Hey Posse Peeps,

Portia from AustralianPerfumeJunkies back again. Today we are going back to 1988. Remember? The Winter Olympics happen in Calgary, Canada and Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. The Last Emperor wins 9 Oscars and still nobody sees it, do so though because it’s gorgeous. Australia celebrates its Bicentennary and in Brisbane, Australia we have World Expo “88. Celine Dion wins Eurovision Song Contest, um….did that really happen? George Bush Snr elected President of USA and Benazir Bhutto becomes the first woman to lead Pakistan as Prime Minister.  Die Hard, Rain Man, Crocodile Dundee, Beetlejuice and Cocktail are the movies we are watching. Topping the pop charts you’ll find Enya, U2, Kylie Minogue, Bros, Gloria Estefan, George Michael, Guns’n’Roses and Madonna released “Like A Prayer” as a Pepsi commercial.

BOUCHERON by BOUCHERON 1988 Perfume Review

It was an era of big stuff. Big hair, big shoulder pads, big bank accounts and big fragrances. Calvin Klein released Eternity, DIOR Fahrenheit, Caroline Herrera and Kenzo eponymous, Rumba by Balenciage and Charlie Oriental. These were statement and signature fragrances that took your breath away and often walked in ahead of the wearer by 3 steps, needless to say sillage was mammoth. It was the era of being worn by your perfume, not a bad thing, just not the now sensibility.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Into that time and space came a fragrance that was awesome even by the standard of the day. I have a small original era Boucheron by Boucheron EdT and it feels like EdP at least when I wear it. Luca Turin gives Boucheron a glowing 5 stars in Perfumes the A-Z Guide saying, “…This is the Athena Nike of all Floral Orientals…Boucheron, at this time,  felt 100 percent synthetic and, amazingly, none the worse for it. Being near someone who wears it is like having your picture taken next to a marble foot as big as a car.”

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

The Boucheron by Boucheron opening is citrus, basil, marigold and ivy and manages to be both sweet and dark, the green of the ivy and the charge of marigold give a viscous depth that is like wading through Daiquiri or Mojito (not minty but herbal). Soon the white and yellow flowers arrive and they are beautiful and to keep the slightly bitter tinge there is geranium and orris, this keeps the whole nicely balanced, especially with the deep baseline of musk, civet, sandalwood, vanilla and resins galore. Although Boucheron by Boucheron is sold as a big floral perfume there is much more to it, character, spontaneous highlights and shades of colour, it is an attention grabber but acts almost like light filtering through a mid autumn deciduous tree, you get dappled warm light that is broken by cooling shade and the constant movement is pretty and mesmeric. Once you get past the sheer magnitude of this fragrance you can start to notice the subtle play of all the ingredients; lasting power is good too, I am getting about 4-5 hours from the EdT before it becomes a skin scent of musky vanilla and civet.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Available still for good prices on the discount sites
FragranceShop has 50ml EdT around $35
FragranceNet has 50ml EdP for around $55
Surrender To Chance starts at $3 for 1ml but my advice is to get a 3ml spray and go crazy

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Boucheron by Boucheron, do you know any of the Boucheron range? Have a favourite? Tell me, I’m agog. It will give me new fun things to hunt down, one of my great pleasures in life.

Please come and see us at AustralianPerfumeJunkies, there’s always something fun and exciting happening over there too.

Wishing you painless, easy and harmless world domination.
Love,
Portia xx