Michelle par Balenciaga

Un autre parfum brutal qui n’est plus disponible.

Seeing Alex’s photo today reminded me of Michelle an old Balenciaga almost unknown and not undervalued. It is not a discontinued myth; it deserves its reputation because it was an incredibly rare perfume: cold green floral and balsamic very novel. Imagine a seventies aldehydic floral creamy and radiant with tuberose and coconut and add the smell of old lacquer. Michelle is not that; it is unclassifiable: white sexuality with herbs and mossy metallic finishes. It smells like malachite or cold jade balsamic in celadon and greyish white tones. The floral base with carnation and lacquer aldehydes is supported by an abstract paste of flowers and a vanilla-jasmine touch. The funny thing is that on top of these classic pillars your nose receives flashes of cold narcotic sweetness young green neroli citrus and herbaceous notes with a non-indolic green jasmine and neroli that together with the woody non-beachy coconut leave you intrigued. Michelle mixed things so well that a day perfume smelled exotic erotic and sensual. When I tried it (I keep minis and old vials) I imagine a minimalist Asian exoticism like China or Japan with cold tones like jade carved bone and mother-of-pearl the coldness of white makeup and the fall of a simple kimono. It’s not Oriental but it evokes a sober and elegant East. It is an overwhelming richness that shines on its own without going down resinous or trite paths. Michelle smelled like Michelle; few perfumes smell so much like themselves. P.S.: The coconut is great it doesn’t remind you of the beach or tropics like in Versace’s Crystal Noir which shares coconut and milky gardenia but Balenciaga is more seventies with tuberose tasting of steel due to the aldehydes and greens while Versace is more androgynous floral woods. P.S. II: The dry-down on clothes smells like something really expensive; the metallic green in the background brings me back to Alada a pristine artificial glassy green from the eighties. P.S. III: It suits a young Kathleen Turner perfectly a woman you fall for her beauty wearing a white shirt that doesn’t hide the coldness and sexuality others perceive. Michelle was a very selfish perfume.