Boucheron (1988)

There are some women who are so much a caricature of conventional femininity that, as a woman, you might wonder if there shouldn't be a separate gender category for them. (Ditto with certain men.) Kelly LeBrock in the 80s (below) and Mad Men's Christina Hendricks are perfect examples. (Big hair, big breasts, big lips, etc.) 

Boucheron is to perfume what those über-babes are to everyday specimens of womanhood. First off, Boucheron is in the sweet floral/semi-Oriental category, the va-va-va voom of perfumes.

I'm barely a floral gal, but throw in sweet and I want to run for the hills. I will try, though, to tackle this quintessence of Big 80s Floral.

Top notes: Bergamot, lemon, cassis, fruit complex, basil, orange blossom (Perfume Legends says: tangerine, bitter orange, galbanum, marigold, basil, apricot)

Heart notes: Jasmine, orris, lily of the valley, tuberose, geranium, cedarwood, sandalwood (Perfume Legends: Jasmine, tuberose, ylang-ylang, narcissus, orange blossom, broom)

Base notes: Ambrein, Tonka, benzoin, oakmoss, olibanum (frankincense), civet, musk (Perfume Legends: sandalwood, amber, tonka bean, vanilla)

Boucheron starts off, well, very sweet: orange blossom is flanked with fruit and a tiny bit of herbal basil.* It's got that Amarige screech of sweetness that so many 80s fragrances do, and which today in perfumes stand out like Dynasty-style shoulder pads.The "fruit complex," which must be laboratory made, smells very synthetic and contributes to the difficulty I have with this perfume. Its floral heart joins treacley jasmine and tuberose with a dose of some angles (geranium? narcissus?) and lightness, perhaps from lily of the valley.

Boucheron's dry down makes the sweetness a little more tolerable, and it evolves into a warm and woody/spicy base that veers toward the Oriental. (H&R and Michael Edwards agree on tonka and sandalwood, but H&R mentions orris where ME doesn't, and ME mentions amber and vanilla where H&R doesn't. I don't know what to think, except that I think I smell vanilla, but that could be from the tonka/coumarin too.)

I may be in the minority for this one, but I don't even like sniffing Boucheron much less can I imagine wearing it. The readers on Basenotes almost unanimously love it, Luca Turin praised it, and so on. I just don't have a perfume sweet tooth, or maybe I can't love a perfume just because it's well constructed and its notes seem to blend seemlessly.

I do love the bottle, though, which looks like a piece of jewelry. Boucheron, after all, was the venerable French jewelry house's first perfume. If anyone wants to make an argument for why this is a masterpiece, please let me know! I just don't get it.

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 * And at least Haarman & Reimer agree on these notes; I'm not sure how it is that Michael Edwards' Perfume Legends has such different notes, particularly its base notes.

My sample of Boucheron was generously donated by Leslie Ann at Miniature Perfume Shoppe.

Comments

[Angela Cox]

I laughed at your mention of the actress who plays Joan in Mad Men . I saw her first time two weeks ago and was horrified ,a living Barbie or a Playboy bunny with a dress pulled over her costume.
The perfumes of the 1980s can be as horrifying and sickly ,oh so sickly. The bottle is lovely ,as you say but this perfume is as subtle as Thatcher's politics.

[Perfumaniac]

"As subtle as Thatcher's politics" is an amazing perfume critique, Angela. I like some 80s scent bombs, but this one baffled me.

[Anne]

I don't have a perfume sweet tooth either, so I'm not tempted to try Boucheron, tho' I'm glad to learn about it. In the spirit of Trying New Things and Being Open to New Experiences, I recently acquired a few sweet fragrances, just minis, including Organza and Tocade. Both are highly regarded but I don;t love them. Miss Dior Cherie just about sends me into cardiac arrest.

I guess what perfume criticism has done in the last few years is advanced the idea that something can be GOOD even if you don't like it yourself. It's the same principle as applies to criticism of books, music, wine, movies etc. Something can be judged outside the (perhaps rather narrow) frame of one person's individual taste and experience.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Anne. There are some slightly sweet fragrances I like, but Boucheron is not one of them. It's just wearing those shoulder pads a little too prominently! I've never tried Organza, but I have Tocade and will review it at some point. (I got it because Turin and Sanchez praised it so highly.) My first impression a while back is that it was too synthetic smelling, but I'm definitely going to give it another shot. As with people (or books, or food, etc.) I kind of have a type, but I am Open to New Experiences, too, and sometimes the thing I thought I wouldn't like (hint: my upcoming review of Must de Cartier) ends up expanding what I thought I could like. That's always nice — to like something new.

[VanessaAnn Chassion]

I was given a gold Boucheron by Boucheron 1988 and holds a 2.5 fl. oz. or 75 ml. refill and I cannot find it anywhere. HELP???

Thank You,

TooDee

If anyone knows where I can buy a refill please email me:

[email protected] or [email protected]

[Perfumaniac]

Hi VannessaAnn, I wonder if you shouldn't just buy Boucheron in the bottle and pour it in? I know this is very simplistic advice but as you no doubt know, it's always on (fl)e(a)Bay!

[artdecodiamonds]

Love boucheron .... im going to try the perfume!

[JulienFromDijon]

I like Boucheron. [easy part : feeling]
Why do I like it ? [hard part : explanation]
It manages to smell good as if natural while openly being artificial too.
The sillage diffuses a nice jasmine note, quite pure. The kind of ink-like jasmine akin to Sarrasins (Lutens). It's better to let this jasmine note reach your nose instead of bending too it, because it's like a one-chord jasmine artificial one, so one's nose get accustomed (anosmic) to it quite fast.
It smells rich, opulent, nice, but not so oppressing, still refined. I wouldn't say it stays long and balanced : maybe if sprayed on fabric (recommended).
I would describe the main accord as : jasmin up top, then raisin-like-(prunol) note mixed to bergamotte, then dusty tonka powderiness, and an amber base.
The fragrance, as you depicted it, is quite a female 3rd gender, maybe because of the tonka that gives "balls" to the fragrance, and something mysterious, because for me it's quite directly pretty but I can't really why or what it recalls, and it holds many paradox and strates.

[Perfumaniac]

Julien: Thanks for your thoughts on Boucheron. Sweet, fruity scents are hard for me, and I couldn't get past the synthetic aspect of Boucheron. But I love your description "jasmin up top, then raisin-like-(prunol) note mixed to bergamotte, then dusty tonka powderiness, and an amber base" as well as your description of it as smelling natural while being openly artificial. That is indeed a paradox!