Boy Eau de Parfum

Fougeres, being one of the main olfactive families, is certainly a category that you would find difficult to evade as you delve deeper into fragrances. This Olivier Polge creation, being one of the first two Les Exclusifs that he concocted for Chanel is a great representation of a fougere, although not in the strictly classical form. Opening with a blanket of lavender, geranium and citruses with coumarin trickling in just at the half hour mark, this ticks off all the hallmarks of a typical fougere. Sandalwood comes on at mid wear marking this as an aromatic, as woods, spices and herbs would do to a fougere. What sets this off as a noticeably unique fougere is the modern composition and the sparkling powdery, aldehydic Chanel DNA toning down the usual masculinity of a fougere and thus making it more appealing to the fairer sex and also to those looking for a less robust, less aggressive form of a traditional barbershop. This is a great starting point to explore the wonderful world of fougeres. One thing that I have always thought of as being off the mark for this Les Exclusif, is its name. The perfume industry is notorious in building pre-conceptions to their products. Similar to the gastronomic community where the saying “that you eat first with your eyes” is common, so too is the olfactive industry where pre-conceptions are crucial in helping steer olfactive expectations before you get your nose on the scent. For example, although in form colourless unless it is from prohibitively expensive natural extracts, the colour of a fragrance is important in helping to classify its olfactive family, with yellow/beige for citruses, red/orange for ambers and heavy woods, greens for herby/earthy and so on. Thus, naming a fragrance is also crucial in setting expectations towards a scent. Unfortunately, the name Boy does not give any indication to what this fragrance would likely smell like and without knowing the backstory, it would remain a complete mystery. Olivier Polge decided that for his first two creations for the Les Exclusif line, he would name two figures that were of significance to Coco Chanel, with 2016’s Boy as a tribute to Arthur “Boy’ Capel, an English polo playing nobleman from more than a century ago who would have been a totally anonymous character if he had not been Coco Chanel’s long-time, not so secret lover. The other tribute is 2015’s Misia, being a tribute to the art patron Misia Sert.

I completely understand why this has become such a beloved fragrance. The opening is unmistakably classic Chanel. It starts with that familiar aldehydic, almost barbershop-like freshness, with lavender and bright citrus leading the way. If you’re not expecting it, it can feel quite traditional—but give it a few minutes. On my skin, that phase disappears surprisingly quickly. What follows is where Boy becomes truly special. The fragrance transforms into one of the most beautiful clean scents I’ve ever worn. It’s airy, creamy, softly musky, and incredibly refined. Nothing feels sharp or overly soapy. Instead, everything melts together into this elegant cloud that sits close to the skin while still maintaining enough presence to keep you smelling your wrist. I think the geranium is what makes this fragrance so captivating. Rather than smelling floral, it adds an aromatic, slightly green quality that keeps everything feeling fresh and alive. Combined with the lavender, it creates the impression of walking through a field of wildflowers rather than wearing a bouquet. Oddly enough, whenever I wear Boy, I picture daisies. There aren’t any daisy notes here, and daisies barely have a scent, but that’s the image this fragrance creates in my mind. It reminds me of the fields I grew up around—wildflowers scattered through tall grass, warm sunshine, dry hay, and a gentle breeze. The coumarin contributes that beautiful hay-like warmth, while the musk and sandalwood give everything a soft, creamy texture. It feels less like smelling flowers and more like smelling the air surrounding them. Despite its fougère structure, Boy never feels dated to me. Olivier Polge took the DNA of a classic masculine fragrance and softened it with heliotrope, vanilla, musk, and sandalwood, creating something that feels effortlessly modern and incredibly wearable. This isn’t a loud fragrance. It isn’t trying to command attention. It’s simply elegant, comforting, and quietly sophisticated. To me, Boy smells less like a perfume and more like a memory—a peaceful afternoon in the countryside surrounded by wildflowers, warm grass, and clean air. It’s one of the most beautiful clean fragrances in my collection.

She loved him, dearly. That was the first thought that I had when I smelled Boy on a blotter strip. Now that it's on skin, I'm not so sure that's the same feeling I get. On a strip Boy comes across as very gently masculine; a very slight and quiet lavender fougere tinged with sparkling florals and aldehydes. I got this image of Coco picturing a boy in her mind's eye and swooning with love - a masculine energy hugged by feminine longing - whether that was a love interest of Coco's or perhaps the thought of the son she never had. My heart swelled with hers. On skin, the perfume's behavior is a bit different. The sparkling aldehydic florals present themselves more simply as sparkling citrus fruits with a slightly more robust lavender. The floral middle is noticeably subdued. The gentle musks of the base allow the sandalwood and moss to have greater projection. On skin then, this is shaping out to be much more of a typical masculine fougere than, shall we say, a feminine fougere. It is Fougere Royale given the Chanel treatment of French chic and restrained elegance via powdery florals and a gentle voice. It does go far enough in that direction that even most women, I suspect, would be quite comfortable wearing this perfume - a very rare thing for the fougere category. Then I learned what actually inspired this fragrance: Boy is the nickname of Arthur Capel, considered to be Coco's one-and-only true love, who was killed in a car accident in his 30s. The pieces then fall into place as I am smelling it. This is a fougere about longing and the remembrance of a lost-love. The love of and for a man who is fading further into passing time. It's a very lovely perfume, if a bit sad and almost a bit too heart-swelling. Like the most heart-wrenching of stories about love lost and longing, they are stories more suited to private moments than public broadcast, which is probably why this perfume's projection and sillage is quite minimal. I have a hard time picturing when, where, and with whom I would wear this perfume, so for private moments it will be. I will likely rarely wear it, but it is a story I am very glad to know.

BOY starts with a classic uplifting aromatic “barbershop” scent. But it doesn’t smell like a traditionally masculine scent at all. As Chanel advertises boy is a scent for a woman with traces of a mans cologne , like a woman waking up after a night in his shirt or his bed. There is a soft velvety accord from the musk and raw materials chanel uses, the “sexy skin scent” . The lavender smells clean and beautiful but not too soapy nor too harsh. The heliotrope smells like sweet powdery almond, and then there is vanilla, and both of these help to balance the masculine notes very well. Just beautifully done in my opinion. I find it soothing and sensual and very natural if you will. Another thing I love about Boy is that it's quite lemony in its beginning and so refreshing as well as soothing it does have a great masculine character in its beginning and then soon shows this sensuous soft vanilla almond face that is much more feminine than expected in the biginning. It is in fact just what Polge wanted to achieve and he has done so well. There is something about BOY, likely the lavender and vanilla, that reminds me of Guerlain Jicky. Not with regards to the scent itself, but more so in the warm sexy Lavender perfume category. Another one of my favourite perfumes in that category is Jersey, which is a more soft and fluffy lavender vanilla musk scent . Again very different but both play on lavender musk as their main accords. BOY is a soft, powdery clean but warm smelling perfume and I just love it , it went strait to my top shelf. I do wish it would last longer. It turns into a skinscent after an hour and wears very close to the skin. However it's beautiful and the coumarin / benzoin enhance the vanilla combined with the heliotrope as a faboukes skin scent that stays very long when smelled up close. I don't mind to respray through the day. It's nice this way to get the lavender side of Boy a few times through the day ! BOY is the only one of the les exclusives that comes in the EDP version but all the other les exclusives will be changed to the EDP version come October 2016.

I quite like this. I don't love it with passionate, wild, must hoard bottles love, but I really like it. I think this is perfect for spring-summer, holds up to heat well, and very classy, cheerful, bright yet subdued. I'm a lavender lover (I don't think there are really very many of us), and this is a mellow lavender, not crunchy, herbacious, medicinal. I love lavender in ANY form, but this is soft, very approachable. As others have noted, it's a bit of shape-shifter, and after a very brief top-note exhibit of lavender-geranium (and clean French milled soapiness) this one pulled toward the citrus side--and maintained it for hours (unusual for citrus I think). The rose, the vanilla, the heliotrope are very well blended so that not one stands out but all are present in a well-choreographed dance; no one is upstaging until the dry down when the heliotrope and musks merge into a powder and send the other flowers off stage. What I do not get is the coumarin or sandalwood; it's so sanitized and soft that it's not present. Overall this somehow manages to do many things well enough: citrus fresh, breezy-clean, brisk and uplifting, as well as soft powder, soothing dry-down, almost sensual-sexy--but not quite. I almost hate to write these words since they are so often a kiss of death for me and others but this IS office friendly; however, for me wearing this to the office would put me in a cheerful mood, ready to face the day, braced with a little citrus without fumigating people. The longevity when sprayed with a lavish hand is pretty good. The silage is low to moderate. As others have noted, when dosed heavily with the juice, there is a point of diminishing returns; it just will not increase in silage or scent trail. Longevity increases, as does one's enjoyment, but that's it. While this is billed as unisex, and supposedly leans toward the male consumer (one whose "girl" will pilfer his bottle), I think it tilts feminine. A guy could certainly pull this off, and some women might find it "too clean" to be masculine, but the powder qualities skew feminine for me.