WHAT I SMELL:  Balenciaga Paris opens quite sweet and soft then quickly it becomes sour, like bitter apple, which then dissipates to reveal a buttery and creamy green note.  The fragrance is rather discordant to me because one part smells like something I should like, a rather fresh element.  But at the same time, there’s a dirty feet smell that is radiating above it.  Wierd.  After five minutes, the perfume becomes dryer and more woody and the dirty feet smell is lessened.  I am not getting any violet from the perfume at all, just wood and an uninteresting wood at that.  OK, maybe if I stick my nose right up against my wrist there’s a faint hint of violet?  After 15 minutes, the perfume perks up a bit with a sugared patchouli that comes to the surface.  The fragrance then becomes significantly drier and muted.  Again, I’m missing any violet, but am left a woody and slightly musky pleasant, but unremarkable fragrance, that at the end creates some pretty impressive projection.

From the Balenciaga website:

A Chypre Violet with the green, fresh signature of the flower and its leaves, blended into a precious harmony of fresh woods.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  “It’s just not quite right”, well, at least the opening wasn’t.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BALENCIAGA PARIS: discordant, pleasant, middle of the road

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BALENCIAGA PARIS: Now Smell This, Bois de Jasmin, Muse in Wooden Shoes

BOTTOM LINE:  Maybe it’s my allergies, or maybe it’s just my skin, but the opening on this perfume was just not right.  If you read the other reviews, they generally thought the opening was delightful.  Oh well.  In the end,  Balenciaga Paris is a nice enough perfume, but it’s nothing that is out of the ordinary or all that special.

• Bone Rating: 2.5 out of possible 5 bones
• Scent:  Chypre Floral
• Nose:  Olivier Polge
• Classification: Feminine?  I would say more unisex.
• Expense: Varies, around $50 for 1 oz. Eau de Parfum