Balmain Homme
Pierre Balmain (2015)

A million miles from the piercing beauty of Monsieur Balmain.

A more generic and boring fragrance would be hard to find.

A total waste of time and I hope it tanks.

Balmain

Let's start to write that this Balmain's creation is first of all everything but original (several previoulsy appointed Axe's smell quite close to it for instance, frankly can't remember which, may be Africa or Dark Temptation but I can't swear about). I'd define this juice even familiar since, by inhaling its aroma, I'm immediately assaulted by a rich farrago of "olfactive flashbacks". Anyway this Pour Homme is not bad di per se, smelling on the contrary sexy, freshly dark, sparkling spicy, virile and woody-musky. A quite freshly spicy take on the (secreetly fruity, orange, plums?) woody-leathery theme. The new 2015 Balmain Homme's fragrance waves basically around a central (somewhat mainstream) fizzy-spicy accord of violet leaves, aromatics (coriander, juniper, lavender??), soft leather, secret fruits (citrus, dark plums?), tobacco-veined tonka bean, a touch of amber and woods (patchouli and sandalwood). It seems to catch for a while a sort of dried fruits/leather-tobacco/patchouli accord which is quite spicy and almost juicy. Woodiness is powerfully detectable (and synthetic), especially if smelling the aroma of this scent by the nose quite close to your skin. On the contrary, from a certain distance, you catch better fresh tobacco, aromatic spices and green-musky patterns. I surely prefer the aromatic-spicy "molecular" spark when catchable from a certain distance. This is a dark/fresh fancy fragrance (suitable for a night out), freshly musky and spicy-aromatic, the aroma on my skin smells (but mostly at the beginning) like a "fragrant" rendition of the shower foam Badedas Noir. Spices are heady all around, especially nutmeg and cinnamon (but saffron grows up gradually becoming finally quite dominant) and I ideally get after a while remarkable "memories" about Trussardi Black Extreme (the combination of dark aromatic woods, dried fruits and leather), Boss Elements (the fruity-floral spicy woodiness, leather, violet, woods, amber), Burberry For Men (the whiff of simil-tobacco, which in this case conjures me vaguely the classic Dolce&Gabbana Pour Homme as well), Police Dark Man, Cuba Black (the darkly sparkling aromatics), La Martina Cuero (just in part due its fresh leather-patchouli combo), Molton Brown Apuldre (violet, leather, cedarwood, aromatics) and Canali Black Diamonds (violet/tonka/woods/leather/spices, a Canali's far more floral- but equally dark, musky and spicy-dark beauty). Woodiness unfortunately is the part I appreciate less, being it basically synthetic, boring and kind of gassy leathery as typical in dozens of contemporary redundant woody-leathery takes around. Honestly I don't see finally the point since, over a promising opening, the aroma slides indeed towards the "conceptually/aromatically redundant", losing gradually the most part of its spicy-aromatic initial interest for a woody-leathery "yet around in perfumery undergone" synth main deflection. By wearing this juice you will smell surely elegant and virile but not clearly particular or intriguing. I finally catch in the air a softly spicy-floral romantic (yet formal) vibe (lily of the valley and violet together??) and It makes the fragrance utterly enjoyable despite I'd finally stick to a huge amount of diverse choices in order to get that "gallant goal". Amazing bottle.

The very first two thoughts I had when I tried this: it's pretty much exactly how you can imagine it by reading the notes, and it definitely “smells Interparfums”. They must really use the same materials over and over, because I get here the exact same notes I get in many other scents made by this company – e.g. some St. Dupont's, or Paul Smith's. But well, it isn't really an issue for me as long as they smell fine, and most of them did or do for me. There's something “dusty”, smooth, smoky- powdery in most of their textures, which I quite like. Balmain Homme also strongly reminds me of a mainstream fragrance I can't identify at the moment; I sprayed 1 Million on my other arm just to see if it may have been that since it has been named somewhere as a close comparison to Balmain Homme, but it's not that – it does not really have much to do with Balmain's in fact. Nearly nothing (phew!). I am quite sure it may be Versace Eros on the contrary, as I get here the same sort of “soapy spicy sweetness” due to tonka, cedar and musk. But that's the only similarity, as Balmain Homme smells different for the rest. Another reference that I thought of is – fun enough – discontinued Balman by Balmain; it was sweeter, more “creatively” synthetic and less smoky, but I see a clear connection. Anyway as I said the notes are quite faithful: the opening is really nice, fresh and almost tea-like, I get mostly violet (synthetic sharp-soapy violet), tonka, cedar, musk, some other smooth spices (nutmeg for sure), something almost fruity, and just some really mannered, almost unperceivable and smooth polished leather as in most of recent “trendy leathers”.

A fresh-sweet-smoky Oriental fragrance for “urban” young fellas; it smells clean, quite synthetic (not an issue for me), decidedly mainstream, but undoubtedly decent and elegantly versatile. It's actually quite nice to be honest, it has an enjoyable feel of bright spicy cleanliness which I quite like, blending quite nicely fresh notes and smokier ones; and if you make the effort of putting aside prejudices against “generic mainstreams”, you'll also think of some niche scents if that's a plus for you (a couple of Parfums de Marly came to my mind, and several “weightless” violet-leather scents). Nothing extremely sophisticated or particularly “masculine” in a more mature meaning, and surely nothing particularly interesting for perfume collectors and enthusiasts (unlike the other couple of Balmain fragrances for men), except if you're looking for some “easy” alternatives in your more fulfilling connoisseur's rotation; rather something generically “cool”, pleasant, safe, pedantically conforming to mainstream current trends, and really easy to wear. No contraindications, no unpleasant side-effects. Which is what designer fragrances are mostly designed for, so there's little to blame here. It's quite powerful too, the projection is remarkable and so is the persistence. So shortly nothing memorable but a decent, unpretentious, slightly overpriced candidate for a “signature scent” for 20-25 something guys (or handsome, Dorian Gray-esque young-looking 30-something's as myself).

6,5-7/10