BYREDO
BLANCHE ABSOLU
2025
Aldehydes
black pepper
neroli
Peony
Violet
Sandalwood
musk
‘The smell of texture and skins; bodies slipping beneath fresh sheets after a long day spent; laundry baskets filled to the brim; a punch of detergent. At once exploring softness and strength, a n aldehyde hit softens into delicate rose before sandalwood and musk give Blanche its intimate expression, powerful in its purity.’ – Byredo
In my opinion, these types of white musk fragrances are hard to ‘review’. I like them; I like smelling a clean musk. But something akin to Byredo Blanche feels so… minimal, straight-forward that it’s hard to say much about it and it’s hard to get particularly intrigued or excited by it in my opinion. I’ve smelled about a dozen pure musk ingredients and several of those, on their own, smell as complex and good/better than Byredo Blanche does for example (shout-out to exaltolide).
This is your average laundry detergent, fresh musk and soapy aldehydes. Not too much of a fruity accent, but definitely a hint of sweetness and florals. It has an earthiness or ruberriness up close, but in the air, it feels straight-up bright white laundry, white t-shirt, detergent/powder commercial aesthetics.
It lasts nicely on me (I don’t know the Blanche EDP well enough to say if the Absolu is much different or worth the upgrade). That being said, it’s an inoffensive scent, that I’d say, projects quite well, but not in a powerful, in-your-face type of way. I would argue that this has excellent performance, but typical ‘beastmode’ appreciaters, may not view it as such, which I think comes down to the style of perfume, more than its strength.
Overall, this is a well-executed musk, which doesn’t feel as powdery or screechy as some white musks do. It stays neutral and straight-forward, a bit more soapy in the opening, a bit more woody in the base, but not becoming a lactonic, smooth sweeter sandalwood-musk as is often the case. Which I guess can be seen as both a positive or a negative. I prefer the more sandalwoody ones, but they tend to grow sweeter and Blanche stays more true to its theme and freshness.
Personally, I’d happily wear this and I think it’s a good fragrance, but it’s also one that doesn’t move me much.