Elaborate

Elaborate is a controversial scent, one so polarising you will either love it or hate it. It is a musky leather which has been recreated by a select few other perfume houses, namely Fragrance du Bois with their release of PM which is very similar, better in fact. The leather is not as expected, it is nothing less than unconventional to say the least - slightly metallic, sharp and obnoxiously strong. It doesn’t smell like civet, but there is a sharp muskiness to it, turning the scent almost sour. As I said some will hate it, as for me I really enjoy it but I think PM does this scent profile better, with a little more going on. Some have said it smells like cocaine, I would not know. But it certainly does not smell of anything natural or delicate - this is boldly synthetic and almost otherworldly, in a nice way. I’m glad to have a 10ml but could never get through a full 100ml bottle.

I made a commitment to myself to acquire at least three colognes from Boadicea House, and I am delighted to announce that I have recently added Elaborate to my collection.🥰🥰🥰 This fragrance possesses remarkable longevity, with a projection that can last for over ten hours, in my personal experience. However, it is essential to note that Elaborate is an intense fragrance, and those who prefer more subtle scents may find it overpowering.

If there was a perfume created for die hard animalic fans, it is this strange beauty from Boadicea. A more intense version of their own Complex it must be experienced to be believed. The perfume opens on a really strong note of crushed violets and civet before moving to a heart of mostly oud and leathery notes and then settles into a powdery synthetic musk base. The unisex perfume softens very quickly after what many may consider a harsh opening. It needs a strong personality to carry off given its strong sillage and projection. Akin to being wrapped in a mink coat Only for the most adventurous of perfume lovers. Enjoy!

Opening smells like cocaine. It might be that violet leaf accord working in concert with more medicinal type of oud creates this effect. But thankfully It lasts only few minutes. Later I think that I can feel oud hidden behind plasticky, vegetal green leather. Colour that it creates in my minds eye is somewhere between deep blue and crystal green, but bleached. Longevity and sillage is enormous. It is a weird creation and like it alot, but it is more for personal enjoyment

Elaborate by Boadicea the Victorious is a remarkable perfume, with enormous sillage and longevity, and a truly individual, challenging scent. Unfortunately for me, it’s not a scent I like! The opening blast of acrid, bitter leather, tempered only slightly by civet, musk, and oud, never lets up, projecting enormously and lasting for hours. Even after a shower, it still projects as strongly as some weaker scents! With its superb performance and unusual scent, I can see why someone could love this. I’m not sure why I don’t. I love warm, strong, musky, skanky animalic and leather fragrances, barnyard ouds, and classic chypres (e.g., numerous different scents from Prin, Hyrax by Zoologist, Boadicea’s Victory and Nebulous, Salome by Papillon, Areej le Doré’s War and Peace, Spirit of Dubai's Meydan, Roja's Diaghilev, Bogue's Maai, etc.), but to me this perfume is very different to those. It’s the acrid note that puts me off, I think. In Elaborate the leather note is pushed to the max, lacking the warm, comforting, animal-fur-like quality that I crave or a balance of other notes. It's more reminiscent of the process by which an animal skin is tanned into leather than animal fur or a delicately cured glove.