The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Pure Version arrived in 2010 as part of Horseball's opening lineup, composed by Melanie Leroux as a straightforward white floral with a twist: the fruit up top isn't decoration, it's structural. The fruit accord lifts the composition before the florals settle in, giving the scent a brightness that keeps the white petals from turning heavy or funereal. Leroux builds the top with mandarin zest and passion fruit, a pairing that snaps with green acidity before the hyacinth's watery coolness smooths the edges. The heart brings a clean, soapy white floral, jasmine and orange blossom layering into something that smells less like a bouquet and more like clean linens drying in open air. The musk base holds the whole thing up without burying it, a quiet foundation that lets the florals speak.
What's interesting here is how Leroux handles the white floral category. Tuberose and rose could easily tip into dense or soapy territory. Pairing them with passion fruit and mandarin pulls the sweetness sideways into something almost edible, while the lily adds a green, watery lift. The base is where restraint shows up most clearly. White musk, a touch of moss, sandalwood. Nothing loud. The composition earns its softness by refusing to layer too many heavy materials underneath.
The evolution
The first ten minutes are all fruit and green: passion fruit's tropical sweetness against mandarin's zest, with hyacinth threading a cool, slightly bitter line through the middle. The opening feels almost effervescent, like biting into something cold on a warm day. By the thirty-minute mark, the white florals arrive properly. Lily opens the door, rose warms it, and tuberose deepens the whole thing into something fuller and more human. The sweetness fades back, the green lifts, and the scent starts reading closer to skin than to air. The drydown stretches through the next several hours as the heart gives way to white musk and sandalwood. That moss note keeps it grounded without turning mossy. What lingers past the five-hour mark is a warm, slightly powdery musk against skin, the kind of trail that only shows up when someone's close enough to matter. It doesn't fill a room. It doesn't try to.
Cultural impact
Pure Version sits in a familiar place among white florals, but the way it's assembled gives it a quiet distinction worth noticing. Its fruit-floral-musk architecture reads in a way that feels considered rather than assembled from a template. The mandarin and passion fruit at the opening carry enough brightness to keep the scent from veering into the soapy territory that drags down many white florals, and the hyacinth's green coolness acts as a buffer between the fruit and the fuller florals waiting underneath.
The House
HorseballHorseball entered the niche fragrance scene in 2010, offering a compact catalogue that balances bold accords with understated elegance. The brand’s releases—such as Oud Version (2011) and Blue Leather (2015)—show a willingness to explore both traditional ingredients and contemporary twists. Though its lineup is modest, each scent arrives with a clear personality, inviting collectors to discover a new facet of modern perfumery. Horseball positions itself as a laboratory for focused experimentation, where each launch builds on the last while staying true to a concise, purposeful aesthetic.
The Creator
Melanie LerouxMelanie’s signature technique blends bold spices with rare woods, creating layers that reveal themselves over time. She favors ginger, cumin, cardamom and pepper for their ability to spark attention, then grounds the composition with agarwood, sandalwood or cedar that linger o…
