Ébène

Disclaimer I was aware when purchasing that this product is somehow imitation of YSL Babycat - respected and beloved, but I have not an opportunity to test Babycat to date. I have, however, compared it with Paris Corner Rifaaqat, that is also considered 'dupe'. The Perfume To simply put it - gorgeous and profound. The impression of an Orthodox church - very accurate. The incense resins and spices are piercing, providing fresh and cold aura above the core woodines and dense, smooth vanilla base. Some time after initial application Ébène becomes a cacophony of incense, wood and spice all sewed together by etheral, vanillic revelation. The base on the other hand provides warmth and cozyness. I believe touch of musk add more humane tone to it. The experience is indeed an impression of entering shrine and being surrounded with gold plated icons and precious woods, yet feeling self-welcomming and confident. I can imagine someone using it daily in the cold mornings during autumn-winter season, but also for the church or even evening date - however not for loud occasions as it is very quiet, somehow introvertic and remaining quite intimate despite wonderful sillage and longevity. Comparison to Paris Corner Rifaaqat Ébène is less leathery and "compressed" in sense of structure. It focuses on etheral incense and resins while staying humane, Rifaaqat seems play with saffron and leather, enhancing maybe 'the volume' and dark tones for evening wear but detaching from the wearer* and becoming syrupy. (*By detaching I mean that some fragrances are The Perfumes and perform somewhat independently from a user, other are more of a 'second skin' - that's how I feel with Ébène, but not Rifaaqat.) Also, I personally find cedar note quite promiment in Rifaaqat, which is lacking in Ébène, where coniferous accord is less obvious. My final impression is that overall if the gourmand aspect of both vanillas are considered, Ébène stays rather sweet while Rifaaqat develops with a hint of salty accord - savory :) Both are quality products and beautiful compositions for heavy vanilla lovers. For my taste Ébène is more suitable and universal in it's heavy parfum character. Presentation Ébène Maison Alhambra is first of all a quality product - the detais of packaging, cristal-clear heavy glass flacon, cap - of superb quality. There is obvious similarity of Babycat presentation. I am a little disturbed by that. Reflection Now I am dying to test YSL Babycat to actually distinguish who is the copycat (of Babycat :) ) and who is just filling the budget market demand for this kind of compositions. Just recently "Arab perfumes" from UAE just flooded the EU market targeting almost all trends in perfumery and catching attention of masses while indirectly devaluating perfume market. I am really curious if this would become a fall of countless designer flankers or premium lines of historically Europe-centric market and rise of new luxury/niche quality while leaving the mass market iterations or... just continuation of decreasing quality. It is becoming sad to me that even most respected brands are now selling flankers of three to even single note. I hope for the increase of quality scenario. Very interesting times to live in, panta rei.

This is not a clone, and is good enough to be it's own fragrance, or a babycat flanker. Catholic guilt post nut clarity. My bottle sat for two years before I opened it. The first ten minutes are an unrefined blast of sweet, dry spice. It is a necessary penance, because what happens next is the reason this fragrance exists. The composition finds its soul. A thick, resinous accord emerges a kind of "bubble-gumcense," both sacred and chewy. The spices are sharp, strongest being clove, and they sit on a bed of dry amber. There is an idea of vanilla here, more a concept than a true gourmand note, and the softest suggestion of suede, or maybe leather? a textural whisper beneath the incense. After an hour, the church becomes humid. The incense blooms, the amber and vanilla intensify, and the entire composition becomes undeniably carnal. A sexy church. Two hours in, a peculiar sadness creeps in. A feeling of regret. It is attractive, but melancholic. For the next several hours, it fluctuates between this sacred carnality and sacred sorrow. The vanilla takes on a boozy, bourbon-like quality. The incense is no longer just rising; it is thick smoke from a spice that is actively burning. It lasts forever on skin. This is not a dupe. It is Babycat's estranged sibling who joined a monastery, broke their vows, and is now trying to reconcile the two. A beautiful, confusing, and utterly compelling mess. I really adore this one.

I LOVE babycat but it's always sold out and pretty expensive. So I went to an arabic perfume store and tried both rifaaqat and Ebene. I have to say that I was so much more impressed by Ebene. It has that sweet smoothness that I loved from babycat. Whereas rifaaqat was more masculine leaning. Ebene is a beast mode fragrance and lasts amazing!!! I potentially think some of these reviewers may have accidentally bought a dupe of a dupe because I cannot fathom this being experiences as short lasting- both clothes and skin

Beautiful, elegant incense fragrance with a subtle touch of sweetness. I discovered it by chance in a shop and found myself returning to it again and again, so I bought it. To me, it is a truly refined unisex perfume. It carries a distinct church-like aura, yet the vanilla introduces a playful twist. The incense feels warm rather than austere, softened by amber. To my nose, it is a soft fragrance, never overpowering or cloying. The sillage is moderate, as is the longevity. I genuinely love it.

Just bought the ebene this was prolly my riskiest blind buy yet the best, I didn't watch any review before buying it just had a babycat decant compared, 1-1. It has the main notes thats what all I can gurantee, its a nuclear never dies, personally I would say lean more masculine. Here is a controversial opinion every beginner frangrance fanatics will start off with Lattafa Khamrah as their vanilla fragrance but I would prefer ebene as better vanilla dupe. Sorry if I've offende anyone.

This fragrance is literally terrible upon first smell... so why do I love it so much?! It's off-putting, my gf hates it, and it's like nothing else that I own. And yet, I'll apply it and smell my arm a hundred times... especially after the first 30 minutes have passed. Why fight it, it's a wonderfully intriguing scent. I'm thinking about getting Fierte next, and if I love that one just as much, maybe I'll try to pick up the real thing.

I’ve smelt and owned babycat before but eventually returned it because I didn’t like the price I paid for the scent but this fragrance smells nearly identical to babycat and is a fraction of the price. The longevity on it to me is great, I sprayed it on clothes and skin yesterday and I can still smell it on me into the next day. For the amazing price and scent DNA I give this fragrance a solid 8.5/10

I blind bought this because babycat is one of my all time favorite scents. I also have Rifaaqat, Fierte, Nayel Queen and then this. It’s amazing. Gorgeous inspiration in my opinion. Great value for the price. And it smells really similar at about 95%. Longevity and projection are great. I will come back to edit if anything changes. Instagram: @umma_tofa13

Intoxicating. I have never smelled the OG, i don’t wear a lot of unisex fragrances but this one could be worn by both male and female and be equally sexy. I love it! it was a blind buy because it seemed like something I would like. i would rate this 10/10 for wearability, longevity and presentation. Very happy with this purchase.

Have had this for a few months; opens spicy, woody, and vaguely sparkling, retains its woody spiciness as a creamy vanilla emerges during the drydown and stays. Perfect for cool/cold weather, lasts all day. A great dupe of Babycat and its dupe Rifaaqat by Paris Corner.

This literally smells like throwing vanilla and watching it burn on a campfire. Its a godly incense vanilla for me. I dont care about the notes, its literally a smoke bomb with vanilla.

Another in keeping with Rifaaquat and Nayal Queen. Out of the box, not terribly strong but a bit of shelf time will likely improve that. Will update. Nice packaging

I’m updating my review on my decant of Ebene. It’s been sitting for two months now, though I’m not sure if it was taken from a brand-new bottle. I’ve noticed that Ebene has improved in longevity and now reaches the vanilla dry-down, which it previously didn’t. However, in terms of overall performance, it’s still weaker compared to Fierte, Nayel Queen, and, of course, the original Babycat. One interesting observation is how these fragrances perform differently depending on the temperature. I believe Ebene works best at 5°C and above. In sub-zero temperatures, even with multiple sprays and direct skin application, it struggled to cut through the cold. I still have not tested this in warmer weather _over 10 degrees Celsius _ and I think other reviewers different performance experience might be possibly because of that. Hope this helps anyone considering this scent!

I've had a decant of this for a month. It's a dupe for baby cat and mimics the spicy essence of babycat pretty well. The vanilla dry down is weaker in comparison to the original and the main problem with Ebene, is the very weak sillage and short longevity. It projects arms length for 30 minutes, lasts 2 hours and the latest stage on the skin smells very incency and smoky and not good. So far I like Fierte by fragrance world much better as a dupe. The performance is great and it's a tad bit more vanillic in comparison to the original. Unfortunately I can't get a sample of Rifaaqat and I don't know wether I should get it as well or not. I've been waiting for the last 5 mls of Ebene to maybe macerate and get better. If you have a different experience with Ebene's performance please let us know.

Pretty decent clone. First 5 minutes it smells a little synthetic and harsh. After that it calms down and becomes pretty similar, I would say it’s a saltier or maybe less smooth compared to BabyCat. And for some reason I feel this one is less unisex and more masculin. It’s quality and performance certainly lower than the BabyCat, it’s not a game changer, but it’s noticeable. Price- value wise, good, you get a decent perfume, smells generally similar for low price. I got it for around 30 dollars. If you like the BabyCat DNA you would find this one appealing. 7/10 don’t blind buy!

Everyone is talking about Rifaqaat but I bought Ebene I’m happy with my purchase it was around £17. Ordered 2ml babycat and side by side they are 90-95% similar for me. Asked my female friend to find differences she said they smell the same but she doesn’t like both of them :)) I also have 10ml Arabiyat prestige Nayel Queen. Smell wise babaycat and Ebene are stronger than Nayel Queen. NQ is lighter on my skin. On my skin 8 hours on clothes ebene last days.

This perfume is a definite yes. Be aware, it doesn’t project like a monster and longevity is quite decent but closer to skin. Still, a beautiful fragrance. You can pick the smokiness, woods, resins on top while they slowly get trapped in a smooth swirl of amber and vanilla, just sweet enough to counteract the dryness of the woods and resins. It all blends beautifully creating s warm, sensual and creamy base, extremely attractive. Worth to try.

i haven’t smelt babycat so can’t compare, but this is a super smoky dark vanilla. very sensual, and i find that the smell became richer and more intense when i stepped outside into the cold. the longer it sits on the skin, the nicer it gets. slight alcohol smell at first (only tiny) but disappeared quickly !! layers beautifully with by the fireplace from margiela

@obokombo Thanks for sharing your experience. I like the mentioned reviewer as well but I think he likes Ebene because of the emphasized spices. I've been testing Babycat, Ebene, Fierte and Nayel queen side by side and Ebene is the weakest and also the most different from the original. Then again, we all have different olfactory experiences.

Restrained sensuality. Lots of resins that fall under the smooth velvety spell of the vanilla, amber and benzoin. The Guaiac Wood is barely noticeable. A good perfume if you are looking for a tamed vanilla fragrance. Unisex.