Boucheron (1988)
by Boucheron

Beautifully mixed ingredients. Dancing notes of floral, citrus, and it's slightly animalic. A joy to behold. A modern classic. You will be noticed, while wearing this one. It is a cloud of confidence. A storm of strength. It rains sensuality.

As befitting its provenance, Boucheron's opening is loud and proud, a confident trumpeting of citrus and big flowers, underlain with a dissonant note of something sharp and woody/vegetal. I put that down to the basil—and maybe the geranium?—mucking about in all the "pretty," but I'm only guessing based on the list of notes. I've worn this dozens of times, and I can't pick anything individual out. Except in the dry down, when Boucheron finally seems to have made it through the turbulence of its kitchen-sink composition and hit cruising altitude with its lushly sweet, powdery, orange creamsicle/vanilla/benzoin dry down. It's like what I always hope L'Heure Bleue will end up being before it devolves into wet pencil shavings.

Fantastic bottle, too.

Nothing really stands out to me in this creation, except maybe the impression that everything is in its right place; the basil and tuberose perfectly proportioned to accent and be accented by the sandal and civet, which are in turn toned down to watercolor with the use of iris and benzoin. It is sweet but not tacky, hazy but not at all indistinct. It's just a really well-made fruity floriental. It is rare that a fragrance can smell unmistakably like the 80's but not 'dated.'

Barbara Herman likes the combination of orange blossom and basil: the herb, plus the dryness of the cassis, bringing down the sweetness of the orange to an herbal base. So do I. The base is warm, spicy and woody, as she points out - which gives it the overall feel of a fruity oriental.

It is quite pleasant, but is for me in no way special or interesting. Thus the neutral review. I wish the base notes had been upped and the perfumer had taken the chance of making this a more floral/animalic oriental, since all the players were there, just not mixed appropriately for my taste.

Top notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Cassis, Basil, Neroli
Heart notes: Jasmine, Orris, Muguet, Tuberose, Geranium, Cedarwood, Sandalwood
Base notes: Ambrein, Tonka, Benzoin, Oakmoss, Olibanum, Civet, Musk

This review is for the current EDP.

I really don't like the opening - strikes me as very harsh and bitter - though I've learned to wear one spray in warmer weather, where it quickly blooms into a soft, deep, billowing, powdery scent that manages to be elegant and approachable at the same time. The green bitterness I initially don't like proves to make the scent balanced and harmonious as it develops.

For that reason, Boucheron has taken the place in my perfume wardrobe of two older scents that were favorites of mine before reformulation - Must de Cartier and Estee Lauder Private Collection. The counterpoint of bitter green notes, white floral, and vanilla or amber is just so divine and velvety when it's done well, and it's certainly done well here.

I hadn't grown into Boucheron yet when it launched, so can't compare the versions offhand, only know that I feel quite lucky to have it now as I've lost so many of my great ones, even my old vulgar orange blossom/green/vanilla favorite: the original Dior Addict.