Balmain- Balmya

Today we have a little guilty pleasure and a cheap treat from Balmain. The name Balmain brings to mind high fashion and beloved classic perfumes that were just as tailored as the designer's gowns and suits. But in the early 2000s whoever held the fragrance license commissioned a frothy little thing with a young appeal and a whole lot of creamy vanilla. That's how Balmya came to be.

Balmya is incredibly easygoing and soft.  It opens with a bubbly pink pepper note and sweet angelica. It's almost edible right away from the top notes, or maybe drinkable-- I always think of a milky fruit smoothy. The creaminess is supported by sandalwood and cashmeran, and thickened by iris. There's quite a bit of iris there, actually, powdery and a little opaque. This stage makes Balmya smell far more expensive and upscale than what it actually is. The dry-down is a gourmand wood. It still smells edible but there's a musky and skin-like quality that makes the fragrance feel very intimate. It's cuddly and can probably qualify as a comfort scent.

My EDP bottle is a blinged and bedazzled version of what you see above. It may have been a limited edition, I'm not sure. It comes in a red box with cutouts that allow a peek at the shiny crystals. The aesthetics is, again, not exactly classic Balmain (or modern Balmain that offers studs and spikes favored by the likes of Kristen Stewart and Kate Moss). My little niece would probably love it and I suspect that the milkshakeness of the fragrance can also be to her liking. I may pass the bottle to her at some point, but at the moment I'm fully enjoying it when I'm in the mood.

Balmain has officially discontinued Balmya at some point over the last decade, but bottles can be easily found online for cheap and cheaper. I hear that there's also an EDT concentration, but I never smelled that one.

Notes: angelica, passion fruit, violet leaf, pink pepper, bergamot, vanilla, coffee, jasmine, cappuccino, sandalwood, iris, cashmere wood.