Ivoire de Balmain (for women)

jcmunich

Ivoire de Balmain is the fragrance of my childhood. My mother still wears it today, so I could not even try to write an objective review :) Ivoire is one of my all time favourites. I love its metallic, green start, its non sweet floral notes and its complex and wonderful dry down. Elegant, timeless and hopefully they will never change its formula to adapt to todays consumers' taste.

guest_

There are a lot of canation smell but nice and soapy so so sophisticated and classy perfums I have 3 bottle to get so i am happy and I feel like rich woman .

bandkh

To me, Ivoire de Balmain smells like a flower garden after a summer shower. I do however find it a bit too strong for a hot day and prefer to wear this in cooler weather at night. It's combination of floral top and middle notes combine beautifully with it's more sensuous base notes. Following a slightly soapy smelling phase, it softens quite powdery on my skin and is a fragrance I choose when I want to feel pampered and elegant. It's not for sissies!

Kittycat63

Oh, I forgot to mention in my review of Ivoire below that although it is fresh and green smelling, especially when it's initially sprayed on, it softens out to a slighly more flowery, soapy smell after awhile on the skin. Either way, it's a gorgeous, unique, sexy smelling perfume and highly recommendable!!

Kittycat63

I disagree totally with Mals86 about Ivoire smelling like Chanel No. 19 and I think it's a lot more interesting and nicer smelling. I was intrigued about Ivoire after reading countless reviews about it on the internet so decided to order a bottle unsniffed to satisfy my curiosity and the price was so reasonable for a large bottle that I didn't have a lot to lose! When I first smelled it I wasn't sure if I liked it or not but, having read that it's a complicated perfume which develops and evolves gradually on the skin, I gave it time and it's quickly become one of my favourite perfumes, and I'm extremely fussy about perfumes. It's very unique smelling to me, fresh and green with a lovely soapy drydown, which I love as I really like fresh, clean smelling fragrances. It's also very sexy and womanly, probably not for an average teenager for example although I think any woman of any age who likes wearing different and not run-of-the-mill perfumes could easily wear this. It smells very elegant and classy and yet the price is ridiculously reasonable compared to most, boringly bland designer perfumes that are on the market.

I've actually become quite addicted to Ivoire now and can't wait to smell it! I have lots of perfumes but this has definitely become one of my favourites.

It's a GORGEOUS perfume and I definitely recommend it for any woman / girl who has good taste and wants to smell great and not like every other woman out there!

NebraskaLovesScent

When I asked for recommendations on a Balmain scent to try, multiple Fragrantica members responded with this suggestion. As always, the friendly perfume lovers on this website are full of good advice. :-)

With Ivoire de Balmain, it was love at first sniff! It's such a beautiful, sophisticated and timeless fragrance, perfect for any age.

There's a lot going on with this scent. I get a dry citrus floral to start, which dries down to a clean, soapy green scent. About three hours in, the beautiful incense and vetiver emerge. I don't detect a lot of the sweeter notes like carnation, raspberry and vanilla, but I suspect they are softening what could have been a sharper green accord in the hands of a less-talented perfumer.

Ivoire is a skillful blend of diverse aromas that every woman ought to try. There's truly something in this scent for lovers of every fragrance category, and the price is very affordable for such a masterpiece!

Kama

Ivoire de Balmain used to be Greta Garbo's signature perfume...

Mals86

Starts out with a blast of galbanum and reminds me quite a bit of Chanel No. 19 (which I love). However, instead of the warm and elegant heart and mesmerizing leather-vetiver drydown of 19, Ivoire becomes a clean-soap, nondescript floral with a faintly mossy base.

With all those basenotes, where did the drydown go? It's all soap and moss on me. I'd love to have the "rosy, honeyed warmth" Leesee describes, but I'm not getting it.

Edit: I wasn't waiting long enough, or possibly spritzing enough volume! Recently, I sprayed it on one evening after supper, and the next morning, my wrists smelled divine - plush and honeyed is correct. I DO have to grit my teeth through the soapy-moss stage, which I dislike and which lasts a couple of hours on me, but the sweet ending is worth it.

Leesee

The opening notes of this scent are cool and tourmaline green, with a refreshing, tart quality that borders on bitterness, while the drydown is all rosy, honeyed warmth -- plush and inviting. An elegant and intensely feminine fragrance.

belle de sud

Ivoire is a truly sophisticated luxurious perfume, perfect for the elegant and empowered moments of life. It's aura of complex florals and sensuous basenotes are always right for feeling classy, expensive and chic. I get many compliments while wearing this one.

Belle de Sud

Malegria

When I was 14, I tried it the very first time. It was too loud to wear everyday and even on special occasions at that age, but I fell upon it`s bitter charms and wore it to bed, dreaming about growing up. It is very complicated and bright, starts out green and shrill, but quiets down to honey and herbs. I still love it, but it started to give me a headache. It`s not cozy anymore in bed too. But - sometimes I still wear it just to feel it`s heartbeat.

esprit2fly

Ivoire was one of the fragrances that I bought "blind". It's one of the sophisticated and classy perfums I ever had.
While introducing this creation, Pierre Balmain explained that, a couple of years beforehand, during the premiere of an opera in Paris, he had had an almost abstract vision of the ideal woman, the woman of one's dreams par excellence. Amdist the red velvet in the loge, he caught a glimpse of the lumious silhouette of a woman in pale silk - elegant and distant. He retained this image in his mind's eye and began to imagine a perfume inspired by this woman.

zenzero

For my "unskilled nose of beginner", this aroma is very complicated. I like it, but it seemed to be intense and I did not dare to spray it on my wrist, when I tested. I like it, but on the same time I don't know if really enjoy this scent, as at times perfume seems to be bitter.

I feel, as if I have to study it, as difficult lesson :))
I'd like to understand and go through every note of this perfume.

Jalutschka

Ivoire - meaning Ivory - is elegant and always appropriate for any occasion.
The essence of a French elegant perfume. Thank you F_A for realizing the spelling mistake. Struck me, too.

F_A

Energising like lying on a freshly cut grass among meadow flowers. Nice scent!

P.S. There's a mistake in the spelling of name - should be IVOIRE, not IVORIE