Le Dix Perfume Cristobal Balenciaga for women

I am fairly certain my EDT sample has begun to turn, because the opening notes I get are fizzy varnish and soured citrus. The aldehydes must be completely degraded. After that unintended phase passes, the scent feels like a classic chypre floral, a little green and a little citrusy. I couldn't specifically detect the ylang everyone else smells in the composition, but again, my sample has clearly begun to turn. The dry down presents a deep violet note laced with subtle powdery rose, and the warmth of the base emerges, mostly with sandalwood to my nose.

To be honest, this is the first violet-dominant scent that I have been able to wear and enjoy! It feels extremely well balanced, and very sophisticated. What frustrates me is that a scent like this would be discontinued, when it seems like it would easily suit so many women!

Please bring it back!!

I have an old mini-bottle of this, probably dating from the 1980s, but it seems as good as new. I suspect that it’s been reformulated since then, so this is a review of the version produced about 25 years ago. It starts out with a cloud of powdery-leathery violet, some aldehydic citrus notes, a touch of fruitiness, maybe plum or peach, and a little hint of rose.

After a while, an occasional current of ylang-ylang pokes its way through to flirt with my nose, and I can almost detect a lilac note, built around the ylang-ylang. About an hour into the drydown, sandalwood makes an appearance along with the vanilla-tonka base notes and just the slightest hint of something animalic.

Le Dix (at least the one I have) is a complex and classic scent that is still very wearable today. I like the fact that it shape-shifts during the wearing from an aldehydic floral to a warm oriental. I’m glad I revisited this one, which I enjoyed wearing occasionally many years ago. It’s nice to know that it’s just as I remember it.

Another lovely perfume so hard to come by. I wonder why. Its powdery note melts into green in an elegant combination. You can't be wrong with Le Dix, perfect for elegant and sporty occasions. The ideal scent if after working hours you go directly to dine with someone important (either for your business or your heart).

I buy this perfume for my mum. It' s so elegance. Best perfume of ylang ylang olfaction. Long lasting more than 6 hrs. Very feminine and so beautiful perfume. Le Dix is hard to find in my country. So expensive.

I have purchased a bottle of 15ml of vintage pure parfum version (in a bottle like on the last picture above but with a liquid of dark amber colour instead of light golden) hoping it will be something good but it isn´t. At least for my nose. Maybe today i am not in the best mood for trying perfumes or the weather isn´t right??
It smelled quite nice out of the bottle, but then when i have applied it it didn´t turn out so good as it was in the bottle. I smelled strange combination of notes i can´t even desribe. My association with the smell was : the smell of gouache that is used for painting. I remeber when i was a kid, back in USSR we had a gouache that smelled exactly the same, when it was drying down. But there is also an addition of some note i can´t describe to that note. Bergamote maybe?
Now after 3 hours after applying this one is has turned into dusty smell. The smell of powder. I can feel it from a distance, but when i sniff my wrists i surprisingly cannot smell much powder, but some flower note (must be violets). But still the smell of powder is in my throat already, i can feel it there.
I am really not into this type of perfume. I have smelled the vintage "Chanel no5" pure parfum from the 80´s and it has no resemblance to "Le dix", at least to my nose. Maybe the even older Chanel version does, but not the 80´s. To me "Le dix" on the drtdown smells almost the same as Houbigant´s "Chantilly" actually.
Have to try it once again later this fall, since it is not a warmer days fragrance i guess. To me this is definitly an "old" fragrance (well mine is indeed an old one, but i guess you understand what i mean).

Please do not remove this comment, since others might find it useful. Not every review should be positive, so people like me wanted to make a blind buy might find it very informative. Thanks.

Today,a parcel arrived on my doorstep with a bottle of Le Dix. I had a small bottle many years ago in my 20's, along with others such as Cabochard, Caleche and Ivoire. Then after the 70's and 80's, I was into light, airy and citrus fragrances such as Issey Miyake and Annick Goutal's Eau de Sud etc. And Le Dix and others were soon forgotten. In the last year or so, my interest and passion began for niche perfumes such as By Kilian, Parfumerie Generale, Serge Lutens and others. In my manic search of amazing scents, I have to my surprise come back to perfumes by Rochas, Balenciaga, Balmain, and Guerlain amongst others (L'Heure Bleue and Vol de Nuit). Some have been discontinued and some I must admit have been slightly reformulated. My first spray of Le Dix today was magical. She is still as soft and violety and delicate as I remember all those years ago. The hunt for a bottle has been worth it!

This is for the modern edt:

I don't think I've enjoyed another perfume that has moved through such obvious scent stages.

The initial blast of Le Dix is bright, poppy aldehydes and violets. Someone said that Le Dix is truly a LILAC scent but I smell perfumey violets and that's it.

Later on, the violet becomes a bit powdery, very old fashioned. Like a powdery violet satchel.

And then underneath that, a sort of...queer animalic muskiness, unexpected and a bit vanilla-sweet and dirty.

There is just such a great juxtaposition here, between these ladylike violets and this unexpected, raunchy musk.

At last!!!

It is here with me, and I promise I will make it last for a long long time!
First impression: it is good!
Second: it is very good!

A noghty floral aldehide with lots of
fresh crisp lilac.

And for the Chanel 5 ladies.

In my opinion it is not as juicy and sweet as Chanel 5 which I do not like at all, but I love La Dix.

10 out of 10 just like it's Title.

Finally obtained a sample today: I have been looking forward to trying this one for some time.
The opening was much sweeter than i expected or enjoyed and there was indeed a light powdery edge to the fragrance. In the next phase of the development, I registered a distinctly metallic synthetic edge, reminiscent of Chantilly, but lighter and with a spicy edge. From there, the scent faded and did not last very long at all. While it is a nice fragrance, it did not capture my heart or my nose, and it will not be on my purchase list, but I will likely use the sample vial once in a while.

Very reminiscent of chanel No. 5 and Nocturnes by Caron.
Le Dix does have that powdery and spicy heart of No.5 but the powder is sweeter and lighter.

My only complaint is that the EDT fades pretty quickly.

I tested it today and I agree - this is rather aldehyde perfume. I'm in love with chypres, but floral aldehydes are not my cup of tea. The same is with Le Dix but only for about two hours. After that time soap disappears on my skin and all that's left is delightful. I'm going to test it at least once more, Le Dix is so sophisticated and complex that it needs time and respect to understand it better.

To be honest, this masterpiece comes to my nose more in the category Floral Aldehydes. It is in the same category as Chanel N5, Madame Rochas, Arpege. It is a MASTERPIECE!

Balenciaga LE DIX is a magnificent creation: rich and complex with a lengthy development trajectory and extraordinary potency and longevity. The edt wears like perfume on my skin.

I cannot believe that I never tried this 1947 masterpiece before! It reminds me, in waves, of both ARPEGE and BULGARI POUR FEMME, but the drydown is a slightly sweet, smooth oriental which is what I think that I was imagining THE ONE would be. Next to LE DIX, THE ONE is simply insipid.

Although the list of notes looks a bit forbidding, everything, including the aldehydes and the civet, is perfectly measured to produce a luxurious, ambery, woody resinous floral fragrance featuring both rose and ylang, in addition to jasmine and lily of the valley. The tolu balsam and benzoin sustain the whole gorgeous complex, and the light touch of vanilla and tonka makes the drydown slightly sweet. Beautiful!

Bright and sparkly, slightly peppery citrus then soft almost powdery florals, dominated by the iris I think. The aldehydes seem to drift in and out all the way to the drydown which is grassy cool with a touch of sandalwood and vanilla. Lovely.
A confident day scent for the professional woman if used lightly but really would go best with an evening gown and the opera.

After 25 years I still can not get enough of Le Dix , I feel so warm and dreamy, happy, calm and at peace wearing it. we have a very strict budget but this is one thing I will not go with out

The reissue: I find it soft and slightly powdery. I get the bergamot and lilac at the opening. The rose becomes more apparent as the fragrance wears. It's feminine and totally wearable.

It's heady, strong and elegant. Violets? Only in the very beginning; later they transform into lilac reminding me of my homeland in late spring (every lilac lover should visit Latvia end of May-beginning of June; lilac country should be our second name;). Somehow I have a feeling that the key composition for Balenciaga's creations is this civet-vetiver-Tolu balsam compound - it gives to the perfume a slight notion of nastiness. I wonder who the nose was - he must have been a real expert in women's nature;D

I beg your pardon - here comes part two Le Dix:
... she must not only have been kind and gentle but also an elegant lady with a surprisingly strong will - a smell like a person you can count on because it will always surprise you with goodness and warmth - one you won't want to wait for until the evening comes - so I will invite Le Dix to stay with me all day and night.

When I finally dared to give Le Dix to myself as a present what came to my mind was: "Now I know why my dad has been missing my mother all his life". This perfume is an answer to many of those questions of a daughter who didn't know her mum - now I know a lot more: she must have been very kind and gentle

Live testing going on on my wrist as we speak!The top feels very up-to-date, in a style similar to kenzo-flower. A lipstick-make-up-bag smell dominates, along with that of aldehydic soap.

Lemon/aldehydes/ylang-ylang are the main players at first.
Then rose and lilac appear blushing the composition.
The base isn't warm and it has a "wax"sensation. It must be the resins than the woods that carry its weight.

Overall,it is classy and distinctive,but I personally found it headache giving like a high-pitched noise.

I first found this scent in a set of mini's at an airport duty-free shop in Canada back in the 1970's. I've had a bottle ever since (not the same one of course). This is another scent that is hard to pin down but the subtle violet is a note I can pick out. I like the fact that it's not worn by many so others seem to pick up on it and ask what I'm wearing. I've yet to find anyone that has even heard of it.

I had forgotten I had this in my mid twenties and so much wish to try it again -it was lovely, the violet was foremost whin I wore it and seemed so right for me.

Yes! This is definitely akin to Chanel No. 5 done with violets...and the execution is much better. The violets are dusky, powdery, and juicy at the same time, with some rose in there to add body.

The base is quiet with gentle and sensual notes of vanilla, sandalwood and musk and a little vetiver.

Strangely despite violet not being mentioned it has a straong smell of them. It is a lasting fragrance on me but gets a bit musty by the end of the day. A classic beauty.

Recently I bought a mini bottle of the parfum. It was a bit of a risk, since I hadn't sniffed it, but it was only a little more expensive than a sample, so I thought it might be worth it.

It's lovely. It does seem like a product of its age -- a classic, aldehydic floral -- but I rather like that. You're certainly not going to be smelling this one all over the mall. (And I'm not surprised that susieqrj didn't like it as a 10-year-old. She's right, it's far too sophisticated for a preteen, or even a teenager, I think. Not because young women aren't sophisticated, but because this one is Classic Perfume Style, and rather out of fashion these days.)

It does begin with aldehydes and some light citrus. I keep reading reviews that mention violet -- but I don't get violet at all. Where's my violet? That would have been preferable, to my nose, to the big ambery Mitsouko-like peach I did get.

Rather quickly Le Dix moved on to its elegant floral heart, in my opinion dominated by rose, jasmine, and ylang. It's very nice, reminiscent in a distant sense of some of Chanel's classic fragrances (No. 5, No. 22). This phase is probably my favorite.

Elsewhere I read that Le Dix's drydown was reminiscent of that of Bois des Iles. I love Bois des Iles, and I was excited to try something similar. Alas, I was disappointed. It's not that the drydown is unpleasant at all, but I didn't think it was much like Bois des Iles' warm, woody base. The vetiver and benzoin seem to come to the front, in my opinion, in Le Dix's drydown. In fact, although it doesn't SMELL like vintage Chanel No. 19's dry leathery vetiver, it is similar in FEEL: dry, cool, competent, professional, succinct.

I should point out that I adore No. 19 and the way it makes me feel in charge of my own destiny. Le Dix, although its heart is soft and florally lovely, reminded me very much of 19 in the way it affected my attitude. It's one of those scents I'll use when I want to be efficient and professional. A true classic.

I don´t have nice impressions about this one. It happens because I got this perfume as a gift when I was 10 years old and it is very strong for a kid. What my aunt was thinking? (lol)