youngish aristocratic woman in a grand hall with a sparkle in her eye, but remaining very proper and therefore a little aloof.

Cabochard has a more modern feel to it because of its.... smokiness, I guess it would be. I think this goes well with the image of a woman in a nicely tailored pantsuit, approachable enough for a guy to easily start a conversation with and flirtatious in a smart and witty manner, yet with her wit keeps the guy on his toes and at a "respectable distance" (but wanting to keep trying!).

Both are different from what I usually smell on the women I know or come across and would find both appealing on a woman. I'd have to give the edge to Cabochard, though. I think Cabochard would come across as more interesting, and in its way, softer in feel.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 19
8/10/08 at 8:51am
Thread Starter 
Ok, thanks for your help, I'm convinced !
Wordbid, do you have the actual Cabochard or a vintage bottle ?
I'm looking for an old one.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 19
8/10/08 at 9:00am
Re: Cabochard. Test the different concentrations before you choose. The EDT and EDP can smell quite different from one another, accentuating different notes. Make sure you smell both.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 19
8/11/08 at 6:15am
I have and love them both, but they're too different, IMHO, to compare.

Bal is better in vintage, softer. The perfume is richer of course, with more incense notes, more skank. Bal is definitely an evening scent, I believe; I have it in every version, but I never wear it for work or the like. It's just too seductive

Cabochard (and I only have the modern, alas, I hear the vintage is much better) is animalic, leathery, but drier and harder-edged. It's a chypre, and could go day or night. I think that if Bal was in-her-prime Bridgette Bardot, Cabochard would be Katherine Hepburn.

Vintage Bal can often be found on E-bay for a reasonable price, and the modern version is positively cheap on the online discounters. I think vintage Cabochard is going to be a little more difficult to find, but not impossible, and the auction prices aren't stratospheric the way they are for the Guerlains or for Joy.

So my choice would be Bal for night, Cabochard for day, and both can be had for the price of one Guerlain or Chanel scent.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 19
8/11/08 at 6:24am
Sadly I have the modern version of Cabochard. Edt.
What a shame I can't get rid of the damn thing!

Bal a Versailles is very very skanky. Evening wear, for definite.
Good though!

I've never been able to fight my way through the oakmoss *shudder* to get to Cabochard's skank. Luca Turin says the vintage stuff is really filthy - like worn drawers. If it's the full musky 'old knickers' skank you're after, you could try L'Air de Rien - that's allegedly very much in the same department.

Please be aware that I'm all for skank and don't give a hoot about smelling like pants. It's only the oakmoss I don't like. Which is why I like Bal, though that's much more in the oriental mould to me. Only way filthier than most orientals. *grins*
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 19
8/11/08 at 7:53pm
Bal Ã* Versailles and Cabochard (vintage) are both described as leathery and sensual scents. Which one would you suggest ? I've never tried them.

Thx.[/QUOTE]

Vintage Cabochard is one of the world's most perfect fragrance!
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 19
8/11/08 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by echerub View Post

Bal is rich and opulent - even in EDC which purely by chance I happen to be using today - and there is something almost woody about it that gives it strength against the warmth of the rest of the composition. If I smelled this on a woman, the image I think that would go best with this would be a youngish aristocratic woman in a grand hall with a sparkle in her eye, but remaining very proper and therefore a little aloof.

Cabochard has a more modern feel to it because of its.... smokiness, I guess it would be. I think this goes well with the image of a woman in a nicely tailored pantsuit, approachable enough for a guy to easily start a conversation with and flirtatious in a smart and witty manner, yet with her wit keeps the guy on his toes and at a "respectable distance" (but wanting to keep trying!).

For the reasons echerub mentioned, I think Bal a Versailles is too old-fashioned for most women to wear. If you're a modern woman, it just doesn't fit your style. It belongs with ballgowns and tiaras.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 19
8/11/08 at 10:00pm
Thread Starter 
I will sample both before buying but I'm pretty sure I'll like both.
Thanks to all for your interesting comments.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 19
8/12/08 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Night View Post

I've been lurking at these two as my next winter scent. As I have an awful lot of bottles, some of which I don't use, I was thinking of getting only one of these two and reduce my collection to the perfumes I wear only plus decants.

Bal Ã* Versailles and Cabochard (vintage) are both described as leathery and sensual scents. Which one would you suggest ? I've never tried them.

Thx.

Make sure it's the VINTAGE Cabochard -- the new version has zero resemblance to the original!
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 19
8/12/08 at 3:30pm
Thread Starter 
I know that !
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 19
8/13/08 at 5:29am
[Bal Ã* Versailles and Cabochard (vintage) are both described as leathery and sensual scents. Which one would you suggest ? I've never tried them.

Thx.[/QUOTE]

I think the only note that is NOT in Bal a Versaille is leather. It's an opulent, musky, skanky, civet-heavy floriental (especially in vintage.)

Cabochard is very leathery, much drier than Bal, as different from Bal as night from day.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 19
8/13/08 at 5:35am
I concur with the consensus that vintage Cabochard is infinitely better than the crap being marketed. That said, you really need to try both alongside one another before making up your mind.

Bal Ã* Versailles is much more powdery and (IMHO) slightly more feminine than Cabochard, although both could (in a more perfect world, anyway) be classified as unisex. Vintage Cabochard, while complex and (IMHO) gorgeous, is more hard edged and drier than Bal Ã* Versailles, esp. in BaV's edt form -- in short, definitely not for everyone. Try before you buy.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Female Fragrance Discussion

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Bal à Versailles or Cabochard