As the perfume house celebrates its year of Bal d’Afrique, we asked four beauty writers about their continued fascination with Byredo’s iconic fragrance
Since its launch in 2009, Bal d’Afrique quickly became one of Byredo’s most beloved and popular scents. Created by founder Ben Gorham and renowned perfumer Jérôme Epinette, it was inspired in part by Gorham’s father’s diaries from his years travelling across Africa by freight ship. The scent translates these inherited memories into a beguiling unisex fragrance celebrated for its floral lightness and warm, woody base with a touch of citrus.
Following the release of the Absolu de Parfum iteration of Bal d’Afrique – a sweeter, deeper, rnterpretation of the original – the perfume house continues to celebrate its year of Bal d’Afrique with a new campaign, Bal d’Afrique: Scent in Motion. Shot in Accra, Ghana, by photographer Philip-Daniel Ducasse, styled by Nigerian-born stylist Raphael Hirsch and with extraordinary choreography by Burkina Faso-born Ladji Koné, it pays tribute to the dances of Africa in a series of vivid portraits.
Below, four beauty writers and editors share their own memories and personal relationships with this iconic Byredo fragrance.
Emily Dinsdale, AnOther contributing editor
“Bal d’Afrique will forever be my ultimate summer holiday fragrance. Perfume is liquid memory, and, for me, Byredo’s famous scent is irrevocably linked to a very specific recollection of August in the south of Crete – the southernmost point of Europe – gazing across the sea towards North Africa.
“Bal d’Afrique is a sun-soaked perfume; it’s golden hour when Cicadas are humming and the shadows are long. The opening of African marigold reminds me of still, hot air fragrant with the herbal aroma of rugged foliage, toasted all day on the hills and roadsides by the intense sun – it’s warm with a touch of spice and honey-sweetness from the neroli and bergamot. The tonka bean base evokes the very specific sweet musk of salt and heat on my skin after a day at the beach, while the violet and cyclamen offer a green, refreshing counterpoint – soap, sunscreen, a rare breeze.
“These days, it’s the only fragrance I take away with me on summer holiday, as an absolu de parfum and now also in the body spray. I spritz it in the early evening – post-beach, pre-dinner – and it always complements the existing holiday aromas with a sophisticated blend of zesty, spice-infused sweetness.”
Alex Peters, Dazed beauty director
“Early in life, I discovered that the way to approach anything was to be introduced by the right person,” Eve Babitz wrote in Slow Days, Fast Company. She was talking about caviar and baseball, but it’s perfume that I think is truly made or broken by where – and on whom – you first encounter it.
“I discovered Byredo’s Bal d’Afrique when I was a young beauty assistant and I got asked to call it in by someone I thought was impossibly glamorous and cool, as it was one of her (many) signature scents. With that as the introduction, I never stood a chance of not associating the perfume with the utmost style, taste and chic-ness.
“Of course it helps that the fragrance is fabulous – the jasmine petals and violet combining with the rich black amber, musk and neroli to create something both crisp and indulgent. But even to this day, when I wear Bal d’Afrique, I’m brought right back to those feelings of delight and disbelief I had at finding myself with a job at my dream magazine, surrounded by the coolest girls in the industry, and sharing spritzes of their perfumes.”
Dominique Sisley, AnOther contributing editor
“I don’t remember exactly when I first bought Bal d'Afrique, but I think it was in the early 2010s. I was working at a cinema at the time, but would sometimes go into Liberty and loiter suspiciously around the perfume counters. Byredo was always cool and alluring, with its slick, minimalist packaging, evocative names, and ornamental glass bottles. I had never smelt anything like them, and would always take home strips of paper testers on the tube, sniffing them obsessively to try and figure out my favourite – the one I would purchase, as a treat, when I finally got a ‘proper’ job. Bal d'Afrique was always my clear winner – there are just so many layers to it, all of them buzzy and uplifting. Bergamot, blackcurrant, a green flash of vetiver, and the creamy warmth of tonka bean. It’s been more than 10 years and I still love it.”
Violet Conroy, writer and editor
“Bal d’Afrique was my first introduction to Byredo scents. It’s not usually the kind of perfume I go for, but I was immediately charmed by its vibrant, exotic aroma and its fruity and floral sweetness. Ben Gorham has created a unique love letter to the influence of African culture, music and art, paying homage especially to the African marigold, a flowering plant with beautiful orange and yellow blooms that symbolise warmth, joy, and the sun’s life-giving energy. I like to take Bal d’Afrique with me when I travel: as soon as I put the scent on, it takes me back to cherished memories of holidays, discovering new places and people. It’s a transportive and sentimental scent for me.”
The full range of Byredo’s Bal d’Afrique is available here.
