Neutral Reviews of Bois Impérial by Essential Parfums
Bois Impérial by Essential Parfums (2020) gets pitched as a cheaper alternative to Ganymede by Marc-Antoine Barrois (2019) because it does the same parlor trick of using huge aromachemical slugs to create diffusive woody freshness that lasts and yeah, that works, if that's what you want out of a fragrance. Both perfumes have the same creator, one Quentin Bisch, who admittedly isn't my favorite guy in the scene even though he seems to get his name on a lot of fly-by-night perfumes lately. If you're looking for a somewhat reasonable fresh fragrance that isn't an aquatic or stuffed to the gizzard with sweet bubblegum or vanilla, this is a good choice, although that's the pinnacle of my assessment here.
Essential Parfums sells itself as a budget-friendly niche alternative that packs all the creativity in fewer calories (dollars), being sort of the midway between a Byredo or Le Labo, and Dossier or Hawthorne; other non-descript bargain-basement brands that take "pressed white shirt" as a personality. The saving grace that keeps this somewhat interesting is that minty basil leaf, which is a staple of Thai cuisine (especially kaprow gai kai dao), tagged with vetiver and timut pepper. Beyond that, huge doses of ambrofix and akigalawood (a patchouli isolate that feels woody without the oiliness or camphor of whole patchouli). The laundry musk "whoosh" is just a bit much for me, as it stands so naked against the rest, becoming the focus. This stuff smells really freaking good in the air, so it's probably the compliment bomb the usual crowd is hoping for.
As such, this formula feels a bit "cheap" to the nose, and you can get a little noseblind to it if you smell a whole bunch of it at once. People either scream this is a massive performer, or they can't smell it, and the sheer deafening hype all across the online fragrance enthusiast spaces (mostly brainless douchers looking to hook up or flex) puts a bit of a damper on the scent itself, although that's not brand's fault at all. I've never smelled this in the wild, so all that hype really just amounts to a hill of beans in the end, as people still fill the air with MFK Baccarat Rouge 540 (2015), Creed Aventus (2010), Dior Sauvage (2015), or the latest bubblegum showergel garbage. Nice concept, but not enough meat on them bones for me. Neutral
Essential Parfums sells itself as a budget-friendly niche alternative that packs all the creativity in fewer calories (dollars), being sort of the midway between a Byredo or Le Labo, and Dossier or Hawthorne; other non-descript bargain-basement brands that take "pressed white shirt" as a personality. The saving grace that keeps this somewhat interesting is that minty basil leaf, which is a staple of Thai cuisine (especially kaprow gai kai dao), tagged with vetiver and timut pepper. Beyond that, huge doses of ambrofix and akigalawood (a patchouli isolate that feels woody without the oiliness or camphor of whole patchouli). The laundry musk "whoosh" is just a bit much for me, as it stands so naked against the rest, becoming the focus. This stuff smells really freaking good in the air, so it's probably the compliment bomb the usual crowd is hoping for.
As such, this formula feels a bit "cheap" to the nose, and you can get a little noseblind to it if you smell a whole bunch of it at once. People either scream this is a massive performer, or they can't smell it, and the sheer deafening hype all across the online fragrance enthusiast spaces (mostly brainless douchers looking to hook up or flex) puts a bit of a damper on the scent itself, although that's not brand's fault at all. I've never smelled this in the wild, so all that hype really just amounts to a hill of beans in the end, as people still fill the air with MFK Baccarat Rouge 540 (2015), Creed Aventus (2010), Dior Sauvage (2015), or the latest bubblegum showergel garbage. Nice concept, but not enough meat on them bones for me. Neutral
With such hype surrounding this one it was only a matter of time before I'd end up with a sample, and I must say, I don't dislike it. It does have the same high dose of Akigalawood as in Ganymede, however, that grates me. This molecular distilled isolate of patchouli feels vertiginous to me when generously added to compositions, and Quentin Bisch seems to have quite the penchant for it.
There is a delightful, legible basil note that is a nice diversion from modern releases of this ilk; it's refreshing to have something so vital in an otherwise modernist and distant fragrance. Sure enough, this basil does quickly yield to the metallic wall of futurist woods and a vague, yet persistent freshness (hi, Ambroxan). It's definitely not speaking to me, but its popularity makes sense.
There is a delightful, legible basil note that is a nice diversion from modern releases of this ilk; it's refreshing to have something so vital in an otherwise modernist and distant fragrance. Sure enough, this basil does quickly yield to the metallic wall of futurist woods and a vague, yet persistent freshness (hi, Ambroxan). It's definitely not speaking to me, but its popularity makes sense.