Carolina Herrera · 2024

Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir

Premium$$$, 3 of 5
Carolina Herrera asks $144 for 50 ml
50 ml$144

The houseFor men

VersionEau de Parfum

Vibrant sage and black pepper over earthy black truffle and resinous woods, ending on vanilla and frankincense.

Carolina Herrera says

You’ll smell sage, Black Pepper, Black Truffle, Resinous Woods, vanilla and frankincense (olibanum).

More from Carolina Herrera’s description

It also mentions Vibrant sage, Spicy black pepper and Resinous wood.

The house’s page

Top noteswhen you spray it

Heartas it settles

Dry-downwhat stays

Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir’s scent picture, a draft: sage, black pepper, black truffle, resinous woods, vanilla (vanillin), frankincense drawn so far; dashed outlines where nothing is drawn yet

Top noteswhen you spray it

Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir, top notes: Sage, Black pepper, Geranium, Lavender, Citral (lemon)

Heartas it settles

Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir, heart: Black truffle, Resinous woods

Dry-downwhat stays

Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir, dry-down: Vanilla (vanillin), Frankincense, Patchouli, Virginia cedar, Peru balsam, Iso E Super (pencil shavings on velvet), Galaxolide (musk), Coumarin (new-mown hay)

What’s inside it

What Carolina Herrera names

SageBlack PepperBlack TruffleResinous WoodsVanillaFrankincense (olibanum)Resinous wood

What the label names

25 scent ingredients on the label, familiar names first.

A label must name certain ingredients, most of them ones that can cause allergies; some houses print more. It is never the whole recipe.

3 citrus5 herbs & lavender8 florals3 woods2 sweet2 amber & resins1 spices1 musks

Citrus3

LimoneneTerpinoleneCitral (lemon)

Herbs & lavender5

PineneLavender oilLinaloolLinalyl acetateTerpineol

Florals8

Geranium oilBenzyl salicylateHydroxycitronellalCitronellolGeraniol (rose)Rose ketonesAmyl salicylateGeranyl acetate

Woods3

Patchouli oilCedarwood oilIso E Super (pencil shavings on velvet)

Sweet2

Vanillin (vanilla)Coumarin (new-mown hay)

Amber & resins2

Peru balsam oilBenzyl cinnamate

Spices1

beta-Caryophyllene

Musks1

Galaxolide (musk)
7 more lines on the label, not there for the smell

Not for the smell7

AlcoholWaterAvobenzone (a UV filter)Benzyl benzoateA light stabiliserBenzyl alcoholExt. violet 2

The label, as printed on the house’s page

Our match of the notes

Shares its notes

BabycatYSL · shares black pepper, vanilla and frankincense$330 for 125 ml · about the same as Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir’s $144
Lumiere GarconFrench Avenue · shares sage, black pepper and frankincenseabout $49 for 100 ml · about a fifth of Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir’s $144
RifaaqatParis Corner · shares black pepper, vanilla and frankincenseabout $23 for 85 ml · about a tenth of Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir’s $144
More from Carolina Herrera12 more perfumes

Matched by the notes each house names. A shared note is not a promise they smell alike.