Barbara Bui
Barbara Bui (2004)

The warm ambery incense with the woodsy cedary undertone define the core character of this creation.

This develops in quite a gourmand-style fragrance. Down the track a soft white musk is added, and from then on the character changes very little, until it peters out gradually towards the end.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and five hours of longevity on my skin.

A soft, warm and comforting wintery scent, which is very pleasing but a touch overly synthetic. Additionally, it is a bit too generic and predictable. Not bad, though. 2.75/5.

This may be a well-made, versatile fragrance. But it turned on my skin and became unwearable because of an unpleasant synthetic vibe. Not quite department store hairspray, yet one that is still familiar to me, which emerges on certain higher end fragrances, so they become overlaid by the ambiance of a chemical cloud. Notes of the original fragrance come in and out of this cloud, and is attractive, but it's not the thing I am looking for from my fragrance.

At first spray, it'll likely come off as watered down, synthetic or cheap. And you won't be surprised by any of that, after all, you won't have paid much for it.

But then it sneaks up on you. It just needed a little bit of time to develop, that's all.

The sillage & longevity of Barbara Bui is actually really hard to describe. It melts into your skin rather than dominating it, and almost fools you into thinking your skin naturally smells so sweet and soothing. It's indeed a 'quiet' and understated perfume, and it takes a little bit of patience to appreciate the payoff. If amber happens to be a favorite note of yours (as it is mine), you must do yourself a favor and try this one out.

Lastly, I must admit - after my first spray of Barbara Bui, I thought to myself, "Wait, did I just spray Silk Way?"

Though, after finally trying them side-by-side, the differences are clear. Actually, I think the color of each fragrance explains the difference quite well: Barbara Bui is a sensual warm amber & woody blend with a powdery quality; Silk Way seems 'cooler' - a light incensey musk & damp, dewy cedar. Both are worth trying, especially for the incredible price.

It's almost a teen cliche: The interesting smart girl acts dumb to try to get people to like her. At its core, Barbara Bui Le Parfum is a very well thought out study in the contrasts and similarities between heliotrope, tobacco leaf, and tonka, all of which share similar papyrus/marzipan/musky undertones. It uses a clever subtle cherry to bring a loukhoum character to the heliotrope, which forms a clever heart with a tea-ish mix of coriander and roses, while a pinch of cedar brings out the papyrus and the rosewood elements of the tobacco leaf. Meanwhile, it dries down to a nice woody tobacco musk similar to Love's True Bluish Light.

But then, like a smart girl who intentionally fails math in a misguided attempt to get boys to like her, Le Parfum then drowns this incredibly clever interplay under a flood of cheap, common-smelling pink pepper and fake amber in a really obvious and sad attempt to pass off a smart composition as just another commonplace smell-alike fruity floral. Doh! I should vote thumbs down, but there's an incredible perfume hiding under that generic mall smell...

On my skin Barbara Bui Le Parfum opens with the distinct impression of pencil shavings and dries down to a well blended musky amber, heliotrope and incense. While its linear, its also so well crafted that it feels much more expensive than it is. This is a scent that gives the impression of luminous, glowing, clean skin. It does not cling too close to the wearer, on the contrary, I find it has very good projection and have gotten lots of compliments.

Sillage: fantastic, but soft and not in your face.
Longevity: 8 hours on skin, a solid 10 in my hair.
Overall rating and feel: 10/10. This is a grown up clean musk with dash of incense and without any distracting white florals or fruits. Timeless in its simplicity, this is great fragrance for any occasion.

Smells like chemicals, metals and the industrial strength baby powder air freshener they use at work (on my skin). Cannot get it off fast enough :(
Scratching this one off my quest for the perfect heliotrope scent.