Thumbs Up
Bois de Vétiver by Lagerfeld (2017) is part of a huge collection rollout that re-aligned the Lagerfeld fragrance house towards simpler, fresher, more fundamental minimalist fare that was trending at the time thanks to successful brands like Jo Malone or Maison Francis Kurkdjian. Those who know the usual gusto Karl Lagerfeld likes in his fragrances will probably roll some eyes at this, but the man in his late stages of life was more concerned with his tenure at Chanel anyway, so he was likely not involved with his fragrance license anymore. Whoever greenlit this particular gem should be commended though, as it is surprisingly nice. A lot of people will recognize the structure here in the later L’Homme à la rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2020), although this is a Christophe Reynaud composition, to be sure.
Is this really about vetiver? No, absolutely not. In fact, this couldn’t be less about vetiver if it tried. That said, it is very much about salty, fresh, dry rose over a fruity musk and woods accord, using the vetiver to keep the overall profile from getting too sweet or childish. In a nutshell, this feels built like if MFK had existed in the late 1980’s, and was at the forefront of experimenting with calone, galaxolide, ambroxan, and all the other shiny, transparent things that were shaping aquatics and modern florals of the day. Not saying Christophe Reynaud was necessarily jocking Francis Kurkdjian’s style, but they are birds of a feather here. Mint, grapefruit, sweet orange and yuzu notes, the rose and geranium, a sliver of patchouli, and the vetiver over the salty see-through musk accordss is sublime. Performance feels good to me, so people complaining about that might need a break from perfume.
Overall, this is like L’Homme à la rose meets Aramis New West (1988), in a neon light love letter stowed away in a vintage Trapper Keeper, with the plastic binder rings. Perhaps very late in the wear this does eventually bear more strict vetiver accords, but I think we’re dealing more with the vetiveryl acetate stuff and not real vetiver because I get none of the nuttiness, none of the grassy or earthy nuance, none of the smoke, or complexity of proper vetiver I’ve smelled a hundred times over. Make no mistake though, you won’t be fussed about that with the rest of the dry masculine rose accord being this good, and an alternative to the discontinued Déclaration d’Un Soir by Cartier (2012) this could be. Especially when considered that Bois de Vétiver sells for a song, and it becomes clear that this very un-Lagerfeld fragrance is quite alright. Thumbs up
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