Lucius

I normally don't criticize other people's opinions on fragrances. At the end of the day, tastes in fragrances are quite unique and subjective. But Lucius reminds me of this Star Wars show called Andor. Some folks call that show boring, but in truth there is so much depth and a lot going on with the plot moving forward that I dare to say "objectively", people with a lack of attention span may fail to notice follow through. So it seems like a simple thing on the surface, but the depth it offers is immaculate. That's how I'd describe Lucius. I don't see anything boring, generic, or dull about it, and I like my energetic and daring fragrances. So what is this fragrance about? This is a citrusy, ambery, pink peppery, white floral, woody fragrance. On the surface, quite generic, right? Nahh, let me explain. The citrus part is just in the opening. High-quality, bright, fresh, juicy bergamot and mandarin with an added sweetness and spiciness from the pink pepper. If you do not like pink pepper, though, you might not like this fragrance straight away. Town & Country vs. Lucius Now, some people compare it to Town & Country, and though they do lean around the same realm with how the citruses are delivered and how both fragrances have the Baccarat Rouge DNA. Town & Country is more powdery, soapy, ambergris- ambroxan heavy, while Lucius is sweeter, ambery, and woody. The citrus on Town & Country sticks for hours, while the citrus on Lucius is just a complement in the opening. Keeping on. After the citrus waft, orange blossom, amber,, and pink pepper start to mix. This blend is extremely masterful, expensive, elegant, sophisticated, and smooth. It is in this part that Lucius starts showing its own uniqueness. It seems simple from the notes, but there's so much depth and dimension. You can pinpoint how they are using the best of the best and blending them mathematically. Jordi Fernandez is the perfumer of this fragrance, who has made the most famous Maison Crivelli, Ex Nihilo fragrances, and I like how he mentions how important is the science in the process of creating this fragance. Now, let's get into the drydown, which compounds the vetiver and woody aspect, or, well, the cedarwood used in here. There is what I call a 3rd dimensional aspect in the wood that I found quite curious because it is such a thing that you rarely get below this price point. Let me explain it my way: imagine someone chopped off an exotic wood taken from some exotic place. They made the wood rectangular and clearly smooth in the cut, and they let the wood sit inside some smoky floral ambery barbecue with a light vetiver touch?, You are then offered to smell this stick or piece of rectangular wood as if it you were smelling some habano (do not get confused, there is no tobacco aspect in here), and that moment when you smell it your brain kind of automatically compute and agree with fact that you are smelling a third dimensional object, somehow you feel that even without the wood in your hands or being offered, ust by the blindless smell of it, you know the wood has body-- A geometry that resembles a hard rectangular wood. What I mean, in sum, by all this crazy description is that the wood or cedarwood has a lot of body and a thickness to it, it has a geometry, and you can pinpoint it. It's masterfully crafted. Of course, you do not smell this in the sillage or projection; you have to smell it up close to notice it, but either way, it is part of the build of this fragrance. Lastly, the amber and tonka bean in the drydown. This is mainly an amber fragrance, but there is this point in the deep drydown where the amber turns candy complemented by the tonka bean sweetness, almost gourmand. Like a candy ball made of sweet amber, it melts into the thick, square woodiness. The vetiver mixed with candy amber makes the fragrance provide an aura of sweet smell like if it were reminiscent of a cigarette package, but there is nothing tobacco about it though. Conclusion: Personally, I think there is an impressive quality and depth in here; it has its originality, its own thing, contrary to what "boring" alike posting here. About the price point, yes, it's high. I bought it discounted, and because of my good contacts, I paid $260 for it. For that price, I think it is great. But that $435 retail price... I do agree that it is a stretch. You pay for the luxury and the top-notch unboxing experience, though; even the bottle is super luxurious. A box worth keeping. Lastly, the people worried about performance. The performance is great, but I did have my doubts in the beginning. At first I thought the performance was lackluster, but now I don't think so about it. The fragrance is an extrait de parfum and clearly macerates and improves with some usages and by keeping it sheltered in the dark throughout the months. I think at this point, performance-wise, I consider it semi-nuclear. I say this understanding people who do not believe in maceration, though. Each on its own. This is absolutely NO placebo for me. 10/10 as a scent. The price removes half a point, 9.5/10.

TLDR: This is the best thing I have ever set my nostrils on. Review starts at third paragraph. When I embarked on this journey over two years ago in an effort to find only two of the very greatest fragrances that I'd genuinely spend my money on, I found the first quickly into this obsession. As someone who is still quite young, I'm enticed by fragrances that slightly go against the norm. I want someone to walk by me and realize a brand new smell that they may have never felt before. I wanted to be my own man. So, I started researching fragrances like a maniac. I purchased samples and such, looking for the one that would change my life. The very first example of that came in the form of Tony Iommi. I knew about Fragrance du Bois before, having tried Oud Orange Intense. I liked the idea of it, but almost forced myself to fall in love becuase it was different. But did I really enjoy it? Not entirely. So imagine my face as I enter Neiman Marcus the next time and see this black glistening bottle and am told it's fresh and dark. Okay, I give it a shot. For those that don't care about all that, here is my review. I spray it on. It begins like every single other classy fresh niche fragrance you can think of. So I don't really think much of it. I try plenty other fragrances in there and leave. A couple hours later I leave the mall and the Florida heat lights up the fragrances on my skin. Or better, I should say fragrance, singular. There was one looming above the rest. And it was this. My goodness that dry down is truly one of a kind. This fragrance serves to fight the norm that freshies are basic, because my goodness, I was speechless. This is me. This is the smell of a man that is rebellious, yet refined. This is something dark, yet lights up and radiates in the heat. It is something that is so complex that my head kind of can't get around it, and honestly I apologize for not giving you, the reader, a better description of the fragrance. I will get a bottle of this the very next chance I get.

Lucius is luxury and it’s to be expected with the price you’d be forking out. From presentation to the quality of ingredients, everything is of the highest tier. Many have this misconception that it’s this super dark masculine fragrance but it’s as versatile as can be. Scent: Initial few times I wore Lucius I was very put off by the opening as that pink pepper spiciness was overbearing but the more I wear it, the subtler it becomes. Now, I get lightly spiced citruses before that pepper blends into the heart notes and that dry down of luxurious amber, woods and bergamot with a light touch of earthiness and leather to give it a super rich depth even though leather isn’t stated (but it’s what I smell). Performance: I’ve seen some people say that Lucius performs quite beastly but for me it’s bang average. Nothing crazy with decent projection till it becomes a skin scent at about the 4 hour mark. Versatility: Super close to getting a perfect score here but I do believe during hot summer days the amber-y sweetness could become a tad cloying so do still spray with consideration. Other than that I can’t think of any occasion where Lucius WOULDN’T work. Scent: 10/10 Performance: 6/10 Versatility: 9.5/10 Personal Score: 9/10 Easy entry into the top fragrances in my collection just based on richness of scent alone. Leaves a scent trail of wealth even if the price point does require you to have some wealth.

I really quite like this. Despite not smelling like anything else I own, it’s not particularly unique or different and yet it has a combination of elements that just work. I’d class this as a masculine leaning, easy wear, versatile fragrance that could serve many purposes. Plus it’s by one of my favourite perfumers - Jordi Fernandez. I can’t say I’m too keen on the initial opening but it settles down after a few minutes. You’re then left with some warm, candied citrus notes, combined with some sweetness, a slight floral heart, underpinned with some woods and what seems to me like an ambroxan base. I can’t compare it to anything and yet it still smells a little mainstream but that’s not a criticism as it’s well done and is very wearable. If there were issues with performance in the first batch, that’s certainly been rectified now. I sprayed some on my hand the first night and it was still faintly there in the morning and my skin is rubbish at holding fragrances. It maintained a persistent trail all the time I was wearing it. The first time I wore it out to a meal, a lady complimented me on how good I smelt and a colleague complimented me a few days later. Many might see this as a generic masculine leaning fragrance that’s well overpriced but, for whatever reason, I just think it’s a great, versatile fragrance that I’m sure I’ll get much enjoyment from.

I don’t have much to add that other reviews haven’t touched on. The opening is a beautiful peppery citrus scent that hits you like a truck. After which it evolves into a pleasant citrus/pepper infused amber drydown with an underlying woody scent. Unfortunately for myself after the initial opening, i go completely noseblind to the scent unless i consciously sniff where i have sprayed it, so if you are someone who likes to be able to smell a scent long after you have sprayed it, this could also be the case for you so it is worth trying a sample on skin before buying. The performance is still great though as i received compliments long after i applied it even though i couldn’t smell it on me. I would say it doesn’t project very far, it sits more in a kinda small bubble around you. The one comparison i haven’t seen anyone make which i was very surprised about is how similar the drydown ends up to Matiere Premiere Vanilla Powder Extrait. I recently purchased both and for me the similarity is there. Both have this very distinct and potent vanilla scent on the drydown, only Lucius doesn’t list any vanilla in the notes and is more vanilla-adjacent rather than Vanilla Powders all out vanilla scent. Unusual but very similar if you happen to own both give them a try side by side. All in all it’s a beautiful unisex scent that i would say fits for daily wear. 9/10