Babylon

Oh yeah, I really like this stuff. I thought I would from the time I first read, probably here, that it was going to come out and I read the list of the notes. So I've been sitting like a buzzard on a branch waiting for its arrival. Alas, it arrived in the UK at least a year ago, but no one was selling decants then and I wasn't going to drop $258 plus whatever god-awful shipping rates they're charging for UK-US packages right now on juice I haven't smelled. So it's been online at full retail in the US maybe a 3 weeks and several eBay sellers are offering samples and decants. All hail them! Babylon is everything you're hoping. I'm an easy mark for anything bearing nutmeg, and it comes on strong right away. It's definitely a Middle Eastern woodsy scent, but not bombastic. Acceptable....well maybe at the outer reaches of acceptable; rosequeen has a notorious range of what passes for acceptable. But I don't think you'll be shunned if you wear this in a public place among strangers. I'm headed to the grocery store at high noon in a few minutes, so I'll be testing this theory. It's warm and spicy but not overwhelming. Distinct from Penhaligon's other Trade Routes scents too. Nowhere near as sharp as original Halfeti or As Sawria (love that one, but it does reek). Most people will consider this a fall and winter scent, so it's unfortunate that it's arriving in the US in April. Of course because of Covid a lot of people may not feel safe heading to the department stores until fall anyway. And since all the big ones in the US anyway that will carry Penhaligon are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, if they don't reorganize their debt they may not be open by September. (And won't we be in trouble, those of us who test perfumes in department stores by spraying fast and running away quickly). Ugh, but I think Babylon will still be wearable on a warm day up to maybe 80 degrees. But I have a notorious wide range on what to wear on a hot day too, so maybe not. Babylon died down at about 3 hours last night, but I could still smell it at about 7 hours. So it's not one of those expensive scents that only lasts 90 minutes. Don't be concerned about that. Not a blind buy, but if you've sprung for a big decant and are now enthralled, you'll maybe wish you'd just blown it on the full bottle (until you remember how often you've done that and been disappointed and kicking yourself).

I have heard Demi Rawling recently talking highly of how great Babylon smells. Her description seems exactly what I am into momentarily, so I had to go and try Babylon. As usual, she’s right, this is a sophisticated vanilla gourmand scent. Babylon is such an intoxicating warm, spicy, aromatic intense vanilla. I realised last fall that I really adore the following combination of notes in fragrances: lots of sweet, creamy vanilla, sprinkled with nutmeg, cardamom or cinnamon and spiced up with coriander or pink pepper! This combo has conquered my heart and all I want to smell is this! This is that combo with added Cyprol oil, saffron and two types of smooth woods: cedar and sandalwood. It’s perfection in the bottle and it’s performing beautifully. Which is fantastic since it’s going past 200 euros per bottle. I am not completely sold on Babylon yet because last fall I fell in love and bought a big bottle of Carlisle. At first sniff they don’t seem to be very alike, until you get to the dry down. But trust me, I have tested Babylon today both on skin and on blotter and I have sprayed from my Carlisle bottle on the other hand. In the deep dry down, after about the five hour mark, these two beauties are 80%similar, with Babylon smelling more feminine since it doesn’t have patchouli or davana. Carlisle smells a bit more aromatic, fresh spicy, a bit fruity. Babylon more like a smooth creamy, spicy vanilla! Both smell delicious, luxurious and expensive. I prefer Babylon’s bottle better, since it’s more feminine and pretty looking. I think Carlisle is technically a masculine scent, but it’s freaking fantastic smelling!! I see this compared heavily with Bouquet Ideale from Xerjoff, another scent I own, but not worn in a while. I have to grab my Xerjoff bottle to sniff these two side by side. If these two prove to be very similar like with Carlisle, I might not need to buy a third bottle of the same exact same juice. I should be rational enough not to do so...

Three months later I'm finally done trying my Trade Routes discovery set (I don't know why it took so long) Babylon is a gorgeous and extremely smooth woody-vanilla fragrance with just the right amount of spices. The spice that stands out to me the most is saffron, a touch of it over a base of vanilla and creamy sandalwood that's not even the slightest bit pickle-y. As the fragrance dries down the spice disappears and leaves only a powdery vanilla and sandalwood skin scent, somewhat similar (to my nose) to Clive Christian's Amberwood's dry down and Prada's Luna Rossa Black, but a million times better. Excluding Empressa, Babylon does vaguely remind me of the rest of the Trade Routes collection, but I'd say this is the safest and most mass appealing of them all. Unlike what the votes say, I think this could work year round, obviously going lighter on the sprays during the warmer months. It's also a perfectly unisex scent in my opinion. It really bothers me that Penhaligon's doesn't offer 30 ml bottles for many of the Trade Routes fragrances, I'd love to own a smaller bottle of a lot of these but as of right now they only have Halfeti and Cairo. I'm really interested in trying out AlUla now, as it's the only fragrance from the collection I have yet to sample and its notes sound really interesting. Performance is really good, as is the case with the rest of the collection. No issues with my sample's atomizer this time, so I could get the full performance out of Babylon. Moderate projection but really strong sillage that you'll smell for hours. Even now, about 8 hours later, I can still catch whiffs of this while moving around. Longevity could probably stretch to the 12 hour mark with ease.

Such a beautiful fragrance. This is a woody, clean and slightly spicy, slightly herbaceous vanilla fragrance. It's not syrupy sweet, but rather on the dry side, which I like. Although I believe it leans a bit feminine, a man could pull this off I think. I would say of all the vanilla fragrances I've smelled this year, this one has to be the best so far. It is rich, opulent, while at the same time being very relaxed, cozy and comforting. You could wear this for yourself at home just for some self-care, or you could dress this up and go out to an event. It's very versatile, but more suited to colder weather. Like all Penhaligon's fragrances, the presentation is beautiful and there's a nice story behind the fragrance. I really enjoy this house and look forward to acquiring more fbs from them. This frag is AMAZING when layered with Diptyque's Tam Dao. Since both have sandalwood in the base, they blend very beautifully. The Tam Dao gives it that really solid creamy sandalwood base that is dry and a bit vegetal, while the Babylon on top lends its beautiful vanilla note with the spicy and woody undertones. Really a premium combo if you have both frags. They combine to form an accord that is unisex, very sexy and appealing, radiant, while comforting and refined at the same time. Highly recommend you try this combo. 10/10 Snifftacular! I'm now looking for a full bottle the next time I'm at the discounters.

A simple but sophisticated perfume, not necessarily unique but absolutely warm and beautiful. Vanilla is no doubt the main character here, but it does not make the perfume overly sweet and turn it into a gourmand perfume. You can already get the sweet and delicious vanilla in the opening, well mixed with nutmeg and saffron. It is sweet, spicy and slightly boozy. Normally I find nutmeg gives this kind of dry and dusty spiciness, but here in the opening I don't get the dryness; instead, it is mainly warm spicy. Saffron adds warmth too, but also brings this leathery scent. Both the leathery and spicy notes well balance the sweetness. At this stage I would simply describe it as a warm spicy leather vanilla perfume. Then it gets more and more woody and earthy on my skin, while the sweetness remains. I also find the leathery scent gets stronger and stronger. To me it is leaning more and more towards the masculine side. At certain point it gives me this vintage wooden furniture vibe. The drydown is simply beautiful and delicious. I would call it sweet leather with milky sandalwood in the background. It is warm but no heavy, which makes it a perfect choice for cold weather. The performance is also great. It lasts easily on my skin for the whole day.