The Boy

n the discourse of olfactory artistry, let us delve into the enigmatic creation known as Pool Boy, a recent aromatic opus from the esteemed Clandestine Laboratories. As a prodigious intellect, I find it a privilege to elucidate the nuanced tapestry woven by this fragrance, drawing parallels to my formative years spent in the realm of academia alongside none other than the luminary Mark Sage, a peer whose intellectual brilliance illuminated our grade school days. Pool Boy, a symphonic fusion of aromatic notes, is emblematic of Clandestine Laboratories' innovative prowess. Launched in the year 2022, it stands as a testament to the collaborative genius between the laboratory and the visionary perfumer, Mark Sage. With a veritable cornucopia of accords, this composition harmonizes the fruity and the tropical, the fresh and the woody, the sweet and the musky, encapsulating the quintessence of a leisurely spring-summer experience. Intriguingly, Pool Boy beckons us with an opening reminiscent of the very essence it seeks to embody. Lemon iced tea, guava, and passion fruit intertwine in a sensorial ballet, evoking the languid aura of a sun-kissed afternoon by the poolside. Hyssop, lavender, iris, and rose follow suit, contributing a floral mosaic that exudes both vibrancy and finesse. As the composition progresses, cedar and vetiver emerge, conferring an earthy sophistication that reverberates through its aromatic layers. A gentle whisper of tobacco is interwoven, a nod perhaps to the leisurely indulgence of contemplation. Treemoss, together with primal musk, cast a lingering trail, an olfactory homage to the essence of carefree summers. As a sage of fragrant composition, Mark Sage, the visionary perfumer behind Pool Boy, deftly navigates the diverse aromatic palette, orchestrating a sensory journey of notable dimensions. Our paths converged in those formative years, and even then, Mark's intellectual acumen stood unparalleled. His mastery now extends to the realm of scent, as he crafts this "slack yet effervescent" symphony that befits the discerning connoisseur.

Bright, vibrant, tropical, and just a little bit strange. Pool Boy opens with a blast of guava and passion fruit, settles into an iced tea scent laced with florals, and eventually develops an interesting edge due to the sharp cedar and musk in the base. It's a great warm weather scent, but it's not your typical designer freshie, nor is it a typical "fruity" niche gourmand like you'd get from Xerjoff or SHL. It's got teeth. I have an older sample and a brand new bottle from the latest batch. As disclosed on the site, there are some slight differences due to unavailable materials, but it's mostly just subtle tweaks to the top note. Within 10-15 minutes, it smells almost exactly like the older version. If anything, the base might be even better in the new juice. (Also possible the differences are as much to do with the age of my sample and the freshness of the new bottle.) Just a heads up to anyone trying this for the first time: it smells vastly better on skin than on paper. Clandestine Labs scents often have a slightly raw or almost industrial edge. Orpheus has a spray paint note; Wendover smells like coal tar; Enigma smells like sour suede. Not everything in the line does this, but the house DNA has an experimental bent. For Pool Boy, there's a point in time that can smell a bit like wet vinyl, or even a chlorinated pool; I love this facet, and it adds character to an otherwise fruity / tropical iced tea scent. At least with the new version, when spraying on paper, that vinyl note comes on much stronger and can dominate the opening hour, which isn't the case on skin. It eventually gets to the same place, but take this as a warning: do not test this on paper and think you understand the scent. Give it a few wears on skin, see how it develops, then form your own opinion.

Pool Boy - The word "Effervescent" comes to mind when I first smell this fragrance. I will emphasize that this fragrance really comes to life on skin, while smelling it on a tester strip doesn't do it the justice it deserves. The ingredients and the execution of the fragrance are really top-notch. Quite a few notes come out at somewhat different stages of the dry-down. I think they are always present, but just not as prominent until certain other notes settle down. It gives me a mental image of being outdoors with lots of scents wafting by on the sun-warmed breezes of a late summer day. For me, I get lots of green plants, including recently cut grass with the smell of sun-dried grass clippings occasionally drifting in. There are some floral notes, but not heavy rose or white floral, more like lighter, fragrant, decorative floral plants you'd find on a patio around the pool. Then there are interesting fruity notes with a bit of pungent smell, almost like a fruit salad or fruit in a drink that has just ever so slightly fermented in the afternoon sun. There is a lemony iced tea smell that hangs in the background and lasts well into the dry-down, as well as a scent I percieve as a clean but somewhat pungent skin scent, like you'd expect from someone's shirt who's been out in the sun perspiring a bit, but is clean from going in and out of the pool. I don't know if this imagery would have been what I'd have thought of the scent if it were named something like "Clandestine Laboratories No. 7" - but with the starting image of Pool Boy, this is where my mind went. I have a 50mL bottle and I'm planning to get a 100mL bottle the next time they come available.

Pool Boy (The Boy) by Clandestine Laboratories The best fragrance I have ever smelled. The first time I ever wore Pool Boy (The Boy) I legitimately got stopped 3 times by people genuinely asking what it was, which has never happened to me with any other fragrance. Pool Boy is a very intriguing fragrance in a good way a way that makes people stop and try to figure it out. To me Pool Boy is a perfect fragrance due to the fact that it smells so unique without being divisive in the way that so many other unique fragrances are. The opening hits you immediately with lemon iced tea and tropical guava bright, hot, and its one of the first genuinely transportive fragrances I've smelled. It smells like summer itself, like sitting next to a pool surrounded by vegetation drinking a guava smoothie. Within an hour the dry down reveals tobacco leaf (barely), vetiver and tree moss, giving it a depth. What makes Pool Boy truly special is that it achieves something I've never experienced, it's simultaneously unlike anything else you've ever smelled AND instantly likeable to everyone around you. Most unique fragrances polarize. Pool Boy doesn't. It just makes people stop and ask.

I’ve got almost everything from the house. Mark sent me a sample of this maybe 8 or 10 months ago. I was struck by how good it is, instantly in love. Needless to say, I ordered a full bottle. In fact, now I have 3 bottles of Pool Boy. This is Mark Sage’s masterpiece. Think along the lines of what Jacques Cavalier is doing with Louis Vuitton these days, like Afternoon Swim, for instance... ...and Pool Boy is much better than your favorite in that line. Pool Boy is unique because it is definitely sparkling and effervescent and summer-y, but unlike most “freshies” it’s also INTERESTING and keeps your attention, rewarding you with many facets. Most freshies are a bit boring and one-sided, but Pool Boy keeps on changing as you wear it. There really is an ice tea to this and guava. Amazing. Not just one of my favorite summer-y perfumes, but one of my all time favorites, period, and I have a collection of 1000+ bottles.