Bottle Design:
Jacques Konckier

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Rumba Balenciaga 1989 Eau de Toilette

7.3 / 10 94 Ratings

A perfume by Balenciaga for women, released in 1989. The scent is floral-fruity. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Floral

Fruity

Spicy

Leathery

Animal

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Mirabelle plum Plum

Plum

Peach

Heart Notes

Jasmine

Tuberose

Orchid

Magnolia

Base Notes

Leather

Amber

Moss

Vanilla

Perfumers

Ron Winnegrad, Jean-Claude Ellena

Ratings

Scent

7.394 Ratings

Longevity

8.064 Ratings

Sillage

7.764 Ratings

Bottle

6.971 Ratings

Value for money

7.010 Ratings

Submitted by DeGe53, last update on 07/22/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Rumba Parfum

Rumba (2009)

Rumba Passion

Floral

Tempo Rubato

Parfum de Peau / Montana (1986) (Eau de Toilette) by Montana

Parfum de Peau Eau de Toilette

Reviews

11 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/15/2012

10Scent

Smellsogood
75 Reviews

Smellsogood

Very helpful Review 4

Winter Solstice

This is one big ole perfume. Dark fruits, woods, spices and honey. There is also the queer feeling of dry heat that you experience in a sauna. Oh! and candle wax, not scented candles, but big white church beeswax candles. This is a winter solstice perfume, everything outside is cold and dark, but inside you are warm, glowing and looking forward to Christmas. This review is for the original Balenciaga version not the Ted Lapidus btw.

11/09/2012

LiliumLibido
51 Reviews

LiliumLibido

Helpful Review 4

What a terrible name!

I have read countless accounts of how this fragrance is reminiscent of the famed Cuban-African dance, about how it has a "strong Cuban vibe", etc, and sorry, but that is pure BS born from clever marketing, nothing else.
Let's face it: Rumba was born in a lab, ok?
So throw away the name, blindfold yourself and bring your nose to the bottle. What do you smell?
I smell an explosion of ripe, juicy, tastebud tingling fruit, summery and luscious. Put a drop on your wrist. Wait a few minutes.
Now what do you smell? I smell a softening of the initial burst, the crisp, nectar laden fruit mellows to welcome the languid, buxom, seductive white flowers. There is a velvety smoothness about all those petals, their aroma suggests the undulating curves of the sun gliding on everything it touches. Put your wrist away, clear your nose with a few whiffs of fresh, clean air, wait a good hour. Now smell your wrist again.
What do you get? I get the dark side of the scent, past the sunset, when everything is still warmed by its recent presence but shadowed by the approach of the night.
Interestingly, at this stage of its development, a subtle almond note appears, not listed anywhere, mind you: I think this may just be the combination of the notes, sufficiently dried down, warmed all over again with the base notes. It is very slight, though, and melts itself into the softest leather, sueded from overuse, and contentedly purrs all over a bed strewn with vanilla, moss and amber.

The scent suggests many things for me but... Rumba is not one of them. I do love it, though.
Warning: overapply this one and you will regret it, lol. This one is meant to be dabbed on with a Q-Tip or walked through after a quick spray in the air.

09/10/2018

EauMySoul
25 Reviews

EauMySoul

Magnificent seriously

If you like an old school powdery floral oriental chypre with leather, imagine one that fell out of the sky dripping in plum and honey and pretty much any desirable note you can think of and you have Rumba. It’s a dream fragrance if you like this style. Magnificent actually. The bottle is kinda cheap and it has the bad plastic cap but just ignore it because what’s inside is worth it. It’s what a lot of people refer to as “old lady” and if you’re like me as soon as I hear that description I break out a note pad because that usually indicates something good. I have only smelled the old Balenciaga version with the dark juice. No idea what the newer one smells like. But the old Rumba will blow your socks off, again if this is the kind of fragrance you enjoy. Scent of subjective and one person’s “OMG this is the best thing I’ve ever smelled in my life” is another one’s “meh”. For me, it’s a 10/10.

02/09/2021

8.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Cumulnimbus
119 Reviews

Cumulnimbus

Grande Dame enjoying life

Balenciaga's Rumba is a grand dame perfume, a bitter sweet fruity floral with an oriental animalic, honey and leather, dry down. I would love to own a vintage bottle to wear on dark upsetting confined winter evenings like these ones.

For the moment, I enjoy the tiny miniature and make it last as much as possible.

01/08/2021

BrianBuchanan
363 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

End of an Era

It’s hard to imagine Jean-Claude Ellena as a rookie. But we all start somewhere, and in his early days he was - from time to time - paired with more established names. In this case it was Ron Winnegrad who shares the credit, and together they created a strapping oriental.

It’s a pretty standard sugar fest of orange blossom, heliotrope and vanilla. But there are some interesting grace notes: incense and moss, cool acid blackcurrant, a fruit syrup of runny boiled sweets, leather, tuberose, plum and peach, a green/citrus note with a fizz like sherbert...

For Ellena, this was the apex of his career as symphonic composer. As the 80’s came to an end, and the Berlin Wall came down, Capitalism no longer needed to flaunt it’s opulence in the face of our Commi-Bloc neighbours; the fight had been won and the whole Big Hair - Big ‘fume - Big Shoulders thing was now surplus to requirements.

Having served its purpose, the Loads-a-Money jibe - and the stonking fashion that went with it - was thought to be overstated and embarrassing. And sure enough, this kind of florid schmaltz was soon replaced by Eau de Watery Scent and Save the Whale T-shirt. (Ellena’s contribution to that being Eau parfumée au thé vert.)

Fortunately for him, because Rumba was a joint enterprise - and he was the junior partner - he can just shrug and say It wasn’t my fault guv, honest... !

Balenciaga version

More reviews

Statements

13 short views on the fragrance

Rachelg

2 years ago

7Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Honeyed plums and flowers on a leather base. Dense + sultry, as a good 80s vintage should be. (Haven't tried the Ted Lapidus version.)

JonasP1

5 months ago

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Balsamic-glowing dark fruits
Bitter-sweet dazzling
In minor
Gentle floral intoxication
Dancing the rumba
Behind leather curtains
With a hint of moss...

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Ttfortwo

2 years ago

7Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

A typical carefree "go-getter" from the 80s. Its opulent richness (and the imaginary tuberose) really reminds me of the original Poison *)

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Minigolf

3 years ago

9Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Definitely a bold fruit-flower buzz. A mysterious dark aura of leather, moss, and amber envelops everything. A bittersweet dance, GOOD!

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CharlAmbre

2 years ago

9.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

The bold, silky dark plum enchanted the entire delicate floral crowd. Each one received an aperitif. (Vintage Mini)

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Edda32

7 years ago

7Scent 10Longevity 10Sillage

At El Paseo, there's a risk of injury. I can barely dance because I have to dodge your amazing shoulder pads. Nosebleed.

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Skydiver19

1 year ago

7Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

Polarities flirt
Darkness plays with light,
Closeness with distance,
Fruits and flowers
merge into a rumba
Flirtation culminates in a sensual base

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Vanillabomb

7 months ago

8Scent

Right on the mark! Opulent, rich, yet finely woven, with plum slightly dominant - this is the scent of only vintage fruits from Balenciaga, sinfully delicious.

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