Boutonniere No. 7

I remember first smelling this at Pickwick's Mercantile in Portsmouth NH and being immediately floored by the opening that combines a ripe, fleshy, lactonic gardenia with lavender. Oh, my days, this one is rapturous on my skin. A lush, leafy jungle that blooms in the heat, with petitgrain adding this sharp, bright twang, Boutonniere treads between genteel and skank in the most titillating manner. Are you a good boy, or are you a bad boy? The Edwardian popularity of the boutonniere may have been the hanky code of its time, with gardenia meaning....?? This is florid language covering dirty thoughts in olfactory form. Boutonniere simmers into a grassier, woodier fugue with grace notes of gardenia dappled over its refrain. The grapefruit peel decay of a certain vetiver renders this dry, almost bitter, but still with flickers of light and herbal flourishes. There are even dirty jasmine echoes in the distance. This sings on a hot day and croons on a cool summer night. It has character, but can leave some "normy noses" nonplussed. "What is this supposed to be?" one might ask. Which leads me to this: there is something to be said for letting go of concretizing the existence of something and to just "be" with it. Fragrance can be best appreciated with thinking and feeling in measured doses.

May 1899 hall of the Paris Opera. During the intermission a group of 7 young people gather in the lobby to flirt. Both elegant ladies and coquettes are attracted by the green and fresh scent of gardenias lit up like boutonnieres in the buttonhole of men's jackets, men who use colonies of lavender and bergamot. As they approach, "the flower of the opera" exhales its seductive scent, declaring the elegance of a single sacrificial flower in the eye of a man. This powerful soliflore with cyan dyes is felt throughout its development completely natural, realistic to the extreme, a crisp green and with very few artifices. Although it is unisex, I find it very masculine by the more woody drying and the seductive animal point with the oak moss that nuances more dry and lengthens the floral note until the end of the drying, which feels great to boutonniere 7 and gets the author That with these shades the result is a charming and enchanting scent. B.7 has character, diffuses sensationally well for a long time, it is true that it evolves little and very slow, but if you like the aroma of this white gardenia jazminoide you succumb to its charms. Rating: 9.2

A man-handled gardenia -- yes indeed SeverinoDuJour! Boutonniere is an enjoyable green floral. Lavender really vibrates against the white plushness: at times sharp, herbal and aromatic, at others smooth and creamy. Lavender is a hard note to do well in perfumery as it can lean too barbershop like with overwhelming white musk or too artificially floral. Here the petitgrain carries the masculinity of lavender's natural perfume with its bitter woody-citrus character. This smells like fine French lavender, like my husband's Taylor of Old Bond Street Lavender Shaving Cream with its clean scent, never soapy or dull. The gardenia is quite big but fresh. It makes me think of crisp white sheets and sweet evening air in a garden. Crispy cold greens and the warmth of your companion conjure scenes of a romantic interlude. Boutonniere No. 7 is perfect for both your lapel or skin. This is a gorgeously refined floral for both sexes to share.

I’m a bit picky about lavender and petitgrain in fragrance— in general I don’t favor sharp cologne-y interpretations of these notes. Here, their herbal freshness pairs beautifully with ultra plush gardenia, as well as juicier mandarin and bergamot notes not listed on fragrantica. Cloudy genet lends a headiness that balances the herbal components. On drydown, earthy yet velvety oakmoss and a slightly grainy Vetiver. This phase reminds me a lot of Jean Couturier Coriandre’s later stages. The overall impression is one of a larger-than-life gardenia soliflore expanded into hyperreality by the other notes. The result is definitely a masculine floral albeit one that’s a bit dandyish (as am I!). It remains to be seen if this will tip into “love” territory with multiple wears but as a first impression I’m quite impressed.

This is the most beautiful gardenia-centric I’ve ever smelled. Milky and gorgeous, reminding me of the gardenia in Amouage Love Tuberose where you could feel that wet petal texture and a bit balmy, almost sunscreen-ey quality. Lavender stays at the background and has camphorous undertone, so I guess it’s Spike Lavender instead of French? The whole scent is super damp even with vetiver and oakmoss. A tad of Genet (soo cute) accord, I guess, is added just to give an oomph to the scent. And I think this oomph plus vetiver strangely amplifies the sunscreen-ey smell mentioned; the output turns out similarly to the drydown of datura note, such as in SL Datura Noir, which I find super sexy. I wouldn’t describe it as classy, rather semi-classic. Definitely consider a bottle.

This fragrance is nothing short of Brilliant. While it’s floral, there is a foundation of Green that drives & holds the experience making it masculine / unisex. Highly recommend for confident men looking to make a statement.

Strong gardenia and citrus blossom, white flowers and green slightly musky undertone. Can`t feel any other animalistic notes here. I guess the clean smell can pass for "lactonic" here. Overall cozy, floral, clean, sweet.

I think it’s funny how many people here are surprised and offended that a perfume called Boutonnière smells overwhelmingly like flowers. I adore this fragrance. It’s exceedingly lovely. Another one for Arquiste.

Love Love Love this fragrance. I feel the green stem tones from Gardina.... Highly recommend for clean/classy scent...Great job Carlos :)

For me, it seems to open with mint and ylang ylang before I start to notice the herbal notes like vetiver, lavender, and petitgrain. There is a bit of white floral (gardenia?) going on, which gets more noticeable as the perfume dries down. It seems a little thin? Transparent? There isn't any heavy base note to hold it down beyond the lavender and white floral scent. It doesn't seem to last very long on me, and it's 79 degrees F here. It doesn't project all that much either which makes it wearable for the office. Overall, nice scent but not the quality I was expecting for Arquiste.

This is a gorgeous Gardenia scent. It's luscious but also leafy. A beautiful scent for warm weather. If white flowers usually make you steer clear then be brave and try this. It's Gardenia with a leafy sappy twist. The Vetiver provides the greenness whilst the petit grain brightens and freshens the whole. After a while the genet starts to surface and has a negative affect on the scent. Well for me anyway. The beautiful scent begins to wain quite quickly even in this cold room! I get about an hour! Lovely while it lasted.

A very true, rubbery gardenia. Quite unidimensional, I would've never guessed there were other notes in the blend. I would consider this to be a soliflore. Not the most lactonic/creamy gardenia though, not green either. It's dense and almost balloon-ey. Overall a bit disappointed, there are definitely better gardenia frags out there. Edit: Contrarily to most gardenia-forward fragrances, the gardenia actually disappears in the dry-down, and then some sweet generic citrus/musky lavender combo is left. A bit uninteresting.

A very odd gardenia based scent, Boutonierre attempts to "masculinize" the effeminate flower. There is a brief, albeit beautiful opening which pairs the indolic gardenia blossom essence with lush citrus (bergamot and mandarin). This citrus/floral opening is quite lovely for its very short lasting efforts. A piercing (not much unlike fingernails on a chalkboard) animalic genet note ruins the composition for me. Its skanky, dirty qualities really submerses the ethereal beauty of the pure gardenia (here complimented well by another indolic partner-- jasmine), much akin to taking the blossom through a puddle of mud. I must admit that in time the genet note does tone down, but its brief predominance brandishes this fragrance an epic fail for me. (157)

She's a huge, billowing, LOUD gardenia. I'm disappointed because I tend to love gardenia in perfume (Chanel Gardenia, Van Cleef & Arpels Gardenia Petale, Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs) but I can't with this one. It's thick and cloying with additional (unwanted) sharpness thanks to lavender and petitgrain. 5/10

no. it's a big no. the gardenia is on the verge of intoxicating and fungal. very animalic as I don't like it. Lavender is very prominent. but this perfume is not for me. 4/10

This smells like a balloon that was rubbed against someone's head.... Rubbery, waxy, sharp....I must not like gardenia much.

Fower bomb. Like Carnal Flower, but less skanky/interesting. WAY too feminine for unisex IMO.

I can't stand animalic scents so this isn't for me (Fragrantica needs to include Castoreum in the base notes). Very green and a touch animalic

Strong gardenia throughout. Absolute scrubber.

Boutonniere No 7 is a fascinating and intoxicating gardenia, but here the gardenia has been manhandled. It is as if a man comes upon a gardenia, plucks it off the bush with the green leaves and stem intact, wraps his fingers around it in the palm of his hand and crushes it all together. When he opens his hand, what is left is the scent of Bounonniere No 7 gardenia. This is not a feminine gardenia at all; here it has been masculinized. The genet included provides the dirty green scent of the gardenia and lavender leaves which turn that lovely gardenia scent, bending it to a greener (but not fresher, more dirty) animalistic quality. This initial scent lasts quite a few hours. Later on in the dry down, the vetiver makes a stronger appearance, making this scent a perfect compliment to a suit and tie day. It is classy and clean. I wore this on a day that was very windy and a bit on the cool side, and it was perfect. The wind picked up the scent and kept blowing it my way, reminding me of the gardenia bushes I used to raise in my backyard. Longevity and sillage were both moderate for me.