FRAGRANCE DU BOIS
TROPIQUES

2024

bergamot
tangerine
tropical fruits

lavendin
mahonial
rosyfolia

caramel
amber
musk

‘Tropiques is a fragrance that captures the hidden paradises and embodies the essence of adventure and discovery. The vibrant infusion of mandarin and papaya, interwoven with subtle roses, evokes the feeling of sunlight on the skin. Crafted by Fragrance Du Bois with innovative molecules, this fragrance reflects the allure of indigenous flowers and the embrace of the ocean. The warm amber and musky embrace gives the fragrance a sensual depth. Top notes include bergamot, mandarin and tropical fruits, while lavandin, mahonial and rosyfolia form the heart notes. The base notes of caramel, amber and musk round off the fragrance perfectly. Tropiques is the ideal fragrance for the brave and sun-loving, taking them on an olfactory journey to paradise.’ 

Tropiques smelled pleasant enough when I encountered it in stores and it does remain mostly pleasant upon a proper wearing, but it’s unfortunately a lackluster and uninspired release in my opinion.

Tropiques is another addition to a long line of Erba Pura-esque fragrances. Which is a DNA that I’m not a big fan of personally, but it’s also oversaturating the market and adding a rather expensive and non-elevated take on it anno 2024 shouldn’t be cause for celebration.

To be fair, I much prefer Tropiques over Erba Pura and most of its siblings. It has that typical sweetness that permiates throughout entire lines of Xerjoff, Sospiro & Terenzi fragrances, but it’s toned down a little bit here, in favor of a more watery fruity scent profile. Not quite as musky as many of the Erba-copies either, which is another positive in my book.

So as mentioned, pleasant enough. Somewhat tamed fruits with a watery, thin texture, but seemingly good performance. In a sense, I feel that it smells even more synthetic and simple than most fragrances in this direction, less rich and full, but I think that works to its benefit. I would not reach for it specifically, but it’s pretty nice in the first hours, before becoming a bit too cloying and sugary in the late drydown for my taste, yet never reaching a level where I get annoyed by it, as I would with Erba Pura.

The issue of course being a total lack of originality and it doesn’t smell like an expensive fragrance by any metric; I would not be surprised to find a perfectly adequate version of this in for example a Zara at a twentieth of the Fragrance du Bois price point. Fragrance du Bois has had more misses than hits in recent years in my opinion, with a lot of their releases being a far cry from the quality of their earlier fragrances and Tropiques may be the best example to date of that downwards trajectory.