Balenciaga • Talisman • Fragrances

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*TOP REVIEWER* nelci1 on 6/10/2008 11:24:00 AM more reviews by nelci1

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I'm still laughing with the review below - Yes, it's true - Talisman "wears" you.
It's very 90's (I used to wear it occasionally in the 90's :0)) - strong and sweet. Lychee, rum, rose, jasmine, amber. It's a fruity chypre, and far from being soft and fresh.
I cannot see someone wearing it as an everyday scent (or a signature fragrance) - Talisman is beautiful, but strong, and you can get tired of it easily.
It's sexy, has a great sillage and lasts forever, so, girl, you'll be noticed with this one!
I read somewhere that it's being discontinued :0(

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*TOP REVIEWER* tessture on 5/12/2008 8:56:00 PM more reviews by tessture

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

Goes on very fruity and floral in such a nice way. Drying down, there is more floral and less fruit, though the fruit effect is still there. It does tend to get a bit over-sweet at the end, and I can see this becoming annoyingly so on some people, but if the heavier 90s fragrances work for you, this is a beauty. If heavy fruit and floral do not, then stay away, because Talisman will wear you, beat you and leave you hurting. Oh, and she'll win: She's that strong.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

valleylily on 1/25/2008 4:26:00 PM more reviews by valleylily

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

This is an emphatic scent. It is rich sweet dried fruits at first, followed by deep honeyed amber with cloves floating in and out. It is not a scent that you find immediately appealing, I think -- but it enters your scent memory and you find yourself wanting to sniff it again. I managed to nurse a sample for a very long time before purchasing a bottle (which will last me a lifetime.)
In winter, at night - it is sexy and memorable. Oh - and a little late '80s retro, if you like that kind of thing. I do.

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*TOP REVIEWER* labegude on 1/15/2008 10:04:00 AM more reviews by labegude

Age: 56 & Over   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

Not a fan of the initial blast of Talisman which smells like the fruity flavored old shiny glue they used to put on envelopes that you had to lick to seal (Dark Ages when people did handwritten letters and mailed them in a box, etc., etc.) Showing my age here. Patience is virtue with this one and you shall be rewarded.

Anyway, if you wait a bit this one soon turns to gold. I especially like to have a spritz at bedtime because when I wake the flower bomb is there, besides I have sweet dreams. Sillage is fantastic. It's cheap. Lovely bottle. What is not to like! I find all the Balenciagas are just my sort of scents. Buy some.

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Souxie1 on 1/6/2008 4:16:00 AM more reviews by Souxie1

Age: 36-43   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

This is so good to wear out on winter nights as it is such a warm fragrance. I found it to have a trail of smokey black wood, that last longer than Donna Karan, is similar to it but not as strong . The spices also give the fragrance a lift otherwise it would be a much heavier "black" feel to it.

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threecats on 10/1/2007 3:28:00 PM more reviews by threecats

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Brown    

An underappreciated spicy gourmand. The honeyed scent offers a rich and long lasting drydown. It's spicy but feminine, not at all heavy or unisex. Nice sillage. It;s got a gingerbready cake (not cookie) note that really hits the spot. This smells expensive, like a fragrance that has a cult following. But it is little known and can be found for very reasonble prices on line. The attractive unique asymetrical bottle (trimmed in gold with a deep purple cap) suits the juice!

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*TOP REVIEWER* ellizam on 10/31/2006 12:05:00 AM more reviews by ellizam

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Talisman has to have one of universe's great bottles. Juice - reminds me of Senso,that sweet incense note. Powdery chypre. Not so much fruit as I'd been led to expect, or not a tart plum or deep rummy fruit. More light generic fruity, the top notes of thin apple. Some spice, light nutmeg/clove/pepper.


It is skating going rancid on my skin from the animalic ingrediants. Rhumba, sadly, went very rancid though it was interestingly pre-Sergelike in it's dark, torrid woodiness. Talisman is kind of a younger sister to Rumba; it's lighter, more expensive department store smelling -- there's a drydown waft of that expensive departmentstore chypre/powdery floral thing from the 60's. It's definately interesting, and the bottle is gorgeous. On me, I like Ava-Luxe's Forbidden Fruit more as frags in this vein (dark/spicy/fruity/incensic/chypre) go.


EDIT: After one long session with this, I finally had to wash it off (something I almost never do) and layer over remains with AG Duel, the closest thing to antithesis I could think of (dry, light citric, well-mannered leather, refreshing). In part it was because I used too much, but mostly the reality is, this it too sweet, too strong, too overwhelming and heady on me.

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*TOP REVIEWER* PeeShee on 6/13/2006 4:51:00 PM more reviews by PeeShee

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

This is just awful on me. It is so strong and sweet. Smells harsh. I had to wash it off after about a half hour and I could still smell the awful stench on my skin. YUCK.

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chanel22 on 8/29/2003 12:14:00 PM more reviews by chanel22

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Ever since Luca Turin gave this a glowing review, I just had to revisit this scent! Wow, it really is marvelous! It is quite deep and complex and takes time on the skin to unfold. I found a tester at the mall and got a cotton ball sprayed with it. After a week of sniffing, I just had to have a bottle. I had to have my guy's opinion as well, and he was impressed. After years of watery fragrances, this is really delightful.

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*TOP REVIEWER* jacona on 2/11/2003 3:03:00 PM more reviews by jacona

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

Background & notes: Created in 1994. Talisman by Balenciaga opens with a fruity-floral accord of lychee, dried fruits and osmanthus enhanced by a rum effect and davana. A blend of rose, jasmine, hyacinth, lily of the valley, freesia and cyclamen makes for a rich heart and unveils the splendor and luminousness of a woody accord of patchouli and sandalwood.

First spritz is very potent, almost scary, but mellows considerably in the dry down. Smells of spicy rose, rum, dried plums, peaches, & apricots, has a woody, leathery base, a powdery/incensy quality to it. Quite intriguing, though I am not sure it is totally me. I prefer the mellow dry down when it softens up considerably. Would smell nice on a man. Definitely different than anything else I have smelled. If nothing else I'd recommend a sniff for the pure curiosity of it - an unusual olfactory experience.

Edited: I have to add that it took me a while to figure out what this scent reminds me of. My mom's friend brought her back a sort of fruit cake from her trip to Austria. It had dried fruits, in a bread like cake, slightly spiced, not too sweet and was covered with dark chocolate. I am not sure what the dessert was called, but that is what this scent reminds me of. I smell like dessert and I like this scent more each time I wear it!

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No