Bois d'Hadrien

This is one of those scents you need to overspray a bit to get out their true character. One or two sprays, and I got a mellow, sweet green scent that didn't really do what it promised; not bad, at all; but not alluring and enticing. But when you go a little heavier on the trigger - one of the best atomizers you can find on the market - Bois d'Hadrien starts to deliver on its promises. A touch of light, airy green citruses - zesty, and fresh, but subtle in their concentration, opens your walk in a Mediterranean forest. You walk on maritime pine needles, slightly uphill - it's warm and you sweat, but the conifers offer you some shade from the sun. Bois d'Hadrien is like that: it suggests the warmth humidity of your sunny Mediterranean grove, and the pleasure of the shade it offers. It's difficult to render this in words, but if you ever been on a hilly walk in southern France, or Liguria or even Tuscany, you know what I mean. Fir really goes so nicely with zesty citruses and here they are mixed so masterfully. Balsamic fir has also a very nice way to expand and diffuse the green qualities of this concoction and all the nice things Goutal put in this beauty. And it's so nice how the lemon and lime continue to radiate from your arm. They walk with you, with accents of greener freshness which to me smell like juniper and myrtle. Until a point, that is: when you reach those ruins where a Roman temple ruins stand centuries ago, up the hill, right at the sunset. Now the direct heat from the sun is fading, but the early night is still warm and you start smelling the incense and the resins lit on the braziers all around the temple. Sweet frankincense is burning for the gods, vestal virgins all around in their white tunic, ready for their sacred ceremony. Solid woody notes make their entry, we are in the drydown; still with some memories of those airy citruses and fir and mellow green notes. Boise d'Hadrien works by addition, not subtraction. I'm so in love with this fragrance. It's less fresh than expected - but also much more refined and behaves so well on your skin. It smells rich, mellow, fragrant but never cloying or overwhelming; yet the airiness of the opening citruses never leaves the scene, and combines so beautifully with both the greens and the incense. We are left with the question whether this scent is perfectly unisex, or steering more on the feminine side; if you underspray, the mellower side of it will be more feminine; but give a minor overdose to your skin, and you'll get a perfectly male scent that exudes quality, class and elegance. Perfect for a warm spring, summer, and autumn even; it will do fine even in the evening for a white linen shirt dinner. Beautiful bottle (the male version), incredibly precise atomizer, batch is 8H035 from 2018, and a very strong love.

Bois d’Hadrien is a very green, refreshing and surprisingly, very lemony/lime smelling. Less woody, leafy green and more citrusy fresh if that makes sense! What I love about Goutal’s fragrances is how realistic they are. At least the older versions. I own two bottles in total from Goutal and every time I wear any of them, I think about adding more to my collection. My bottle looks different than the one shown here, on Fragrantica, and was produced nearly 6 years ago. This is 100% unisex in my opinion. I am a woman and I enjoy wearing this a lot! And it doesn’t really smell as foresty/piney/woody as much as freshly squeezed lemons and limes. Yes, it has a very pleasant herbal, aromatic, green feel that I guess it’s the ivy mixed with the cypress note.. I am not familiar enough with these two notes, but I think that’s these are the standout notes out of all the woods listed. That’s my personal experience with Bois d’Hadrien. This perfume only works during summer months when weather is hot and humid. Unfortunately for me, where I currently live, the weather is rarely like that, so I mostly use Bois d’Hadrien during holidays in the South of Europe. I think I read somewhere, back in the days, that this perfume was inspired or is supposed to recreate the Tuscan forests smell. I have not been to any forest in Tuscany, but I can see that image when I wear this. A have a few green, fresh, citrusy, woody scents in my collection but nothing quite like this. What Bois d’Hadrien lacks in terms of performance, compensates in terms of quality, uniqueness and refinement! I don’t have much left in my bottle, but this is the kind of perfume that I would repurchase once I’m done with my bottle. It does really have an addictive quality to it!!

A very cleverly made fragrance, essentially fresh green lime juice linked to green unlit frankincense and further to a pine/fir resin base, some vetiver and a sweet vanillic undercurrent rounding it out. One absolute requirement to enjoy this fragrance is that you can tolerate or perhaps even enjoy tartness, because essentially all of the aforementioned facets are linked by a robust green limey freshness that turns tart woody resinous. What I generally don't love in tart woody compositions is that there is a sense of dry bitterness as in Guerlain Eau Boisee, that is not the case in Bois d'Hadrien as there is a sweetness that runs through the whole composition keeping everything a bit more playful and interesting. This is not a masterpiece type of scent, it is fairly straightforward in its delivery, a string of fresh notes that linger all day on the skin, lean slightly masculine imo, and envelopes you in a cloak of pine forest. It has no real relation to Eau d'Hadrien, which is a much drier, saltier, herbal experience overall.

I contacted the maison and they confirmed the end of production of this little gem...but what a shame! I've always dreamed of Adriano after reading the Memoirs of him in Yourcenar's masterpiece and I certainly couldn't miss a perfume dedicated to him ... bought it without ever smelling it and it was love at first sight! a wonderful incensed citrus fruit on a bed of wood and sugar, practically perfect and complete in its balsamic essence, never clashes, never clashes, enveloping, elegant and very clean, and I find myself walking in the splendid Villa Adriana, with its marvelous pine trees and the peace and quiet of the twilight and this intoxicating scent and I already know that I won't be able to do without it anymore. I have already taken two bottles. remarkable duration. on the whole.

Writing this in the middle of winter, about 7 or 8 degrees Celsius during the day, this smells completely different than the way it smells in spring/summer. So in the summer it smells like a refreshing tart lime pie with a sticky sweet crust, refreshing and delicious, but in the cold it is as if you are walking in a woody pine forest and you're getting a whiff of this lime tree that is carrying ripe fruits - strange as it may seem but fabulous at the same time - but you can't seem to be able to find it because the smell of the pine trees is dominant in that environment. So the heat seems to bring out the fun character of the fragrance but the cold seem to bring out the mysterious one, wonderful, absolutely wonderful...!!!

Warm and woody but just a hint of freshness. Two sprays were all I needed and was perfect for me. At first, it was like evergreens and spices but there was a hint of freshness that I assume is the lime. That did go away within an hour or so. Now, about three hours later I am smelling evergreens and spice but the spices are blended and none stick out. They blend well together and I can see how this is so wonderfully unisex. I'm delighted with this blind buy and I recommend this to those who enjoy the spice/evergreen/wood mix that doesn't overpower but sits around being entertaining, warm and cozy.

This is a wonderful citrus woodsy fragrance, well done and well blended , it starts with fresh lemon but thick and dense, and it keeps developing and evolving till the dray down when it becomes deep and woodsy scent but still having that freshness of the whiffs of lemon, I can't stop smelling my wrest all day long. Camille Goutal is doing a great job with the brand, still sadly underrated but the day will come when you look for Goutal perfumes and won't find them, as well as the price tags will fly high. This scent will be my personal scent . solid 9/10

Fantastic fragrance, with the typical masterly Goutal citrus, which is one of the best citrus scent. Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta being the other. Bois d'Hadrien has more to offer than Eau D'Hadrien. It is simply phenomenal! I bought it a few weeks ago for less than 50 €/50 ML and it is the one fragrance that I grab more often this Summer. Ever since I have stopped using Tom Ford Beau de Jour which I had bought last June.

Like a lime pie with a sticky crust. This is unique to me, with high quality ingredients. Very bright lime with sticky sweet balsams, now that's a combination I haven't seen before. Oh, and the sprayer is absolutely magnificent, just 2 or 3 sprays and you're good to go.

The woods of Hadrian – the smell of my Roman holiday: woods, greenery and resinous incense. This perfume will always hold a special place in my heart ❤️

A super green fragrance that is also very freshy and blended in a great way. I don't think this perfume is for women tbh... but it's a good one.

Don't let the Lime note fool you, this is a superb, long lasting winter fragrance in its own right, cut surprisingly well through the cold.

Rollicking Renifleur, Spices and Incense which reminds you of L'air Du Desert Marocain? That is Ambre Fetiche, not Bois d'Hadrien.

Mixed up pics. Finally the picture of L Eau D'Hadrien pour homme. The one I have for 3 years. But now as Bois D'Hadrien. LOL

A bit woody with some fresh and herbal touch. good performance and well-blend too. My quick reach for a happy day.

@Sharbelabuwarda what kind of "animalic" lime came to your nightmares? Animalic? Really?

I love both books and perfumes, so it's always a joy to me when those two worlds collide - the fact that Marguerite Yourcenar's wonderful Mémoires d'Hadrien inspired Annick Goutal's equally wonderful (albeit rather fleeting) Eau d'Hadrien makes both of them even more special to me. Les nuits d'Hadrien is great as well. So I was obviously very eager to try this new entry in the series. And I wasn't disappointed: I'm not sure how much of this is imagination, but I think Bois d'Hadrien smells like a roman temple in a coniferous wood in summer, like citrus-scented incense burning among the pines. I know incense isn't listed as a note, but it's what I get most of - it's a very smooth, very well-blended scent, which might cause the incense-like effect. It's not a heavy perfume at all, though, and I can imagine wearing it year-round. Longevity and projection on the other hand aren't the best, and what's worse is I know I almost never reach for this kind of scent, however much I like it. So I don't think I'll ever need a full bottle, although I wouldn't mind having a little decant in my collection, to complete the Hadrien series and to be transported to that roman forest from time to time.

Blind bought a small bottle together with two other, more feminine, perfumes from Goutal. I had samled a bit from her, among others Eau d'hadrien. I like citrus notes, they are fresh, easy and uplifting in general. It can bore me some because of this thou. Also. My cats don't like citrus. And I like my cats. But yet. I want some citrusy-thing in the perfume-wardobe Ive started to build and I love woods. The beginning is slightly sour. At first I thought it was almost coarse(?) in its sourness. It gradually gets warmer and sweeter thou. I can see that its too sweet for some, and thought so first as well. However, this one grows on me. Its fresh and warm at the same time. The citrus is uplifting now, and the woody sweetness gets more and more comforting. Together it takes me to a warm forest in the summer. Climbing, breathing the fresh air, exploring. My happy place. In the drydown the day has turned into an evening, as the sun sets there is only a hint of sweet woods left as a memory of the day. This is for me totally unisex or genderless. Only thing is that my cats dont like to cuddle as much with me when I wear it.

@Havanti i noticed a familiar smell too and it's the citrus woods in SJP Covet, which do appear to dominate both fragrances. having never smelt Eau D'Hadrien, but enjoying several Goutals in my collection, I don't think this stands out as not smelling from the same house, despite its possible sharing of a sweetish woodsy lemony something with Covet. I find this a pleasant, warm, buttery lemon (although it is supposed to be lime), with some slightly sweet woods. it feels quite syrupy somehow in texture, rather than zesty, aromatic and green as those notes suggested to me. nevertheless, I really enjoy wearing this for its uplifting sultry lemons and its resemblance to something I also enjoy in Nuit Etoilee EDP and my fondness as a child, for sweets called Murray Mints, which had that same buttery thing going on. Must try Eau D'Hadrien.

I've actually blind bought this last 2022. When I first tried it during summer, I find it too green and bitter. Disappointed, I push it back on my perfume drawer and been sitting there for a year until I tried to give it another chance last year before finally deciding to whether I'll dispose it or not but surprisingly it shines best on a cool weather, in my skin, it smells citrusy, piney green scent as opening note then slowly dries down into a woody, earthy with a hint of sweetness scent. I even got compliments and ask what I'm wearing coz they say it's something they don't commonly smell and finds it mysterious. That's when I decided that it'll be my spring weather scent. Note: You have to overspray it preferably on clothes for it to last 6-8 hrs. Sillage wise it's an arm length scent trail