Faberge Babe

This is a review of Faberge Babe perfume and cologne - *not* Beauty Brands, which doesn't smell like original Babe in a side to side testing by any stretch of the imagination, nor Brut Prestige which in my 54 years on this earth I've never actually even seen. Yes Babe was always a drugstore fragrance. But you could buy Chanel No 22 in the same drugstore during the 70s, as well as completely destroyed versions of Coty Emeraude. The 1/2 oz. perfume comes in plastic bottles with a tacky, round cap that screams 70s. Not aimed at the upper class...their loss! I was a poor kid and yet I could afford Babe when I was 13; it was cheap and marketed towards teen & college age girls mostly. When my kids were grown and I got into collecting perfume I picked some up, for fun and to have a laugh at my terrible teenage taste. It turns out that my taste was pretty good. Despite being a drugstore frag, there are 118+ ingredients in Babe not the least of which is real oakmoss. It's a well composed, fresh, gently aldehydic floral chypre with an oriental feel that stars rose with wonderful raspberry notes, orris, spice, ylang-ylang, jasmine and more on a bed of musky amber. The aldehydes here give it a sunny lift, but very little soapiness, if any. It does not wear especially vintage as it's not powdery, musty, sharp, or difficult. The raspberry in Faberge Babe smells like raspberry, not candy and not bathroom spray. (I don't know how Beauty Brands can say they made 'Babe" without raspberry. If you wore Babe at any length in the original version, the BB is not going to fool you.) Sillage is good, as 70s perfumes were, and longevity - the cologne lasts 6-8 hours, and the perfume 10-12. I was fortunate to find a very special seller (thanks Gary) and now have a massive hoard of well stored, wonderful smelling Babe, top notes intact, which I hope will hold me for the rest of my life. =) If you see it at a reasonable price and like happy, feminine floral aldehydics I highly recommend it. Pre 2005 Estee Lauder "Estee" is a very close relative.

In the 80s I was too much of a snob to even sample Babe. I wore Cristalle and didn’t really think twice about Faberge. It was “drug store” and I was insufferable. But a 4 oz vintage cologne concentration bottle arrived today and I’m blown away by the quality of Babe. Just about all of the notes are still here. The florals are here, although not long lasting, at least not on this first spray. The hyacinth outshines the rose, and I would love more carnation. I didn’t get any raspberry this go around. But the drydown! YUM. The standard issue cyphre is given a yummy zhuzh by the coriander and celery seeds. The amber peeks through, but is bested by the musk more often than not. I swear if you plonked this in a Byredo bottle and called it BABE WATER you could sell it for $300. Luckily is still rather inexpensive on ye olde ebay. Get some! PS —a bunch of the 1977 TV ads are on YouTube and they’re a kick.

I wish they would bring this scent back! It's one of the few perfumes that have a carnation note but DON'T make me sneeze. I think Babe has an interesting and complex mix of notes, for such an inexpensive scent. I first used it as an afterbath splash, which was four for a dollar, small bottles, in a local discount drugstore. The splash lasted surprisingly long and had a decent sillage. Then I bought a small bottle of the Babe fragrance oil---incredible longevity!!! I could never pick out an individual note, in terms of any being dominant, but the mix of herbal and sweet really appealed to me. Babe was named for legendary female athlete Babe Didrikson, and the spokesmodel was Mariel Hemingway.It was one of many "liberated woman" scents that emerged in the wake of Charlie, and I think it actually smelled better on me than Charlie. Correction: The spokesmodel was Mariel's big sister Margeaux.

Wow, what I wouldn't give to have the 70's smells back again! Drugstore perfumes! They were so glorious! I do remember the smell of this very much. I got it after, Emeraude, Charlie, Wind Song, Tabu. I just loved Babe. It had something about it that popped it up a notch. Very clean smelling. There are some I missed here, but covered some of those gone by fragrances. I've tried the new drugstore ones, and they are only a hint, and sometimes not a good one of the vintage or original. Couldn't afford Chanel and the likes back then, so the drugstore is where I got these, off the shelf. Yeah, I so remember loving this one. It was my era, young and carefree. Bell bottoms, Bee Gees, always Elvis. The music of the 70's was the best. Friday nights out with the crowd. Boy do I miss those days! Yes, a fragrance really brings back memories.

Oh I love this fragrance so much ! It was a scent I longed to posess in the 80's when I was in grade school.The girl who boarded the bus before me wore it and it smelled so good! I finally asked what it was and then begged my parents for it for Christmas.I cannot tell you a single note that stands out, but it was just so sexy.Like salty skin, flowers and musk.I just acquired a bottle on Ebay.It is old, but I can still detect the original, beautiful scent.Bring it back, honestly-bring it back!