Description
The fragrance was named after a famous person of the history of France. ‘Balafre’ means ‘scar’, and Le Balafre (The Scarred) was the nickname of Henry I de Lorianne, Duke of Guise, one of the actors of the St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, who had a scar on his face. The fragrance was launched in 1967 and is considered to be a classical fragrance for men. Balafre is rare and expensive as it is not in mass production any longer. Eau de Toilette can be ordered at the Lancome institute in Paris.
This sharp day-time fragrance is ideal for cold weather wear. The top notes are bergamot, cypress, green herbs, lavender and neroli. The heart notes are carnation, cedar, musk sage, fern, geranium, oregano, and pine needles. The base notes are amber, leather musk, oak moss and vetiver.
The nose behind this fragrance is Gerard Goupy.
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spic – :
Autumn.
Wait for dusk…
go in a dense forest, colours changing
while it rains lightly,
grab some leaves
exhale freely, inhale deeply
that’s Balafre !
desislav – :
I still have a vintage bottle of Balafre. Thirty years old it still smells wonderful. Balafre, you age well. So much for the general view that even the best perfumes start to lose their quality after five years or so. Mine is a spray, operating by means of a propellant. I must also point out that I do not use it often. Perhaps this might be the key to its aromatic survival. I haven’t tried the eau de perfume that was released in 2010.
alex_fc – :
I have had the occasion to test the original vintage one, e which was really weird balsamic woody foresty green and clean with flash of light. A real fresh shower. Made to make you feel inside of a forest. Made to be a pleasent smell of true living nature more than a perfume.
The new version is made to be a perfume. Things are changed. Materials as well. This is a nice trip into the legend of that era. ’68 was close. Needs of uncontaminated nature.
So this is a tribute to a fresh sauvage dirty orgy of vegetal nature. But sporty and classy this time. Less rude.
More office than the original then desecrated and deprived of its nature primary.
At least it is a different choice if you want to surprise people and be unique.
A lot of fresh oakmoss into the background.
Unfortunatly it do not remains on so much.
vovamal – :
A very soapy opening with bergamot which gives way to pine, moss and lavender. Eventually you can smell leather, it’s herbal and oldschool remniscent of Derby by Guerlain.
It smells nice and is complex with many notes coming and going within the herbal mix. The only downside is that it only lasts a few hours and then it’s gone.
vital995 – :
This fragrance is really weird ( re-launched edition which is green). First I loved it, smelled like fresh lavander have some similarity with Caron Pour Homme but with less sweet and bought it then next days I smelled it again it seems very much different it was more smokey lavander, more like a dark forest feeling.
Anyway after while I tried it again and started to like some of the notes that I started to notice. I dont love it but I would not buy another one. It is a nice scent.
Shulga90R – :
This fragrance is a statement.
A fragrance that gives man power.
Often copied but never equaled.
Reminds me very much of Rochas Monsieur and Hermes Equipage.
.hbqrkbv – :
it’s re launch again by lancome and you can buy it at lancome’s shop for about 165£! pretty expensive though!
sanekmain – :
Fantastic scent.
I just want to get a hold of the original mix once again. It is so elegant and sporty for daytime use in the autumn, in the city or on the countryside among falling coloured leaves and fresh air.
It is a sporty gentlemans perfume.
I wonder why Lancome does not relaunch it. It is a classic by its own standards.
Bad marketing management by the house.
Bembi12 – :
it is not available in market, when I asked in duty free shop they tell me it out from the market.
amabursuamb – :
there were two balafre-vert(green water) and brun(yellow water).picture on this site is vert.but they say brun is better.lancom issued it didnt notify that it is vert