Violet Ends (2025)

On the other side of my fragrance favorites, this hits every damp note I love. Not much violet that I can pick up on, but this comes across very wet, earthy, and slightly decayed (think about the forest a few days after a storm--some trees have fallen over, and the mushrooms are starting to poke up from the ground). When I wear this alone, it feels very mysterious and subtle. If I wanted a strong, impactful scent, I would go with something else, but if I'm going out with some friends for a few hours or going to campus, this is perfect. Perfect for transitional seasons and times of growth. I mentioned this in my review for Another 13, but I LOVE the way the two smell when layered. Another 13 makes it smell more mossy (contributing to the dampness), and combines well to amplify the bergamot and black pepper. I don't get much rhubarb, it more comes in the form of a bit of acid that cuts through the wet.

I originally met this scent through the Boy Smell candle. I was hooked on first burn. Then I realized that they made this scent profile in a fragrance and I immediately had to buy. The scent reminds me of a night at the bar wearing a nice floral scent. The night goes on - and you end up at the dive bar where people smoke cigarettes indoors and the smoke permeates your clothes that results in a pleasant smokey/floral scent that is truly intoxicating. I love it.

I really like it! I have the discontinued blend and this is pretty true to that scent, which I also enjoy. The most impressive from the new set, alongside Woodphoria which I also felt was pretty true to the original from top to bottom.

I just got out of the shower, got dressed for the day, grabbed my umbrella, and went for a casual stroll on an overcast day. It's almost October, but the days still bring a sweat. The trail is adjacent to a thin layer of woods. Raindrops gently flick the umbrella. My hair is starting to curl from the humidity. It's time to go inside and sit at my computer for work. "Just a few more minutes", I plea to the sky. The emails can't wait much longer... I take a deep breath, inhale the earthy florals once more, drop my umbrella just long enough for a couple raindrops to kiss my face. With a sigh, I walk back inside, savoring each moment in the wild. This was my first experience with Boy Smells Violet Ends. It's a beautiful, earthy floral, but a bit too masculine for my everyday taste. If it leaned more as a true unisex, I would purchase a full size in a heartbeat. Violet Ends is a magical, tragic, and melancholic fragrance. In my opinion, it is best worn outdoors, and only outdoors. I will not purchase a full-size, but I will keep the sample for days like this. Ideally, when I can spend more time outside.

I do not understand the reviews calling this fragrance ‘subtle’ or ‘soft’. This is that 90s claymation Lipton Tea commercial: “THAT’S BRISK BABY”. This is your friend’s trippy black light poster. This is stepping into ‘the shimmer’ in Annihilation (the movie, not the book). Violet Ends is a neon fever dream. It’s dry and it’s dank. It’s light and it’s dark. It’s fresh and it’s stinky. To not smell the violet here is to not see the forest for the trees. It’s a dripping wet sledgehammer. But the other notes are powerful, too, which is why it works, I guess. The leather is photorealistic (reminiscent of Leatherize), the tea is CRISP, and the rhubarb/bergamot top notes are a total sucker punch. I don’t love the mega assertive opening, but after about 30 minutes, it settles into something quite nice. Great performance— this fragrance takes me through a long day, which I love. It’s nice being able to ‘set it and forget it’ and know I’m gonna smell great for a solid 5+ hours.

The opening on this is strong, far too much bergamot and lasts a bit longer than I'd like (I was choking on it in the car on my 20 minute commute) but when it settles down it reminds me why I liked this brand in the first place. Skin chemistry will dictate whether the violet sparkles on your skin or evaporates totally, but on me it dances beautifully with the leather and patchouli. Violet comes and goes, that's just how the chemical makeup of the scent is, and while I usually get annoyed by this peekaboo behavior in a more solidly feminine I really appreciated it here. While a leather-patchouli-floral combo isn't rare, I think this most reminds me of Lá-Bas, which I do adore but cannot find myself shelling out for a full size. While I will probably say the same here for myself as I have other scents I feel more strongly about, I will be happy to gift this to my boyfriend and smell it on him. Bravo on a good reformulation Boy Smells.

This gives pure grandpa, and not in a bad way. It’s a lot of leather, a bit of tobacco [somehow that’s not listed in the notes, but it’s giving a literal tin of fresh chewing tobacco], and just a whisper of frankincense and violet somewhere in the background. The overall impression is of an older gentleman, sitting in his well-worn leather armchair, loading his pipe with fresh tobacco before he settles down to read the newspaper. For me, this is going to be more of a base layer to add other scents on top of. Something boozy, ambery, and sweet will go really well with this, but I can’t see myself wearing it on its own. It will definitely serve a purpose in my collection though.

it smells like the inside of an old car with leather seats while sitting next to a smoker, weirdly nostalgic but not for me. [EDIT] on skin its actually really nice as it has a somewhat realistic earl grey scent its just the leather smell too.. car seat like?

Citrusy, then herbal and green turning earthy. Quite leathery. The birch is giving men's deodorant. The violet is not as piercingly unpleasant as I typically find violet -- more floral and less violet leaf, I guess? The more soft/natural violet juxtaposed with the plasticky, synthetic leather is interesting and evokes wearing a leather jacket on a cold wet night after going to the disco. It was mostly gone within 8 hours.

This took me by surprise as my favorite Boy Smells scent. The leather is balanced, and doesn't overshadow everything else, which I love. The violet is candied and gently powdered, and it stays throughout the life of the wear. The frankincense is resinous but again, doesn't overshadow anything else and serves as support to the sweetness. I find this extremely well blended and enticing.

The main thing I get is watermelon strawberry lemonade. A base of typical man cologne, alcoholic masculine base but instead of something fresh or woody its straight up watermelon powdered lemonade. Tbh the only usage this guy gets now is to perfume my car AND whenever i use it before someone gets in they think i got one of those gas station car fresheners.

This perfume is good for a rainy, gloomy day. I don't hate it, but I dont really love it. The violet name in the name is deceiving because it's not really there. If it is, it's violently overpowered by the base notes. It's fine, but like I said, not violet at all.

The smoke overwhelms the other scents for me. I wanted more floral notes

The opening is giving lemongrass bugspray (strong bergamot and frankincense), but it dries down pretty quick. Then a manly woods/citrus that's saved by violet. The most aromatic of the discovery set. Somewhat grape-y/iris-y, leathery for sure. This is a leather that can be worn in summer heat due to the strong bergamot, other aromatics, and greeness/rhubarb. Edit 11/3/25: Wearing this today and on me it dries down very green and aromatic with a grapey-violet, and a masculine musk in the base. I'd prefer this on a man, although I still like it. (Almost gives men's shaving cream)

The leather in this goes very smoky on me, to the point it winds up reminding me of an alternate (almost like a masc version) take on the same concept as Jasmin et Cigaratte from ELDO. As that one is an all-time favorite I absolutely love this too. Somewhat gasoline-y violet, smoky, dark leather and papyrus, and a bit of that black tea are what this is all about. Pretty striking and daring for what seems to present itself as a relatively accessible and designer-adjacent brand.

Extremely dry. I wish the black tea or the rhubarb felt a bit wet just to give some relief. The dryness is a little suffocating, but there's something really good here.

Smells almost exactly like an old spice body wash I used to use when I was like 13. It’s oddly extremely masculine. 99% sure the old spice wash was called “swagger”

This is really incredible. A spicy tea scent that dries down with an incredible leather. Leans masculine, but the floral notes keep it fresh and light.