BCBG Max Azria Bon Genre

Some perfumes have screechy openings that one must endure to enjoy the beauty of the perfume. Others are the opposite. Their opening is absolutely delicious and the rest is downhill from there. Not so with BCBG Max Azria bon genre. From beginning to end, there is a consistency of delightful notes that your olfactory senses will appreciate. This dark purple flacon is third in the series and as the color implies, it is the most serious of the three. Bon genre is not a run of the mill scent, altho it’s not ground-breaking, either. But it can be addictive. What I do especially enjoy about it are the co-mingled notes that effortlessly create a mild sophistication for this perfume. The key words here are mild. Bon genre is subtle. It’s elegance is low-key. It’s sensuality is there, but certainly not in a banal sense. It’s powdery seductiveness borders more on an earthiness that weaves in and out with its components of woods, spices, cardamom, pepper and musk. Its florals, too, are mild and almost indistinct. Eventually a sweetness can be found since litchi and jasmine are also present. Vanilla and patchouli finish this fragrance off quite nicely with patchouli taking a sweeter lead over the woods. Altho berries are listed in the notes, I didn’t sense any. Bon genre lasts a good few hours with close to the skin sillage. Its one of those scents that just when you think its gone, it bounces back. This is perfect for an office scent, dinner party, somewhere where you’d like to wear a fragrance close to your skin rather than have the fragrance wear you. For the price of $19.99 that I paid at a major discount department store, I’m happy to wear this season-less perfume. It wears beautifully for hours without re-applying and I really do love the sweet woods and vanilla mix. It’s rather addicting.

Litchi with Soft Purple Fruity-Florals and...Black-Orchids? This unsigned 2013 Amber-Floral has Black Orchid Tom Ford vibes hiding underneath the litchi & violet-esque fruity-florals. Opens with a burst of fruity-florals that evoke shades of purple, built from red-berries & litchi supported by multi-faceted bergamot and accented with black-pepper, but already patchouli and vanilla are swelling through with some creamy tones from tuberose. As it transitions to the heart, I get a floral bouquet that reads as black-orchid with a red-berry accent. The amber-floral & patchouli base continue the illusion of black-orchid for well beyond average performance. The longer it's on the skin, the more similar to Black Orchid Tom Ford it becomes. Although this isn't a dupe, I can see the Black Orchid inspiration in the base, but it's cleverly disguised with a more fruity-violet top with red-berry accent. This is different enough to stand on its own, although regrettably it's unsigned. It's a love for me. 10/10. Enjoy! Update 08/05/24: Sprayed this on this morning, and it's gotten stronger. The patchouli is reading more chocolate, but initially I get a litchi & fruity red-violet opening while the patchouli is building chocolate intensity. I still get Black Orchid Tom Ford in the base once it's well underway in the drydown - like a litchi Black Orchid flanker. Still a love, with two of my favourite notes: litchi & cardamom. 10/10 for a cheapie gem.

I smelled this awhile back in the BCBG store and thought it was rather pleasant. I forgot about it after some time but saw a 3.4oz bottle at TJ Maxx for $19.99 so I just had to. I'm glad I did because this is quite lovely. At first I get a lot of the red berries and black pepper...but after about 20 minutes it settles down into a lovely light vanilla orchid with some litchi infused with a little berry and patchouli. The longevity is decent too, I would say around 6 hours before it fades. I also got a compliment on it the minute someone smelled it at my daughter's school! She said it "smells like a beautiful fall day" I think her description is actually quite fitting.

So I finally saw this at Macy's today and I it's not what I thought it would be. I do like it, but I thought it might be more like True Religion's Love,Hope & Denim scent- meaning more gourmand and sweet. I really get a lot of patchouli, and it's not as sweet as I thought it would be. That said, I didn't purchase it but now I'm smelling my wrist and wishing that I had bought it! It's weird because even though it's not what I had thought it would smell like, I actually like the dry down on this. I may be purchasing this in the future.

A lot of fruity perfumes end up being way too cloying on my skin. This has just enough spicy and floral to balance it out that it ends up working very well. The jasmine and the tuberose are really nice. It also has really great staying power for a sweeter perfume. At the end of the day, you're left with a nice light warm vanilla.

just tested this today and its perfect. i am completely in love with it! it wears in a warm spicy and almost tropical way on my skin and is completely addicting. i cant stop sniffing it.

I am excited to hear that BCBG is launching a new fragrance! I love both of their previous ones and I am hopeful this one will also be amazing!

I tested this at Belk and it is such a beautiful fragrance! It has the right amount of spice, fruitiness, and still a classic white floral.

Love this fruity delight! While the bottle is pretty, its also obnoxious and difficult to store. I cannot locate the cap. Lol

Fruity, spicy compliment getter! Love this!

I have no idea what exactly I am smelling with this perfume. I bought because I love the pink BCBG perfume prodigiously, and the purple is gorgeous. I could not stand the scent though. Really. I would try to describe it as dark and oriental (I am a light, sweet gourmand and citrus person, so hence the problem). But here is the thing. That bottle has sat around for 5+ years and I started to use it just to get rid of it. It felt wasteful not to. And guess what? Now I like it. Really. I will never love it. But it is truly one of the few perfumes that lasts more than an hour or two on me and one of the very few I get consistent compliments on. I doubt I will ever repurchase it, but it a nice, cold weather scent after all. Edit- Two years later and I am missing this a lot! I cannot find it in Europe though. Sad face!

Perhaps the strongest contender in BCBG Max Azria line, Bon Genre is not as floral as the original nor as fruity as Bon Chic but instead fills that sweet alluring in between spot of slight spice and sweetness. It's a playful fragrance suitable for night or day and a step up from typical fruity florals marketed to teens and for young women. So far I'm enjoying it but we'll see if it beats out Bon Chic as my fave BCBG Max Azria fragrance.

I've had this fragrance since 2017, and somehow rediscovered within my things in storage (moved a lot). It is now missing its huge cap, and it may have changed the opening of the fragrance, but the dry down is still the beautiful fruity coconut vanilla to my nose. The fragrance sits closely to the skin, but I find it comforting. It's not the fragrance that will turn heads, but I like it that way. Definitely not for warm weather.

This is the Miss Congeniality of the BCBG line. It's likable and not too much of anything - not too fruity/floral/sweet/spicy/creamy. Those notes are all there in agreeable proportions, but nothing stands out and grabs attention. It's not a showstopper, but it's quite nice - congenial. It's a very polite scent that's a bit more delicate than others in the same category. A good scent for close quarters.

This scent has a lovely sweet and peppery opening. Nothing harsh or overwhelming. Mid notes are a beautiful blend of soft white floral and light powder. The development to base vanilla/amber is smooth and deeper than expected. I get no 'wow factor' from this scent ... but I do find it a comfortable and easy wear :) L: Moderate S: Moderate

Love this spicy patch bomb, imagine that. A budget friendly 'fume that actually lasts! So tired of paying good money for stuff you can barely detect 15 minutes later. This one is NOT like that, thank goodness. I have two bottles of this, likely gonna get another two for backup, smells great and really blooms in this heat!

Mmmm warm spicy vanilla with a hint of berry. very nighttime and fall winter. But I'll be wearing it everyday Got a tester from eBay love it!

At first it smelled like moth balls. Then the old lady notes kicked in. It’s like very powdery with a very rough jagged edge to it to make it just barely wearable for the younger crowd. I had a perfume from Deb that smelled similar but more along that jagged edge part and I loved it so 🤷🏻♀️

I just purchased this. First spray was quickly dark heavy floral. Faded into almost a medicinal scent like buckleys Going to try it for the day then let it mascerate

Slightly boozy fruits and patchouli, like a cheap body spray. Poor lasting power coupled with poor sillage: what is there to like about this?

Is like a deep sweet smell you cannot get rid off. It just lingers making you nauseous and give you a head ache if you keep it long enough. I honesty have not wear it, so unsure if it gets better after sometime. I blind purchased and just keep it locked away.

I got this as a Christmas grift I didn’t ask for. So, I won’t keep it. Not because it isn’t nice, I am just not into berry flavoured anything . The bottle is absolutely adorable , a really beautiful purple with an enormous flower kind of lid. As for the smell, well , it’s a little too youthful for my taste . It’s basically a vanilla berry Charlotte , reminding me of those childhood eclairs filled with vanilla custard and drizlzled with some berry confiture. I don’t actually smell the patchouli. If I didn’t have my personal distaste for berries I would have kept it , but according to my nose anything berry screams teenager , and when you mix it with vanilla you get a double dose of “I’m so cute and I want attention” witch doesn’t go well with my grownup age. the only teenage scents I can deal with are Escadas, as those are usually just fruits without other edible things thrown in . Anyone wants to swap with me ? A brand new 100 ml in box bottle .

I always check out the sale shelf at Shoppers Drugmart, as I’m sure many a Canadian on here does:) this was the first time I saw the purple box, what fun reviews on this one. It has a surprising effect of light & full, sweet & tart. I’d bet this really adjusts well to different climates. I could see this suiting many occasions as well. Might be a weird suggestion, but this would be ideal to wear on a road trip. You need something agreeable & interesting or nothing at all if you’re going with me lol. Cardamom in fragrance to me is much like bay leaf in cooking; can’t really ‘find the flavour’, but it helps everyone to play well together. Too much, throws off the mix. Well blended while still picking out the notes. When it settles down to that warm fuzzy vanilla, mist again, and it’s deeper, almost the intense version of itself. If that makes sense lol. This little find really made my day.

I smelled this on my coworker and loved it. I traded in my Jimmy Choo for her bottle of Bon Genre and I don't regret it. I just really do not like Jimmy Choo for its strong fruitchouli and chemical nail polish smell...a point to keep in mind later. I adored this perfume for its pleasantness. I got the florally sweetness of litchi leading the other tropical and indistinguishable fruity notes. The litchi dies down rather quickly and what I get is a rather clumsy mess of fruity floral notes that smells rather...cheap. And then comes the patchouli and I feel like I just upgraded my Jimmy Choo to something more tolerable. I'll admit I loved it at first; maybe it was due to the very temperate day and a sense of novelty. Now it smells a bit tawdry and juvenile, at least on me. I can imagine this working quite well on a teenage girl.

The notes sounds fun and flirty and I love berries and passion fruits. Right away on the skin it's a lush almost tropical vibe island fruityiness with dash of spiciness from the pepper. .. later on the woods and tuberose softens up a bit more make it less fruity vibe, more in the soft floral zone now. I suspect it is the tiger orchid that is making the combination of the entire scent less likable for my nose...up until the mid phase I had to wash the scent away. :( It is making the scent very creamy except when it comes to comfort creamy scent my body chemistry usually does not do well with coconut cream, orchid, or light musks... Wanted to like it, only the initial 5 minutes before it's too clean musk creaminess for me to tolerate. The bottle is pretty, but I prefer the pink one .

Looking at the notes, I was eager to receive my bottle, I thought it would be a real interesting soft oriental....well it is very sweet. I was thinking Viva la Juicy sweet, mixed with Beyonce Heat, not much patchouli. The orchid and spiciness very watered down too...it is more interesting than the first two, it is a warmer scent, but really, this has been done before many times. Nice. But I am not too impressed. The drydown is nice, smooth, warm..but the interesting notes seem to be drowned in the overdone sweetness. Lots of black vanilla and amber, no litchi or floral notes I can detect at all...maybe a hint of jasmine...not sure what this is supposed to smell like

"Urban rock women" this scent is not. The opening is very sweet and smells like Taiwanese lychee bubble tea drinks. It then fades away to a mellow creature that smells of hand lotion and floral/green soaps. It's a little floral, a little fruity, a little spicy -- perhaps enough to please everybody. It's that kind of earnest, congenial scent. It's a quiet perfume for early mornings, walking the dog or going to the market for errands. Bon Genre is subtle, inoffensive, wears close to skin and lasts a couple hours. More of an appetizer scent, rather than the main course.

Excellent mix between berries, patchouli and vanilla. The berries keep it sweet enough for young wearers but the patchouli gives it that grown up vibe for more experienced wearers. Vanilla - who doesn't love it? I don't like cardamom so there must be so little of it as I cannot detect it nor can I sniff tuberose. This is sweet vanillic berries. Its strong point is its longevity. One spray on me Sillage: a foot Longevity: 3-4 hours Rating: 3/5

I got this in a set with the other BCBG Max Azrias. It's my least favorite of the set. It is a stronger-than-expected mix of patchouli, spicy black pepper, and some fruits in the background. Definitely a winter weather scent, but even then, I'm not sure I'd reach for it. I don't like patchouli-heavy fragrances, and the black pepper is too strong of a spice for my liking. It has decent projection and longevity.

Fresh and sweet sugared fruits. This is one of those fragrances that turned me away from perfume for years. I felt like they all smelled the same and had nothing unique to offer me. But after discovering niche and indie fragrances, my world has changed. Unfortunately, Bon Genre isn't breaking any new ground, even among commercial scents. But it's one of the more tolerable fruity-chouli's out there.

I get red berries but something more sour than sweet. I absolutely love litchi in a fragrance but it seems to be overpowered by the sweet sour berry and woody cardamom and patchouli. Based on the notes and description, I was head over heels but once on me, not a keeper. Very reminiscent of Beyoncé Heat Elixir which again is nice but very heady.... Definitely one to test before buying...

The most BEAUTIFUL FRAGRANCE!!!! Probably the ONLY one left that hasn’t been severely watered down in our wonderful Economic Collapse. I’m Allergic to most perfumes including this one but I still ware it because it’s such a WONDERFUL SCENT!!!! Lasts for Hours as well. I do not get Fruity, for me more Creamy than anything else. I just love this scent❤️

A very unique fragrance that inspire me in each and every moment. The notes are coming up one by one and don't dissapoint me in any way! I really love this! It is spicy, warm, woody and floral in the same time. A great creation indeed!

I get a lot of dark florals in this. It’s very nice! Wish it was a tad stronger but nonetheless it’s gorgeous!

Stinks...returned it. Smells like hot spicy fruit...pretty bottle though.

Very similar to Halle Berry Reveal The Passion. Creamy and sweet.