The pleasant honeysuckle accord I get close to my skin keeps fragmenting into temple-achingly sweet aldehyde-coated soapy rose notes accented with raw alcohol burn. After that, green stemmy rose fragrances fell out of fashion in favor of big-boned rose patchouli or rose leather scents, until the demand for dainty or more photorealistic rose perfumes came 'round again with Cabaret de Grès by Parfums Grès (2002).

Florabotanica Balenciaga perfume - a fragrance for women 2012

This long-wearing parfum ensures a little goes a long way due to its high portion of essential oils. The mint contributes the greenness without giving out the chill cooling vibe like some sporty fragrances. The highly graphic black and white stripes on the bottle echo a signature dear to Cristóbal Balenciaga and the visions of extremely contemporary cuts of which Nicolas Ghesquière is found in his designs. Florabotanica by Balenciaga (2012) doesn't seem to be much liked in the online fragrance community; but then again, Balenciaga has long been shunned by the online collector's space for discarding its legacy in perfume, one that was once counted among pillars of the designer space like Chanel, Patou, or DIor.la Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2014) would come along two years later and really steal any thunder this scent might have had, switching out the stemmy green aromachemicals and mint for fruitier qualities that helped unleash a whole new generation of tart rose-fruit and candy-rose perfumes in the coming years (thanks Frank. Anyway, this was composed by Olivier Polge and Jean-Christophe Hérault, the son of Chanel perfumer Jacques Polge famous among "fragheads" as the original composer of DIor Homme (2005), coupled with the student of Pierre Bourdon who in more recent years has been revealed to be the perfumer behind Creed Aventus (2010), one of the online community's biggest white whales in men's scent. Kind of feels like two different fragrances, and the rose isn't particularly rosy - it's more synthetic, clean and washed-over. The opening is weird and off putting - a bitter green herbal accord, followed by a blend of rose and mint. A bit modern, a bit 70's in execution, but otherwise Florabotanica is pretty plain like a homely younger sister to Chanel Cristalle (1974).

Basenotes

If you're a regular user, please take a break, explore our other interesting content, and come back later. The mint is a novel way to open rose and gives Florabotanica a bit more unisex appeal, Galbanum and cis 3 hexanol notes are evident, giving big green energy to the scent, alongside a vase water rose note, mixed with pencil shavings cedar, vetiver, ambroxan, and a touch of carnation. In addition, the brand's revolving-door ownership since Cristobal's passing in the early 70's has seen some of the most-coveted vintage men's fragrance releases both come onto, then leave the market without so much as a warning, creating a "house of unicorns" much like anything Gucci released for men before 2011.To give Florabotanica its fairytale air, the perfumers added a formula of psychosensory plants, making it particularly enchanting. Performance is spectacular, but the singularity of the composition might grate the nerves if you're not a lover of green rose with a slight bitchy side to it. Florientals, such as this one, (the word is a portmanteau of floral+oriental) are voluptuous but lighter than pure orientals.