La Fuite des Heures

Fleeting Moment

Balenciaga 1948 Eau de Cologne

After the legendary Le Dix, my relationship with Balenciaga expanded with La Fuite des Heures. I actually stumbled upon this fragrance by chance. There was an offer for the perfume in a simple bottle as a refill for the Balenciaga Vapoflakon. Since I do not own the original Balenciaga, I transferred the perfume into one of my beautiful 30ml spray bottles. I was able to acquire the scent at a very low price and expected a more or less airy-light water - as the name suggests. However, the "Fleeting Hours" or the "Ephemeral Moment" turned out to be the exact opposite of an innocent, light, fleeting water.

La Fuite des Heures is a beautiful floral chypre in Balenciaga's finest manner. Following an aldehydic, rather unpleasant opening, which fortunately is very short, come the flowers, although "flowers" is far too banal a word for what follows.

At this point, I am reminded of Caron’s wonderful Fleurs de Rocaille. However, Balenciaga's version of the Rocaille flowers is significantly more serious, elegant, and darker. It is a warm, almost creamy accord of blossoms, so perfectly intertwined that they create a lush, elegantly fine, and noble whole. Without a pyramid, I guessed jasmine, lily of the valley, and something warm and sweet. That the rose also plays a part delights me as a rose lover. The contribution of the iris is very subtle, barely noticeable, only confirmed by a very light powderiness in the projection.

This is a fragrance for an adult, elegant, and self-confident woman. A woman who knows exactly what to wear and how to style herself for any occasion. She wears La Fuite des Heures both casually with jeans and a cashmere sweater and for a grand evening gown at a premiere. She does not hesitate to wear an elegant pantsuit instead of a evening dress, even if she is the only one in the hall doing so.

Even though I consider La Fuite des Heures to be a distinctly feminine fragrance, men with a sensitivity to flowers could certainly find pleasure in it. La Fuite des Heures shows absolutely nothing playful or delicate; it is - as I mentioned above - a very mature scent. Above all, it is a fragrance for people who know how to appreciate such a special treasure.

Its dark green, warm base rounds off this floral chypre. Warm and soft with this wonderful, almost earthy scent that can be perceived in spring in the woods when the woodruff plants begin to wilt and emit that green scent that mixes with the forest aroma. The green, mossy-hay-like scent is the main note of the base, while the other fragrance components certainly contribute to the rounding off. The reason for the mossy-hay-like, green note is the coumarin that the woodruff plants produce when they wilt.

Various grasses, woodruff, yellow clover, dates, tonka bean, and cassia cinnamon also produce coumarin. In the past, coumarin derived from tonka beans was used as a vanilla substitute in the food industry due to its vanilla-like flavor, but its use has been significantly restricted since a ban in 1981, as it can be harmful to health in high doses. However, there is no health risk when used as a fragrance in perfumes - thankfully ;-)