Hugo Boss has left the building.

[MonkeyManMatt]

Okay, upon trying the new Boss Selection the other day I instantly understood that this thread had to be written. Perhaps not many people will read it, it doesn´t matter, this has to be said.

I have personally always stood up for this house, just check the reviews in the directory, many of Hugo Boss´s fragrances under different labels have indeed been excellent over the years, and ORIGINAL.

This obviously has ended now. Too bad. I honestly feel their clothes line will suffer longterm from the recent lack of quality in their fragrances and the utterly disapointing skin care range. People are not stupid, it´s little details like this that will make this brand even less premium than it is, especially considering the defunct Baldessarini label.

To illustrate my feelings here´s a quick run through of the historical development:

Boss Number One (1985): A dry classic powerhouse that is instantly recognizeable. Although not my personal cup of tea this is bursting with character and is a favourite for millions of men around the globe. Very nice conservative packaging also.

Boss Sport (1987): Oh wha I wouldn´t do to lay my hands on a bottle of this elusive juice. This really remains one of the best juices of it´s decade IMO. Dry, masculine, spicy, mossy but balanced - fantastic - Truly a Gordon Gekko scent if there ever was one. Class Act.

Boss Spirit (1989): Probably even harder to find than Sport (actually had a bottle myself before), this was a very competent contender for the ultimate masculine league, similar to Heritage, BdP and others in terms of quality and power.

Boss Elements (1993): Not a personal favourite but liked by many on the boards, Elements posses a casual earthy quality that corresponds well with the bottle and concept. Probably perfect for a sunday in the park with your partner if you dig this one. Still excellent output and quality.

Hugo (1995): Launched in a time where diffusion labels still actually meant something in terms of differet concept and results (obviously not the case anymore, at least in the world of fragrance) this was in fact a juice designed to appeal to the youger, more active consumer of Boss products. Never liked it much myself but the originality is unquestionable, I mean who doesn´t instantly recognize this one? It very strongly represents the 90`s for me as it was extremely popular in my country during this decade. Killer sillage and over potency.

Boss Elements Aqua (1996): Always been a personal favoutite of mine, but not aquatic at all. This is a very warm and spicy affair ith strong juniper presence and a lovely wermouth accord- Strong personality & always a mega sucess on the dancefloor thanks to the massive, sweet & pleasant trail it leaves. Some of the best supporting products on the market to IMO. A standout for me.

Boss Bottled (1998): I don´t care about the haters, this is one of few scents where I actually have finished 2 whole bottles. Infintely pleasant to wear this apple/vanilla combo, very popular office scent. Easy going and with great strength to - still a worthy brand.

Hugo Dark Blue (1999): Now this is where the first signs of warning start to appear. Dark Blue is mediocre at best and above all much more synthetic smelling than any of it´s predecessors. 2,5/5 - not a promising launch.

Baldessarini (2002): So what a welcome return to form this was! Werner Baldessarini restored quality to things with this updated cologne. Somewhat overpriced this zesty, sugar-frosted orange peel juice was representative of the fine clothing issued under this prestige label. Things were looking hunky dory again.

Boss in motion (2002): Just the fact that there very several releases a year now was a little discouraging, and Boss in Motion unfortunately did nothing to restore my hope in the brand. Slightly powdery vanilla fragrance with a pez-orange candy vibe in a ridiculuos gimmick-y bottle - pathetic. Perhaps a bit better qualitywise than Dark Blue, but still... Won´t even mention all the silly colour variations that came out later, one more of an artificial mess than the other.

Baldessarini del Mar (2005): Released just shortly before the news of the cancelation of the label, this fragrance really oozes of poor engagement from it´s makers. It´s not awful, but for the price and considering it´s great predecessor a major letdown nevertheless. At this point I was really disillusioned.

Boss Soul (2005): Then came Boss Soul (note that we´re at about 3-4 releases a year at this point) which was your standard tonka/woods combo, in no way improving over stuff like Allure pour homme or even the dirt cheap Hoggar by Yves Rocher. Even the bottle looked cheap and bored.

Hugo Energize (2005): When stuff couldn´t get any worse (I thought - silly me) they slap us in the face with this, what the fuck is this anyway - a Duracell battery cologne??? Come on please... Unfortunately the content sucks as bad as the concept and packaging, just a mess with no direction, evolution or anything + it honestly nauseates me. By now I realized not to expect anything from this house. EVER again.

Boss selection (2006): But you know how we work. Saw this one in the store and thought, what the hell. perhaps they´ve realized themselves that all the recent stuff was just too cheap and boring even for the ignorant masses? Maybe this was their launch saying sorry for all the crap and the welcome return to from that I guess still was in my hopes. Well how should I put it... Upon sampling it I felt like joining the local communist party. It was like the liquid epitomy of everything that is wrong with the quarter-capitalism of today where numbers overshadow quality, handcraft, and REAL values et etc etc. Ihonestly felt disgusted. I would like to participate in the meetings at Procter & Gamble where the decisions are take to launch this type of bullshit. I can promise you they really go on about how we can create the most appealing, characterless, run of the mill stuff to fit into the pc-mindset that is the ew plague of the western civilization.
This is just terrible, I hope no one buys this, but it´s probaly already on the top 10. I don´t know what to add here, it just feels sad that this is the obvious raod that the major brands seem to have taken. I guess YSL & Chanel are next.

Monkeyman out.

[Indie_Guy]

Great post Matt!

You are so dead on. I totally feel your pain. My first real steps on the "scent journey" thing that we are all on, began with Hugo Boss (aside from sniffing my mom and dad's fragrances as a kid.)

My dad received a bottle of Boss #1 and he never wore it so I started wearing it in my teens. Yes, it's kind of weird smelling, looking back- but in that time frame, not so out of place. Plus people liked it.

But then when I was about 20, my uncle got me a coffret of Hugo Boss minis. There was Elements, Hugo, and #1 (which I already had). Man, Hugo was the ONE that did it for me. I would carry that mini around with me and sniff it like it was glue. I also loved Elements, though it did smell medicinal. Now I can really appreciate the originality of a scent like Elements.

But Hugo was awesome.

Then I too fell in love with Boss Bottled (#6). It was my favorite. It was my signature. Girls complimented me all the time on it. It could do no wrong. Granted I would never wear it nowadays, but back when it was released...WOW. Even though the bottle was kind of plain, the juice was great.

Then everything else sucked. The end.

Oh, yeah and Energize IS probably the second UGLIEST bottle ever (first honors go to FUBU Flush...I mean Plush). Plus that pink juice. ICK!

I did see a bottle of Dark Blue at Marshalls and being a bartender, I thought it might be fun to have a cologne that looks like a cocktail shaker, but the cap was missing. I actually liked the scent, but I passed anyway. It's a shame about Hugo Boss. I have some of their clothes and I like them...but they are getting incredibly faceless.

When I was a newbie to scent, Hugo Boss was my favorite house, but these days I wouldn't even take the time to sniff their new stuff.

I was thinking about getting a bottle of Elements and a bottle of Elements Aqua...

Again, nice post and I totally agree with your feelings!

[eric]

Hate to admit it (lol!), but I have to agree with you on this. I have worn them all during my history of fragrance wearing. I still remember my first bottle of Boss no.1. I recently tried it again and, oh my god, it was horrible!. Did they change the formula or has my sense of smell been spoiled to much during the years, I dunno. I remember wearin and liking Boss Spirit and Elements (original) a lot.

My first dissapointment came when they eleased Elements Aqua. Then came the slightly synthetic but nice Boss Bottled, and I had hopes fro this house again. Baldessarini really rocked my boat. After that , I agree, it went downhill.

They keep on releasing mediocre scents all the time. I don't hate ém but I can't really love'em either.
That's also how I felt about their new "Boss Selection "I really don't understand why Dolce & Gabanna and Valentino's (and what about Patou! )let P&G take over their fragrance production. I really don't have I hopes for their future if P&G goes on making fragrances like this. Maybe it's the fact that Hugo Boss is primary a fashion company?. I recently read that the "Baldessarini"brand has became a brand of it's own, without the name Hugo Boss attached to it. This line seems to be very popular in some European countries.

It seems like they thought,:" well let's make another fine tailoring line within the Hugo Boss line and let's also make a fragrance line to go along with it". It seems that they just HAVE to release a fragrance line with every label they release. ( Boss, Boss Orange, Hugo, Boss Slection, etc.) and we are overloaded with the P&G scents. Good for P&G (money!!) and to bad for us?. Maybe P&G will change it's course? ( eagerly awaiting the first reviews of the new D&G and Valentino's) or should they stick to making laundry detergents?

[MonkeyManMatt]

Thanks Dude,
I know many people agree here. I mean who´s not letdown often at the mall these days. I feel thet the recent development will probably just widen the gap beween designer and niche even more. I absolutely think that that the designer stuff of the 70´s, 80´s and early 90´s are on par with and sometimes even superior to niche offerings, BUT the recent years have just been so full of these Boss Selection- type of launches that I find it very unlikely that this development will stop. Until then I´ll keep on buying niche-stuff, old desinger classics and perhaps once in a while new massmarket fragrances (really hoping that Azzaro Onyx will be pleasing).
What is worrying is that I find that as soon as a major house decides to jump on the aqua/airy/ozonic/sell-out bandwagon a recovery is very unlikely. Dior being the big exception, after Higher Energy I thought the house was doomed fragrance-wise. But it only took one strong person, Hedi Slimane, to put stuff back on the right track. So there´s probably hope, but Hugo Boss being a lot less of a prestige house compared to Dior this was probably inevitable. I won´t buy their new shit ever though.

MMM

[Musician]

Oh my God, I hope this won't happen to my dear YSL.

ps: but yes, Armani's gone this way for a while.

[minilomaniac]

I hardly even bother to sample them anymore... coudn't agree more. Here in DK it seems like Armani, Lacoste and Hugo Boss are having a contest about who can make the most scents in a year. I guess that's the way to get market share here, unfortunately. :-/

[Joel_Cairo]

I hardly even bother to sample them anymore... coudn't agree more. Here in DK it seems like Armani, Lacoste and Hugo Boss are having a contest about who can make the most scents in a year. I guess that's the way to get market share here, unfortunately. :-/

Me neither. My girlfriend and I were strolling the alphebetized wall of men's fragrances at Sephora, and I was telling her about the Hierarchy of Men's Designer scents. After Gucci & Guerlain, I told her "and here's the crap that you can just pretty much walk by" Before us were shelves anbd shelves of Hugo Boss, Kenneth Cole and Lacoste (though I made the exception for Michael Kors). Just dreck.

Thanks MMM, somebody had to do it. kind of a "Boss Selection- death of a once-upon-a-time-pretty-decent-I-guess Fragrance House" thread, well done.

[ikkitosennomusha]

Well said MMM and, I concur! I feel the eact same way and agree totally with your feelings and the way they parallel the lineage you mapped out for us.

[foetidus]

I agree with you completely, Matt, thanks for your thoughts. The downslide is almost irreversable in some of these companies. Thank heavens there are a few who may be bucking the trend. And we'll always have the niches.

[MonkeyManMatt]

Thanks everybody, sure feels good the reasonable people here agree. Other houses that has gone down the same sad path lately IMO:
Ralph Lauren - Original Polo, Crest, Safari etc were great fragrances. Blue, Black, Romance and the recent ones are just unnecessary.

Armani - This guy´s been a sellout clotheswise as well for a long time now, so no surprises there. The original edt still rocks though in it´s mossy/citrus unforgivefullness. The first Emporio was nice as well, and say what you will about AdG- at least it was original upon it´s release - but recent ones like City Glam are just awful.

And let´s not even get started with Calvin Klein...

MMM

[ikkitosennomusha]

Thanks everybody, sure feels good the reasonable people here agree. Other houses that has gone down the same sad path lately IMO:
Ralph Lauren - Original Polo, Crest, Safari etc were great fragrances. Blue, Black, Romance and the recent ones are just unnecessary.

Armani - This guy´s been a sellout clotheswise as well for a long time now, so no surprises there. The original edt still rocks though in it´s mossy/citrus unforgivefullness. The first Emporio was nice as well, and say what you will about AdG- at least it was original upon it´s release - but recent ones like City Glam are just awful.

And let´s not even get started with Calvin Klein...

MMM

I also love polo green, crest, and safari. My fav would be crest and I miss it terribly! CK, what happened? Obsession is not the way I remember it. It smells of cheap synthetic water. It use to be of higher quality.

[Joel_Cairo]

Yeah CK is Ckrappy, discontinuing the only thing they sell which can't be bought from doens of other houses, namely Contradiction (at least they had the good sense to also put Crave out to pasture)

[abimanyu]

Everything and everyone had left the builiding! I was lucky enough to have grown up in the late 80's and early 90's up to about 1996 when everything, including your underwear is made in China. Remeber when emporio armani was still made in Italy?Boss was mostly made in W.Germany and Italy? or Diesel Jeans was still made in Italy? Now all of them are low quality crap made in China. People are basically guided by these big companies such as Unilever, Proctor and Gamble,etc who are just interested in purchasing the brand names such as Boss,Lacoste,etc and undercutting quality because there's really nothing we can do about it. Just look at your electronic gadgets and compare those same T.V's,VCR,Videocams,cameras with the cameras that you bought in the late 1980's and the early part of 1990's. Noticed that your older gadgets seems to last longer and could take more of a beating than now crappy, plastic, all bells and whistles junk made in china.

Remember Timberland? It used to be such a high quality company. I remebered how nice the boat shoes, plaid shirts, sweaters, boots,jackets,etc and I still have most of them(U.S made mocs,italian made leather jacket,U.S made plaid shirt from Timberland,U.S made wool sweaters) to this day, most of them are 15 plus years old and still holding up. Can you say the same thing about Timberland today?

Today you'll have to pay up the yin-yang for ANYTHING that is not made in China. Examples: Swiss watches,American made or European made hi-fi stereos,Japanase or German made optics,cameras and accessories(have you ever compared French made quality of a gitzo tripod to those cheapo chinese made ones, eventhough once they were american or european made brands?)

Same thing with fragrances, I was sooo made when I bought a new bottle of Armani Mania Man that it smelled so weak and watered down compared to the bottle that I bought in 2002 when Mania Man was launched. So mad! That why I was so perplexed when basenoters wrote that Mania Man was weak and watered down, alcoholy juice. Now I now why! The new bottle just disappeared in 5 minutes and I remebered clearly, for I wore Mania Man for 3 years on a daily basis that three sprays would last me all day and the scent to stick to my girlfriend's clothings and she could smell the scent when she got home. WHY!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOO MAD at where the industry is heading!!!!!!!!

[gator]

The Hugo Energize bottle wasn't that bad :P

[PigeonMurderer]

Yes, great post Matt. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

To me there is 3 good Boss scents:

I`m not a shamed at all to say that I`m a big fan of Boss No. 1. I don`t actually wear it myself, but I love it anyway: To me it`s like a blend of honey, awfully strong tea and moist hay. Masculine and animalic, in the vein of Kouros.

Boss Sport is fantastic scent: Not that complex, but it`s unique and timeless. Very delicious green soapy scent, with nicely balanced herbal notes. There is also obvious synthetic/chemichal accords in this scent that I truly love! Absolutely brilliant summer scent.

Boss Bottled : Irresistible scent from A. Menardo. Again, a bit synthetic, but in a greatest way. Delicious sticky vanilla/musk with shades of ripe apples. Great scent, best seller in Finland, and something that girls really dig.


I really don`t care about any other Boss scents.

[rapture2]

Great post, I only wish it werent true.

Being 17, and having only started to pay attention to fragrance at all in the past year, I never had the pleasure of knowing Hugo Boss' better days. That said, the first fragrance I tried from the label was Baldessarini (about 3 months back). And I remember thinking that I had made a mistake by neglecting Boss' scents just because they look pathetically gimmicky. Then, that same day, I tried Boss in Motion and Energize and I then realized I had made a wise decision in staying away from them.

Even I see the offerings from Lacoste, CK, KC, RL, Armani, Cavalli etc. for what they are, sad attempts to get me to smell like everyone else. My new keywords that an S.A. can say to make me turn away from a fragrance: "many young people are wearing it and/or it is a top seller".

I pray the same doesnt happen to YSL. I currently love everything that remains of this house. And as far as I know, everything is still made in a country where quality still matters be that Italy or France.

Id also like to add that Im starting to fear for Kenzo because I was actually quite impressed by L'eau par despite its being a fresh/aqua scent but with Air, Love L'eau par (a Sephora exclusive), Fresh and Frozen versions of Kenzo ph, it seems this house is trying to appeal to more and more people as well.

Oh well, I guess I shall just have to hold on to the hope that Hermes, YSL, Bottega Veneta (with their new upcoming scent) and Valentino dont decide to follow in their footsteps

[manicboy]

After Hugo & Boss #6, I could care less for their other offerings.

Why are all their scents made in the UK?

[Mic]

Great post Matt,

Boss should discontinue all their scents right here and now and then after a while re-release

No. 1, Sport and Spirit

and nothing else! Those three are classics and though many of you like Hugo and Bottled I think they are just a little too mainstream. There are other scents you could buy instead like these.

Cannot believe how on earth they could discontinue no. 2 and 3 and then release all those crappy stuff today.

This move will bring them back on the track as a serious fragrance-maker (and now I expect to get a job offer as head of marketing ;D)

Personally.......the only Boss scent I really like is In Motion (NOT the diff. summer versions) but I hate the bottle. The perfect combination would be to put In Motion juice in No. 1 bottle.........a new classic is born!

Mic.

[Mic]

Forgot:

In my book YSL is still the "greatest house" and I do not think they have had a miss at all.

Maybe the best thing would be if they just did not release more/new scents!?

Mic.

[maisonstinky]

Great post MMM. I just wanted to add that being in the business I heard that Proctor & Gamble owns the Hugo line, has been for a number of years. Good Company but not exactly a Perfumery power house.

Its all a money game where unfortunately the quality goes down the drain :'(.

Vijay"Maisonstinky"

[Renato]

Hugo Dark Blue (1999): Now this is where the first signs of warning start to appear. Dark Blue is mediocre at best and above all much more synthetic smelling than any of it´s predecessors. 2,5/5 - not a promising launch.

I have to disagree with you on this one. Dark Blue isn't a favourite of mine. But I recollect one description of it as being "a sizzling mossy scent" - which to me is a very apt description. When I think of green mossy scents like Fahrenheit, 212, Paul Smith, Emporio etc, I think of similarities between them. But Dark Blue doesn't sit comfortably in any comparison with them - far from being mediocre, it definitely stands out from that pack.
Renato

[MonkeyManMatt]

^ Funny I don´t get the moss-thing at all. To me Dark Blue has much more in common with fragrances like John Varvatos, Armani Black Code, DK Fuel or even Shiseido Basala. Woody, somewhat spicy and with a suede/leather base. It´s the drydown that is horribly synthetic to my nose, and a quick look at the reviews confirmed I´m not the only one thinking it´s very artificial - in a bad way.

BTW thanks for all the answers, I suspected there were lots of fans of the brilliant Boss Sport out there. Just the thught of the bottle with the crossed tennis-rackets gives me a warm & fuzzy feeling.

MMM

[MonkeyManMatt]

Here´s the pyramid for Dark Blue btw (not that I trust these too much...):
Top Notes
Indian Lime, Malabar Ginger.

Middle Notes
Pelargonium, Cypress, Sage

Base Notes
Benzoin, Olibanum, Patchouli, Suede

/mmm

[Renato]

^ Funny I don´t get the moss-thing at all. To me Dark Blue has much more in common with fragrances like John Varvatos, Armani Black Code, DK Fuel or even Shiseido Basala. Woody, somewhat spicy and with a suede/leather base. It´s the drydown that is horribly synthetic to my nose, and a quick look at the reviews confirmed I´m not the only one thinking it´s very artificial - in a bad way.

BTW thanks for all the answers, I suspected there were lots of fans of the brilliant Boss Sport out there. Just the thught of the bottle with the crossed tennis-rackets gives me a warm & fuzzy feeling.

MMM

You're not alone. Oddly enough, so far it seems to be only the person who wrote the original description, me, and Michael Edwards who see the mossy thing. Most other descriptions of Dark Blue don't mention it.
Renato

[ikkitosennomusha]

Dark blue smells of cheap, synthetic toilet water.

[lillie]

Dark Blue smells of Jägermeister to me.

I have to admit that i bought Deep Red with big expectations.
Unfortunately also on the ladies' sector they'd had better days... :-[
DR was the last scent i bought by them.

[castorpollux]

Thanks for the comments MMM! i will give all the BOSS frags another re-visiting just for kicks.!

[MFfan310]

I sniffed the new Boss Selection today... smells like some of P&G's other fine products.

Namely Tide detergent, Zest soap, Dawn dish liquid, and Febreze. ;D

[Mic]

I bought Selection unsniffed today - don't know why the hell I did that?

Will give it a go tomorrow and try to be positive............untill.............

Any one else bought/worn it yet?

Mic.

[Belial]

tried it.... and loved it.

[Schlomo22]

I really enjoy Energise. I only have a little sample of it, but I think it is a nice refreshing/citrusy/sporty frag that would be nice to just wear around in the summer whether I am running errands or just relaxing. I really don't see how some people think it smells "bad"... maybe bland/simple.. but I think it's rather nice.

[John]

l

I really enjoy Energise. I only have a little sample of it, but I think it is a nice refreshing/citrusy/sporty frag that would be nice to just wear around in the summer whether I am running errands or just relaxing. I really don't see how some people think it smells "bad"... maybe bland/simple.. but I think it's rather nice.

It isn't a terrible scent, but if you compare it to anything else out there...even other stuff from the Boss counter at your local mall, why would you pick it? HOW!? IT ISN'T POSSIBLE! :P Take some pine out of Hugo, add a generic nutty drydown, and market it with some guy jumping a roof top. Whoopee!

[Joel_Cairo]

l[quote author=Schlomo22 link=1147171202/30#30 date=1148256956]I really enjoy Energise. I only have a little sample of it, but I think it is a nice refreshing/citrusy/sporty frag that would be nice to just wear around in the summer whether I am running errands or just relaxing. I really don't see how some people think it smells "bad"... maybe bland/simple.. but I think it's rather nice.

It isn't a terrible scent, but if you compare it to anything else out there...even other stuff from the Boss counter at your local mall, why would you pick it? *HOW!? IT ISN'T POSSIBLE! *:P *Take some pine out of Hugo, add a generic nutty drydown, and market it with some guy jumping a roof top. *Whoopee! *[/quote]

LOL yeah this campaign cracks me up to. The only one I find to be funnier is Lacoste Por Homme, with the naked Mr. Distinguished Dude drinking coffee. inexplicably hilarious!

[ChuckW]

I just bought Boss Bottled at Marshall's for $24.99...I just could not resist...

Chuck

[MonkeyManMatt]

Boss Bottled is great man, a super-pleasant wear for sure. Need to get another one myself soon, it really has great sillage as well.


Mic, how was your experience with selection? I retried it since, still think it´s a p o s...


MMM 8-)

[zztopp]

Nice reviews!

However I have always felt Boss frags to be too synthetic for my taste.

[Dante]

I have never found a (male) Boss fragrance I liked - I find them all rather synthetic with a common 'bubblegum' note I'm not so fond of. However, the house is responsible for two of my favourite women's fragrances - namely Boss Woman and Deep Red. Go figure.

[fakepurseninja]

I like Bottled as well. It's actually the only Boss I care for.

The new Selection is faint sugar water. Faint. Sugar. Water. The way it's marketed (a relatively mature guy, classy yet sporty blabla) makes it even more ridiculous.

[Markymark]

I too enjoy Boss Bottled the most out of all of them. This is one of the few frags that I swear will be worn off at the end of a long work day and someone will compliment me on it. It has happened several times.

[Mic]

Mic, how was your experience with selection? I retried it since, still think it´s a p o s...


MMM *8-)

It is ultra-weak! I think I sprayed 10-12 times as always in the morning and when I came to work it was gone. I gave it 10 more shots in the afternoon and it was gone few minutes later - it really was!

The scent itself is the same as the last 6-8 fragrances from Boss and I wish I did not buy it..........

Mic.

[scentimus]

I am sorry to be the bottom top 100 but I happen to like Boss Selection a lot!

Actually I wore it today and it is not weak at all on me it is still lingering on my skin from this morning while I am typing this tonight.

The bottle is beautiful it is simple yet very class clean cut yet dark and mysterious. The scent is light lingering simple yet complex.

Perfect job P&G.

[omniray]

i dont see any problem with the notes in " selection", will be soon in stores here,. so sure ill test it, maybe wont be a hit in perfumery, but im interesting on it...

[breeze11]

I am sorry to be the bottom top 100 but I happen to like Boss Selection a lot!

Actually I wore it today and it is not weak at all on me it is still lingering on my skin from this morning while I am typing this tonight.

The bottle is beautiful it is simple yet very class clean cut yet dark and mysterious. *The scent is light lingering simple yet complex.

Perfect job P&G.

I'm with you scentimus on this one. It's not groundbreaking, very original or unique but it's nice and pleasant. I like it better than Boss Soul, Del Mar and Energise. If you expected something extraordinary from Hugo Boss ( and I never did ) you may be upset after trying Selection otherwise it's a light, easy-to-wear,all-around scent.

[KiatBkk]

Well, just bought 3 bottles of Hugo Boss lines today; they are Boss Bottled, Boss Energise and Hugo BOSS (1995). I've sampled Elements Aqua and Boss No. 1, love them both, fantastic, but better get them later.

I can't understand as to why many people here hate Boss Energise, I think it's a great scent, easy to wear, casual and comfortable. Well, however, the different opinions are what we need, don't we?

[jpara]

Well, just bought 3 bottles of Hugo Boss lines today; they are Boss Bottled, Boss Energise and Hugo BOSS (1995). *I've sampled Elements Aqua and Boss No. 1, love them both, fantastic, but better get them later.

I can't understand as to why many people here hate Boss Energise, I think it's a great scent, easy to wear, casual and comfortable. *Well, however, the different opinions are what we need, don't we?

I tried Soul and Energise on the same day, one on each wrist. Soul started out alot better to me than Energise and by the time i was done shopping I decided Soul was better and purchased it.

As I sat at home, I could not stop smelling my wrist with Energise on it, the dry down was much better than Soul. I went out the next day and bought a bottle. It's great on the weekends when you're just hanging out. I still like Soul, but agree with some that it's drydown is missing something.

[omniray]

Well, just bought 3 bottles of Hugo Boss lines today; they are Boss Bottled, Boss Energise and Hugo BOSS (1995). *I've sampled Elements Aqua and Boss No. 1, love them both, fantastic, but better get them later.

I can't understand as to why many people here hate Boss Energise, I think it's a great scent, easy to wear, casual and comfortable. *Well, however, the different opinions are what we need, don't we?

hey,. i think the same, i like very much some of hugo fragances !, this forum is full of "boss" haters.. but we cant change that. sure we find people who like this fragances and share opinions/reviews about them!

[MonkeyManMatt]

Omni, did you actually read my initial post?
MMM

[KiatBkk]

Hi Jpara, right, the salesman kept telling me that Energise's drydown is splendid. I can't disagree. However, I knew that before yesterday as I got a strip of Energise and kept it in my wallet, 1 week gone, the smell was still there.

[Scentronic]

I really like energize and selection! I like the packaging too. Could it be that you've just seen a large evolution in fragrances over the years and prefer fragrances from earlier on? I am 25 and tend to prefer brighter,cleaner, more citrusy fragrances to the older, spicier, fuller-bodied scents - and I'd imagine this to be a trend among my age group. I was actually quite impressed with energise, as it was unique enough to get my attention, while being a more popular brand. Just smelled selection yesterday and got a sample, which btw I'm wearing now. I think I like it enough to buy.


I WILL agree with you in the fact that the more modern fragrances don't last worth dog_shit! Is it really that hard to make a citrus last? Or is this a marketing gimmick to get us to use product faster and thus buy more? 8-)

[portugal]

I like HUGO by Hugo Boss a lot! I think it smells very nice and very unique! I think that it goes well for a target between 15 and 25!

[dragonbreath]

The hugo boss fashion label of today just keeps me puzzled. They really go more for quantity over quality and the more recent releases also feels soo unfocused - like they are missing a clear concept. IMO they do not even manage to make the launch campaign appealing to the consumer. I totally lost interest for Boss fragrances in recent years since I just could not get by the feeling that they were to synthetic and cheapish. It is a shame. However, old favorites from the label are no 1, spirit and sport. Boss bottled wasn't bad either...

[Markymark]

I was given a sample of Boss Selection today from an SA and thought of Monkeyman's review. I honestly got about 30 minutes out of it and I put a lot on. Truly dissapointing frag. I'm actually puzzled as to why it was even released. You would think they would use live models to test this lackless stuff.

Boss Bottled on the other hand is quite superb and lasts all day and garners many compliments.

[omniray]

i tried both new releases , in motion "black" & "selection", the first is not bad at all, but no surprises: an easy, simple citrus/spicy base, longevity medium and thats all, , in the other hand, the problem is longevity, because i couldnt smell it no more that 2 hrs on my skin, but its really nice, comfortable fragance...
:P