Either way, the two scents' pyramids have plenty in common: bergamot, orange blossom, tuberose, plum, peach, oakmoss, amber, and musk. The fruit notes (plum, peach, raspberry) lie lightly over the invisible floral notes (orange blossom, magnolia, tuberose, orchid, gardenia, jasmine, carnation, heliotrope, muguet) with a pleasant incense base (patchouli, oak moss, sandalwood, cedarwood, styrax, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, frankincense, beeswax). The opening fruity notes (plum and peach) are quickly followed by a leathery, smoky quality that envelops the white florals completely.

Rumba by Ted Lapidus Eau de Toilette Spray 100ml

As the 80’s came to an end, and the Berlin Wall came down, Capitalism no longer needed to flaunt it’s opulence in the face of our Commi-Bloc neighbours; the fight had been won and the whole Big Hair - Big ‘fume - Big Shoulders thing was now surplus to requirements. Having served its purpose, the Loads-a-Money jibe - and the stonking fashion that went with it - was thought to be overstated and embarrassing. If you're a regular user, please take a break, explore our other interesting content, and come back later. A hint of coconut in the fruity floral accord lends the composition an understated tropical exoticism. In this case it was Ron Winnegrad who shares the credit, and together they created a strapping oriental.

Fortunately for him, because Rumba was a joint enterprise - and he was the junior partner - he can just shrug and say It wasn’t my fault guv, honest. They are contrasted with the leather, floral, warm, and sensual base notes where musk and amber melt into the skin. The base notes (woods, resins, musk, oakmoss patchouli et al) keep the fragrance deep and very sultry. A dark, woody incense-like fragrance with so much going on that my nose is getting numb from trying to decipher it all. When viewed in historical perspective, Rumba's fruit, vanilla, and patchouli prefigure the gaudy berries and patchouli of Mugler's Angel, which would arrive just a few years later.

Rumba Balenciaga perfume - a fragrance for women 1989

Smooth peach lactone and bouquet of sweet white flowers, among which I detect ylang-ylang, jasmine, and a dab of tuberose, soon join the lingering citrus. The plum and peach notes--more plum than peach, to my nose--continue throughout the life of the perfume. Vintage Rumba is precisely one of those eighties beasts, which developes and evolves under the consept floral leather. The deeply resinous, mossy, animalic quality makes this a stand-out fragrance for special occasions. Rumba opens on a high-impact candied bergamot top note, which in fact persists well into the development.I currently own the Ted Lapidus version but, I owned a full bottle of the Balenciaga release, back in the early 90's.

Rumba Passion Ted Lapidus perfume - a fragrance for women

Michael Edwards classifies Rumba as a crisp fruity dry woods (leather) fragrance, but I smell a creamy, lactonic, peachy floral chypre with stylistic affinities to Calyx, Yvresse, and the current incarnation of Baghari. But we all start somewhere, and in his early days he was - from time to time - paired with more established names. But Ça Sent Beau is more nuanced and more interesting, and Baghari has more depth to it, so I'd reach for either of those two before Rumba.

But there are some interesting grace notes: incense and moss, cool acid blackcurrant, a fruit syrup of runny boiled sweets, leather, tuberose, plum and peach, a green/citrus note with a fizz like sherbert. While the two converge most obviously in their juxtaposition of fruit and powdery clean musk, a conspicuous patchouli base note leaves Rumba feeling darker, heavier, and somehow more conventional than the relatively buoyant Kenzo.

Rumba Perfume - Etsy UK Rumba Perfume - Etsy UK

The plush drydown of sweet amber, vanilla, and musk is naggingly familiar, and it's only after much head-scratching that it comes to me: in both style and olfactory texture, Rumba resembles Kenzo's Ça Sent Beau, released in very same year. While by no means the olfactory hurricane that is Angel, Rumba is strong stuff, with ample projection and several hours' worth of lasting power. With all the complexity of the heart and base notes, it's a pity one can't smell any richness in the composition as a whole. And sure enough, this kind of florid schmaltz was soon replaced by Eau de Watery Scent and Save the Whale T-shirt.