Vibrant
Boadicea the Victorious (2008)

The opening of Vibrant is indeed quite vibrant, and quite peculiar too. At first, it strongly reminded me of some vintage fragrances by Etro; not a specific one, just rather that same sort of exotic and mysterious allure many of them had, centered on musky spices and dusty resins. There's patchouli (quite à la vintage Etro Patchouli), some odd animalic amber, musk, a – for me – nondescript moldy and camphorous note with a subtle floral shade (rose?), some tingling spices, earthy woods, and also a subtle layer of quite well-crafted and tobacco-infused leather. All feels “antique”, nostalgic, dusty, quite gloomy – I see other online reviewers mention Mona di Orio, and in fact I agree with some similarity to her world (well, the world she was able to express in the 2-3 scents which aren't parodies of a scent). No fresh citrus and no whatever “bright” side for me, although I do get a slight and completely non-fresh citrus note – rather musky and pungent, more a “cedrat” note than an ordinary citrus.

The blend smells simple and complex at once; there's not many notes involved here, but each of them seems presented under a creative and unusual light. And also their, say, imaginary displacement in the overall design is creative and evocative, in a way that for some inexplicable reasons, makes Vibrant strongly remind me of a closet which once contained scented clothes, their sillage still exuding from the wood walls. A sort of dusty, melancholic, smooth yet pungent stale aroma which contains a sort of distant “echo” of the composition you read – say, it feels like a sort of “desatured”, washed-out version of the fragrance you would imagine by reading the notes. And by this I don't mean it feels light or dull, on the contrary it's quite bold and clear, but all feels imprisoned within a decadent cloud of camphorous and musky nuances, and an interesting, realistic frame of dusty, and again moldy hard woods. I don't know how they did that, but the final result is quite intriguing. It's classy, dark and seducing. Sadly though, the scent is quite linear, quickly reaching a way less interesting drydown smelling mostly of musky woods, and both persistence and projection aren't top notch. Still surely one of the nicest Boadicea out there.

7-7,5/10