Hugo Boss
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Blackcurrant and plum announce themselves with immediate brightness, the stone fruit's natural juiciness amplified before cinnamon's warming spice crystallises around the edges. Within the first minutes, this reads as straightforwardly fruited and approachable, almost suggestive of a sophisticated cordial.
The vanilla absolute emerges with creamy authority, softening the fruit's sharper edges whilst jasmine sambac develops a milky, almost indolic character that transforms the composition's centre into something more overtly floral. The herbal thyme quietly asserts itself, preventing the sweetness from becoming cloying, creating a balanced mid-phase that feels considerably more refined than its opening promised.
The woody elements—sandalwood and cedar—develop a whisper-thin presence, providing texture rather than dominant character. The fragrance becomes increasingly subtle and skin-scent intimate, leaning heavily on the creamy vanilla-floral marriage whilst barely maintaining olfactory presence. This phase underscores the fragrance's notorious longevity concerns; what remains is more suggestion than statement.
Boss Alive arrives as a meticulously balanced compromise between orchard sweetness and whispered sophistication. Annick Ménardo has crafted something that occupies an unusual middle ground: neither aggressively fruity nor subtly abstract, but rather a fragrance that treats its constituent parts with almost clinical precision.
The opening salvo of blackcurrant and plum creates an immediately accessible sweetness, sharpened by cinnamon's peppery bite—a spiced compote quality rather than gourmand indulgence. Yet this isn't a naive fruity floral. The bourbon vanilla absolute arrives with considerable weight, lacing through the composition like silk thread through tweed, whilst Indian jasmine sambac provides a creamy, almost buttery floral structure. Thyme acts as an unexpected mediator, its herbal astringency preventing the vanilla from tipping into dessert territory.
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4.0/5 (85)