Bois de Vétiver Karl Lagerfeld 2017

To begin with, don't get frightened about the notes like grapefruit, orange, vetiver, or ambroxan... Bois the Vétiver is everything but a clone of neither Terre d'Hermès nor Sauvage Dior. Instead, the fusion of those notes creates a breathtaking vétiver crémant bouquet, a compelling adjective regularly used for sparkling wine and black chocolate, yeah it means creamy. For those who are familiar with Cuir Vétiver by Yves Rocher or Hermessence by Hermès, the vétiver note is gentle, bright, and faint, without the dark, earthy, and smoky facets, which I anyhow love in other mysterious scents. Do not expect anything like Encre Noir, the two of them are miles away.

BdV opening is dazzling thanks to a variety of uplifting and slightly luminous notes: pink grapefruit, blood orange, and crushed mint leaves. The zesty accord is neither sour nor harsh, as could be the lemon peel aroma. Instead, it is bittersweet as an orange juice freshly squeezed. Yes, the opening is clean without being citrus, with that perfect touch of aromatic. At the very first spray, it reminds me of a fresh mojito cocktail, due to the presence of the alcohol, made with orange in place of the lime... and I like it.

After a while, it turns green and floral, with delicate notes of delicate rose, leafy-sweet geranium, and creamy vétiver. Those notes are masterfully blended, and at this point, BdV is a sensual, manly smell. The vétiver is kind of like leathery, more close to a smooth suede than a rough cowhide, a brighter version of the vétiver. It carries lesser aspects of the earthiness and smokiness containing more of the herbal quality.
Then, the fragrance becomes also appealing, warm, and evocative of leather, with amber, patchouli, and musk. The musk is not rude and animal, but elegant with the effect of a warm musky accord. There are also some woods not mentioned here, white woods, I reckon, which provides a bit of alternative mild sweetness for the final hours.

BdV has 8-10 hour longevity and moderate sillage, perfect for working and leisure time. At the moment, I am wearing it in the fall season, but I'd like to give it a try in spring as well.
Ultimately, BdV is an excellent modern vétiver perfume.

-Elysium

Imagine closing your eyes…now, when you open them again, you are standing in a green oasis of blood oranges, mint, geranium and lemongrass.

BdV is a very nice scent available at a great price : an excellent fresh and clean fragrance with a woody base. It’s a crisp and lighter take on vetiver with a semi creamy sensation ; instead of the earthy Vetiver that we know from staples like Guerlain’s Vetiver, this is a brighter and gentler take on vetiver that has a lemongrass-like feel to it. The opening of blood orange combined with grapefruit is just lovely, juicy and slightly fruity with a touch of mint. Enter the vetiver and geranium that are blended seamlessly and finally settling on a base of warm white musk, amber and patchouli with just a hint of woods and ambroxan. The secret of BdV is that at the same time it is discrete, herbal and extremely easy to wear which makes it a great dumb grab and works very well in spring as well as summer temperatures. This also makes it a nice deviation from the typical aquatic and citrus based summer freshies.

Moderate sillage and projection, well suited for office work as well as casual occasions. Christophe Raynaud, who’s also the nose behind the excellent Davidoff Leather Blend and Annayake pour Lui, did a great job here.
The bottle is also a lovely, sturdy piece of work and I find this is an excellent choice for the cheap price.

Fun fact : Jacques Bogart actually released a male fragrance called Bois de Vetiver already back in 1982 !! Unfortunately I cannot compare as the Bogart seems to have been discontinued a long time ago.

A very nice and sweet vetiver scent that is perfect for the hot and brisk time of the summer, this scent smells good and will come off your skin with a large scent bubble and did I say cheap . I think I paid mid 20s for this and you can't go wrong for the scent that you will get. Blind buy with in my opinion to add to your collection....

I love this Vetiver scent. It calms me and balances beautifully between fresh (mint note) and soft (geranium note). I am not always a fan of mint in a fragrance, but in BdV it works so well. After 15 minutes it turns more soapy. It becomes more classic, a bit old school but still a really good scent. And then it sweetens - quite much. Unfortunately, it does not last long. And you have to be close to smell it.
I understand the comparison to Terre de Hermes, a huge favourite of mine (and my partner). The fresh and playful expression works greatly during the warm season. Therefore, since the performance of BdV is below average, I shall stick to TdH instead.
335/365

As dirt cheap office-safe options go, you could do worse!

This doesn't break the mold in any particular way. I don't perceive many lot of the notes listed, this is primarily a clean, slightly floral soapy scent with a muted vetiver presence.

Don't buy this expecting it to make a strong impression. Projection and longevity are very weak, in a couple hours this scent is gone and it would be hard to overspray. But it is a pleasing, general purpose fragrance if you enjoy very mild vetiver and don't want to break the bank or want strong notes to stick out in a professional setting.