Fragrance Notes
Boss Bottled
Few men's fragrances have sold in the volume of Hugo Boss Boss Bottled Eau de Parfum, and the reason sits in its drydown rather than its opening.
Three materials do the real work here and all three of them are in the base. Sandalwood is the creamiest of the three, soft and milky with a faint sweetness that reads as expensive on skin. Cedarwood is the dry counterpart, sharp and clean in the way a freshly sharpened pencil is, and it gives the fragrance its upright, tidy quality. Vetiver underneath is the one that keeps it from going soft: rooty, earthy, slightly smoky and distinctly bitter at the edges.
Between them they produce the smell most people mean when they say a fragrance smells smart. It is not a complicated effect and it was never meant to be. It is clean, dry, warm and faintly sweet, and it has become so familiar in offices and on commuter trains that it functions almost as a uniform. Familiar is not the same as dull, and this base is genuinely well made.
Annick Menardo and Christian Dussoulier composed it, in 1998. At eau de parfum strength it carries more oil than the toilette version, which translates into eight hours or more and a noticeably creamier, denser feel from the first spray. Two sprays is the right dose and three is the most anyone should use. It suits work, cold weather and formal occasions, and it reads male. It is also the one to buy if you ever found the toilette strength a little thin.
The house is German, founded in 1924 when Hugo Ferdinand Boss opened a workshop in Metzingen, and the group has never left the town. Its first fragrance licence was granted in 1984, and the rights have been Coty's since 2016.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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