When summer turns to fall, I wait as long as I can to turn on the furnace. Usually the afternoons will warm up enough that I can wear a sweater in the morning and be fine. But finally the time comes when I dig out the fleece-lined slippers, pad my way to the thermostat, and hold my breath as my ancient furnace kicks in. Within a few minutes the living room fills with warm air and the smell of the first heater run of the year: dust and hot metal. Add a slice of toast with jam, imagine yourself in an ancient church, and presto! you have Balenciaga Rumba perfume.
Rumba is big and deep, and is a strange but compelling combination of a hot electric burner, fruit, and beeswax. Even as an Eau de Toilette, Rumba has maximum sillage. I’m tempted to say that it’s juicy, but its fruit — and there’s lots of it — quickly turns to something richer, like Madeira. Rumba’s flowers appear then disappear then gently reappear amidst the churchy wood, as if they’re blowing in from a night garden. I’ve read reviews of Rumba that compare it to a nightclub, and I imagine a Cuban bar with an outdoor seating area and a palm reader in the corner ready to tell you your fate while you sip your second El Floridita. Meanwhile, the music inside is loud, and a deadly handsome man is watching you (here insert Sean Connery circa 1964). Rumba was introduced in 1988, and the fragrance notes include mirabelle plum, peach, orange blossom, and raspberry up top; magnolia, tuberose, orchid, gardenia, jasmine, carnation, heliotrope, and honey in the middle; and amber, oakmoss, vanilla, sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, and styrax in the base. It was created by perfumers Jean Claude Ellena and Ron Winnegrad.
If Rumba is Ava Gardner, then Talisman is Keira Knightly. Dominique Preyssas created Talisman in 1994. Talisman shares Rumba’s fruit and beeswax, but after a juicy few minutes, it holds to the skin more tightly and simply and finishes with a clean, not animalic, fragrance. Its lasting power is great. Talisman is Rumba’s younger sister, but when she grows up she’ll probably have fewer marriages. She will spend time drinking fruity cocktails with her friends, discussing shoes, and reading chick lit, but she’ll also keep a terrific sparkling rosé in the fridge just in case and have a cache of maps for eventual road trips. She may be happier than her Rumba sister, but her biography won’t be as interesting. Talisman’s notes are lychee, davana, osmanthus, rum, rose, jasmine, patchouli, sandalwood, beeswax, and vanilla.
Rumba and Talisman are sisters, but best suited for different women. If you identify more with Marlo Thomas than Sophia Loren, give Rumba a pass and try Talisman. (If you remember Marlo Thomas in That Girl, you outgrew Talisman a while ago.) On the other hand, if you like Oysters Rockerfeller and actually can Rumba, Rumba might be right for you. Both Rumba and Talisman are perfect fragrances for upcoming cooler days and are available for a song at internet perfume discount sites.
Note: image via Parfum de Pub.
A, this is the best review I've read in months! Your writing is so mellow like that Rumba I've never tried though I swear I must have met her somewhere, leaving the most delicious sillage in her wake. The only Balenciaga I've ever tried is the men's Cristobal, a sumptuous honeyed oriental I just couldn't (ashamed to admit) appreciate 10 years ago, what a fool! Oh how well I know and love the first autumny smell of the furnace, it just makes you cozy up in your armchair and read a good book and/or listen to Thom Yorke's (of Radiohead) solo child! I've been so unfair to Balenciaga, must remedy this, if only for Ava Gardner
Thanks for this yummy slice of a review, I'm off to make a toast with jam 
Gosh, you are so nice! Thank you for the compliment. Last night I watched Night of the Iguana, the movie where Ava Gardner plays beautiful but rough-and-tumble Maxine, owner of a hotel outside Puerta Vallarta. I thought, yes, Rumba for sure.
The mighty sisters!
Although I admire them very much, they are totaly unwearable for me. Well, Rumba is sometimes wearable, especially on a freezing cold day, but Talisman…Gosh that stuff is strong. It puts KM Loukhoum to shame that's how strong it is. 
They really are blockbusters and I certainly couldn't wear them everyday. But when I'm up to it, a spritz of Rumba can't be beat. Talisman is almost too clean at the end for me–I figure that if you're going to go loud, go loud and wild.
A, you are an amazing writer! What a review, you put us all there right with you… the furnace thing I can relate to only once or twice a year. Here in Fla, we sometimes go years without turning it on. However I know just the smell your talking about. I find it very hard to wear alot of these fragrances, but maybe I will re-visit them if the thermostat dips below 65 this year!
In some ways, it seems like Rumba, at least, would be perfect in Florida, but on the other hand it is so BIG and lush (like I imagine a humid evening in Florida might be) that it could knock you out completely. Hey, I wonder what a good perfume for a hurricane would be? (Hopefully you don't have to worry about that.)
Yeah! Do I smell a new list in the making? Perfume for riding out a Hurricane… oooh you've got me thinking??!!
Both of these are total stinkers! Gorgeous stinkers but stinkers nonetheless. Wonderful review! I get lots of animalic action in Rumba, like sweat from all that dancing.
I've also tried it in parfum, and it is *potent* – one drop will last you all day.
Wow, I can't even imagine what the parfum would be like, the EdT is already so thick! I wouldn't recommend them for a wallflower, but I still think they play an essential role in the perfume arsenal. (Maybe “arsenal” is the perfect word, since they can be the scent equivalent of an AK-47 if not carefully managed.)
What fantastic descriptions! I am now in intense hunt mode for Rumba parfum. Talisman simply didn't work for me. I wanted more of an animalic note in it and that clean feel you mention is what left me being so disappointed. Marlo Thomas I'm not. I also didn't realize it had lychee in it. I should have guessed. Lychee is a definite lemming destroyer for me.
I have the same reaction to the Talisman, although I hadn't thought to pin it on the lychee. Have you tried the Rumba Edt?
Great as always, Angela, and so timely! After trying Balenciaga's lovely Prelude – sent to me from a draw at Ina's Aromascope – I have really wanted to check out Rumba and it's so cheap at a number of discounters right now. You make it sound wonderful – I have always wanted a perfume that smells like an old apartment I had where the heaters would come on in a gloriously fragrant, fire-hazard sort of way.
Gosh, I went right off and ordered it. Got a nice little bottle of Asja, too. Unsniffed. Egads, you're bad for my finances :).
I bought a one ouncer of Asja unsniffed, too, a few weeks ago! Such a good price and alluring reviews that I couldn't resist. I really liked Prelude, but I'm not sure I'd buy a bottle unless it were ridiculously cheap. Have you tried Michelle and Quadrille?
No, have you? Prelude is not particularly cheap compared to the others sadly. I've heard lots of great things about Quadrille, and Michelle looked tempting on Marina's blog. What did you think of the Asja?
A splendid review…went online and bought a bottle of Rumba immediately!!! Completely unsniffed.
I like the cheerful flowers and coconut of Michelle, but it's not me, really. Quadrille is an intellectual sort of leather chypre, and I tried the EdT, which burned through any flowers in no time and left a little bit of a sour scent on my skin. I bet the parfum wouldn't do that. As for Asja, it seems spicy in the same way that Cinnabar and Opium are, but wears pretty quickly. Kind of a cozy scent, I think, but not endlessly intriguing. I'd love to hear what you think when you get it.
I bought it unsniffed, too, even though I know how risky it is! I hope you like it. I've got to be more disciplined–at least, until I win the lottery.
Oh, Angela-
I already possess Cuba lust as it is-
I will have to revisit Rumba, not being the blushing blossom type.
I adored Quadrille, [and Le Dix- although they are truly night and day].
The Asja was pretty, but not me,per se.
Thank you for sharing your impressions…
Dusa moj-
So, you love Ava too?
If I wear this, will we rumba?
Le Dix and Quadrille certainly are terrific. What a broad range of fragrances make up Balenciaga. Rumba is definitely worth a revisit.
I am guessing I must have at some point, but I don't remember it. However, I've just ordered some from a discount site (hardly a budget buster). Ina has said the parfum is rounder and, in general, I prefer the softness of parfums, so that's why I hope to eventually get the parfum if I find I love it. And I suspect I will.
I'd love to hear what you think of the parfum. And, I might add, another advantage of the parfum is that they usually have beautiful bottles!
Well damn, darling, I just ordered Talisman and it appears a naughty girl like me should have gotten together with her sister Ava (aka, Rumba). After 3 divorces, (and now 12 years of a wonderful 4th marriage) I am rather more of the Rumba type, don't you think?
Well, maybe you'll be the one to spice up Talisman! (Congratulations on the excellent current marriage, too! How many marriages did Ava have, anyway? At least four, I'd think.)
When I first got Rumba, it was too much for me to wear – I sprayed it on my bed instead, and slept happy as a worm in a sun-warmed, super-ripe, supersweet. golden, sticky, very, very juicy plum, ready to fall off the tree and burst in a spray of ripe fragrance and juice any moment (the plum, not the worm). And yes, that's not a very cosy simile, but look at it from the worm's perspective: couldn't be nicer! Meanwhile I've grown into Rumba and wear it with glee, feeling golden, sticky, very, very juicy… Rumba dresses my inner self in a low-cut dress with ruffles and laces and has her sashaying out to the clubs and batting her eyelashes at that handsome bloke in the corner…. Now Talisman is a perfectly pretty lady, but she shouldn't take her crocheting everwhere she goes….
What a great analogy !
Why thank you, carissima!
Thank you for the lovely review! I've worn both these scents for many years and am thrilled they got some buzz today. The Rumba parfum bottle is lovely, FYI–it's opaque black with ribbing. I find the Balenciaga scents to all be lovely, unique, and undeservedly unknown/underrated.
Yes! And hilarious about taking the crocheting everywhere she goes!
I agree that the Balenciaga scents are underappreciated. They're so inexpensive, too, that you'd think more people would give them a chance. Department stores only seem interested in carrying a scent if it's less than two years old or if its Chanel 5.
I have yet to wear the Rumba well. It's a killer scent, and that's not good, LOL.
I wear it on my legs. Anything closer would never work. It doesn't seem to soften down very well on me.
But I keep hoping. Maybe in cooler weather.
Wearing it a dab inside each ankle is a great idea. Rumba is such a paradox in some ways–in character it seems perfect for a hot evening, but the fact is that it would asphyxiate most people when the temperature is over 40 F.
Ah, discipline gets thrown out the window with me a lot, and I do wish I could come into a load o' money to support my impulse buying…but I must say, I got my bottle of Rumba yesterday, and it was well worth it. It's really unique and I do think it smells like a nightclub, absolutely. After several hours, it smelled a little like clean sweat on me, which I didn't mind at all. Thanks for the suggestion, Angela. I am very happy with Rumba!
Hurray! I bet it even smells better as the weather cools.
Okay, yet another one you made me want, Angela… but I won’t blame the sad state of my bank account on this one – I lucked into a partially used 1 oz bottle on ebay for, can you believe it, whattadeal, $7 including shipping!
Big ripe lush peaches and those yellow plums, almost candied — I’d say jammy but the fruits are so big, it’s more like they were poached whole in heavy syrup, and yet you get more fruit than sugar. And the flowers! Gosh, that tuberose is almost as unabashed as Fracas’, and the carnation, orchid, and gardenia are lush too. After a couple of hours I start getting a deliciously fleshy note – someone said “clean sweat” and that’s pretty close: the smell of nude, glowing skin. Shortly afterward, the “hot dust” furnace effect shows up, a smell I’ve always liked, along with a sort of burning-beeswax-candle note, and suddenly the whole thing is very, very comforting. Wow. A wild ride.
Hard to believe JCE composed this one, since I’m more familiar with his minimalist Jardin-style things. And it’s even harder to believe that I thought I hated loud complex perfumes. (I resent Opium, for doing me out of a lot of perfume pleasure over many years.)
Isn’t it lush? So not JCE’s style these days, and to tell the truth, who knows how much involvement he had with it in the first place. It’s a nice, whopping 1980s ride, and I love the beeswax and hot dust.
I need some help.
My favourite fragrance is new Femme Rochas. I don`t have a chance to try Rumba, but I can order a full bottle.
Plums, peaches in both…are they similar in any way?
If I love Femme, would I at least like Rumba enough not to throw it away?
A woman of great taste! I adore Femme, too.
Femme and Rumba really aren’t similar at all. Rumba smells more like a 1980s party fragrance, while Femme is equally forceful, but more the seductress. Rumba is probably easier to like for most people than Femme. It’s a good, easy summer night fragrance.
Have you tried Amouage Jubilation 25? It’s wildly expensive, but if you like Femme I’m guessing you’ll love Jubilation 25. If you can swap for a sample, or buy a sample somewhere it would be worth it.
So, Rumba is more like Parfum de Peau Montana, sweet fruits from `80s. I more like resins+dried fruits.
I will get some sample of Amouage, but it`s price is worthy of sultan. Femme can be purchased for less than 20$. I will never understand that (not complaining).
If you love Femme, you would definitely love Gem Van Cleef. Most wonderful perfume, of course discontinued, but in Europe it can still be found in 3oz EdT refill bottles.
Good comparison on Femme. And, yes, I love how Femme is so affordable. I bought my bottle at Marshall’s, a discount store here, and it was a bargain. I’ll definitely try Gem, if I can find it. Thanks!
Rumba is now sold under Ted Lapidus name, does it smell the same?
That’s news to me! I don’t know how it smells. If you love it, though, I bet you can still get the old Balenciaga bottles at discounters.