SystemeD

This marvelous chypre is yet another credit to the unassuming yet accomplished house of Balmain, which consistently offers fine fragrances at affordable prices.

Balmain de Balmain is a green, yet slightly sweet chypre that appeals to men and women alike. It opens with a bracing green bergamot and galbanum accord, but there's also something there that sweetens it up just enough to keep my teeth from clenching. Over time, if I really focus, I can pick out occasional soft wafts of rose and a hint of iris as this fragrance unfolds, but the slightly-sweet galbanum greenness continues throughout, even as the lovely vetiver-spiked chypre base comes to the fore.

I just love this classic. I think it's brilliant, and perfectly balanced. And because, as other reviewers have noted, it's underrated, you'll almost certainly be the only one in the room wearing it.

Unless, of course, you go to the same places I do.

I feel compelled to post a review here, because I want to give Scarlett a bit more love than Sherapop and AromiErotici feel for her.

On me, Scarlett opens with the scent of sugared lemon with a hint of orange peel. Soon, the citrus opening gives way to a spicy chorus of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove (and maybe pepper?) over something that smells to me like angelica, but somehow greener.

I think of Scarlett as a zesty herbal, in a way reminiscent of a bay rum cologne, but the spices bring a dimension and a full-bodiedness to this fragrance that make it more than just an evanescent splash.

I like it best on a sultry summer evening, but it's actually very flexible in terms of suitability. Wear it whenever you crave something spicy, yet light. Something pleasantly piquant. Yes, that's it. That's Scarlett.

So many of us have a bottle of Elizabeth Arden Green Tea, but how many of us have tried it lately? It's not a revered classic, but it is hardly a throwaway, either.

Elizabeth Arden Green Tea still holds a place in our collections because it's perfect for one summer moment or another.

Today I rescued my bottle from the back row of a box of summer fragrances, and the freshness is just as I remembered.

Green Tea opens with a sweet citrus scent, which is soon joined by a light jasmine and of course, tea. At certain points, I can detect a touch of mint, and there are also intermittent notes of what seem to my nose to be fennel and caraway -- just enough to give Green Tea an herbal feel.

I am going to make a point of putting this one into my rotation this summer. I've already made a little decant to pop in my purse, because yes, this one does need a little boost over the course of the day. But who wouldn't want another little spritz of this summer refresher? It's light and breezy, and sweet and tart, like a lemon meringue.

For me, Eau du Sud is all about the basil and the verbena. I love them in concert here. But let's start at the beginning.

In the opening, you're hit with a wallop of citrus, and a handful of fresh crushed basil. In trying to identify the citrus notes up top, I get grapefruit and lime. But as my nose follows the trail of the citrus, what soon emerges is lemon verbena, not a true citrus, but herbal, like the basil.

That's the experience for me at the heart of Eau du Sud: basil and verbena.

A few hours later, a lovely light, soft chypre base emerges, although brief wafts of the verbena remain.

I think Eau du Sud is lovely, especially for spring and summer, but if you don't like basil, or if even a gentle chypre base turns you off, you won't like it as much as I do.

L'eau Froide opens with aldehydes, mint, lemon and ginger. In a few moments, I also got a light whiff of pepper from this fragrance. That's a lot going on up front, but it serves to set a mood. Serge Lutens is signaling that this is his take on a "clean, fresh" fragrance. And then... the frankincense. A cool, fresh incense note, wending its way up, and becoming more prominent as the citrus and spices recede. Cool and fresh incense? Yes, for about three hours on me. And I enjoy those hours very much.

And then it fades to that light, "clean" skin scent found in all of those transparent white musk fragrances that were so popular a few years ago.
It's that part of the drydown that makes me wonder whether Monsieur Lutens is laughing at everyone who buys a bottle of this stuff.

I say reapply every three hours instead, and keep that incense going.