Biblioteca de Babel

This has been my all time favourite comfort scent since I found it by a fluke in a department store in my country back in 2010 or perhaps 2011. I think it was the first time I ever smelled a niche fragrance and this absolutely mesmerised me and has kept mesmerising me to this day. I bought the bottle right then and there and it cost both an arm and a leg and I was a student at the time so I did not have a lot of money. But I just could not go home without it. I understand this is not the scent for everybody and I’m sure there are more sophisticated woody tobacco like scents. But for me this is absolutely special. And I have tried to figure out what it is that to me is so intoxicating about it. And for sure it’s scent is not the scent of books or even old books per se. But about what good books can do to you and where they can take you. And the magic about this scent is not really about the vanilla background cinnamon either. But to me this has the smell of an intoxicating dream or a fantasy coming from an old book that you have opened in a beautifully lit library that takes you to an adventurous place where nothing is really familiar but everything at the same time still feels comforting and warm and sensual and safe. Like in the arms of a loving father for the first time or sitting under a tree in the sunset watching the slow tide in a country unknown to you. In a way a kind of comfort that can be found in a child that feels safe and surrounded by comforting smells and sounds. And it’s within these images where I sort of find the one thing this woody vannilic scent has that I have not found in any other in a note that I don’t see many people either mention with this scent. But that is so prominent to me. And that is that it has a bit of salty ness over it. A sweetened salty ness like what I imagine salt water taffy melting on an open fire place must smell like. Which to me embodies both the warmth from a summer night with the cosy ness of a night by the fire place with the comfort of a child surrounded by love. And still to this day this is the scent that can calm me down the most and at the same time open up my mind and senses the most. I don’t even need to always wear this scent, I also love to just keep the bottle near by and sniff it when I need a boost of calm and relaxation and a moment to dream away... I hope this scent will live on forever and the only thing I don’t like about it is it’s name as the connotation to the Tower of Babel does not really do this scent justice. It is simply too divine to be connected to Babel... To me this is more a whiff of heaven if anything or at least what I hope the shores of heaven will smell like... 😘

This is one of those fragrances that can excite you! At least for me it is. My mom hates it. Lol. That is the interesting thing about fragrance design. It is an art just like writing or food or traditional oil painting. The art of fragrance design is no different. Biblioteca de Babel was a surprise to me personally. For some reason, it has blown me away. I really really really really like this. And before I put it on, I was judging it and thinking I wasn't going to enjoy the old library style. Boy was I wrong! When you actually get a chance to experience the juice for what it is, it's a stunning surprise because it is more than what is expected. There is a similar tonka bean, cinnamon and lavender aromatic sweetness that occurs in Naxos you may be able to pick up on. I say this just so you can imagine the profile while I describe this further. Sweetness is front and center for me. Surrounding is the mahogany and cedar that provides the fragrance the balance necessary in order to make it wearable. All of this without the patchouli that is almost inevitable in most other brands. Thank God Julian still has a brain. Again, I say this in a sarcastic tone because there are many fragrances I would like very much if it were not for the patchouli base note that seems to be like a filler rather than an intentional placement. I digress. Biblioteca is not forced in any shape or manner. It is beautifully simple and elegant. Julian takes his time and it shows. Edit edit edit. There is nothing here that is unnecessary. Most people don't know it is more difficult to create something that has less than something that has more. The less you have, the more that is exposed, whether it is structure, hierarchy or simply your talent on display. I think this is exceptional and I am upset I was not exposed to this sooner. This entire brand in fact. I'm excited to explore further.

Frankly, Biblioteca de Babel is an insane Borges story to base a perfume off of -- perhaps better would be the 'obverse side' of his piece, "Poema", from 1981: You were asleep. I wake you. The vast morning brings the illusion of a beginning. You had forgotten Virgil. Here are the hexameters. I bring you many things. The four Greek elements: earth, fire, water, air. The single name of a woman. The friendship of the moon. The bright colors of the atlas. Forgetting, which purifies. Memory, which chooses and rediscovers. The habits which help us feel we are immortal. The sphere and the hands that measure elusive time. The fragrance of sandalwood. The doubts that we call, not without some vanity, metaphysics. The curve of the walking stick which the hand anticipates. The taste of grapes and honey. I usually go for much more in-your-face scents, so initially I was not very impressed with this perfume. But, like the poetry of Borges -- for a long time considered unemotional, old-fashioned -- there is a world of beauty to be found in slight sensations, in the "habits which help us feel we are immortal". When considered with carefulness this scent is transportive. You are examining a dusty, clothbound book between towering stacks, and in the aisle over, someone passes you wearing sandalwood perfume. You think of the elements and the moon and hexameters and honey. This is a quiet scent that you wear for yourself, but it's somehow so deep, seductive and tender. It touches you like a poem would.

If there is a fragance that explains perfectly what WARM means, is this one. Not too sweet, not vanilla-ish, not overwhelming. Just perfect. I got a sample and i HAD to use a little bit everyday on the back of my hand to take it with me. I just cant stop smelling it, its really addictive. I find it a very masculine scent. A very elegant and classy masculine scent actually. Upon application you get some spicyness, but not pungent. After a few minutes you get a very cozy, warm and slightly sweet gourmand feeling from the cinnamon, yet not edible, just... inviting. The dry down is INCREDIBLE. You get a more smokey and oriental aspect that had been hidding there all the time but you couldnt just recognize it. If ther is one thing in particular I love about this fragance is its development. Unlike many modern perfumes, its not like a linear photography, but more like an evolving, complex movie. To me it brings images of a very old, victorian library, decorated in bordeaux velvet with a warm subtle light. Smelling of antique wooden furniture, old books, some rhum and oriental spices. Definitely my so far favorite scent from this house (I must say i like this house a lot)

This is such a creamy but clean sandalwood-type of woody scent. Its craftsmanship is impeccable. Don’t be confused by the library title, it doesn’t smell like books nor paper, it’s the most perfect sandalwood-type of scent I’ve ever smelt, even better than Profumum Roma’s Santalum. It’s vibrant and lively from the tangy green cedar with the spices (not in a gherkin/pickle way), but it’s also oh so creamy and soothing, thanks to the Cabreuva wood (a South/Central American mahogany). I don’t get cinnamon, as this is in no way sweet nor gourmand. It’s clean, bubbly soapy and soothing, liked creamed mahogany/sandalwood. My best way to describe it: imagine a creamy white, fine French soap smushed into a soft mush and smeared onto a freshly-cut slab of cedar wood - aromatic perfection! The only downside is the longevity, as it doesn’t last for more than around 5 hours - which makes its £300 price range a considerable factor.