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cruiffimi – :
Just tried a sample of this for two days. I’m shocked this isn’t more well known as everyone is looking for Opium dupes except not as over the top as Opium. Very classy. There’s a similarity to Opium but it’s not a close one I prefer this to Opium as that Opium too much cloves. I could see wearing this some cold winter night but dressing up in silk stockings, a cashmere dress and luxurious coat. Smells like a classic movie star. I get incense, a cola like effervescent and carnations and some balsamic notes.. Smells expensive and not silly or girlie, womanly. If you like Tabu, Opium or Coco but find them either too suffocating( or too expensive) look for this. I’m very surprised this is going to be on my winter want list.
Gorodetsky – :
There is something warmly familiar about this perfume. Someone close to me may have worn it years ago. I really like this as to me it is very light, soft. The vanilla is there yes, but muted. The Opium tones are there but softened, freshened. Spicy but clear and light also. Wish I had more.
Boubquelepoli – :
I’m bad at describing perfumes as I don’t know the smell of many individual notes. In layman’s terms, this smells like a classic, soapy floral perfume. If you like scents like opium, you will like this.
Enigma_2568 – :
Prelude 3.3 EDT
Beautiful transparent oriental. The orange and aldehydes usher the spicy carnation and cinnamon. It never gets over powering. Jasmine, orchid and tolu balsam mingle with ylang ylang in a gorgeous mix. If you found Opium to be too much this is her little sister. Perfect for a oriental for summer. I enjoy it best in the heat of summer. Great for layering.
kdh616bedyWelty – :
Although it was released the year that I turned 21, I never knowingly smelled this until recently. Good thing, too, because I would have wanted it and I could barely afford to keep myself in Opium, Mitsouko and Shalimar at the time. I picked up a parfum and a parfum de toilette spray both new in their boxes on the big auction site, just because I could. I often buy things, try them and pass them to the next buyer but I am keeping Prelude. Certainly it’s similar to Opium (which I would give as my favorite ever perfume if I have to choose one) but it’s not the same and it stands nicely on it’s own. I think it’s much more wearable than Opium in 2015, and it’s still probably too much for a huge portion of the current perfumephobic population. The aldehydic bergamot opening settles into a warm, balsamic cloud of clove, carnation, ylang ylang and spice on a base of amber, benzoin and civet. Like a lot of orientals it’s base heavy and like a lot of orientals I love it that way. The parfum is long lasting, 8 hours or so. The parfum de toilette gives more like 6 hours and is a very small bit sharper. If you like 70s/80s orientals and don’t faint when exposed to aldehydes or civet this is definitely worth a try.
scorpi79 – :
An amazing transparent amber fragrance. Imagine vintage Opium with most of the spices removed or toned down.
That is Prelude.
Worth searching out.
VITASBT – :
Orchids underneath a tolu-cinnamon cloud… and civet, making it warm and alive…
Such a lovely, comforting perfume, perfect for a quiet evening at home.
I have a bottle of the edt (flat, oval with red cap). Just wish it was stronger, because it’s rather faint. I would really love to try the parfum.
gros0494 – :
Prelude to Opium…but Opium predated it. To say it’s a shadow of the towering predecessor would do this perfume an injustice, because it’s just as sophisticated and sexy, but at the same time, that’s sort of what it is. If you don’t want to knock people out with the epic proportions of musk, spice, and incense-patchouli exotica that Opium presents, you can do no wrong with this classy chypre-oriental, courtesy of Balenciaga; unfortunately, now discontinued. I lucked out on a vintage bottle on eBay and sampling the fragrance was unearthing a treasure from a more dignified but extinct place. It definitely resembles Opium, but where Opium develops down into a cherry fruit, carnation, incense-patchouli bomb baroque symphony, Prelude boasts more of a civet, ozonic, green quartet. If Opium is a richly lacquered Chinese table, Prelude is the jade sculpture that sits atop. Perfect for all seasons and for daytime, too. I wish it would make a comeback. But synthetics will do this quality blast from the past no good at all.
-=CHIP=- – :
One of the most comforting perfumes i had in my twenties! Warm oriental, spicy, woody and a bit powdery! I really loved it ( had actually tried it from a sample when i was 16-17, and waited patiently to travel to germany to buy it, as it was never imported in greece..) Then a couple of years later, in a fist of despair, i gave away most of my then perfumes, including prelude…. The bottle was slightly oval, and somehow flat, with a red cap (or was it black and gold??) I still miss it!!
Artifex-1986 – :
Ooooh how lovely!! I swapped my Alien Liqueur de Parfum for this beauty with the lovely ‘smelling_gr8’. I’d be very comfortable wearing this delightful oriental during warmer months. I’m at a loss as to why our paths have never crossed before. Shades of Opium, but more subdued. Mm mmmm!
Arestant – :
I think this is what an elegant and refined “proper” perfume ought to smell like. Not over-bearing but not mild either. It really is magnificent. I only wish I had suitable occasions to wear it.
versace.poncho – :
I wore this today and thought, this is what a perfume should be. And so seldom is, anymore. I had nice but moderate sillage for about 3 hours and then it became a skin scent. But my skin eats up scent like a hungry, hungry hippo and I do wear lotion and I don’t have particularly dry skin, so go figure. I prefer getting a little more time, although this was acceptable, especially since very few things last longer on me. Fabulous and luminous is a perfect description.
joulkMelezelp – :
This category of fragrance is a favorite with me, and since I love everything vintage that I’ve purchased from Balenciaga,I had to try this. What a beauty! It’s sexy, warm, multidimensional like a great fragrance should be. Rich and full bodied, spicy and resinous. The opening notes are fresh and peppery. The next notes that come to the forefront are the spicy scents of carnation and cinnamon, a wonderful combination. The florals that unfold next are sweet but not cloying. The drydown is spectacular, strong on the resins and musk. Great sillage, long lasting (8 hours on me). A great nighttime scent. Go easy on the application; very strong sillage.
match1984 – :
My mother loved this perfume. It’s stunning and happy scent!
Tabah54 – :
applied this one today and i can say that the weather wasn´t right for this fragrance. It is very hot outside and this fragrance in my opinion should be worn only during colder time of the year. I have the bottle with the red cap, like a sombrero or something like that, not the one that is on the picture above and it is in a EDT concentration.
Right upon application i knew it is similar to Lagerfeld´s “KL”. At least the opening. It is very spicy, but where “KL” almost make me cry so bad it was, this one is plesantly spicy! I am a fan of carnation notes so i like it among with orchid here. jasmine gives the softness to “Prelude” that is missing in “KL”. Sadly the fragrance stays on my skin oly for a very short time and then becomes almost “invisible”. That´s the biggest minus to this one, but i am definitly plannig to try the pure parfum concentration soon, so i guess the staying power will be much better.
“Prelude” is indeed like a prelude, but “KL” is then like a finale :))))
dljsfxbjic – :
I was about to review Prelude but my parrot intervened with his own comment. Bacio (seen in my avatar), climbed up my chair, sat on my shoulder and asked ‘what you doing?’ (this is one of his phrases.)
He then started sneezing uncontrollably. Choo! Choo! Choo!, which is parrot talk for ‘my, that’s one big 80s glory note you’re wearing!’
Prelude is a master piece, no doubt about it, but in all honesty if I was on a crowded bus and someone stepped next to me wearing this I’d move on down the aisle. I think this is discontinued, which is unfortunate, but I suspect if it were in production today it would need a little recession tweaking. A fun scent to try, though, just not one I could ever wear around the house.
Kos9i4ok – :
In my humble opinion Balenciaga rates as one of THE best perfume houses EVER. Their quality is beyond comprehension. Chanel used to own this caliber of perfumemaking, but not anymore. Their new releases N19, Allure, Chance etc etc, mere shadows of the house Chanel used to be…
So…for you ladies looking for ‘Chanel’-quality, but without any compromises, look for the vintage range Balenciaga.
KRASOTKA0331 – :
A Prelude to a Classic a first Blast
of Aldehydes will make think mmmm
another Chanel no 5 Copy but the drydown says i don’t think so Because
Chanel doesn’t have predominent orange
notes and prelude is less shaper
If Chanel is for night Prelude is for day.
natalia_plohih – :
Oh yes! This is an oldie I can pull off. Aldehydic outburst in the beginning, spicey and green; jasmin and ylang-ylang entering one step behind them. Yey, no carnation on me in this one!!! Then it quickly settles as a cinnammon and rose, and WOW! now the civet is also there (not as dirty as in vintage Zibeline, but it IS there and gives a specific feel of dirtiness to overall light and innocent nature of this fragrance). A marvellous fragrance, and those who are afraid it might have this old-lady feel to it as some other Balenciaga’s older creations – don’t worry about it! It is absolutely wearable – I’m off to search for a FB…
kurbanov.b – :
Just fantastic! Balenciaga is just such a classy fragrance house!!!!!
elation86 – :
Prelude is such a timeless classic that remains that ‘classy’ style of Balenciaga. It starts off with a well balanced floral scent, then dires down quickly into a oriental vanilla, the final base I found was quite leathery. I have read that there is also pimento and olibanum in the notes, which were pretty rare I suppose. So maybe it is just the complication and muti-facets of this fragrance making it rather versatile or a statement maker. You may not fancy all the notes in Prelude, but certainly you will something catchy among those.
Prelude is deep and nostalgic smelling, so personally I think it is more serious rather than social. After all, it is the type of fragrance that is worthy to have an experiece with, no matter wearing only once or often, entirely down to individuality!