FRAGRANCE DU BOIS
LUCIUS
2024
bergamot
mandarin
pink pepper
orange blossom
Cedarwood
amber
tonka bean
‘The essence of the modern champion, Lucius extrait de parfum from Fragrance du Bois calls your inner lion to the fore, triggering an invincible metamorphosis of strength and character. Opening with sharpened notes of bergamot, mandarin and pink pepper, it unfurls to reveal a commanding heart of cedarwood and orange flower – symbolic of resilience and determination. Meanwhile, robust tonka bean and amber ensures a long-lasting memorable impact.’ – Harrods
This is a bit ‘less of a review’ than my usual, with few details on the scent, as I sprayed Lucius on skin during a trip to Amsterdam and mostly smelled it during my drive back home. The main reason I figured I’d share my thoughts, is that I ended up disliking it more and more as the day went on.
I’d tried Lucius on paper earlier that day and thought, this could be interesting. It wasn’t until I got in on skin that I realized how citrussy it was. But not your average, nice, fresh citrus. To me this has an absolutely grating, screechy, sweet citrus quality; reminding me mostly of something along the lines of Parfums de Marly Kalan.
It builds towards a more ‘traditionally masculine’ darker woodiness, but it has quite the ‘designer’ feel to it. However, that sweet citrus sticks around and genuinely got on my nerves as time went on. I was annoyed throughout the evening that I applied Lucius on skin. About 3,5 hours after applying it, I met up with my mother and she commented on me wearing something dreadful instantly. It was a warm day, so that usually adds to this cloying sensation. To me it felt like wearing a men’s marketed, citrus-woody take on Baccarat Rouge.
Sadly, Fragrance du Bois has had mostly underwhelming releases since I discovered the brand in 2019 or 2020 (the last couple of releases feel like they barely have a connection anymore to the older releases), but Lucius is arguably the one that I liked least. At least the blacked out bottle does look really good.