Balmy Days & Sundays (2006)
by Ineke

Balmy Days & Sundays is green. It opens as a soft minty / grassy green and quickly loses its beautifully delicate herbalness as it moves to a soft, enfolding pure grassy green. The grass accord is excellent in its rendition of grass: its portrayal is so real. Mind you, this is not the freshly-cut grass accord that is offered by many other fragrances… This is the lying-on- the-lawn- on-the- perfect- summer-day grass. Soft, easeful notes humbly offered up by the grass’s own natural inhalations and expirations instead of the brutalized aromas hacked and bludgeoned from the defenseless grass as a part of control-freak mankind’s perpetual war to subdue and enslave the other denizens of the loving Earth mother. Be that as it may, this wonderful, transparent grass note then melds with the florals of the heart … extremely light florals to my nose because my dry skin gobbles up floral notes, and these are light notes to start out with so there’s not much room for interpretation on my part. I agree with Ayala that I get lily of the valley in the heart notes, but I can’t identify any thing else except that the heart is a charmingly gentle floral / grass accord. Chypre dry down? Well, the greens and florals that preceded, continue on for a couple hours but I don’t get any drydown except for a nearly negligible musk – nowhere near a chypre drydown. Balmy Days & Sundays is a transparent, loving, lovely feminine grassy green fragrance.

Balmy Days and Sundays is a particularly charming green fragrance, as it combines the the effervescent sparkle of greens alongside a calm warmth. The minty notes offer this contrast on their own, but also the choice of sweet florals paired with grass (rather than the traditional and often cool and sharp jasmine and rose paired with galbanum and orris that are usually found in green compositions), adds to the experience of a summer garden: refreshingly luscious and sun-warmed, a sensual delight to both eyes, skin and nose... Balmy Days and Sundays opens with the sweet greenery of fresh-cut grass and sweet warmth of mint, moves to a heart that is a heady floral (I smell mostly freesia and lily of the valley, but the perfumer also lists honeysuckle, rose and mimosa). The base is somewhat powdery with musk and moss, and like After My Own Heart (and the rest of Ineke’s line), is subtle and clean, yet in a non-sterile manner. The top notes and the heart notes definitely steal the show here. If you liked Herba Fresca, you are most like to enjoy this one. But also, if you liked some things about Herba Fresca, but found the grass notes there too harsh and the base too chemical, you might find that Balmy Days and Sundays is a more mellow impression of a summer garden (minus the intense citrus notes of Herba Fresca though).

Reminds me of waking up early on the first day of summer vacation, dew still on the grass and a hint of coolness where the sun doesn't reach. I love the way the crisp green notes counterbalance the sweeter floral notes -- on the whole, the composition is more leafy than floral, with just a hint of ozone. The musk in the base is not very pronounced, even less so than After My Own Heart, and the chypre accord is very subtle. This is a fresh, bright scent perfect for warm weather.

Hey all you green grassy soft clean sweet spring summer scent lovers. I think I've found the ultimate in green. I've been searching for this scent all my life. It is smoother and more complex than the Gap's "Grass", and softer than Gucci's "Envy". It's staying power is not all that incredible, but I love the scent so much that I could really care less about that. You have to give it at least 15 minutes to develop, and I wouldnt say it's a very "Deep" fragrance, but it does have several facets to it - each that I truly adore. It is nice and grassy, and the honeysuckle in it makes is sweet and smooth. their description "Lying Face-up to the sky, dappled light flickering throught the Pale Green of overhead branches" is acurate in my opinion. The top notes are of Freesia, Leafy Greens, Grass. Middle notes are Honeysuckle, Rose, Mimosa, and Base of Chypre Accent and Musk (both soft and smooth). Ineke is a great company with currently 4 Scents on the market. She sells them in this awesome sampler pack for $12 including shipping, which they THEN credit you the $12 when you purchase a full bottle - which cost $78 USD. You have to try this!! Tell them "Lynn from PA" sent you!