Yves Saint Laurent
Babycat
2022
PERFUMER
Dominique Ropion
elemi
black pepper
pink pepper
frankincense
frankincense resin
saffron
vanilla
cedarwood
suede
I finally had a chance to sample Babycat, arguably one of the most popular YSL Le Vestiaire releases since Tuxedo. While I did enjoy it, the hype for this one feels uncalled for (and probably fueled in part by seemingly untrue discontinuation rumors).
That’s to say, this is a nice, dry, incense-vanilla with a sprinkle of leather in the base that I’d gladly wear, but it’s nothing I haven’t smelled yet or would rave about. The incense-vanilla with possible a plasticy saffron give this what I often refer to as a ‘band-aid’ or ‘rubber band’ vanilla. Dry, slightly bitter, peppery, definitely a bit smoky. I recently smelled this essence for example in Pierre Guillaume 19 Louanges Profanes, which is more floral, more complex and a more interesting fragrance that gives off similar vibes. Even the opening of Anomalia labdanum, which I happened to wear the day prior to Babycat shares some similarities and there’s a lot of fragrances that have this very distinct band-aid and cardboard-esque incense vanilla to me.
Babycat is quite tame. Leaning heavier on the incense perhaps than on actual smokiness. On plasticy saffron more than full-on suede or leather. Still, the scent profile can be a bit astringent and pungent when smelled up close.
The most compared fragrance is Rosendo Mateu No. 05 and I can see the comparison, but based off memory alone, I feel that Babycat is a more generic vanilla fragrance (albeit one that I personally prefer over the Rosendo).
It’s nice. I strongly disagree with people calling this creamy, milky, smooth, cozy and things like that however. It’s dry to me and the vanilla scent itself didn’t wow me. Still, Babycat is one of the better spicy and incense like vanillas, but this style has a tinge that I never full love. Turning into a rather common vanilla as it dries, more generic than many of the fragrances it gets compared to.
I agree with Fragrantica’s voting that it’s closer to something akin to Laboratorio Olfattivo Vanagloria, which is done by Dominique Ropion just like Babycat. And so is Amouage Vanilla Barka attar, which all fall into the same vanilla category, but that’s even safer and less interesting (albeit it of a higher quality) in my opinion.
Sidenote: A lot of people have also compared this to the ever-popular Atelier des Ors Lune Feline. They’re in the same ballpark, but if it wasn’t already in my mind, it wouldn’t be the fragrance that came to mind for me for a comparison. Lune Feline being a darker, smokier scent with much more of a charred quality and less of an incense core.
As you can probably gather, I wasn’t overly impressed. I definitely enjoyed the wear, maybe more than the review let on and I’ll give it another wear to confirm my thoughts soon. However, with big hype, comes big expectations and I haven’t been able to justify it for Babycat yet.