OJT

Note // For comparisons sake I’ve got YSL Babycat (black label) on one hand and Tomcat on the other.

Opening // Babycat has a very accessible sweetness, that wonderful bourbon vanilla I love so much is present right from the first spray. Tomcat on the other hand has very aggressive peppers that are putting up a fight, it’s not giving up the vanilla easily. For that reason I prefer Babycat’s opening, it’s straight to the point.

Dry-down // Tomcat’s stubborn peppers keep holding on but have eased off a bit from the opening and now the incense/vanilla take centre stage, it’s darker, more wearable, and deeply enjoyable. Babycat on the other hand is fully out of the spicy realms, it’s moved into the suede, and the vanilla has turned almost candied, becoming near sickly to my nose (at least compared to Tomcat). Tomcat is doing well now.

Performance // Tomcat truly shines here, it’s easily the strongest and longest lasting of the two. And on fabric…WOW! Tomcat works so much better on fabric than on my skin, the wall of pepper in the opening which hides the vanilla actually plays to Tomcat’s advantage on fabrics and in the air. Tomcat remains noticeable for a few hours after Babycat has faded.

I think I’ll spray Tomcat on my clothes from now on for the best experience.

TLDR; This smells suspiciously similar to Turathi (Blue) , it looses the sparkle the OG "Le Gemme - Tygar (Eau de Parfum) | Bvlgari" had and traded it in for some extra spice/patchouli...disappointing, like a flat drink.

It opens with that trademark Grapefruit we all know and love, along with a spicy kick (that is a bit sweeter than I expected) followed right on time by the amber backbone...but hold on, something is missing in this opening...there's no sparkle!!?! ██THIS IS TREASON██

I understand this is flanking Tygar, but it messed up by choosing to mute the OG's best aspect, the sparkle factor! I could forgive it if Tygar Extrait was meant to be a darker fragrance built for winter, but it just isn't, Extrait is still trying to be a freshie. It just feels...confused.

In the drydown Extrait turns up the sweetness and throws in a balsamic twist, I picture this is because of the ginger and peru balsam (+ maybe a touch of patchouli) playing a bigger role here. These notes last for a long time, so Extrait's one saving grace is has good performance. But I personally don't enjoy this kind of drydown, I much prefer the sharpness of the original's clean ambergris.

Extrait looses the sparkle of the OG's opening and the focus of the OG's drydown. It smells suspiciously similar to Turathi Blue, and Turthai Blue NOT a good clone of Tygar. Bvlgari is cloning the clone >>> Clone²

The OG "Le Gemme - Tygar (Eau de Parfum) | Bvlgari" wins, easily.

It's a pumpkin spice candle with light frankincense

I don't really want to smell like a candle, however nice it is.

The silage on this is fantastic though, I got told I smell like a candle from over the counter by a barista in the height of Autumn, when pumpkin and spiced drinks are everywhere, so this is distinctive enough to get noticed and cuts through thick air.

The dry down is the most pleasant part, it has the comforting effect a warm vanilla has...but without the vanilla, witchcraft!

A POTENT exhibition of vanilla. It starts off with a distinct alcohol, not the kind that you smell from a perfume that hasn't macerated properly, it's the 35% ethanol / 65% water solution vanilla pods are soaked in to produce vanilla extract. I have to admit, this is the first time I've smelt a fragrance so focused on vanilla that it takes you through its full industrial lifetime (i.e: Top > Soaked Vanilla Pods on the farm / Mid > Warm Vanilla Extract in a kitchen / Base > Almond Cookies in your hands).

This has an almost identical note list to Tom Ford's Vanilla Sex, but doesn't smell like it at all. This smells more like PdM Althaïr, but without the Play-doh drydown that Althaïr and other vanilla overdosed fragrances fall victim too. Luckily, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

If you like Althaïr's opening but not its dry down, this is it. A linear vanilla...delicious, more-ish, un-unique (for a good reason, people love vanilla and its everywhere).

The good: This perfume's focus on vanilla is pleasant, sensibly dosed and avoids the common play-doh smell too much vanilla can give. Its got the softness of a skin scent even though this manages to (modestly) project. It's yummy, feminine and confident.

The bad: When this dries on skin it smells like urine ( •_• ) ... I suspect the culprit is the Jasmin or a dirty musk. Yeah its sexy in the way that body fluids make you think of intimacy (lets not kink shame) but on the other hand, smelling like urine is very...uh personal? which I why called it confident.

My advice, spray this on clothes instead of skin.