Byredo Bal d'Afrique Review
Illustration, not a product photo.
Byredo Bal d'Afrique is a floral woody fragrance (soft florals over woods) from Byredo, marketed as unisex. Byredo is a niche house.
Price varies (no price snapshot observed)
Based on 55 Reddit owner comments (32 with a clear rating) · Top 85% of tracked fragrances by overall score
Is Byredo Bal d'Afrique worth it?
Owners are often disappointed: 3.0/5 overall from 32 rated owner comments, with an average owner rating of 4.0★. Owners talk most about fresh & clean (5 mentions).
Who it suits
- You want fresh & clean: 3 owner comments praise it.
- You want value: 3 owner comments praise it.
- You want longevity: 1 owner comment praise it.
- Summer wear: the season owners mention most (3 comments).
- Office: the occasion owners mention most (3 comments).
Who should skip it
- Projection matters to you: 3 owner comments raise it as a downside.
- Longevity matters to you: 3 owner comments raise it as a downside.
- Unique matters to you: 1 owner comment raise it as a downside.
Longevity, projection and compliments
| What owners report | Positive | Negative | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longevityi | 1 say it lasts well | 3 say it fades fast | 2.6 |
| Projectioni | 1 say it projects well | 3 call it weak or a skin scent | 2.7 |
| Complimentsi | 0 report compliments | 0 report none | Not rated |
Counts of owner comments that describe this fragrance's performance on their own skin. "Not rated" means no owner described it.
When owners wear it
Seasons
Occasions
Number of owner comments mentioning each season or occasion alongside this fragrance (positive or negative).
What Reddit owners say
4/5 Office“I don't if I'm not at home. My work as a few people sensitive to fragrance so I only apply about two hours before I'm actually at work. Sometimes I carry a little sample with me and spray it before the commute back home. It's a good way to finish these samples as well. I also don't always freshen up at home. Today I'm wearing Orpheon from dyptiqye it's quite long wearing. But yesterday I wore byredo bal d'Afrique which is not very long wearing. I reapplied it once. In the weekend I reapply the less limbs wearing ones mid day. Yesterday”
4/5 Projection“Byredo Bal D'Afrique.”
2/5 Value“If Bal D'Afrique costs 10 dollars to make but they routinely sell if 400.”
4/5 Value“Byredo Bal D'Afrique kind of taught me a lesson one this. Lovely fragrance, lasts 2.7 seconds. I feel like every time I spray it on, I'm spending $10.”
4/5 LongevityProjection“Byredo Bal d'afrique (original) ”
+50 more owner comments
4/5 Formal“One Byredo Bal D'Afrique and lilac love by Amouage, they totally sucked.”
2/5“Yeah, unfortunately the longevity of the regular Bal D'Afrique isn't great. I decanted some of my bottle into a smaller travel bottle that I bring in my purse. I reapply every couple hours.”
5/5 Formal“Fragrances don't have gender. We've been conditioned to associate certain smells with men or women but the reality is anyone can wear anything if they can pull it off. This is why so many fragrances are listed as unisex as well. Gendering fragrances is also kind of bad for sales. Byredo Bal D'Afrique is a great example. I've seen women say they were going to use it as their wedding day fragrance. I wear it regularly as a dude and love it.”
5/5“I've had the opposite experience where I write something off after spraying on the tester only to find it's totally beautiful on skin. A year ago, I tried byredo bal d'afrique on paper and it smelled like lemon lysol to me. Recently, I became interested in it again after seeing a lot of people rave about it in this subreddit so I decided to give it another go but on skin. Somehow on skin and clothes it totally transforms into something beautiful and luminous! No lysol in sight. Now I want a bottle :')”
5/5“Initio Musk Therapy, Phlur Missing Person, Byredo Bal d'Afrique and Blanche, etc. It seems to perform best on my skin.”
4/5“Love love love my Bal d'Afrique. But it has horrible lasting on me! I have to do 15 sprays just to have it last for more than 10 mins on my clothes :( The notes are 💯 though”
5/5 OfficeEveryday“I work from home but when I have to go to HQ like once a quarter, I wear Bal d'Afrique or L'eau Papier. Those are my two favorite office scents. Otherwise, I'm Xtra Milk every day and I layer other things over it. Today it's Father Figure. Yesterday was Goddess. The day before that was Angel EDT… but always over Xtra Milk.”
4/5“- Byredo Bal d'Afrique (wish it lasted longer but the scent is S-Tier) I have Montagne's Azonto arriving tomorrow because I burn through BDA so quickly. Hoping it's a solid dupe.”
5/5“Argh!!! Cedar Chic is impossible to find in Canada. I have a 10 ml decant and I am savouring every drop because no matter how hard I tried, I still fell head over heels in love with it. I originally bought it just to see what all the fuss is about but yeah, I think it's definitely worth the hype. Not an exact dupe but if you have Byredo Bal d'Afrique, it might tide you over and help stave off the cravings.”
5/5“It's a gorgeous breezy day, so I have all my windows open while I wfh and doused myself in Bal d'Afrique (lotion + EDP)!”
4/5 Fresh & clean“the vetiver note in bal d'afrique sticks around on my clothes for ages, the rest of the scent fades pretty quickly though so i carry a purse spray or wear a dupe with slightly better longevity. most of byredo's floral and/or fresh scents disappear fairly quickly on me (mojave ghost, bal d'afrique, inflorescence, la tulipe, young rose) but this is true of other brands, too. the absolus last longer because they're extrait-strength (higher concentration of fragrance oils) and also because they are composed with base notes that have better longevity.”
2/5 Unique“I posted a co-review, thoughts were not distinctly that different except I must have gotten a bad sample of Khadlaj Karus Gold Absolu. Maybe it is just because I bought so many different Citrus decants but I am not impressed. I do not hate it as much as you, but it is certainly not that interesting or close to the original in my mind. Though I failed to realize how distinctly different Bal d'Afrique and Absolu are, the string of Absolu clones to ME is a waste of time since Absolu is the less interesting of the two.”
5/5“I have bal dafrique and love it but want another Byredo.”
1/5“bal d'afrique seems the most wearable. i've had people absolutely hate il padrino, pretty intense scent.”
2/5 Projection“Padantique answer Performance on Bal d'afrique is awful, 2 hours and it's - barely - a skin scent. Bal d'Afrique **Absolu** I have yey to get a chance to test the longevity. But thr reviews are very good for longevity compared to the original. [Fragrantica.com](http://Fragrantica.com) is your friend here, I'd advise.”
4/5 Fresh & cleanValue“Definitely Bal D'Afrique Absolu for the first choice. Then Musk Therapy. If you know you like Citrus, Clean... Both have above average longevity on my skin. You can purchase Dubai Musk by Al Ambra for less $ than Musk Therapy. You can purchase Maison Asrar Belgravia instead of Bal D'Afrique. They are both very good interpretations. That way you can buy both for less than the price of one! Win!”
5/5“The Perfume Oil Co have excellent oil dupes of LDBS by Kilian, Lost Cherry by Tom Ford, Bal D'afrique and Creed Aventus as well as others, they smell pretty identical to the originals to me and I use them to re-apply and layer with those scents.”
2/5“I love Bal d'Afrique, Blanche, and G\* Water, but Mojave Ghost was not good on my skin.”
5/5 SummerSpring“Definitely certain ones! I put away Cedar Chic and Bal d'Afrique when it was really hot since those wear heavier on my skin. I prefer wearing Levant and Fleur Narcotique during summer... But I'm holding onto Pure Musc Blanc and Musc K for a bit b/c I'm obsessed with them. I do feel they're better during spring/summer due to their airiness 🌬️🌫️🫧”
5/5“The two that I keep out year also happen to be my two favorites: Diptyque Lilyphea and Byredo Bal d'Afrique. Ijust only recently tried the Bal d'Afrique Absolu and omg I love it! I didn't think I needed to try it because I have the OG, but it's so good. I still don't have a full size, but that would be a year round for me too.”
5/5“I went to the Byredo store in Paris and sampled so many fragrances I had only ever read about. It was SO fun. But the Bal d'Afrique I spritzed on a card stayed in my purse and on my mind. However, I do not have Byredo purfume money so I ordered Gold Gem by Oakcha. It arrived today and I wore it and smiled and felt SO happy smelling amazing and thinking of Paris 😊”
4/5 Fresh & clean“Have you tried anything from Byredo? I really like Blanche, which is a clean, crisp aldehydes and soft white florals scent, like laundry. I also like Bal d'Afrique, which is a subtly spicy floral on me, kinda like marigold and herbs in the opening and then clean warm wood and cozy musk in the dry down. It might be too woody for you, but you never know unless you try! None of their perfumes smells like a department store to me, for what it's worth :)”
5/5“I do have a large sample of Bal D'Afrique and LOVE it. I wear it when I want to feel really put together.”
3/5 Longevity“I didn't like Bal d'Afrique and washed it off after maybe an hour. I love Bibliotheque, but it lasts only 30 minutes on my skin (but 2 days on clothes!) Alto Astral lasts 5-6 hours on my skin and many days on clothes.”
5/5“I have Majesty and Regent and a coworker has Vanguard. All of them are excellent. I've sampled Bal d'Afrique and my perception is that it's solidly unisex. Vibrato - and Regent - are also unisex but lean slightly feminine to my nose with the white florals. The BdA absolu is supposed to lean more masculine than the OG so it surprises me that this leans more feminine to you than Vibrato.”
5/5“It's a beautiful fragrance. Sold my Bal d'Afrique Absolu after I got it but I still keep Bal d'Afrique EDP because it's my top fragrance of all time”
4/5“Maison Asrar Regent, Orientica Royal Bleu, and for Bal d'Afrique, I got no idea which is a good one.”
Not rated (no clear sentiment)“Crazy. I can smell Bal d'Afrique the next day on me.”
Not rated (no clear sentiment) SweetnessFresh & clean“Valaya , Valaya Exclusif, Meliora, Cassili,Missing Person, Dama Bianca, Love-O-Matic, Wulong Cha, Clean Warm Cotton, La Mar, El Sireno, Rosario, Agua de Santos, Bal d'Afrique, Blanche, La Tulipe, Philosykos, Fleur de Peau, L'eau Papier, Car”
Not rated (no clear sentiment)“Byredo is one that really works with my skin chemistry and nose. Even for the scents where the average person would say sillage and performance are poor, I find it lasts 8-10 hours on my skin. The only exception is Bal D'Afrique...I ended up buying the absolu version because it was way longer lasting. Absolu - [https://www.byredo.com/us\_en/p/bal-dafrique-absolu-de-parfum](https://www.byredo.com/us_en/p/bal-dafrique-absolu-de-parfum) Regular - [https://www.byredo.com/us\_en/p/bal-d-afrique-eau-de-parfum](https://www.byredo.com/us_en/p/bal-d-afrique-eau-de-parfum)”
Not rated (no clear sentiment) LongevitySummer“I have the same issue with Bal d'Afrique.”
Not rated (no clear sentiment)“Bal d'Afrique and You Doux. Don't know why I have never thought to layer these before because they are two of my favorites, but I did today and it is glorious!”
Not rated (no clear sentiment)“They sell absolutes, so the longevity may be that? i got an absolute of bal dafrique and one spray will last me the whole day. It's powerful.”
Not rated (no clear sentiment)“94 degrees in South Florida today. I have a bunch of fragrances for super hot and sunny days. But today I think I'm going to wear Bal d'afrique (the OG). Since I do have a small decant of the Absolu I will probably add in the late afternoon 🥰”
Not rated (no clear sentiment)“Then I tried Bal d'Afrique.”
Dupes and similar fragrances
No dupe pairing for this fragrance reached our evidence bar (2+ comments naming both with a "dupe/clone/smells like" phrase).
Clone houses named next to Byredo Bal d'Afrique in "dupe/clone" comments: French Avenue / Fragrance World (1), Ariana Grande (1), Dua Fragrances (1), Rasasi (1), Oakcha (1).
Alternatives in the same family
- Byredo Mojave Ghost — 3.0 from 48 owner comments
- Amouage Reflection Man — 3.6 from 35 owner comments
- Yves Saint Laurent MYSLF — 3.7 from 83 owner comments
FAQ
How long does Byredo Bal d'Afrique last?
In the Reddit owner comments we analysed, 1 owner said it lasts well and 3 said it fades quickly. Longevity varies with skin, climate and concentration.
What season is Byredo Bal d'Afrique best for?
Owners mention summer most often (3 comments), followed by winter (1).
Does Byredo Bal d'Afrique get compliments?
No owner in our sample reported compliments for it.
Can I buy Byredo Bal d'Afrique on Amazon safely?
We did not find it sold by Amazon.com or by the brand's own Amazon store, so we do not link to it. Third-party fragrance listings carry a counterfeit and grey-market risk.
Keep deciding
- Byredo fragrances ranked
- Best floral woody fragrances
- Best summer fragrances
- Best fragrances for the office
- Best fragrances for everyday wear
- Best Unisex Fragrances
- Best Niche & Luxury Fragrances
- Buying guide shortlists · Methodology
Details
| Brand | Byredo (Niche) |
| Fragrance family | Floral Woody |
| Marketed for | unisex |
| Amazon listing | No listing sold by Amazon.com or the brand store found |
| Reddit evidence | 55 owner comments, 272 mentions in total across r/fragrance, r/FemFragLab and related subreddits |
| Last updated | 2026-11-03 |
Family and "marketed for" follow the brand's positioning and common fragrance references; flankers (Intense, Elixir, Parfum editions) are tracked separately or excluded.