Fragrance comparison

Love At Your Darkest vs Babycat

Notes, accords, longevity, sillage, seasons and community ratings, side by side.

Updated 30 Oct 2026 4,404 ratings analysed

Love At Your Darkest

Gucci

3.75125 votes

Rank #17,017 Fresh SpicyWoody

Full profile Similar & dupes

47%scent match

Some overlap

6 wins

Babycat

Yves Saint Laurent · 2022

4.264,279 votes

Rank #647 VanillaFresh Spicy

Full profile Similar & dupes

Quick verdict

Which one should you pick?

Babycat takes 6 of 7 categories.

Love At Your Darkest
Choose it for a fresh spicy and woody character. Wins on versatility. Best in fall, day or night wear.
Babycat
Choose it for a vanilla and fresh spicy character. Wins on ratings & consensus, community sentiment and longevity. Best in winter.

Love At Your Darkest1/7

Babycat6/7

Ratings & consensus: Babycat
Community sentiment: Babycat
Longevity: Babycat
Sillage & projection: Babycat
Value for money: Babycat
Versatility: Love At Your Darkest
Note pyramid (duration): Not scored
Fragranxe ranking: Babycat

Head-to-head breakdown

Every category side by side, with the winner called out.

Fragrance

Love At Your DarkestGucci

BabycatYves Saint Laurent

Winner

Ratings & consensus

Average rating and ownership split

3.75/ 5 · 125 votes

Have 28%Had 4%Want 67%

4.26/ 5 · 4,279 votes

Have 86%Had 14%Want 0%

Category winnerBabycatRating weighted by vote count

Community sentiment

How voters split from love to hate

34%Love

32%Like

16%Ok

13%Dislike

6%Hate

125 votes

58%Love

22%Like

10%Ok

7%Dislike

4%Hate

4,279 votes

Category winnerBabycatMost positive mix (25+ votes)

Longevity & sillage

0–100 community performance scores

⏱ Longevity54

〰 Sillage45

♥ Love / hate69

⏱ Longevity76

〰 Sillage64

♥ Love / hate81

Category winners

LongevityBabycat

SillageBabycat

Value for money

How fairly priced voters find it

¤ Price value19

¤ Price value29

Category winnerBabycatBest value score

Main accords

Strength of each scent family · outlined = shared by both

fresh spicy100%

woody83%

amber65%

warm spicy48%

aromatic30%

vanilla100%

fresh spicy90%

warm spicy79%

leather78%

powdery70%

amber69%

Scent match47%Some overlap · both fresh spicy, amber and warm spicy

Note pyramid (duration)

Top, heart and base, with how long each lasts when known · gold = shared

Top15 to 30 minutes

Black Pepper

Heart1 to 2 hours

Olibanum

Base3 to 5 hours

Cedar

Top

Black and Pink PepperBlack PepperelemiPink Pepper

Heart

OlibanumSaffron

Base

Bourbon VanillaSuedeCedar

InformationalShared notesBlack Pepper, Olibanum and Cedar. Durations are only published for Love At Your Darkest, so this is not scored.

Seasons & time of day

Relative to each fragrance's best season

Spring85

Summer47

Fall100

Winter74

Day100

Night100

Spring28

Summer13

Fall0

Winter100

Day–

Night–

Category winnerLove At Your DarkestMost year-round

Who wears it

Gender appeal votes

Men46

Unisex46

Women8

Men19

Unisex56

Women24

InformationalProfile onlyAudience is not scored

Ranking & credits

Fragranxe overall rank, nose and launch

Overall rank#17,017

PerfumerAlberto Morillas

Launched—

Reviews16

Overall rank#647

PerfumerDominique Ropion

Launched2022

Reviews210

Category winnerBabycatHigher overall rank

In a nutshell

Description & review snapshot

Love At Your Darkest by Gucci is a minimalist woody spicy fragrance from The Alchemist's Garden collection. Despite a dramatic title, the composition is surprisingly transparent, airy, and restrained on the skin. It opens with an immediate burst of dry black pepper that feels brisk rather than heavy. As the initial sp…

Reviews →

Yves Saint Laurent Babycat is a bold, spicy vanilla fragrance that trades typical bakery sweetness for rich, smoky edge. Crafted by master perfumer Dominique Ropion in 2022, it opens with a sharp burst of cracked black pepper, pink pepper, and resinous elemi. The heart introduces warm olibanum incense and a pinch of s…

Reviews →

InformationalRead bothTaste is personal

How we score: ratings blend public fragrance ratings with Fragranxe member votes; longevity, sillage, value and sentiment are community vote scores, and season bars are relative to each fragrance's strongest season. Categories with too little data are shown but not scored. The scent match weighs accord overlap (60%) and shared notes (40%). More in the FAQ.

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Common questions

Straight answers from the data above.

Which is better, Love At Your Darkest or Babycat?

Babycat takes 6 of 7 categories. Love At Your Darkest is rated 3.75/5 from 125 votes; Babycat is rated 4.26/5 from 4,279 votes. Choose Love At Your Darkest for a fresh spicy and woody character. Wins on versatility. Best in fall, day or night wear. Choose Babycat for a vanilla and fresh spicy character. Wins on ratings & consensus, community sentiment and longevity. Best in winter.

Which lasts longer, Love At Your Darkest or Babycat?

Babycat lasts longest (Babycat 76/100, Love At Your Darkest 54/100), based on community performance votes.

Which projects more, Love At Your Darkest or Babycat?

Babycat projects furthest (Babycat 64/100, Love At Your Darkest 45/100), based on community performance votes.

Do Love At Your Darkest and Babycat smell similar?

Some overlap: a 47% scent match on Fragranxe. Both share fresh spicy, amber and warm spicy accords. Common notes include Black Pepper, Olibanum and Cedar.

Is Love At Your Darkest or Babycat better for summer or winter?

For summer, Love At Your Darkest is the stronger pick. For winter, Babycat is the stronger pick. Love At Your Darkest suits day or night wear. Based on community season votes.

What are the notes in Love At Your Darkest and Babycat?

Love At Your Darkest has top notes of Black Pepper, heart notes of Olibanum, a base of Cedar. Babycat has top notes of Black and Pink Pepper, Black Pepper, elemi and Pink Pepper, heart notes of Olibanum and Saffron, a base of Bourbon Vanilla, Suede and Cedar.