Carbone Carbone de Balmain Balmain (2010)

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7.9 / 10 376 Ratings

Carbone is a popular perfume by Balmain for men and was released in 2010. The scent is spicy-woody. It was last marketed by Inter Parfums.

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Perfumer

Nathalie Lorson

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bourbon pepper, Elemi resin, Ivy
Heart Notes	Black fig, Frankincense
Base Notes	Benzoin Siam, Musk, Vanilla, Vetiver

Ratings

Scent

7.9 (376 Ratings)

Longevity

7.5 (278 Ratings)

Sillage

6.5 (270 Ratings)

Bottle

8.1 (259 Ratings)

Submitted by Profumo, last update on 27.04.2020.

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Reviews

02/15/2020

6.5
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

Smellavision
60 Reviews

Smellavision

Lovely benzoin composition...

Now this turned out to be quite different from what I expected.
Somehow from the name and previous reviews I had expectations of a sharp, dark and stinging scent that would give me a gloomy aura of mystique.

Agreed, the opening is slightly sharp, synthetic and edgy, a sort of graphite cedary pencilshaving with some menthol and pepper, but after a short while this actually turns out to be a nice, creamy and semi-sweet scent with a slight incense on my skin.

I was quite certain it contained vanilla until I realised this was the benzoin.

If I were to compare it to other widely known scents, I'd agree that the opening is slightly like the Gucci PH I but the drydown actually reminds me more of some popular sweeter scents like, say, Muglers Pure Malt or YSL Body Kouros.

Overall it's very nice, I really enjoy it.

02/01/2018

7
Scent 5
Longevity 4
Sillage 7
Bottle

Smora
148 Reviews

Smora

Helpful Review 3

Hypermasculine

Scentrack: Frank Sinatra: I Guess I'll Have to Dream the Rest

I was surprise when I realized how hypermasculine, woody and smoky this fragrance is for a 2010 designer release. Strong pepper, green smell of ivy, a lots of Iso E Super cedar, overripe fig fruit and extreme smokey note. Like grilling a fig fruit over hot coal. Very brave for a designer house, much appreciated.
It strongly reminds me of late Gucci pour Homme, but without its sophistication and charisma. Also the vibe reminds me of Dirty English, but with more depth and quality.
Interesting cold weather fragrance by Natalie Lorson. Like a part of CDG line, but devoid of niche fullness. Ideal for sipping a glass if cognac at home in winter, while wearing your favorite slippers

Rating: 7/10

06/05/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Very helpful Review 4

Inexpensive gem!

Another really nice cheapo wort having. Kind of ambery and musky at first, with a heart of cedar, pepper and vetiver(ol) and just a hint of floral dark gracefulness. The general vibe is "trendy" yet also meditative, shady and "pencil sharpener" as other users correctly say - that is the prominent heart of this scent. Some waxy feel too. The fig, I don't get that much honestly: but perhaps it is what causes the slight "lactonic", sweetish creamy note I detect underneath the general woodiness, which blends perfectly with it. Overall much synthetic and "modern", so absolutely safe and elegant for anyone, but also quite distinctive in a way as it's darker and more peculiar than other "safe mainstream scents". I can't say I don't like this, as I find it the perfect example of a solid, unpretentious but quality scent: it does smell good... really good actually (my guilty pleasure: I quite like that "pencil" feel), it feels classy and versatile, it costs pennies. Basically no evolution, bold projection and really good persistence. Encre Noire fans or of other contemporary/dark/synthetic woody scents - from Gucci pour Homme I on, basically - will love this. Separated at birth from Montana Graphite.

7/10

06/01/2015

WildGardener
100 Reviews

WildGardener

Boring Cedar

Cedarwood with an oversweet head accord that takes on a whiff of ivy as it dries down.
The idea of hyper dry woody minimalism has a certain postmodern appeal, but in this case it's just boring.

10/12/2014

Zakaria80
6 Reviews

Zakaria80

Helpful Review 7

An unpleasant guest.

Way way back I tested Autoportrait of Olfactive Studio and fell in love with it. However it was too expensive (maybe it sounds crazy to some people here but I have this stupid rule where a 3 digit amount of money for perfumery is a no go for me) to buy it and was searching for an alternative based on the notes. The closest I found was Carbone so I snatched it of ebay without any second thoughts.

At the beginning I spotted immediately the similarity with OSA, and was happy about it thus started wearing it regularly for a month. But there was something off about the scent I couldn't put my finger on initially.

Finally my nose spotted the little tiny hitch hiker note which got on my nerves with every sniff of the way. THE FIG!!! (mind you that I adore the smell of figs and especially the leafs. There are in abundance here in Greece and in Jordan when I was a kid)

Yet the elemi, benzoin and the pepper become very ugly when combined with fig. Where Carbone is slightly buttery and swear to god close to a beef meaty kind of smell, OSA is more woody, dry and refined (Oakmoss...to the rescue!!!).

Yes Carbone was conceived before Autoportrait and maybe Mrs Lorson copied the composition but it is done waaaayyyy better and that is what counts after all. Plus any connection of this composition with the flawless GPH is excceeding the realms of sci fi. Like comparing watermelons and... I don't know.. napkins?..
Sold my bottle after testing 15mls out of 100.

Conclusion:
I don't like comparing scents but those two are very close and far away at the same time. Carbone is a wintery spicey woody perfume where you can spot easily most of the notes (plus cinnamon) but the addition of fig ruins the whole thing.

05/03/2014

1
Scent 2.5
Longevity 2.5
Sillage 7.5
Bottle

WRoth
153 Reviews

WRoth

3

Carbone

This fragrance opens with a sheer pepper note on a base of smooth vanilla. Incense accentuates the pepper’s spiciness, whereas woodsy green notes add depth to the composition. The initial pungency of the opening accord subsides fast and the woodsy notes take centre-stage. Despite their being ivy and fig leaf, these notes are not exceedingly bitter – amber and aromatic resins take most of their bite. This Balmain is a pleasant woodsy aromatic scent which can be worn by anyone. My only gripe is that it needs to be applied heavily, as it is very light.