Balenciaga L'Essence Balenciaga 2011

Bottle Design:
Nicolas Ghesquiere

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7.8 / 10 167 Ratings

A popular perfume by Balenciaga for women, released in 2011. The scent is green-fresh. It was last marketed by Coty.
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Main accords

Green

Fresh

Floral

Woody

Spicy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Green notes

Violet leaf

Heart Notes

Violet

Resins

Vetiver

Base Notes

Leather

Moss

Woods

Perfumer

Olivier Polge

Ratings

Scent

7.8167 Ratings

Longevity

7.2124 Ratings

Sillage

6.2115 Ratings

Bottle

8.5131 Ratings

Value for money

7.310 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 09/10/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Skin

Simply Eau de Parfum

Balenciaga

Violet Blonde

She Wood

Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum

Reviews

4 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/22/2014

8
Scent

Rickbr
190 Reviews

Rickbr

Helpful Review

I find this fragrance very interesting, a chic take one a very loved and, due to this, overused essence: violet. What makes me intrigued about it is that i cannot decide if it's more masculine with a delicate side or more feminine with a rough edge. It's both maybe? It tries to find a balance between the violete leaves, the sweet, sugary violet flowers, the slightly rubber and leathery side of some violet materials and the clean, laundry-like aspects that other violet chemicals possess. They aren't very intense, it feels more like a blurred, watercolor impression. Altough there are some woody notes listed, they don't make the base super woody or dry, as if the base followed the fragile balance of soft-rough with some creamy woody impressions and something more discretly dry.
It's a beautiful fragrance, not one that relies on innovation, but one that makes me think that beauty is able to be created with known melodies played on the right way.

02/17/2014

7.5
Bottle 5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 8
Scent

Icekat
97 Reviews

Icekat

Helpful Review 3

Subtle Elegance of Violet Leaf and Leather

A graceful rider on a white horse is dashing through the morning mist on a beautiful spring day. The calm serenity of green scenery is surrounding her while the birds are greeting the arrival of the first light. The dawn is breaking, softly unveiling the mystery of a new day. The air is filled with a scent of fresh leaves, mist and a gentle scent of leather. This beautiful moment is captured perfectly in the soft, elegant and fresh scent of Balenciaga L’Essence.

The composition is centered on the violet leaf with its gentle green and fresh beauty. It is so soft and calm, cool and refreshing. I love how the composition creates this aura of freshness without going into the laundry or straight-out-of-shower scent category. It is clean but also very sophisticated. As the composition develops, there is a gentle leather scent that is layered on the green notes. The floral presence is only slightly powdery and never overpowering. All notes are perfectly woven together creating this absolutely gorgeous and elegant scent. The scent is not too strong, but it certainly is noticeable and lasts for hours.

This is a great everyday scent. Sophisticated yet subtle and easy to wear. I love this scent and would not hesitate to recommend it. Overall score 8.5/10

11/17/2012

7.5
Bottle 7
Sillage 7
Longevity 6
Scent

Gold
541 Reviews

Gold

1

My weird "drydown-experience"

Very good in the beginning - I'd even say wonderful - the first 120 seconds. Green and woody, with a touch of violet. But after two minutes, the gorgeous topnotes are no longer discernible for me. I can only smell a synthetic leathery-mossy heart and then, after 30 min, a rather faint, woody drydown...very faint.
Interestingly enough, I had a similar and weird "Balenciaga-drydown-experience" when I tested "Florabotanica" the other day. I loved the start, but could not enjoy the synthetic woody drydown, in spite of the fact that "Florabotanica's" drydown is much stronger than the one "Essence" is blessed with. Or - am I anosmic to the base used in "Essence"? At least Balenciaga does not release one fruity-floral girly fragrance after another and tries to come up with perfumes for grown-ups. But I'm afraid these fragrances are not for me. And it's COTY behind it all... once again.

11/14/2012

10
Bottle 5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 6
Scent

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Helpful Review 3

Woody, Watery Violet

Balenciaga PARIS L'ESSENCE is a slightly tweaked flanker of the popular Balenciaga PARIS, the primary difference being that the flanker contains more wood than the original. This extra woodiness brings L'ESSENCE a bit closer to Dsquared SHE WOOD and Ellen Tracy BRONZE. It's the sort of combination--woody, watery, violet--which people are either going to take to or not. So anyone who likes one of these perfumes is likely to appreciate all the others. They all have a somewhat synthetic sheen to them, but it's not an off-putting one to me. I also happen to love violet and violet leaf, which are key to all of these perfumes.

People who do not like violet will find little of interest here. L'ESSENCE, like its namesake, is light and refreshing, slightly woody, somewhat sweet but somehow simultaneously aquatic. The least expensive of the rash of recently launched perfumes in this style is by far Ellen Tracy BRONZE, which I recommend as a high-value, low price alternative to the Balenciaga compositions, though I expect that their price, too, will drop soon. The bottle of the Balenciaga perfumes is much nicer, to my eyes, but the composition is not very different from the less expensive perfumes of this type.