Armani Privé Vétiver Babylone (2008)
by Giorgio Armani

A vetiver from the prive collection of Armani will surely get the fragrance world buzzing with anticipation and speculation on the new product. I am afaid the hoardes will be equally surprised and puzzled at the first impressions of this elusive Vetiver. It seems like the sum of the parts does not equal the whole with this one.
One would expect such an array of noteworthy ingredients to create a hit in the hands of a deft permumer such as Morillas. The magic is there no doubt about t, but in a way you would hardly ever expected. Ironically, it is like convention has been altered so skillfully to eventually create something more special than you could ever have imagined.
I find this a fragrance that has so many strong aspects to is personality that belies its light and elegant facade. The vetiver is really only detectable in the lovely smooth drydown. Before that there is a engaging and enticing brew of citrus and spice to keep you attentive to what comes next. Next a hint of some pepper with some patchouli ever so lightly and only after sniffing your wrist to get some.
The drydown is superb. Both creamy and crisp with the vetiver finally peeking out and winking at you. As if to say I was worth waiting for wern't I. Longevity is excellent , sillage is impressive . All in all a great personal scent that will be fbw for years to come. If only they could have gone a little more basic in getting more vetiver in the middle with the pepper , then we are talking a true great.

28th September, 2011. (Last Edited: 29th September, 2011.)

A sutble creamy vetiver accord surrounded by green notes and a crispy citrus that's quite pleasant but far from being unique and justifying the otrageous price tag. At this prices I expect excellence, sorry.

20th June, 2011. (Last Edited: 4th August, 2011.)

The begining stages of the Babylone brings me back to shopping in the Mall. Walking into a hip store, with the music blasting (ala A&F Fierce), but it smells nothing like Fierce. I get this new clothes / clothes store smell from Babylone that is intriguing...

I'm really enjoying this because of the memories it conjures up. Some say new car smell, some say new clothes... either way, it reminds them of something brand spankin new. For me its clothes... the excitment of going on a new clothes 'kick', walking into a 'too cool for school' designer clothes store ready to spend freely and the inital burst of smell you get as you walk in.

Somewhat invigorating, and exciting. The possibility of finding that perfect outfit... projecting an image of yourself that you quite haven't found yet because you just walked into the store and didn't scurry through all the clothes just yet. But your excited, and you smell 'excitment'. Thats what I love about Babylone. And I'm sure others will get that 'this smells familiar, new car/new clothes' smell that can't help but be exciting.

5th August, 2010.

Creamy lemon over a thick and clean musk that can only be described as a green version of Bulgari pour Homme. I was actually surprised to find out this was created by Alberto Morillas and not Jacques Cavallier (the creator of Bulgari PH). Overall, Vetiver Babylone smells somewhat the way new clothes at the Gap smell, with a little bit of new car smell too, all wrapped up into a creamy, lemony fragrance with a huge dollop of clean musks and the tiniest dash of vetiver (it's barely even noticeable). The best parts are the fresh lemon opening and the musky green heart, while the drydown is a tad too sharp and synthetic while still maintaining it's creamy texture.

I can't help but agree with those who say this scent is underrated, but it's still not a masterpiece in my books. Vetiver Babylone just smells a little too generic and typical for something with a 125$ price tag. Either way, I do like it very, very much, I just won't be purchasing a bottle.

8.75/10

3rd September, 2009.

Fresh and light lemony vetiver. In fact, I don't think there is much vetiver in this but it's still has that "green" quality that a vetiver scent has especially towards the drydown. But this is where something else overtakes the vetiver. The name might be deceiving for those looking for a hard-edged vetiver scent but this is a nice, rounded lemon and green scent. My guess is that Armani wanted this "Prive" because the mainstream market probably couldn't handle something a little different on the deptartment store shelves. Too bad for the public.

30th May, 2009.

This has a perky, green, and crisp opening. It is lemony-fresh, and quite nice. Then, I get an odd and quite distinct note that seems like rancid butter! I don’t know what that is, perhaps it is the particular treatment of the vetiver. The scent is fairly attractive once the butter note burns off – it remains lemony for a good long time. My reservation is that for a scent called Vetiver, it doesn’t have much of that, especially in the nice cushiony smooth style I like. More could be done with the mid-note spices, they are very faint. So I’m neutral on it.

10th November, 2008.