Violet Ends

TL;DR I want to drown in Violet Ends while i f*ck the giant cap. Ahem. Here comes a long review! I love the "genderful" branding of Boy Smells and yearn for the old bottles from the before times. The Sephora baby bottles are cheap looking crap, and it's shocking to me they went in a very reduced, simplified, pastel direction. As I read reviews of various Boy Smells new and old, I felt it best to find one with notes that I enjoy, in one of the notorious full-sized black-topped bottles which I ADORE. Aesthetically, I love things that are categorically old, kitschy, and polarizing. I landed on Violet Ends in the old bottle and formula. Smells exactly like a gay bonfire. My lesbian boyfriend and I are obsessed with this perfume. He said a couple of things. One, to throw out all my other perfumes because this one is perfect, it's the alpha and omega of fragrance to him now. And two, that the bottle is ugly. But he hasn't seen the new Boy Smells bottles. Take it with a grain of 🧂 or just accept that you like an ugly perfume bottle like the rest 🍾 I may take a little trip to sample some of the ugly nipple new formulations, send my lesbian boyfriend some photographs saying "should I get this one [insert ugliest one here]?" I only like Woodphoria and Hinoki Phantôme as they are somewhat like the old bottle with the pink juice and dark caps...I just wish the almost-black nipples were actually BLACK!!!! Ugh. And this is all assuming my ocular nerve can handle the harsh fluorescent lights and contrasting black plastic display shelves at Sephora. We shall see if that day ever comes. Either way, there may be a couple more full sizes of Violet Ends on Bloomingdales website, in the discontinued bottle. Others may exist on eBay. Go forth and perfume over consume like a good f*ggot. You're welcome!! <33 ✨ In case anyone cares to read about the ACTUAL scent: it's a gay bonfire in a bottle. Sweetly smoky with that addictive tart rhubarb. Powdery and silky like a stranger's clean button down in a dimly lit lounge, or a fresh bar of soap drying on a hotel vanity. Festive, demure, marries beautifully with your skin's natural sweaty animalics. Perfect for cold weather. 💕 Layering recs: You can brighten and lighten Violet Ends up with Mugler's Aura, if that's in your wheelhouse. The added white florals makes a pineapple note splash out where there was not one, and the papery smokiness of Violet Ends mellows out the fruity sometimes sickly sourness of Aura significantly. They both share the lovely green rhubarb note but it's a scent chiaroscuro with all the other contrasting notes, plus at least on my skin the longevity of Violet Ends makes Aura pale in comparison (in a good way; Muglers on their own usually make me wanna die.) Similarly, Violet Ends partners well with Mugler's Alien, too, bringing out a fascinating licorice/anise accord and mellowing out Alien's often nauseatingly sharp spicy sweetness. You can even layer all three to get an absolutely demonic strawberry accord. I usually HATE strawberry perfume notes but this is like the watery, green leaf of the strawberry. It's f*cking awesome. Have fun and stay smelly 🌈

I hope to switch-out my ordinary, go-to, everyday fragrances of oud, cedar, amber, patchouli, resins, vanilla etc. with a perfume that is more feminine and definitely floral. I want to do so with a beautiful violet-centric fragrance. So, I ordered a violet focused EdP sampler pack and Violet Ends by Boy Smells was amongst the offerings. Violet Ends is a young, hip, totally unisex, new & fun fragrance that wears very well. I cannot imagine VE ever having mainstream appeal but nonetheless, this perfume is nice! This fragrance is simple to discover and understand because it has straight-forward performance. What is listed as notes is exactly what you get. Opening: VE opens with strong but not screechy violet notes. This is the entire violet with petals, stems, green & dirt. A bit of rhubarb gives it freshness and pink pepper gives it a nice spice. But VE opens as a violet-centric perfume. Middle: As the fragrance develops, this is where things get interesting. Within approximately 1-2 minutes, VE presents with pleasant, friendly, ashtray-type smoky, or tobacco notes. The tobacco note along with olibanum & a smudge of tea, cloak the violet opening, thus moving the fragrance into a very unique direction. Surprisingly, this smoky note pleasantly morphs (albeit clumsily...not what I'd consider seamlessly) with the previously presented violet notes and all of it somehow works. The introduction of tobacco and tea prevent the violet notes from becoming sappy, or honeyed in any way. The smoky, or tobacco note is not the nasty stale, or "dirty ashtray scent" one might recall with many tobacco notes. This ashy note introduces a unique dimension and some contemporary fun to what could otherwise be another ordinary green violet fragrance. Drydown: Within 30 minutes, distinct end notes of leather and a smear of wood emerge. This is where it all lands. Tobacco & violet notes continually rise, along with leather and wood. All of this makes Violet Ends an overall unique perfume experience. And even though VE contains what I would consider darker, or dirtier notes, this perfume never becomes vulgar, or crude. Longevity is good at 4+ hours during which I still detect violet, ash, tobacco and leather. Silage is initially moderate but moves into a skin experience within 30-45 minutes. Totally unisex, IMHO. Violet Ends evokes images of an artsy, happy (not brooding), pony-tail wearing, smart, art-school girl, sporting Doc Martens, jeans, a hip draped blouse...oh, and of course the requisite black leather jacket, heading out to a nighttime class, or a club...naturally she hopes to meet some sweet, sexy cute boy. Overall, this is a pretty "cool" scent.

Oh, Jerome Epinette. I don't know how you do it, but you keep making these great unisex fragrances that I always need a full bottle of. Going from the other reviews, Violet Ends is a pretty divisive; you'll either love it or hate it. But I can understand why. It's different, very distinctive, and not afraid of being a bit intense. Someone called it "not for the faint of heart," and I agree with that assessment. Violet Ends is my favorite scent from Boy Smells' core perfume collection, and it's one of my favorite fragrances, full stop. Like Tantrum, it's a bit abrasive at first; the black pepper, rhubarb and bergamot dominate for the first minute or so after you first apply it, making for one of the tartest openings I've ever smelled. But as the dry down begins, the tanned leather and tobacco bring some balancing earthiness to the scent, and the more shy, subtle notes of black tea, smoked papyrus and birch come through as it mellows even more. The sharp notes from the opening linger throughout each of Violet Ends' phases, but they lose a lot of their bite. Still, they are noticeably present even near the close of the fragrance. For those who dislike any acidity in their fragrances, this will be a turn-off, but personally I enjoy it. Funnily enough, or perhaps not at all considering the name, I find that the violets don't show up until the end, when the stronger notes have worn themselves out a bit. The iris I can't smell at all, though this is a note I have trouble finding in other scents, too, so that's probably just my nose. At the very end of its life cycle, Violet Ends is a papery, leathery skin scent with just enough floral sweetness to take the edge off the rhubarb that might otherwise sting a bit. And that last stage lingers - once the dry-down is complete, Violet Ends' final form sticks around for over twelve hours, at least on my skin. Whatever your opinion of this fragrance is, you can't deny its fascinating harmony - ferocity and gentleness.

This fragrance took me by surprise bc at first, on the test strip, I didn't like it at all. Now, it's the "wildcard" and a favorite within my collection which consists mostly of sweet, gourmand, floral, and musk. I like that it opened me up to notes I typically despise - tobacco and leather. The violet and rhubarb gives it a feminine vibe and opening, then the smokiness from the tobacco makes a quick (overpowering) special guest appearance. And then lastly, the faint rhubarb, and leather harmoniously blends into a sweetart, earthy, leathery scent. Violet Ends taught me that "complex" fragrances aren't always about depth, it can be the juxtaposition of notes within a linear scent. The person I envision wearing this marches to the beat of their own drum. They're edgy and confident. They probably enjoy art, music, and niche markets. I could see it being someone who likes moody aesthetic/vibes, smokes, or maybe even enjoys a sweet Mezcal cocktail at a speakeasy. If it's a female wearing this, she might have a slight tomboy side to her, but still values femininity and sensuality. If it's a male wearing this, I think he carries a bit of feminine energy bc of the sweet elements in this scent. I'm probably going to get crucified for this, but this is like an edgier cousin of scents in line with Le Labo Santal 33. This is 100000% not a safe blind buy and if you really want to give this scent a proper chance, take the risk spraying it on your skin within a span of a week knowing you might HATE it. It's a weird scent you either hate, love, or grow to love. I love this fragrance and I have a full bottle. It's unique and I get compliments on this from both men and women especially when I'm around a more niche artsy crowd.

This is a fascinating scent. The first time I smelled it I think I hated it. Like all of Boy Smell's scents that I've tried, it comes on very strong; the smokiness and rhubarb here are nearly overpowering when you first apply it. Once it sits on the skin for a bit, though, it really starts to open up. You still get those warm, smoky notes, but over time the violet comes to the fore and you start to pick up these wildly contradictory floral notes. The birch sits just below the surface while all of this is going on, subtly tying it all together. I grew up in a rural area, surrounded by miles and miles of forest, and this scent brings back details I thought I'd forgotten; think of a smoldering bonfire or the last dull embers of a grill, hastily abandoned just before a firecracker of a summer storm tears through the area, carrying with it bright streaks of wildflowers caught on the wind. It's genuinely one of the most unique scents I've encountered, and there's nearly endless depth to it. My only complaints would be that it's not especially long-lasting, and it's such an arresting fragrance that it's not really suited to everyday use.