Have a drink, have a drive / Go out and see what you can find...

TDC Sublime Balkiss

As many of you know, I recently moved to Southern California, specifically to Riverside. This is on the desert side of Los Angeles, where it is hot and sunny all year long. And by hot, I mean that it is 104 degrees F right now, with a high of 107 for the day, and a high of 109 tomorrow. And by sunny, I mean the closest thing I get to a cloudy day is when the smog is particularly bad in my area.

Needless to say, this is vastly different from perpetually rainy Portland, Oregon. Goodbye temperate rainforest, hello desert living.

In an effort to embrace this change, I am going to extend my spring and summer scent reviewing season because, quite frankly, it's going to be a while before anything remotely resembling fall like temperatures descend here. To that end, here is my review of TDC Sublime Balkiss.

TDC has this to say about Sublime Balkiss:

Last winter, the topic took shape: a Chypre, a true story teller, I have worn this fragrance on me and just for me for the first time in my career. It’s a surprising fragrance, with a familiar touch to it. The writing is modern and yet easy to understand, with just enough chapters to complete the story.

And suddenly the name aroused, Balkiss the real name of the queen of Sheba, a most beautiful wise and mysterious woman who, centuries later, is still mesmerizing. Sublime and we are bewitched Balkiss and eternal, perfect beauty is with us. – Celine Ellena

Sublime Balkiss is definitely a modern chypre that reminds us of chypre from the older days. It has been created without oakmoss or synthetic moss or components from an animal origin.

Notes include: Patchouli, Violet, Black and purple berries, Blueberry, Blackberries, Blackcurrant, Damascus Rose from Bulgaria, Clusters of Lilacs...

On me, Sublime Balkiss is a delightful mix of berries & flowers. While this combination could have resulted in a sickly sweet canned fruit cocktail combo, Sublime Balkiss is not overly flowery or sweet, and actually becomes less flower and sweet as time passes. It isn't powdery either. Instead it's a lovely combination, with the sweetness tempered by a strong earthy notes. The black currant is particularly strong on me. It reads on me the way edible flowers -- like sugared violets -- taste. The patchouli comes in around the ten minute mark on me, making this not a classically fruity combination because it has a little more dirty/musk to it, which creates nice warm undercurrents. In terms of lasting power, Sublime Balkisshas decent last power on me, still goingstrong after two and a half hours of alternately actively walking around in the blaring heat and sitting in my overly air conditioned office.

I think Sublime Balkiss is a nice choice for warm weather, because it's not your typical cool, citrusy splash, but seems like a quirky cousin. The patchouli/berry/flower mix reminds me of walking through farmer's markets in Portland, but also seems to fit in well with fruit and flowers blooming here at my campus, which was originally an agricultural school and still keeps to its history by landscaping with berries and flowers and oranges and persimmons. Well worth a try for those of you languishing in the heat like me or for summer time living in cooler climbs alike.

Sublime Balkiss is available through BeautyHabit, LuckyScent, and a number of other online locales, as well as direct from the perfumer.

We love everybody, but we do as we please.
When the weather's fine we go fishin'
or go swimmin' in the sea.
We're always happy.
Life's for livin', yeah, that's our philosophy..."
- Jerry Mungo, "In the Summertime"

Want more reviews? Try...
~ This review from Robin at Now Smell This!
~ Nathan Branch offers a quick sniff review.
~ A review from I Smell, Therefore I am.
~ A quick mention over at Perfume Posse.