Vanille Carbone

bAbYcAt DnA hAs BeEN coPIED to ThE Gr0UND this isn't the babycat DNA haha this is me typing this review with a sample of babycat on hand. Maybe it's me spending too much time on fragrances lol but reading about something is never a one to one of how it actually smells! Never judge a perfume solely by its marketing! Sorry kinda strongly written because it's a shame to dismiss a scent and its quality without even smelling it. Perfume is already so hard to sample/access because we can't perceive them digitally compared to music and art, and then you have people claiming x smells like y when they have no experience of it. Would you ever write a food review for a restaurant without trying the food? Would you review a movie you haven't watched? Anyway! For the review to me personally, there's a peppy perky bubblegum opening that isn't too sugary. Like a whiff off of an empty gum canister. It also feels like a banana, specifically a reeeeally ripe (but not overripe) banana. This could've been named Vanille Bananne and it would still lineup for me. The vanilla's clearer in the drydown, but personally I didn't quite pickup the leather or how it's carbone/dark. This didn't feel as brooding and mysterious as their campaigns about it! It seems so serious when the smell to me's a pretty chill guy. Update again after having the sample cooled, and it really still is 70% ultra ripe banana 30% vanilla to me!

Hey it’s me again, back after sampling this yet again. It’s weird but I like it now??? I still get ultra ripe bananas but there’s something about it that now reminds me of bubblegum. It smells more fun now??? And a teeny bit richer than my last review here. Still not “carbone” for me, and not that I have a happier association to it I wonder if the storytelling of the fragrance even makes sense. To me this isn’t as stoic and enigmatic as the marketing makes it out to be!

I had the chance to try it at Paris Perfume Week and let me you that this the the most delicious and realistic vanilla I've ever smelled ! Simply, imagine a madeleine deeply infused in vanilla bean extract : 10/10

Amazing! Probably best vanilla I have smelled: dusty, sexy yet sophisticated. Longevity is top (7+ hours on my skin). Probably gonna be my signature scent.

Incense and vanilla. A bit of pepper to tickle my nose for a little while. Fairly linear, but I don’t mind. It’s beautiful and long lasting. Love it.

does not smell like babycat in the slightest! for me, it would be if a spicy vanilla was a skin scent. i’m getting a bit of every note in the most wearable toned-down way, but also kind of boring for the price point? i do like it, but i think there are a lot more “wearable” spicy vanillas on the market that are better or equal to this, but also not beast mode choke you out like babycat lol

Spicy, boozy, smoky vanilla. I have never described a perfume as sexy before but this definitely is the word that springs to mind. I'm a devout leather hater but I enjoyed this very much so maybe I'm open to conversion after all?

the notes do sound a bit like babycat, but I tested blindly first and didn't get the resemblence. I love babycat but this one has a very sharp opening with smth almost ashy which I find unpleasant. It probably is black pepper but it gives me gunpowder vibes... even later it's still too harsh for my taste. Maybe would work better on male skin though. Don't want to yuck anyone's yum, but not for me. I love love some other creations of Atelier Materi, the house is great overall.

I really want to like this, it's rich and incense heavy, love the peppery opening, but I think the leather note is making this lean too masculine for my taste. A great fragrance though.

This is not a favorite. There is something in it that smells like black licorice to my nose. I smell the similarities to baby cat, which I also don't love. Test before buying.

I had to scrub this after an hour :(

TLDR. There are reviews here that compare this to babycat. Just no, babycat is lovely, criminally overpriced in general and especially considering longevity but lovely nonetheless. This is hands down the worst fragrance I have ever tried. Pepper and vanilla. Fresh cut lumber. A little leather hiding in the background. There is something off putting in here. The notes clash. At best this scores a meh. As the day wore on this went from meh to this is terrible. I have smelled disgusting fragrances before. Fragrances that smell like feces or unwashed genitalia. Fragrances that are as exciting as tepid dishwater. Fragrances that are discombobulated messes. But this is a first, chemicals, like a yankee candle was just blown out or something. Definitely side eying the perfume guy for including this in his latest mystery box. This is terrible. I very rarely ever do this but the sample went into the trash. Congratulations to Pascal Gaurin and Patricia de Nicolai, you two are now no longer the worst noses in my book. Hard to believe the person who is responsible for Soleil Blanc also formulated this dreck. Did I mention that don’t care for this abomination? 8 hours in it is wearable. My goodness what we had to go through to get here.

I blind bought...can't remember why and thankfully only a decant...and I've never disliked a fragrance more. I get the notes listed above to some small extent, but all I get is corn. Like a photorealistic corn smell. I've tried multiple times to giveit a wear, thinking it was me or my mood. Nope...corn.

Frankincense and leather combo is very very off putting and not for my nose this might be the worst blind buy fragrance ever. Its the type of fragrance that you either love or hate, and I have to say im more of a hater even though I love Atelier Materi. Maybe my nose is not ready yet.

Am I the only one that smells rotten fruit in this? Before spraying I was actually sniffing around my kitchen trying to figure out what was rotting. I snell vanilla dowsed in harsh, bitter, moldy rot smell. Like a moldy rotten orange/bitter fruit from beginning to dry down.

Very tasty vanilla without going gourmande, young or fem. It's really just incense, pepper and vanilla with leather adding a level of genuine refinement and depth into the mix. The leather isn't obvious whatsoever and comes across unisex. Smells like a high end shea butter lotion in the best way. I'm still unfamiliar with animalics, but if this is considered that, then I'm game for them. The "animalic" nature helps it keep from coming across "perfumey" at all, adding to the level of quality and refinement ironically enough. Wears more like an aspect of your self care (showering/moisturizing) and that's when perfumery is at its peak imo.

Delicious but way less vanillic and more ozonic then i thought. Intersting take for sure ! Very well done, beautful complex fragrance with great body. Unisex for sure. Slightly more masculine even, i could see some notes become strident for women? Still a great, very particulat Vanilla, perhaps too "sharp" for my taste. I ended up falling deep in love with the gourmand side of the brand though, and Tongka Komaru bewitched me. I love love love that one so much more. recommended to try !

I snag a sample, I wore it today and definitely, it's NOT a Babycat/Vanagloria dupe. Opening is lovely and close to real natural vanilla pod. Then, it evolve to a vanilla a little acid and bitter. It's dry, very dry, not sweet and round at all and I don't detect leather at all. I would describe this perfume as a dark green ashy vanilla. There's none in the official note but I think there is citrus and Angelica. Lot of limonene in the ingredients.

Love it. It kicks off with pink pepper—bright and dry—then softens into smooth, non-syrupy vanilla layers. A hint of fermented zing and a whisper of frankincense keep it raw and grounded. No fluff here—just a subtly sweet vanilla that feels like a walk along a windswept coast. It feels light, airy, and enveloping.

Smells pretty much like the notes listed here (which jibe with the brand's website)....pepper, leather, and incense with a rich vanilla base. It's beautiful for what it is but probably not a safe blind buy because I find the incense on the smoky side.