Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Boss Orange by Hugo Boss : Perfume Review

Boss fragrances are usually received with deafening silence in the perfume blogging community, and not without good reason: the fact that each perfume in the lineup has a name that is some sort of confusing (and utterly ungoogle-able) variation on the Hugo Boss name is enough to baffle the Boss marketing execs themselves, but most importantly, the fragrances have for the largest part been as indistinctive and bland as their namesakes. Myself not excluded from the collective perfume-community derision regarding the Boss fragrance lineup, I’d completely ignored the latest launch, Boss Orange, ever since it first appeared on the shelves. When my newest Douglas magazine arrived with a free sample however, I decided to test this on my skin. Time to eat my words? Well, yes. I actually really like this!

The opening is not the strongest point of Boss Orange: a soft, smooth peach note is combines with juicy, barely-there notes of pear but after a few moments a strong note of dry, tart green apple takes over completely, dominating the composition. It is not unpleasant per se, but while the peach-pear combo was juicy and natural smelling, the apple note is more on the synthetic side, and most importantly rather intrusive, not really allowing the wearer to focus on any other facet of the perfume. Undoubtedly, it adds freshness to the composition, but this is the kind of harsh, urgent freshness I could frankly do without. Fortunately, about fifteen minutes later the apple note loses its sharpness and evolves into a far more agreeable presence. The soft, woody-oriental base starts coming through, lending easy, comfortable warmth to the overall feel of the perfume. At this point, Boss Orange smells like a Burberry fragrance in character and feel, so lovers of Burberry fragrances should definitely give this a shot. The best comparison I can make is that this smells like a combination of Burberry Classic with its dry apple overtones and Burberry Brit, with its sweet, woody-vanillic oriental base (albeit not being nearly as sweet as Brit). I do not smell much of the reported white floral heart notes, except perhaps a vague, well blended jasmine-y floralcy. What I do perceive intensely and find myself immensely attracted to is a lovely milky accord running through the composition and easing us into the beautifully creamy base notes. Rising light vanilla cream with a subtle hint of cinnamon and beautiful, sweet, buttery sandalwood make for an amazingly attractive base that lasts and lasts. I can see this being a comfortable every day choice for autumn and winter, something you put on and feel good without thinking too much about it, like a favorite sweater that despite its simplicity just works, making you feel gorgeous. Boss Orange is comforting and cuddly, while at the same time being sensual enough to make others want to lean in and get a proper whiff. I’d very happily wear this if it was given to me. If the (rather prolonged) sharpness of the opening does not put you off, you'll be rewarded with a very pretty every day oriental that dries down to a wonderfully yummy vanilla-sandalwood scent that is not only beautiful but also addictive.

Images: www.boss-fragrances.com


7 comments:

Ines said...

Hmmm, I'm not a fan of Boss fragrances either, but I do love Brit so I'll definitely give this a try. At least this one is easily available. :)
Hope this means you're back on blogging track! ;)

Linda said...

Dearest Divina!
Thank you so much for writing about Boss Orange (and A Scent too!)- both of these are easy to find in my town, and I've tried the B. Orange. I so agree with you: it's very pretty, and delgithful for the golden autumn days we're lucky to have at the moment. I may even give in and buy - I think it is an attractive "day" fragrance and will go well with neutral colours and woolly jumpers!
Hugs,
Linda

Divina said...

Hi Ines! Yep it is a very pleasant surprise from Boss. By the way if I remember correctly you also have Douglas in Zagreb? Here they are currently offering a beautiful Boss white leather 'pocket' to go with every purchase of 50ml Boss Orange. The pocket is gorgeous, embossed the same way the box is. It really is darling!

Divina said...

Hi Linda dearest! I do try to always balance between niche and department store scents here on Fragrance Bouquet cause I really think it is important that readers can find beautiful things easilly, along with the hard-to-find gems. As Bertrand Duchaufur said in his Fragrantica interview with Michelyn, there are incredibly beautiful and innovative fragrances to be found both in the department store sector and the niche, just as there are flops in both. It is unfair when we overlook the beauties that come out in department stores I think!!
Hugs!!

Acaislim said...

Great!

Ines said...

Yes, there is a Douglas here (and becoming one of my favourite places to buy, they are quite generous with samples) - I'll go and check if they offer the "pocket". I'm such a shoppingholic. :)

Divina said...

Hihihihi, sorry for the enabling dear Ines :) I LOOOOVE Douglas for the same reason! They load me with samples and they often have those gift with purchase specials. I'm a sucker for those makeup pouches filled with sample sizes....