Balenciaga L`Essence Cristobal Balenciaga for women

I should really know better than to judge a fragrance by its top notes. I thought since this was new, and mainstream that it would be safe to assume that my opinion of the top notes would carry over throughout the development of the fragrance and i was most certainly wrong.

The start of this reminded me so much of over ripe bananas that I immediately added the sample to a pile I have that go to my friend to try. 10 minutes later I caught a whiff of a green, cinnamony (I know its not listed, but that's what I smell) patchouli smell, oh! This is quite nice! Back to the pile of unwanted samples, pulled it out and put it back on my shelf for further testing. I can make out patchouli pretty strongly here, but it strikes me a spring/summer patchouli. A bit lighter and fresher than many perfumes with a dominant patch note. I also get a bit of green at the top which blends into vetiver and powder/violet.

This strikes me as pretty good quality, good longevity and projection. Now I just need to find a way to make it past that banana opening.

Falling hard for is, its only slightly green on me, I get quite a lot of powder but not baby powder, like powdery trees if that makes since. I am really loving this.

Just got a free mini of this and it is real, real good. This is perfect for me and I am a male. It's unisex in my opinion. If you like a scent that is not "fresh" like thousands of scents out there, go for this. It stays on my skin and it is not overpowering at all. Not the greatest sillage, and that's why I like it. But you can reach for it in your arms for a good 5-8 hours. I like colognes that I feel good about it and I do not care to receive compliments on it like a lot of people expect when they wear a scent. Great Balenciaga.

I love the cleaness and freshness of that perfume, I was surprised to see that it does not contain ginger; it has the symphony of the woody, lemony, and spiciness that fresh ginger has; however ending with a warm note of softness to balance the crispness that would make it too evergreenish or medicinal.

I think it'd smell lovely on a man.
It's a smidge too much on the masculine side for me to wear
It's leafy and powdery
Pretty- but for a guy not for me :]

*thanks to jillhare for the sample

I really wanted to like this because I love "green", and I love violet, but this just smelled like salad with balsamic dressing on my skin. Then it dried down to aftershave. Dissapointing IMO.

Very cool and green. It's like walking through a fragrant forest after a morning rain. I smell lots of green leaves and dewy freshness. There is a floral violet note in here that makes it feminine instead of just green. A very calming scent to me.

Mmm, finally a GREEN perfume that I can really get behind! :) It's cedar, violet leaf, vetiver (I think?) + enough violet to soften and sweeten the experience. Definitely feminine, but also fanciful... makes me think of a woodland fairytale... like something the fairy princess from Lord of the Rings would wear! LoL I absolutely love green scents, and this is definitely a GREEN scent! The strong presence of violet is certainly important to note, however... this is not one of those masculine woodsy perfumes. But it is woodsy. If you don't want to smell woodsy, or be reminded of nature: steer clear of this one!

WOWOWOWOWOWOW- BEAUTIFUL. I wasn't sure what to expect when it was advertised as "intimate" but now it is clear- it is a remarkable skin scent, it just radiates beautifully over your skin in a sort of creamy haze cloud of luscious earthy slightly sweet but green leaves and violet petals that just melt into your body. It is WARM. has the same texture as maybe honeysuckle, just remarkable. A tad powdery, but doesn't "scream" powder which is great, it's just soft. It is so modest but lovely and silently comfortable. I still get wafts of it rising up through the day, never overpowering, just completely aware, natural, and pleasant.

This subtle green creaminess always stays but starts to get a little more spicy and unisex which I absolutely love. this has my everyday signature scent written all over it. So pleased with this, the bottle expresses its quality perfectly, it is worth the big bucks for this unique scent. Bravo balenciaga! A fragrance out of the ordinary, a refreshing scent in all ways

Leafy, slightly minty, spicy, creamy and enchanting.

The beginning smells to me like Infusion d'Iris by Prada. After a few it turns into a different scent something more powdery and spicy. I love Balenciaga but the fragrances are not for me. It's a classy fragrance. Great silage. Lasting power >8 hours.

OK, this is quick edit after wearing L'Essence for couple of days already. There was something that tickles me all the time. Something familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. Until three hours ago - L'Essence to my nose is extremely close to Skin Trussardi. From the very beginning till the end. Sure, after certain moment I can see the similarities with Paris Balenciaga (I bought it, received it, compared it).

I bought online Balenciaga Paris (which I like a lot) considering comming Spring but what I've got was Balenciaga L'Essence (never got a chance to test it before). That confusion irritates me for a while. Still, I've decided to give L'Essence a chance.
Oh, my sweet, sweet Faith! Thank you! This one is melty, creamy, kind a greenish liquid Heaven. On my skin it's not hardly discernible, nor a whisper of fragrance (for that, I'm grateful). This scent melts on skin softly embracing it. It's feminene and innocent. Not girlish. Not exactly fresh. Soft. And again, creamy.
L'Essence gives me the same feeling as Prada Infusion D'Iris but in a curvy way. While PID'I is kind a sharp and has a soapy edge, BL'E brings the "clean" sensation without being rough and "right in front of you" .This scent just floats on my skin.
PS: If the main note I'm detecting is violet leafs (according to Your Votes) so I finaly found the perfect non-watery-green violet leafs in a fragrance.
Bravo,M. Polge! Bravo!

I wish I had more time with this one (made a quick whiff at the department store) but my initial feeling will probably remain regardless. To put it simply this fragrance lives up to its name of being "l'essence" of the original "Paris". Its its much lighter twin.. Its as though they turned down the knob on woody notes.. leaving crushed whole violets. It makes a great alternative if you want to tone it down for the warmer months. Not sure if I will purchase this anytime soon although if someone gave me an empty bottle I'd take it! So pretty!!

My costliest perfume mistake. I bought it cause of the pretty bottle and cause I wanted to be like Nicolas Ghesquiere and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It didn't deliver on either of these fronts but gave me a harsh, condensed shower gel version of Grey Flannel. I tried in vain to convince myself that I was living the lifestyle presented in Balenciaga ads. I couldn't even recoup $40 of its $125 price on eBay. A dud by all standards.

The more I test it the more I love it. Slowly discover its subtle beauty, that whispers in my ear softly and tenderly. I imagine going for a walk in the forrest, smelling divine green, fresh and clean air. The violets are creamy and in comparison to Paris this scent has much more weight and depth. A true beauty.

How wierd that only one note is listed? This is a very sophisticated and beautiful scent, its a high class, smooth and rich perfume. To me its powdery and a slightley smokey violets. If you are a violet-lover, like me, this is a great perfume! I like the leather in this scent, it goes well with the heavy violet and gives it more deep. All though this perfume never gets too heavy, its rather rich and creamy, kind of smooth and strong in the same time. As I am obsessed by violets, I can tell that this is a great one, but I have to say that Insolence is still nr one for me. I think the original of this one will make a great everyday, but L'essence is not "everyday" and its not "party" either. For me this is not a very wearable scent, but still beautiful.

It is so pairs..... Also smells like an expensive perfume. It is fresh and charming at the same time. They offcourse have experimented but the same time you will get balenciaga royal and special feel from it. Beautiful!

The perfect Spring perfume. I love green perfumes, and this is one of the best I've smelled in quite some time. L'Essence has an aquatic vibe, yet it's not aquatic. I smell 100% pure, fragrant, freshly cut violet flowers and leaves. The soft powderiness of violet is perfectly balanced with the vibrant green leaves. What I love about l'Essence is that it gives the illusion of a citrus top-note, but I highly doubt there is any citrus in the perfume at all. It's a truly unique and remarkable fragrance. I would describe it as violet, woody, slightly powdery, aquatic, fresh, clean, bright, and green. Just gorgeous. The color and clarity of the bottle matches the scent of the juice perfectly.

I don't agree with this being masculine at all. I would consider it if I needed to replace my Mimosa perfume by Christiane Celle, another green floral for women. This totally lacks the spicy and intensely woody base notes of traditional masculine aquatics and/or colognes. I'm not saying men can't wear this (of course they can), but I think most men would find the powdery violet to be too feminine.

Base notes are too masculine. Yuck. I want my woman to smell like a woman. Smells like an old lady in church at best.

I haven't spent much time with this yet but i really want to say that it smells as like a Dior Aqua Fahrenheit counterpart. Very heavy on violet leaf big time! It's cool watery green and earthy. It's also clean and dirty at the same time. Not at all "floral" scent in my vocabulary. Definitely leaning toward unisex scale. Guys should give this a try. I love my bottle, but I haven't been using it much because I don't wanna run out and it is till quite expensive.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this on my skin heavenly

Love the opening, it's just incredible, but it turns too mossy and too warm for me.

Nice, androgynous, earthy...but it is a whisper of a fragrance. wouldn't buy it, too weak(((

Loved the opening so much, that I almost bought it. However, after couple of minutes the great opening accord was gone and not much desirable left. After 20 min it started to turn little sour.
I consider it unisex, but not overly masculine. I think it could be great on somebody who has the right chemistry for it. Good for daytime.
Both, the bottle and the inside are superior to Paris.

This charming perfume is reminiscent of 1988 Dior Fahrenheit -- for an obvious reason, I guess, -- even though it tells a different story as it unfolds. Just as Dior's, it is strongly masculine; I am surprised it is being marketed as 'for women'

I finally got to try this today! It's very nice but it doesn't touch the original. Lovely bottle though. Why isn't the original in this green bottle? Ha! : )

Balenciaga deserves a pat on the back for this one. Here is a mall counter scent with a marketing image of a young woman, at an affordable price. This is clearly a throw back to old school green chypres, and Bravo for that.

No fruit cakes and bubblegum, no celebrity air brushed faces, and no little girl pony tails. One can only hope it gets noticed.

The scent itself is middle of the road; neither outstanding nor flushable. It opens a bit screechy and takes its time finding its stride, but the resinous green vibe pulses throughout. What I like most is the earthy, almost gritty, resinous base notes. This indeed has a strong vetiver/cedar current, and I agree with the gents that this leans towards the masculine.

antonpan, you have been reading my mind :)))
I recently named (entirely for my own purposes) this note "masculine jasmine" and I do indeed find it very very similar to the jasmine in Mon Jasmin Noir..

in comparison to Paris, L'Essence is less sparkly in the beginning (minus the carnation perheps??), but has more depth in the development.. still, not even a hint of "heavy" or "cloying" character..

believe it or not, this fragrance works well on mens skin.

Not bad at the beginning but somewhere in the middle and till the drydown it reminded of old Champagne by YSL.I'd say they are identical and as cloying.My friends thought the same,nice opening,dissappointing drydown.However,those who enjoyed Champagne,will love this,too.

This scent is lovely. It does remind me a lot of Un jardin sur le Nil of Hermes.

Strangely I do not hear much vetiver here. L'Essence is still last year's Paris (violets, violets), but, to my mind, it is enriched by a big dose of masculine... jasmine? I clearly feel the jasmine note here, similar to that in, for example, Bvlgari Mon Jasmine Noir. Anyway L'Essence is not as fresh as Paris and really has something animal or masculine inside.

Description of notes in advert from Sept. 2011 ELLE Magazine:

"A green violet-leaf fragrance deepened with a chypre accord of cedar, vetiver, black pepper and pimento berries."

masculine and feminine equally. i wish they listed the rest of the notes because violet leaf alone is not this fragrance at all. its comforting and suave along the same lives as bvlgari's soir and a much classier simplified burberry touch. that type feel to it. It is very good and luxurious. But you know unisex scents hardly ever have that hook that gets you addicted and its true here. on the dry down it has something that reminds me of Balmian's Ambergris too which does become a bit of an addictive quality.

I simply cannot wait to try L'Essence...Balenciaga Paris has become one of my favorite perfumes of all, so i have great expectations :) Will update with a review when - and if - my friend who is travelling to France gets it for me! P.S. The nose/creator of this fragrance is Olivier Polge.

Very good in the beginning - I'd even say wonderful - the first 120 seconds - and then - totally agree with Habanita here - it's hardly discernible. Or - am I anosmic to it??? Such a pity - given the great start!!

"A green fragrance laced with violet leaves and vetiver." States Balenciaga's creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere in Septembers Vouge. He Goes on to describe how his muse the complex Chorlotte Gainsbourg toys with "notions of masculinity and femininity". his use of Vetiver "a hallmark of mens cologne" helps to bring this trait forward. "Poisonous and Magnetic" is how he sums up L'Essence.
The bottle was made to fit in with the Hematite and pyrite jewelry in balenciaga's resort collection.
I can't wait to do a full review of this fragrance I have been wanting to find a fresh vetiver fragrance and violet leaf is one of my favorite notes.

Balenciaga Paris disappointed me. Essence is what I dreamed Paris would be. I think I have finally found my signature scent.

I adore this one even more than Balenciaga Paris. L'Essence is also a shared scent. So a full mens fragrance is definately on its way I can feeel it. can't wait for this to hit the stores..and I love the bottle..even more beautiful than Balenciaga Paris.

Balenciaga Paris is a gem so I can only imagine how wonderful L'Essence is going to be. This is going to be such a great year for fragrance. I am loving the green! I can't wait to read a full list of notes and the official launch date. Thanks again fragrantica! : )