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Balmain Carbone? Any thoughts???

post #1 of 35
10/11/10 at 6:12pm
Thread Starter 
Already available at Selfridges in the U.K.

Have any English basenoters smelled it?
What are your thoughts?


I am eager to try this one, a longtime Balmain fan... the notes are very similar to Balmain de Balmain. In my imagination, it is quite peppery, and it smells like Sander for Men .


Notes: black fig, bourbon pepper, elemi resins, ivy, violet leaf, incense, benzoin, vetiver and musk.
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post #2 of 35
10/11/10 at 6:53pm
My only thought is that i liked the bottle and i do want to try it...
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post #3 of 35
10/11/10 at 8:34pm
Its about time for another release from this house. I look forward to testing it, despite my poor luck with Balmain fragrances. This one seems interesting, as Sander for Man is a scent I like. Mmmm....pepper.
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post #4 of 35
10/11/10 at 9:54pm
Will purchase this as soon it becomes available in the US.
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post #5 of 35
10/12/10 at 8:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickbr View Post

My only thought is that i liked the bottle and i do want to try it...

The bottle design is gorgeous, thanks for sharing the tip with us Hillaire. I'm not sure if I'm crazy about the name Carbone, sounds a bit crude, no?. They should have left off the 'e' at the end, Carbon sounds better to me. I am interested, the house of Balmain has certainly done some interesting things over the years.
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post #6 of 35
11/6/10 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 
I agree about the name; to me it sounds like an fictional NY mob boss from the 30's, a movie version of Capone, or something .

Refreshing this thread, in case anyone has tried this by now. I want to buy it for my SO as a gift, and I'd love to read some reactions before I commit, you know in case it's bad .
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post #7 of 35
11/6/10 at 8:10pm
Balmain Carbone looks, and the notes sound, very interesting. This new one might be added to my other two Balmain favorites, Ambre Gris and Vent Vert.
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post #8 of 35
12/19/10 at 12:02pm
I hate to be the bearer of bad news.......
I tried this today and was very disappointed. The name sounded interesting and the flacon looked great. I am a great fan of most Balmains perfumes, especially the vintage formulas. Balmain made a big mistake with Balman and now they have made another with Carbone. I got the pepper and elemi notes although somehow weak. Within a couple of minutes it turned into a vanilla and white musk "mash". It really reminded me of the awful cheap drugstore fragrance Vanilla Fields from Coty - tacky teeny girly and watered down fragrance. I wish I could say better things about this, but I can´t. It´s a vanilla and musk mess.
Get your act together Balmain !!!
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post #9 of 35
12/19/10 at 12:41pm
Thank you for the alert David ! Although your bad review made me more curious to try it, but with more caution to not buy a full bottle without getting a sample first.
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post #10 of 35
12/19/10 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by david View Post

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.......
I tried this today and was very disappointed. The name sounded interesting and the flacon looked great. I am a great fan of most Balmains perfumes, especially the vintage formulas. Balmain made a big mistake with Balman and now they have made another with Carbone. I got the pepper and elemi notes although somehow weak. Within a couple of minutes it turned into a vanilla and white musk "mash". It really reminded me of the awful cheap drugstore fragrance Vanilla Fields from Coty - tacky teeny girly and watered down fragrance. I wish I could say better things about this, but I can´t. It´s a vanilla and musk mess.
Get your act together Balmain !!!


Oh, no!!! How depressing! Well, I guess I am glad I did not buy it for my BF for X-mas blind, which is what I almost did!
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post #11 of 35
12/19/10 at 2:58pm
I tried it and liked it very much..a mix of Incense and pepper ..with smoky notes ..unusual ..orignal and very masculine
For me , i d'ont know why, it's like it would be a "Vol de Nuit" made for men, more peppery ...nice
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post #12 of 35
12/20/10 at 1:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Makassar View Post

I tried it and liked it very much..a mix of Incense and pepper ..with smoky notes ..unusual ..orignal and very masculine
For me , i d'ont know why, it's like it would be a "Vol de Nuit" made for men, more peppery ...nice

Completely agree - surprising, original and masculine indeed.
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post #13 of 35
12/21/10 at 12:00pm
Aswell as spraying on my skin I also gave a generous spray on a tester card. I have smelled the card again yesterday and today, and I´m sorry, but all I get is this cheap and tacky vanilla-musk note that still reminds me of the dreadful Vanilla Fields from Coty.
To each his own and I am happy if others appreciate this fragrance. For me however it´s a nightmare.
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post #14 of 35
3/11/11 at 6:21am
Just got this for my hubby, I liked it immediately! Most of all, because it reminds me of the discontinued first Cerruti scent for men, which was named Nino Cerruti (1979). Nino Cerruti was a bit sweeter to me and I looked up the notes to compare the two. They don't seem to have much in common, but still, the thought of Nino Cerruti was there instantly, it's one of the discontinued male scents of the 80s, that I miss a lot.
Does anyone else smell the similarity?

Cheers
Safran

Notes, as of Fragrantica:

Carbone: The fragrance features elemi, musk, benzoin, bourbon pepper, ivy, violet leaf, vetiver, incense and black fig.

Nino Cerruti: Top notes are bergamot, amalfi lemon, green notes, mint, galbanum, hyacinth, lavender and juniper; middle notes are carnation, jasmine, nutmeg, thyme and pine; base notes are musk, oak moss, virginia cedar, amber, benzoin and fir.
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post #15 of 35
4/12/11 at 11:31am
Superb, tried this toady. Reminds me of Ambre Sultan, only a bit milder but with a more interesting if slightly less seductive accord in there somewhere. Could turn out to be a classic and rub shoulders with the greats such as Habit Rouge and Eau Sauvage IMHO. Also, I think it smells better from afar rather than up close, to the skin. Well priced for the quality as well.
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post #16 of 35
4/12/11 at 11:41am
Wow, it's a long ways between Vanilla Fields and Ambre Sultan.......or is it?
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post #17 of 35
4/12/11 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Guyer View Post

The bottle design is gorgeous, thanks for sharing the tip with us Hillaire. I'm not sure if I'm crazy about the name Carbone, sounds a bit crude, no?. They should have left off the 'e' at the end, Carbon sounds better to me. I am interested, the house of Balmain has certainly done some interesting things over the years.

Would be great if Carbone was produced by Xerjoff. Hee.
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post #18 of 35
4/12/11 at 11:59am
I have big trouble picking out individual notes most of the time. I seem to take a fragrance as a whole, and in particular as a mood or a tone. This means I seem to make comparisons where others might not. I suppose it might mean I haven't got a clue as well I switched between Ambre Sultan and the Balmain and felt they were similar in some respects, even if their effect was created by quite different notes.
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post #19 of 35
4/12/11 at 1:10pm
I have the original of this. The original and the new are OCEANS apart. The new stuff is dismal crap compared to the vintage.
End of story.
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post #20 of 35
4/12/11 at 1:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by david View Post

I have the original of this. The original and the new are OCEANS apart. The new stuff is dismal crap compared to the vintage.
End of story.

I did not know there was an original CARBONE...
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post #21 of 35
4/12/11 at 2:29pm
The name was slightly different, "Carbonique". It was originally from the 40´s I would guess. It is very hard to find any information about it. It is not listed in basenotes, and googling brings up nothing - but it was originally a very old fragrance from Balmain.
The new Carbone I find not worthy of mention compared to the original.I was very,very disappointed in the new version.
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post #22 of 35
4/12/11 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by david View Post

The name was slightly different, "Carbonique". It was originally from the 40´s I would guess. It is very hard to find any information about it. It is not listed in basenotes, and googling brings up nothing - but it was originally a very old fragrance from Balmain.
The new Carbone I find not worthy of mention compared to the original.I was very,very disappointed in the new version.


Merci David. I always thought that the first Balmain male perfume was Madame Germaine Cellier's Verveine Citronelle, after renamed as Monsieur Balmain
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post #23 of 35
4/12/11 at 3:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBERTO View Post

Merci David. I always thought that the first Balmain male perfume was Madame Germaine Cellier's Verveine Citronelle, after renamed as Monsieur Balmain

You are probably right. I am really guessing when I say that Carbonique was from the 40´s. I do not know. It´s amazing in this computer age the lack of information and documentation available.
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post #24 of 35
4/16/11 at 5:16am
Rather surprising ..the only "Carbonique " registrered is from Weil in 1935
http://www.perfumeintelligence.co.uk.../c/c1/c1p7.htm
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post #25 of 35
4/16/11 at 7:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Makassar View Post

Rather surprising ..the only "Carbonique " registrered is from Weil in 1935
http://www.perfumeintelligence.co.uk.../c/c1/c1p7.htm

Thanks a lot Makassar. I have made a dreadful mistake here. My bottle is probably the stuff from Weil. The problem is, part of my collection is in my apartment in Berlin and part is here in France. Next time I visit Berlin I will check. I am sure you are right, and thanks again for pointing it out. That also would explain why the Carbone smells absolutely nothing like Carbonique........
Back to Balmain Carbone, I have tried it a few more times, but my nose still gets a tacky cheap coty Vanilla Fields / Vanilla Musk drydown.
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post #26 of 35
8/29/11 at 4:15am
i tried balmain carbone yesterday, just before going to basenotes. i am relentlessly searching for encense fragrances. the last time i was in paris i spent most of the day sampling ensence perfumes at lafayette. balmain carbone reminds me of bois d'armenie by guerlain. the closest i came to encense is annick goutal encens flamboyant, and bois d'armenie by guerlain. tom ford is close and has sillage. comme des garçons kyoto is another option but not strong, disappears quickly. i made some impulse purchases of reminiscence noir and angel schlesser which i regret. i now wear 24 gold by 20 century fox - yes the movie makers. it is close to what i want but not there yet. i welcome any suggestion as to how i can get closer to a perfect encense fragrance? i will probably buy the balmain carbone.
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post #27 of 35
8/29/11 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by counto View Post

i tried balmain carbone yesterday, just before going to basenotes. i am relentlessly searching for encense fragrances. the last time i was in paris i spent most of the day sampling ensence perfumes at lafayette. balmain carbone reminds me of bois d'armenie by guerlain. the closest i came to encense is annick goutal encens flamboyant, and bois d'armenie by guerlain. tom ford is close and has sillage. comme des garçons kyoto is another option but not strong, disappears quickly. i made some impulse purchases of reminiscence noir and angel schlesser which i regret. i now wear 24 gold by 20 century fox - yes the movie makers. it is close to what i want but not there yet. i welcome any suggestion as to how i can get closer to a perfect encense fragrance? i will probably buy the balmain carbone.

I think you will enjoy it. I have this and it's quite nice IMO.
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post #28 of 35
9/10/11 at 4:48pm
So has anyone else tried this, and if so, what are your thoughts?
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post #29 of 35
9/12/11 at 2:07am
Just googled Carbonique and I did find something. It brings up this thread!
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post #30 of 35
2/29/12 at 9:10am
This one finally made its way to San Francisco and I smelled it yesterday. It was nice. It reminded me of their well-respected Ambre Gris, but masculinised with a shot of lavender and a lot of woods and incense underneath. In a way that's hard to describe, it smelled more like a top shelf designer scent than a better niche (I think it's the pink pepper, which is a note that's often used to make things smell more "familiar"), but I'd confidently place it in the same league as Halston Man Amber.
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post #31 of 35
2/29/12 at 10:06am
I tried it. It's a nice, light incense fragrance - but nothing special that I felt was worth purchasing.
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post #32 of 35
2/29/12 at 4:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by petruccijc View Post

I tried it. It's a nice, light incense fragrance - but nothing special that I felt was worth purchasing.

+ 1
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post #33 of 35
3/1/12 at 7:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by petruccijc View Post

I tried it. It's a nice, light incense fragrance - but nothing special that I felt was worth purchasing.

+1 from me, too. Though it looks like it's turning up exceptionally cheap online. As such, it may make a good recommendation for the people looking for something clever and better than the usual in the $30 range.
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post #34 of 35
10/11/12 at 6:20am
This juice is amazing !!
If you like Gucci Pour Homme I ( not the 1976 ) you should like this , its juicer & wetter .
To my nose it has much more depth which are beautiful , especially the opening notes & its base , with a lot extra going on right thru the entire life adding a much needed sweetness to those pencil shavings GPH 1 is famous for .
It projects well & lasts sufficiently .
A classic to be some years from now & perhaps some may say that GPH 1 was the building block for this one .
cheers
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post #35 of 35
10/31/12 at 11:28pm
Picked this one up today along with Balmain Ambre Gris. Anymore opinions on these 2, what should I expect? Based on notes and reviews i'm really excited!!
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