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serpu4uk – :
Loved it. Got teak and mahogany and all sorts of fine old hardwoods, bit of dust and polish, slight shimmer of sweet beeswax and some musty spice, all in the most delicious and discreet way possible. Just smells of pure class and lasts like a champ. Sillage discreet. Organic and natural and doesn’t clash or go bitter on my (female) skin. Really very special indeed. Oh Fueguia 1833 – where have you been all my life, why don’t you sell in the UK, and why can’t I afford all your scents? This slays me.
mixutych – :
I was looking for a Eau De Parfum that encapsulates one of my favorite Head and the Heart Song:
I’m drawn to that sorta library magic
Whisperin’ through the dusty aisles
Watchin’ all the thinkers read
Tryin’ to keep a grown mans quiet’s like
Pulling teeth on a winter’s eve
Cracks and pulls and unfamiliar roads…
This scent captures the smell of an old dusty library with crumbling leather bound books so well. The only issue I have with it is that the one sour note in the perfume that I think aspires to be ink, smells more like weevils. I like it a lot but not necessarily as a wearable perfume. It is very dry and I do not get any of the cinnamon note.
fefilov-alex – :
The description above says it contains notes of cassis, ylang-ylang and patchouli, so why aren’t these picture notes included?
Тагирушка – :
The first time I tried this scent I thought (as it has already been written by someone before) it did not smell like old libraries at all, that it smelled more like a dark-brown dessert and that it was too sweet for my taste.
Months later I started reading Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum, a first edition from 1988 that was gifted to my mom by my dad and has been in our home library since. I immediately thought this book smelled so good – and usually I think old books just smell dusty – but this particular one was addictive.
Then I randomly tried Biblioteca de Babel one day and BOOM! it smelled exactly like my Eco’s book. It also quite reflects the atmoshphere of the book’s plot: old castles with heavy velvet curtains, medieval knights, rooms stuffed with heavy furniture.
It is now a sweet smell I like to wear during Winter and that evokes good, though quite weird, memories.
pukhovaw29 – :
After finishing first sample of this, I’m still confused how I feel about it.
It opens soft, very soft, so when I wear it first time I ODd it. Smell very nice, like freshly washed clothes on cider hangers. Within few minutes, however, it turns very potent with heavy projection and sillage. After half an hour cinnamon undertones start arriving, and it turns smelling like wooden table in pastry shop that was just swiped with dirty wet rug. Can’t say it too unpleasant, but definitely not great. In 2 hours it morphs into very pleasant scent, but projection and sillage become nowhere close to how they were on previous stage, and gradually it becomes great and truly unique skin scent.
At this point I cannot even make my mind if I want to buy second tester. Probably will wait until winter in hope it will performs better, as I attempted to try it in Spring.
Okuw – :
The notes made me order a sample of this it sounded so wonderful. It just has a vibe I don’t care for. Almost gourmand but not really. I feel like it’s a non sweet cinnamon powder poured on a raw fresh cut piece of dry wood. It’s got a super super dry feeling to it. I’ve tried wearing it a couple of times now but I just can’t do it. I’m sure the house has some other gems but I will not be buying this one
ura-tokarenko – :
Up until now I didn’t think I enjoyed “gourmands.” I tested my sister’s CK Euphoria earlier today and was so nauseated by the vanilla (still looking for a vanilla that I like). That being said, this is woody-gourmand– very gingerbread or spice cake as others have said, but it is absolutely intoxicating and I LOVE it. My eyes roll back into my head when I sniff this. One of the wood notes, I think it’s the mahogany, when blended with the cinnamon almost turns into an incense that wafts right up towards pineal gland. There is a mustiness too it too that is so hypnotic. My first words were “wow! this smells like history!” Even so, will I wear this? Probably not, As enchanting and timeless as this scent/concept is, I’m not sure it is for me. I could see this on a very intellectual man– a visiting professor from an exotic, faraway land. Bravo Fueguia 1833!
kuryn – :
My friend recently brought over some palo santo. Having a cinnamon broom in my home right now and burning the palo santo together instantly reminded me of this fragrance.
I’d say it’s much more mature than I originally reviewed months back, however I’d still say that the fragrance isn’t something I’d wear, rather it’s a nice, relaxing, atmospheric piece.
eer733Unlogrere – :
Amazing projection and longevity! I fell in love with this after just one sniffing. It’s a fairly linear scent that doesn’t develop much on the skin. What you smell is what you get. But that in itself is plenty! Slightly sweet but mostly dry smell like dry fragrant grass, old yellowed newspapers, a hint of coffee and pepper and freshly sanded wood furniture. Ahhhh…
I like how Danceforjoy described it creating an atmosphere, I think it’s a great way to describe this perfume. It doesn’t feel like something you would like to wear as a personal perfume but it’s wonderful to step into this scent and it makes you want to linger a while and hope it catches in your clothing and so you end up wearing it anyway.
bkmbx – :
Very gourmand, it smells like some sort of spiced cake sitting on an old library table rather than the books themselves. Interesting, but not for me.
megaline5555 – :
No old books here. Smells like woody gourmand. Not too sweet cinnamon and vanilla mixed with warm, soft mahogany and cedar.
Not too extraordinary, just nice.
managerx – :
Update:
As I said below, this is no library nor is it an antique shop..
This fragrance is however a wood-filled bakery making gingerbread.. I picture something Germanic which is odd considering the ingredients, something blonde and red in the face from too much gingerbread. I also detest most things “Germanic.”
Two accords: Wood and gingerbread when applied liberally.
It’s “well done” but nothing to write home about. Again, I still see a honeyed effect going on here that resembles Mechant Loup but that was only after applying a tiny amount. If you go generous with the nozzle or splash you’ll find that it’s more gingerbread and wood.
kniazone – :
My grandmother owned an antique store for over 40 years and had a personal study filled with old books…
This is not a library. The smell does not represent one.
This is mechant Loup almost to a fault. I enjoy this more yet enjoy neither. It’s honey and maybe even hazelnut.
skempil – :
Contrary to what some reviews have said, I don’t think this smells remotely like old books or antique furniture.
To me, “Biblioteca de Babel” smells like a thick, spicy slab of gingerbread, the hard kind that nearly snaps your teeth when you bite it. The sweetness is that of toasted brown sugar, with a dark, peppery cedar accord that gradually becomes more pronounced as the initial burst of cinnamon wears down.
I keep getting reminded of the warm, yummy gingerbread tones in “Like This” by Etat Libre d’Orange. However “Biblioteca” is far less nuanced than “Like This” and doesn’t develop past it’s opening, remaining fairly one note throughout.
So even though this is very wearable and unisex, it just doesn’t feel complete and isn’t worth the price.
Рыжуля – :
This is coming from someone who usually avoids woody scents. I don’t actually think it smells altogether like old books. I do think it is gender neutral. It is not at all perfume-y, but rather establishes an atmosphere. I am glad that the mahogany is predominant rather than the cedar. This perfume is very dry. At the outset this scent is almost like wooden planks.
The cinnamon is most assuredly the base note, intensifying over the hours. There is a hint of sweetness here, but it really is just the faintest hint.
Biblioteca de Babel threatens to be harsh at the outset, but quickly withdraws to a more gentle, yet quirky, spicy skin scent.
Definitely worth trying for anyone curious about stepping beyond the mainstream.
sever57777 – :
If there is a fragance that explains perfectly what WARM means, is this one. Not too sweet, not vanilla-ish, not overwhelming. Just perfect.
I got a sample and i HAD to use a little bit everyday on the back of my hand to take it with me. I just cant stop smelling it, its really addictive.
I find it a very masculine scent. A very elegant and classy masculine scent actually.
Upon application you get some spicyness, but not pungent. After a few minutes you get a very cozy, warm and slightly sweet gourmand feeling from the cinnamon, yet not edible, just… inviting.
The dry down is INCREDIBLE. You get a more smokey and oriental aspect that had been hidding there all the time but you couldnt just recognize it. If ther is one thing in particular I love about this fragance is its development. Unlike many modern perfumes, its not like a linear photography, but more like an evolving, complex movie.
To me it brings images of a very old, victorian library, decorated in bordeaux velvet with a warm subtle light. Smelling of antique wooden furniture, old books, some rhum and oriental spices.
Definitely my so far favorite scent from this house (I must say i like this house a lot)
kisa62 – :
This is great and very high quality – smoky, woody but also thick, sweet and kind of powdery/dusty and ashy. Great longevity and sillage. Original as well but frankly I do not get the reference to the library and old books, however, it makes me calm, peaceful, relaxed. This is really a great scent. Beautiful. I thought I would not buy the following bottle after finishing the first one last winter. But I guess this is a must, I miss this frag in my wardrobe.
rebrik0w – :
I have a couple of descriptions for this: Construction paper drenched in milk and/or a brand new dresser with cedar lining. At times, this smells slightly smokey, slightly java, and a tad bit powdery. This is one of the best fragrances that you will not be able to fully enjoy. Biblioteca is a “nothing burger” in the longevity department. Clocking in at 90 minutes is enough to piss anyone off for sure(especially when something smells as great as this). Is it worth a buy? Not sure. This is at least worth a blind sample. Try it and let the Babel begin….
m_veliev – :
Spicy opening (I got more pepper than cinnamon, but almost like the smell of fresh table saw-cut wood – smokey, metallic, woody).
Oh, and then the scent of wood. Warm, antique varnish, with a subtext of leather.
It manages to maintain it’s warmth without slipping into sweet territory.
Scent harmonics. One note soars, combines with another note, retreats, followed by another. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Ever-changing. Lovely.
vikar24 – :
Biblioteca de Babel (Borjes Collection): Oddly enough, this one went very gourmand on me, perhaps because of creamy wood (cabreuva) and the tamer baking-style side of cinnamon. There is just enough aromatic cedar to keep the cabreuva from vanilla-izing this into shortbread batter, so I don’t understand the “library” reference (*biblioteca*) at all. Lots of sillage and longevity though. Just not to my taste.
bygaga123 – :
This is soooo innovative and weird in a good way… The name suits it fine, as it is redolent of a musty old library and yellowish pages… LOvely if you like the smell of old books, though I don’t think it is for everbody…