Balenciaga Pour Homme Cristobal Balenciaga for men

I consider myself rich with intangible treasure because I still have half the large bottle of this incomparable masterpiece that I purchased the very week it first became available on the US west coast ...along with 2 of the deodorants ( which are still heavenly powerful as is the cologne ).. I still have it because this dizzying,almost overpowering scent was one that I just could not find many appropriate opportunities to wear.. most of my small trove I will wear as mood strikes me and damn the torpedoes..but not this plutonium in a very attractive bottle.. it just must be kept for dinner parties on Mt.Olympus and having sex out in a thunderstorm ..recently I gave in to panic buying and bought some minis ( which certainly look just like the ones I used to get in the original gift sets)and a small bottle online.. I admit to being afraid of opening Pandora's box and finding it full of flimflammery .. but even if the newbies turn out to be reasonable facsimiles I'll wear it..because that bottle from the last decade of the 20th century must be preserved until my final shuffle off the mortal coil..and i mean that literally..I'm saving enough to be liberally sprinkled when they slide me in the oven..I want no mourners as I burn one last time..just people I love saying " DAMN she smells good !"

When I sniffs a perfume I see pictures, usually of places, with Balenciaga pour home I see an ancient Grecian temple, or maybe a temple into another planet. Yes, I believe that it "tastes" like a shady ancient temple. I can see also a cemetery, those cemeteries with corridors where the body is located into "ovens". That's is confirmed not just by me, actually just yesterday I was wearing this marvellous creation of Balenciaga and a friend of mine said: "It smells like talc of(for) dead!" I must say it's true, the first half an hour I have in my mind a cemetery, or is better to say the waiting room of the defunct. I can't say why. Must be the mix of incense, the earthy patchouly, and the green note, like cut flowers and that remote rose, and the talced cinnamon, maybe. But it is faboulous is Talc & Rhubarb to me. Spiritual and Conforteable. Sensual, warm, with shadows.

A kaleidoscopic fragrance. What opens like a sopay, clean and sparkling fougere (lavender, citruses, bergamot), evolves with time into a woody oriental of great complexity and depth. Spicy, incensey and woody with subtle gorumandic facets and an overall balmy quality. Powerful yet not overwhelming, perfectly sized and distinctive. A very good masculine.

Rating: 7/10

Do you like patchouli? Artemisia? Tonka? Sandalwood? Do brisk, musky fougeres like Kouros and Lauder and Lapidus Pour Homme send thrills of pleasure up and down your spine? Look no further than this beautiful ambery oriental by the fine house of Cristobal Balenciaga, their 1990 signature for men. Attach used-car sales flags to "vintage" 1 ounce and 4 ml bottles when you find them, in the interest of context - this particular spicy-incense bomb has been officially disavowed by its parent company for years, apparently never to return . . . until recently. This is how rumors are started, but there is a strange phenomenon taking place in recent months: Balenciaga Pour Homme is no longer impossible to find. Small bottles are readily available from online merchants, at reasonable prices, and I just stopped by my favorite brick and mortar, only to find fifteen minis, looking brand new, piled up on the sales counter. Weird.

Balenciaga is the finest usage of artemisia I have ever encountered in any fragrance, male or female, and it smells divine. There are truly magnificent, sweeping, broad-brush accords in this fragrance, from the fresh bergamot-lavender top, to the coriander-patchouli earthiness in the heart, to the sacred temple of incense, inexplicably (but successfully) hooked to a discreet tonka-vanillic sandalwood base, making this a near-perfect structure. What's more, it all fits together with loving attention to fine detail. Despite its full-bodied feel, Balenciaga is elegant, classy, fresh, yet dense, with an outdoorsy finesse reminiscent of Yatagan, Caron's famous wormwood chypre, but with more tension thanks to that lovely sweet ambery base. It doesn't get any better than this, although there are lateral moves that could be made from Balenciaga - YSL's Kouros still has the heft and the soul to match, and Lapidus goes even darker still. But fougeres play with airiness, while orientals need exoticism, and the magic of Balenciaga is that it has both. What do I have to do to get you into a bottle today?

Where those genuine perfumes gone?
Shame shame!

great masculine fragance, much class there

wow, i ordered a small spray to get a whiff of this cologne..gorgeous..is all i can say..how has this has escaped my nose for so long? wonderful masculine fragrance, does not smell dated to me, powerful at first, but then develops into a beautiful fragrance for a man to wear..i am planning on getting some more of this, a definite bottle worthy purchase.i am dissapointed i never knew about this one. my curiosity peaked after reading about it here. this is one of the best that i have smelled. i recommend getting some to try. this a signature type scent for someone to wear.i think more for a mature wearer, maybe over 30..it does smell fantastic enough for anyone to wear though. it is right up with the best known classic scents like patou por homme or something of that calibur..special sexy man stuff..two thumbs way up for me!!
just don't go too heavy with it , there is a blast at first...

This was practically a signature scent for me back when I started getting into fragrances, back about 20 years ago. I wore it all the time. Too bad it's dc'ed. Today's average consumer can't handle the intense power this fragrance unleashes from your skin.

This is a big, nasty green patchouli and incense BOMB!!! Strong, in your face, aggressive, macho, etc. all the superlatives commonly used to describe powerhouse frags apply to this monster.

If you miss this one, try on Lapidus Pour Homme or Aubusson Homme for size. They're both similar to Balenciaga Pour Homme.

MY RATING: 9/10

bought this recently from an old lady in an old store...no it wasn't x-mas but it seemed like it...a bottle of 100 ml + one of 50 ml for 15 euro (19,6 usd) !! cos they were the last ones in her (old)store...I thanked her and said she was a keeper of tha good stuff and although she was over 80, she knew i was right and started a passionate story of the history of scents and her own little shop...now this story as such, equals the quality of the balenciaga smell...older, but full of quality,pleasure and dignity !! A classy granny selling a classy juice !!
R.e.s.p.e.c.t. !!(another old fashioned word)
;o)

bought some today...its one of my pricier frags. Im not bragging, its not my style, but sometimes there are things that you HAVE TO HAVE...and Ive wanted this fragrance for a long time.

Needless to say, you DO NOT wear this with flip flops and boarder shorts. It DEMANDS that you present your self with some fuckin' decorum, when you spray it on your person.

As far as Im concerned, this is just as relevant and classy, as all of the Creed fragrances.

Got a 30 ml bottle today, SO GLAD I did,elegant, rich, sophisticated, barroque...old days topclass...Balenciaga, in 1 word

a MASTERPIECE!!!!!!!
GEM!
something here needs to be cleard up:
Balenciaga pour homme
is NOT CRISTOBAL!!!
two different fragrances .
Balenciaga pour homme is a unique warm woody scent
which I am trying to locate anywhere!!!
The one in that classy white bottle with the blue at the top...
sorry to "give lectures" but there is a missunderstanding I am afraid(all items found are Cristobal not Balenciaga p homme)

Post script: It's very similar to M7 by the end of the day, the woody incense notes fade and a sweet cherry note is left. M7 is very linear and doesn't change much from beginning to end, while this evolves all day. Very nice.

This was a blind pick up based on the reviews I saw here. Amazing fragrance. Long lasting woody scent, smooth and spicy with sweet lavender. One of my favorites now. I agree with the reviews below.

This is truly amazing - Gerard Anthony has crafted a masterpiece...one that very few know about. I don't know if words can accurately describe the sensation of wearing Balenciaga Pour Homme, but it feels totally natural (nothing synthetic at all) and is absolutely so original. I have never smelled anything like it - ever! The feeling in my mind I got when I first spayed this was close to what I got when I applied Original Vintage Gucci Pour Homme - the masterpiece from 1976. It is that intuition that slams your brain within a few seconds of regathering your olfactory awareness. You are engulfed in something so incredible, you pause...for a while. Time stops. You don't hear anything - you close your eyes (for anything visual should be images your mind is creating from what you are smelling). Revelatory!

To try to put it into words - Balenciaga Pour Homme is like a fine porcelain cup filled to the brim, steaming with hot spiced apple cider, a cinnamon stick swirled into it and a caramel on the plate next to it. You are sitting on an expensive, smooth, hand-made leather sofa with a mixed bouquet of fresh cut flowers and greens beautifully arranged in an expensive vase on the table in front of you. From the other room, there is burning incense - but it doesn't overwhelm...it just adds a touch of ethereal beauty. No single note in this is overly-dominant...that is the eloquent harmony. The room has an expensive persian rug and hardwood floors - everything plays a part in the composition here. I was fully taken away by this to another place.

My rating - 10/10 - for scent, originality and quality. Excellent sillage and longevity as well. A masterpiece that does not have a time or can it ever be dated. It happened to be created in 1990, but it is as relevant and cutting-edge today as it was then. Is Salvador Dali's work dated in any way? No. This is art in a bottle and it should be considered as such. To be adorned, not worn.

Balenciaga Pour Homme is one of the best masculine fragrances I've ever smelled. It's a powerhouse and it's not offensive or urinous at all. From the beginning to the end, I get cinnamon, incense, aldehydes, a lot of patchouli, and some warm fruity boozy leather to balance it out. This is definitely one of the most unique fragrances I've smelled, as well. I can't exactly think of a fragrance that is similar per se, but the overall "feel" reminds me of Donna Karan's original Fuel for Men, along with hints of Kouros and, even a few Anise/Tea/Gourmand scents like Yohji Homme and Gucci Pour Homme II. There is no unpleasantness or cloying/overbearing nature to Balenciaga Pour Homme; it is just smooth all-around. Actually, the closest fragrance to Balenciaga Pour Homme is definitely Lapidus Pour Homme; it shares the same sweet lavender accord.

The bottle is amazing too. Tall, stoic and utterly 1990 without being cheesy, bearing an amazing green-marble finish on the sprayer.

Balenciaga Pour Homme projects extremely well, but it's not invasive. It lasts a long time, and it's so good. Besides Patou Pour Homme, this has become my favorite 80's/pre-aquatic 90's powerhouse so far in my fragrance journey.

Anyway, I'm glad to have found a bottle of this thanks to a very generous Basenoter. Unless Balenciaga comes to their senses and gives Balenciaga Pour Homme a relaunch, then I suggest you get to it before you can't. Thumbs up, five stars, and my most sincere recommendations.

Thank you for honoring my request to add this to the data base. If I have a "signature" fragrance this is and has been it for over twenty years. I am currently at a loss for words that will do this on justice. When I am able to articulate a worthy review I will honor this masterpiece accordingly. This is singular. When I thought I would not be able to obtain a replacement for my dwindling supply, I searched diligently for anything similar, tired to replicate it myself, nothing even remotely close in vibe quality lack of offensive notes presence of and balance of high quality notes etc.Tried anything that anybody claimed was similar- but never even close- they clearly did not "get" this one.

Strange! Am I the first one to review this little gem?
It's been too long since I sampled this perfume, actually I had bought a bottle for myself which later gave to a lover. I am in no position to recall it properly, but I do remember this was a very interesting and unique smell which could be the talk of the town under different circumstances.
I don't know whether it's the timing to be blamed or the low profile name behind it, but most definitely it deserves a recognition for being so very interesting and unique.
Did I say interesting and unique? That's "Balenciaga pour Homme", no doubt about it!