Bal a Versailles by Jean Desprez

mister_chaz

ha-ha! this one is a clear love/hate perfume))i received this one as a gift: was initially very unsure about wearing it. but yes! it IS a masterpiece: very rich flowery fragrance, warm, woody and musky,i can smell amber notes, and it doesn't smell cheap at any rate . It's not your average "next door girl" type of frag. It also transforms interestingly throughout the day. It has extraordinary lasting power: when i take shower after a long day i can still smell it on my skin. This is perfect for a signature scent, but one must test it before buying))

HOPE007

At first when I received it, I sprayed in the air and sniffed thought uh it's ok - it reminded me a lot of Royal Secret, and it still does in some ways? But I should know better than to do that and judge a fragrance.

So a few days later I decide to be more daring and give it a go and spray it on myself.

At first it was a blast.. then it became pretty... and then after a few more minutes the most beautiful scent developed...

I was very very pleasantly surprised.

It does share something with Royal Secret, especially at the beginning - cousins maybe? But they are quite different as they develop.

Overall I must say I am very happily surprised. I have the EDT currently.

kastehelmi

I second kittykati's review of this one-As for allexa27's review, the 70 year old+ women I know would not let me spray this on them if I tried, hahaha! It takes a certain boldness to wear this out-not just boldness, but stubborness, I think! For me the patchouli makes it an absolute scrubber, go figure. It's dirty as a scent can possibly be-I can see civet cats wandering before my eyes as I smell this-so the patchouli doesn't dominate, as strong as it is-the civet amber and musk make this a zoo of a fragrance!

There are a few sweet flowers, but they are soaked in feral sweat. Unless you're into this kind of thing, just try it once to see for yourself, and pass your sample along!If you want to try this, send me a message!

guest_Heigo

Hallo,

I just purchased my first buttle of Bal a Versailles and this is just fabulous!!! Really the scent is getting better in every minute! The first odor is pretty strong but it will get better pretty soon. I know that this is a women's perfume but i just could not resist it!!! So i recommend it for everybody!!!!

cinsot

This sultry fragrance (EdT) smoulders with passion without the slightest hint of autosuggestion on the wearer's behalf.

BaV could seduce the pants off a door knob (speaking literally - no not Aussie slang for a nightclub bouncer, and figuratively - inanimate objects such as door handles do not wear pants!).

loismonahan

This is one of my absolute favourites! I think of the movie "Dangerous Liaisons". Exquisitely powdered, dressed and jewelled, doing nothing but playing elaborate, sensual games. This is what I imagine Marie Antoinette might have worn.

Minnija

this one is the worst I ever smelled... I would quit if in my office some of my college would love this and use as everyday perfume

Kterhark

(EDC Review)
This is a scent I think anyone interested in perfumery should try. Will it knock your socks off? Probably not, but you'll notice immediately that it is a masterpiece, and unlike anything you've smelled before.

SednonSatiata and NebraskaLovesScent best put into words how I feel about this scent. It is a little retro, and certainly a lot 'sexy dirty'.

Probably not a scent I will add at this time, however, as I prefer earthier, melancholy fragrances over heavy civet/musky ones.

angel73

I am french and i hate this perfume !
It smells like an old old lady with its animalistic notes...so dark...
i love sexy perfumes ant not a repulsive for men ! sorry for people who love it, but for me it is so old ...and i don't love very much vintage perfumes.

Flora55

I really love Bal - yes it's strong, and more than a little retro, but it was made for REAL women to wear, not teenagers, and it is as sexy as it is possible for a perfume to be and still be street-legal. I like that it is clearly an Oriental style perfume but it's not really sweet at all, but rather musky and resinous and not in the least gourmand. An enduring classic for a reason!

guest_ maria joseph jackson

(yes this is my real name!)

Hello...
I have come to this website looking for some help... if any body here could please tell me where i can find bal a versailles in Colombia (cali colombia!) i would be so thankful!, now that my sweet michael has died i would like to purchase this perfume to have his scent with me...you may write to me to this email address telling me where i can purchase it: mjgarcardona@hotmail.com
thank you all ever so much...
Maria Joseph Jackson...

Nicole79

...Bav opens in a strong - flowery way ! But after that, it calms down and all I can feel on my skin is the smell of flowers, face powder and red lipstick. I also feel the incense . It is dusty, dry,powdery, classic. Very XVIII Century. Unique. A vintage perfume. I will defenitely repurchase another bottle in the future !...love it !!!

Malegria

I was looking for an ultimate skanky perfume...got a lot`s of advice on the subject from fellow Fragranticans - and voila, here it is, my very own Bal and I have my hands on it.It`s EDT, and I got a great deal on it, too!!!!!!!!

As for it`s skankiness - I am rather disappointed. It is flowery, animalistic...but I don`t see any really skanky sides to it. It`s incredibly floral, very oriental indeed and oh so dry, dry, dry. Old fashioned powder puff dying to touch a face.I love my perfumes a little bit more moist...however, Bal had ultimately earned my respect.The first time I was able to enjoy an obvious vetiver in a perfume and I can easily see it as a day time scent.
Really, guys. Don`t overlook it and give it a chance.

CaraMia

Fool yourself if you will with the haloed pictures on the bottles or with the roses and orange blossom in the opening, but Bal a Versaille is no angel, it is an animalic predator! The lioness may be hiding in a flower garden, but make no mistake she is there. The civet and musk are very present and very sophisticated. The florals are lovely, the woods are grand, but they are merely camouflage for sexy animalics. Nothing wrong with that is there?

Glorious!

elika

I bought it to a friend of mine for the New Year. She opened the package and screemed: "Oh, my God! A perfume and a painting... Splendid! It fills my spirit with freshness and my eyes with beauty! What a marvellous way to start my New Year and such happiness for the next 365 days!"

weegee

Eau de Excited Crotch. Extrait de Pussy. Parfum de Pudenda. Grrrrrr, snarl, grrrrrrr. Come up and see me sometime. Hubba hubba zing zing zing!

If you want to like Bal a Versailles but just don't after trying the perfume or edt, TRY AGAIN with the eau de cologne. I've done a left-wrist edt, right-wrist edc comparison and the fragrance is identical with the edc just less powerful/overpowering. The edc, amazingly, lasts just as long, too! About 8-10 hours on me.

LadyJedi

A beautiful old-school oriental with a really poetic name and appeal. On me the dominant notes are the rose and the jasmin. It is pleasant and not overly sweet but still a bit too old-fashioned to repurchase. It stays long hours especially when layered with the body lotion. Now my mother is enjoying it to the max.

guest_the marchioness

Its an "old school" fragance, reminds me of the XVIII th century...exhuberant, powdery, complex, dramatic, and very french. Its definetly not for every day but i love it.
So I will probalby use it for especial ocasions, mascarades or whenever i need to feel like a XVIII century dutchess.

Moyra

It was not easy for me to accept the invitation to the fragrant dance that is Bal a Versailles.
I bought it in early spring, when temperatures where I live are already turning toward the torrid. It seemed heavy and somehow "cheap",in the old fashioned sense of cheap=skanky.
For months, I kept it in the "skanky" section of my perfume collection, together with Vivienne Westwood's Boudoir, Habanita and a few others. I didn't touch it during the long, dry, blazing hot summer months. And, once in a while, I would think about who I could give it to...
And then suddenly, for the first time in forever, it rained. It got a little cooler, almost like a preview of late autumn and winter in these parts.The achingly bright days of summer were replaced with dark skies and torrential rains, and I thought, why not?, and tried on Bal a Versailles again.
And now, amazingly, its a delicious amber/benzoin/vanilla/resin-y loveliness, warm and elegant in the same way "Femme" by Rochas is elegant,without a trace of skank, au contraire, there's even a hint of the regal in there, with those deep golden resins.
I was fearing the powdery/flowery notes, however, my skin, as always, gallops through all the flowers and heads straight for the resins. The powdery note, of which I am not overly fond, is very faint.
I was also fearing my two least favorite perfume notes: civet and musk. Thankfully, these were undetectable to my nose.
Note that these comments where evoked by the eau de toilette, which, as an aside, is fiercely tenacious with decent sillage.
Ultimately, the drydown is amber-y wonderfulness, and I will definitely be buying a bottle of the parfum!
Lesson learned: if you hate a fragrance at first, try it again in different weather or a different season.

kittykati

are you looking for a perfume that would take you back in time? a good few CENTURIES back? then look no further.
the first impression that popped into my mind when i tried this, was roman polanski's cult 1966 movie 'the fearless vampire killers'. this is how i imagine it. lost somewhere deep in transylvania, in the middle of the winter, attending a ball of vampires; dark, opulent, decadent; their skins have a blueish gleam and smell of stale powder, their lips tinted with fresh blood, the lacy shirts under velvet coats hanging in tatters.
now don't take me wrong - it's actually not a bad composition. it's creamy, soapy and long-lasting. a 'classic', you could say, and i do like classics. but to me, this really is seriously out-dated.
(unless, that is, you live in a medieval castle and spend your free time frolicking about wearing crinolines and perfumed wigs...)
;op

allexa27

very very very retro smell.Typical classic smell.I cant stand it on me,it is too heavy .I sprayed the old ladies from my neighbourhood and they fell in love with it ,i made them so happy!They want me to buy it for them(they are 70 years old and up).I cant imagine other people using it...totall scrubber

F_A

Long dresses, laces, ribbons, white face powder, corsets, silk, umbrellas against sun, walks in the beautiful garden of flowers and fountains, the beauty of Rococo era - such associations bal a Versailles creates for me. It has something "outta-this-age". The label fits the bottle perfectly!
This fragrance is very flowery, very complex, rich, a bit soapy and powdery in the base. Beautiful piece of art!

Mals86

After hearing raves about this one from fellow perfumistas, I snagged a mini parfum de toilette for a very reasonable price and tested it. At first, I found it very "French perfume," with heavy florals so dense that I felt them clustering about my head. But shortly thereafter, the fragrance began to settle and calm itself on my skin, with those rich blended florals becoming less heady. I can pick out orange blossom, jasmine, and narcissus, with a wisp of rose, if I concentrate very hard. Later, BaV turns sweet and warm with amber and musk and balsam, becoming almost embarrassingly sensual, and definitely a boudoir scent. I'd never wear this one to the office!

If you're struggling with the old-fashioned, heavy floral opening, just give Bal a few minutes. Very often, older perfumes take some time to blossom on the skin, and this is one of them. The incredibly sensual, beautiful heart and drydown are well worth waiting for.

I just received this scent in parfum extrait and will report back with any updates when I first wear it.

Petula30

I re-discovered a tiny bottle that belonged to my grandma 20 years ago and I remember I disliked it very much as a child. Now twenty years older I finally appreciate and treasure this beautiful amber and I wish I had more perfumes like this in my possesion.

hollivomitsyou

i was nervously excited to try this one. i can't imagine anyone not HAVING to try it after reading the notes and reviews. i was warned to wait at least an hour before judging it because this one goes on strong! after the grace period, i was so happy with it! i feel the warm sun and a little touch of hay in it, but everything is warm and sweet. strangely, it smells very natural and very noticeable at the same time. i think it is sexy in the same way that it is sexy to see your love in the morning disheveled before getting ready for the day.

Lime909

I have only one word for this: CLOYING.

We are all different and that's a good thing, but for me this represents a feeling of claustrophobia. It smells dusty and I have to turn away and gulp in big breaths of fresh air to refresh my senses.

Sorry if this upsets anybody, but that is my honest reaction to this particular scent :-(

jeanol

I first fell in love with this perfume over thirty years ago and to this day it remains my favourite. Wearing this is to feel totally female - erotic, sensual, sexual, and above all a woman. A timeless beauty, a classic.

honeypoppyseed

I've been trying to wait off on doing this review bcause there is a lot to consider with this fragrance. Lets start with it's history, this frangrance, much like miss dior, is one that many women has passed along to their daughters, and their daughters after that. It has a lot of classic appeal, heavy civet, musk and cedars... however it's almost a bit too dusty I think for a modern girl. It's definately not a modern fragrance, however, if you are into the pure classics, than this is your best bet. It has a demur beauty that is perfect or those into the romance, and traditions of the past, and that's not a bad thing. It's just important to know your style, and this fragrance is a perfect example of that. While it really warms some people up, it can have strong reactions otherwise as well.

Chatnoir

Wow! What a complex scent. I was at the local overstock store,and saw Bal A Versailles. I tried a spray, and well, I wasn't impressed. At all. As it settled down, it grew on me. So, I went back and paid my $8, and got a bottle. It smells like a mix of soap and powder, slightly wilted floral arrangements, and musk. It isn't the smell of the ball in full swing, but hours into it, when everyone has stripped off their wraps and gloves, and kicked off their shoes. There is an old-timey decadence to this scent. The more I smell of this, the more I love it.

gyftedgrammy

At first whiff I thought, oh boy, I've smelled this before on pratically everyone. The transformation that takes place just minutes after applying it is stunning. It is VERY powdery in an elegant sense. The amber note is unmistakable. Nothing simple or plain about it; the words classy and refined come to mind. A real head turner.

Miss_Nightingale

This, I now realise, isn't so much a fragrance of candlelight coquettishness & smiling behind lace fans... this is a powdered courtesan being pleasured on a dining room table that has been freshly polished with beeswax.

I first wore this beautiful Oriental fragrance as a fresh-faced youth, I loved it because I was in love with all things romantically antique. To me it was History in a bottle - the scent of an aristocratic candlelit ball, the Language of Fans, of a past I read about constantly in Georgette Heyer novels and yearned to be a part of.

Of course I was far too young to appreciate it truly; but doesn't that just sum up the folly of youth?!

Many years later from my first breathless encounter with Bal a Versailles, I repurchased a bottle because I was interested to see what I thought of it now. I am very glad to say that - apart from bringing back happy memories of my first experimentations with perfume - I STILL love this, and now I understand it.

Firstly I get a huge rush of amber - if you don't like amber, Bal a Versailles is most certainly not the fragrance for you. Amber is present, in differing strengths, all through the many layers of this perfume. This is excellent news for me as I am an amber freak. For me, this is like flicking through the boring bits of a mundane novel to get straight to the racy parts that make your heart beat faster.

Next I have an almost overwhelmingly sensual blast of orange blossom (this is also a particularly long lasting note on my skin) with a creamy background of woods and slight hints of patchouli & vetiver. This is probably my only complaint with the perfume - I would prefer the vetiver to be punchier by far, but I'm a sucker for deep, dark, mysterious perfumes that waft behind me and scare the innocent.

The drydown is delicious, a warmly powdered ylangylang with the whole lot mellowed with orris root - it lasts all day (or night) long, absolutely brilliant staying power. You have to go a long, long way to beat this powerful, playful, completely entrancing Oriental!

SedNonSatiata

I’m amazed to see BàV described as “soft,” “sweet,’ “romantic” on some review sites. It’s not that innocent. In my own mood categories, I’ve always placed BàV beside L’Air de Rien. I think of LdR as a kinder, gentler BàV. I am pleasantly shocked by BàV’s unabashed, sex-in-a bottle appeal. On second thought, it is more like afterglow in a bottle: lush and languid, warm and spent, a bit rumpled and hastily dressed. Rather than invite seduction, Bal à Versailles suggests the secret of having been seduced. The delicious, animalic basenotes are evident from the beginning, and dominate over time. I don’t get any powder or soap. Just a mix of leathery, slightly smoky, floral, musky, civety, velvet. Like an fragrant tattoo, the EDT penetrates my skin so thoroughly and for so long that I wonder if it will be permanent. It smolders to such an extent that I find myself touching my arm to see if my skin indeed radiates heat. I don’t find it dated (bottle design aside), because this sort of scent was never really trendy. The container is a masterpiece of kitsch, a parody of perfume bottles, an ironic interpretation of the scent itself. Or perhaps that’s the idea: the overdressed look of the bottle attempts to cover the nakedness of the scent within. A strange, daring, disturbing, beautiful, haunting, love-it or hate-it scent. Love it. Get the EDC for the dirtiest, and the best formulation.

Nuppu

What a lovely, soft oriental gem. Stars little bitter and powdery, on a dry side, but so sophisticated and elegant. Stays close to skin, softly cares and rose up beautiful musky base. Good staying power, over 8 hours and more.

The scent isn't at all aged, it's classy, never loud and I coud wear this even at work in cold season.

elgab89

Bal a Versailles holds a very dear memory for me. I was about 12 when I have tried it the first time, a marvelous bottle that me and my best friend found on her mom's cabinet. We were both home alone and we were trying her mom clothes and makeup. Finding this to us was discovering the ultimate lady perfume. I have tried it again in my adult years and my opinion has not changed. Such a sophisticated oriental, elegant and seductive, beautiful floral top notes, it dries down in a very sensual scent.
The name is perfect - the belle du bal, courtesan of the court - arriving at a sumptuous party in the eccentric Versailles.

NebraskaLovesScent

I really like the musky, animalic dry-down on Bal a Versailles. It's very sexy and not too sweet, with warm hints of amber and vanilla. Unfortunately, the opening floral notes smell a little too old-fashioned for me, and linger a little longer than I would like.

That being said, perfumes don't really smell like this one anymore, and I can appreciate the fine quality of this fragrance, even though it's not one I will purchase again. I bought it unsniffed after looking at the notes online, and it was definitely worth trying.

12/10/08 I am editing my review to add that the more I wear this one, the more it grows on me. I may very well be purchasing it again. I hear it's lovely in the Parfum concentration!

:-)

Mitsouko

These perfume is obliged to be devoted it poem, because it is same poetry. They belonged golden medal, because this artistry of world. But, ad rem: I write about them after month of usage. They are very rich, but they do not crush. They are warm, but not stifling. It is exquisite mixture of flower of orange, jasmin, dried fruits, roses, ambergris, musk, civet. They are elegant, but it is possible to use their within day, because they are very optimistic, joyful. They are classic, but it is possible to regard them as modern. For me this fragrance has color of deep bronze, gold and orange. They are unusually sensual, soft, very feminine. They are exceptional. My english is not good, but even, if it was perfect, I did not did not be able to express unusualness of this smell in words. It one of fine smell. I would carry away it on uninhabited island.