Balenciaga Florabotanica

Florabotanica is a new Balenciaga release from 2012. After their Balenciaga Paris release, I had to give this one a try. If for nothing else than its beautiful bottle design.

Florabotanica

Florabotanica

In Bottle: A nice rose, tame and green and fresh. Not fake and overly sweet.

Applied: Balenciaga’s fragrances tend to excel at being understated and Florabotanica seems to be heading in that same direction. It’s sold as a fragrance for a younger audience, but doesn’t patronize them by loading itself up with fruits and a cheap-smelling rose. The rose in Florabotanica is well-mannered, having a fresh green spicy kick to keep it on the ground. The dry down is a nice grassy amber with a prominent rose. I get an impression of Juliette Has a Gun’s Lady Vengeance with a little less concentrated prettiness and more girlish charm.

Extra: Florabotanica was released in 2012 with Kristen Stewart as the campaign figurehead.

Design: Love the bottle design. Bold, modern and fashionable. I was somewhat questionable about them using Kristen Stewart as the face of the fragrance, but I love everything from the styling to the photography to the campaign itself. It’s stern and not at all silly.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Mint, rose, carnation, amber, vetiver.

The thing Florabotanica reminds me of is preppy clothing. It makes me think I’m shopping in some teenage store where all the teenagers play water polo, have stables of horses, and have parties on their yachts. I don’t know why it makes me think of this but the fresh, screaming clean rose just sort of fits the imagery. It’s not Lady Vengeance as I think Juliette Has a Gun’s rose fume was a little more likeable but Florabotanica is a good, pleasant addition all the same.

Reviewed in This Post: Florabotanica, 2012, Eau de Parfum.

6 thoughts on “Balenciaga Florabotanica

  1. Kristen Stewart should not be the spokesperson for any product let alone a beauty product! That said, I’ll probably never smell this, but I have seen the bottle and I really like the design.

    • Yeah, the fact that it was Kristen Stewart made me raise a brow but the campaign was very nicely staged so I decided to give it a try anyway. 🙂

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