Germaine Cellier composed Fleeting Moment (or La Fuite Des Heures. Some bottles were labeled in English, others in French. I have both) for Balenciaga a few years after creating Bandit for Robert Piguet. These two could not have been more different. Bandit is a dominatrix in smoke and leather, bad girl extraordinaire; or rather, a bad woman. A girl could never Bandit. Fleeting Moment is soft and romantic. She can even wear pink, though it would be a very tailored pink outfit. We are talking Balenciaga here, after all.
Fleeting Moment feels a bit upside down. It starts sweet and ambery, surprisingly rich for something that's often described as a herbal-jasmine blend. It's not heavy, though, and has a pleasant and cheerful vibe. The moment might be fleeting, but it's not a melancholic experience and there's no angst around this idea. You can wear it and seize the day.
The development of La Fuite Des Heures is, indeed, floral. I can't say that I can identify the flowers in either the EDT or in the extrait de parfum. It's more of the floral idea and abstraction of yore (in contrast to what passes as one in many of today's mainstream perfumes and lacks the elegance and perfuminess). I do get the slightly herbal and aromatic vibe that's woven into Fleeting Moment and continues the well-dressed but casual femininity theme. It's sunshine and roses, just without any distinct rosy note.
Fleeting Moment dries down into a soft creamy wood. I don't think it's very impressive or interesting at this stage (though the extrait is deeper and more satisfying at this stage). Still, Fleeting Moment is pretty, easy to wear and actually has something modern about it, despite hailing from the late 1940s.
Fleeting Moment (La Fuite Des Heures) seems to have been discontinued even before the other Balenciaga classics. It appears in online auctions here and there, but your best bet are estate sales, vintage stores and the closet of your great-aunt Tilly.
Images: burdastyle.com amd myvintagevogue.com
It sounds like a much more successful perfume than Piquet's recent Calypso. That smelt much too synthetic to me,but I do have a weakness for amber scents. Some of the redos fall too qualitatively short of the old stuff. It doesn't sound as if the management at Balenciaga want to revive anything anyhow. Pity.
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A perfume question, but about an old post. Not too long ago you said something about not really liking something you dabbed on, but when you put it in a bottle to spray it was much better. What is the difference? I'm asking because I like rollerballs...the cuteness, the small amount, the cheaper price. Now I'm wondering if they aren't a good idea?
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