Ivoire de Balmain (1980) (Eau de Toilette) by Balmain

Bottle Design:
Pierre Dinand

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Ivoire de Balmain Balmain 1980 Eau de Toilette

Version from 1980

7.5 / 10 199 Ratings

A popular perfume by Balmain for women, released in 1980. The scent is chypreartig-floral. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Chypre

Floral

Green

Spicy

Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Aldehydes

Bergamot

Asafoetida

Chamomile

Lemon

Mandarin orange Tagetes

Tagetes

Violet

Artemisia

Heart Notes

Orris root

Ylang-ylang

Carnation

Jasmine

Lily of the valley

Narcissus

Neroli

Nutmeg

Turkish rose

Cinnamon

Pepper

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Sandalwood Amber

Amber

Musk

Vetiver

Frankincense

Patchouli

Tonka bean Vanilla

Vanilla

Raspberry

Perfumer

Michel Hy

Ratings

Scent

7.5199 Ratings

Longevity

7.9150 Ratings

Sillage

7.3145 Ratings

Bottle

5.8135 Ratings

Value for money

7.517 Ratings

Submitted by TVC15, last update on 10/15/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Ivoire de Balmain (1980) Parfum

Ivoire de Balmain (1980) Eau de Parfum

Raphaël 3

Ashaar pour Femme

Belle de Nuit Eau de Toilette

Bogner Femme

Reviews

17 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/15/2012

9Scent

Smellsogood
75 Reviews

Smellsogood

Top Review 7

Soap Opera

The most heavenly mix of greenery, soapy creamy florals and a base of oakmoss and raspberry, smoothed out with vanilla and incense. This stuff is just oxygen to me. Inhale, exhale mmmmm!

06/21/2012

9Scent 10Longevity 9Sillage

Gold
726 Reviews

Gold

Very helpful Review 4

An elegant, green, soapy masterpiece

Ivoire is a "problematic" scent for me. It's elegant, green, highly recognizable and a true masterpiece - and yet - I cannot warm up to it.
Years ago, I bought a bottle of it, gave it away, then regretted the "loss", bought another bottle and swapped it for "Jolie Madame" after 4 weeks.
I always enjoy Ivoire and its powerful green notes on other people, but I can't wear it myself. The scent turns soapy, harsh and uninviting on my skin. Nevertheless, a great classic and a must-try!

06/14/2023

Stacia
134 Reviews

Stacia

4

Probably not for fragrance newbies...

This perfume made me look up asofoetida. Ahh, so that was the strangely spicy, borderline garlic-sweat note in here. Let me make clear that it's not a bad thing but it was a very unusual note that I had not encountered in the past. I don't get "ivory" color from this but I do see shades of copper and bronze in my minds eye, like a sunset over a field of black eyed Susans. This is a weird perfume and while I like it a lot, I cannot wear it just any old place. It has a definite vintage feel, lots of oakmoss and bitter herbs mixed with sappy green wildflower stems. I wore this on a road trip to our family country house this summer. It was perfect for a weekend in the pollen filled air of the country, in a house built by my great-grandparents, full of dusty antiques and that mossy smell of the surrounding woods breezing in the windows. If you're not into challenging retro scents, you probably aren't going to like Ivoire. But if you are like me and will use scents to transport you into another era, please give this one a try. There is an intensive pepper note in here that will appeal to lovers of that. Asofoetida though. Wow, funny to say, funny to smell.

10/16/2025

Krmarich
226 Reviews

Krmarich

1

Grabs your attention!

Ah, Ivoire. Perhaps the greenest chypre ever created. Balmain was a small house that made little noise as far as perfume was concerned. Ivoire found me-thanks to a friend. I found a pre-reformulated bottle and was stunned by its composition. The hesperidic notes open this green clean masterpiece. Oakmoss carries through from the start to finish. It has a lot of galbanum that plays with all of the green notes.

Basically, it is a revolving door of florals and spice that just keep coming. The drama last until the closing of chypre accords-vetiver, patchouli and oakmoss are surrounded by sandalwood, vanilla, ambergris and smokey incense. Just be aware of the asafetida. It can surpise you. Its graceful and feminine and any man could give it a try. Its presence is felt, no less!

The inspiration for M Balmain was sitting in a dark concert hall, and he sees a lady in white. The piano concerto begins. The brilliance last for hours and it unforgettable. A standing ovation, indeed!!!He leaves the concert hall and cannot find her...

Not unlike real ivory, Ivoire has become rare and controversial itself. If you can find the original formula, get it immediately. You will find it is quite precious!

11/08/2010

9Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Turandot
839 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Turandot

Top Review 34

Herb Elegance

I don't know if, during the creation of Ivoire, piano keys and chess pieces were still made of ivory. In any case, ivory in this fragrance represents the white skin of an elegant woman in a dress made of light silk, who Pierre Balmain is said to have seen at the opera. Ivory was synonymous with bright, yet warm elegance and preciousness.

Just looking at the pyramid, the unusual notes stand out. Artemisia (wormwood) and asafetida, a spice that smells like onion or even garlic on its own, are more commonly found among medicinal herbs, specifically those that relieve cramps and stimulate appetite, rather than in a fragrance. But together with the other, especially floral ingredients of the top note, it creates a very rounded and full aroma right from the first contact with the scent.

The spice theme continues into the heart note, here with nutmeg, pepper, and cinnamon, which take away the romantic kitsch from the floral aromas. It's as if the bass in an orchestra creates a resonant depth for the other instruments. They don't stand out, but without them, the sound would seem much flatter.

Surprisingly, the woody-mossy base in Ivoire gains a rough yet extremely interesting quality from the frankincense. Together with the softer notes of the base accord, to stick with the musical comparison, it results in a very harmonious overall picture.

Ivoire is, for me, grand opera, and not the playful Mozart variant, but rather Beethoven's Fidelio or Puccini's La Bohème.

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