Babylon by Penhaligon's

Photosource: Penhaligon's

The beautiful Trade Routes range from Penhaligon's came to my attention when I was visiting a friend in Warsaw.
I went on a short trip, because a whole year without seeing that beautiful city and my dear friends is unthinkable.

I went to Galilu, a perfumery, where the Trade Routes range caught my eye immediately and so did Babylon.

As if destiny, both the bottle and the scent where the most mesmerising of them all.

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Babylon is a gorgeous gourmand, crisp in its opening notes, but also deliciously sweet. It has a notable resemblance to Santal Carmin by Atelier Cologne, because of the prominent notes of sandalwood and saffron.

On paper, Babylon remains more fresh and crisp, whereas the fragrance quickly deepens on my skin and becomes more of a spicy gourmand rich with vanilla.

Babylon is what I wished Santal Carmin to be. Santal Carmin is a quite monotone and singular smelling fragrance of sandalwood and saffron, easily becoming nauseating. Babylon, on the other hand, remains a spicy, exotic and gorgeous vanilla with complementing notes of sandalwood and saffron in perfect balance.

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When I first tried Babylon back in Warsaw, I was wearing a perfume (of course) and only tried it on a paper strip. I carried that strip in my purse all week and it kept smelling wonderfully, so much so that I was confident I had to have this fragrance at some point. 

Trying the fragrance on my skin has made me doubt whether the formulation is for me. Twelve hours after spraying both myself and a paper strip, the strip still smells just as great as it did this morning, whereas Babylon is nowhere to be found on my skin after just two hours.

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The same evening, I sprayed my wrists once again and the opening note of Babylon is surprisingly that of citrus even though it does not appear to be in the composition. Cedar and cypriol oil give the fragrance a fresh and uplifting note without making the fragrance too green or woody. Vanilla, sandalwood and saffron are what define Babylon and make it an oriental, sensual and exotic fragrance.

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I had to wear Babylon once again before writing my final review, I just could not accept that it performed so poorly on me.

I doused myself in Babylon the next morning, two sprays on the wrists, two on my décolletage. It might not sound like a lot, but on me that's enough compared with the performance of my other fragrances.

This time Babylon remained more noticeable on my skin, but unfortunately not enough. Three or four hours in it was only detectable on my wrists at very close range. What a pity!