NicheOnly

We've arrived at the end of the road for Boadicea's Sapphire collection with the collection's crown jewel, a flanker to the well-regarded Blue Sapphire Parfum, that being Blue Sapphire Supercharged. Typically when brands come out with flankers like this, the expectation is that the customer will pay more and for that money, they get some combination of more complexity, more performance, better raw materials etc. Given that Blue Sapphire Supercharged ("BSSC") retails for an eye-watering €1,195/100ml (vs. the original's €835, price difference of €360), you sure would expect there to be quite some improvement. Some overlap in profile is to be expected, but the question is where do the changes lie.

For this review to be as accurate as I could make it, I applied the fragrances at the same time (one on each hand). The original Blue Sapphire Parfum opens with sweetened rose, i.e. a prominent saffron & rose one-two which Boadicea also featured in Almas. Contrast that to the opening of Blue Sapphire Supercharged where there is no sweetness in the top and the white floral notes co-star alongside the rose in the opening while the white floral tones in the Parfum version have a small stint in the heart. With BSSC, I notice the profile develops a lot quicker into the same structure that the Parfum version has in the dry-down: that same combination of oud/woodiness and that earthy-nutty, perhaps somewhat chocolaty patchouli that Boadicea also featured in Nemer Parfum. One thing that BSSC adds is a leathery quality as the scent smells more masculine, more aggressive and oriental. There are no resinous qualities in either, so no significant changes stand out on that end.

Having them side-by-side makes you notice all of the notes that the Parfum version has (and by virtue, that the Supercharged version lacks). BSSC doesn't have the saffron, has less rose, the general feel is also more complex and leans into the oriental nature of the profile relative to the Parfum smelling somewhat wearable, esp. in a side-by-side. This side-by-side made me increase the Parfum's rating by half-a-point, but the 6.5/10 that I've now rated it at is still a far cry from the sensationalism with which the community perceives it. In most of my reviews so far, I have continuously emphasized how Boadicea's product always feels like there's something missing and the overreliance on the oriental-smelling notes (oud, leather and patchouli) places Blue Sapphire Supercharged in the same basket yet again.

As if the previous paragraphs weren't enough, the title of the review says a lot about what my thoughts are on this product too. Most importantly, I can't get my head around where the pro-arguments lie for the flanker relative to the original. The profile as a whole doesn't feel like it could ever be worth anything like the listed retail price (which as a criticism echoes to every other 4-figure scent I've smelled, incl. Roja's PDLN line), because not a single touch here smells like it's of elite quality. We have well-executed complex rose scents in the market (e.g. Alexandria II, Nefs, Mana/Ombre Nomade, and even PDLN3) and somehow it feels like both versions of Blue Sapphire are MILES off the pace set by these competitors, esp. as it relates to the multitude of accords and the blending of the components.

Outside of the emphasized oriental notes, it sure feels like the only thing that Boadicea supercharged here is the price.

Still covering Boadicea and still browsing their expensive product. Earlier this week, Boadicea got onto the scoreboard with Knight of Love and Nemer Parfum, two fragrances that I rated an 8.0/10. Oud Sapphire feels like it should be there alongside them, given it has the type of complexity and quality that I am looking for, esp. given the €835/100ml retail price; yet it again falls short for the same reason as many of the previous products.

Oud Sapphire opens with cough syrup-like medicinal ambers (spicy-balsamic-oriental). There is a light nuance of candied sweetness and the initial transition is more in the animalic direction. On-skin, the scent feels woody-spicy, contrasted by sweet-animalic accords. For a fragrance comp, the first thing that came to my mind is Sospiro's Deep Ocean Amber, a fragrance with very prominent styrax which, to my nose, has always been a note that is easy to spot. Without looking at the notes, my conclusion for the scent based on the opening is that it appears to be a tobacco & styrax fragrance layered with something candied sweet. For that candied sweetness, I also wrote down Xerjoff's 2025 release NeoRio as an idea.

Everything gets a big more colorful once I look at the accords & notes. The main thing I feel I have to note is that the dominating notes to my nose are the styrax and oud. However, the more I keep looking for the notes, the more I can find them. The saffron and osmanthus specifically are noteworthy, because on-skin, the saffron is the note that is bringing that candied sweetness and the osmanthus is actually bringing an interesting fruity nuance to the profile. The concept starts to come together: mild leather and fruity osmanthus, opposed by moderate oud and VERY prominent styrax. I believe the leather and oud aspects of Oud Sapphire will depend on the person trying it as I can easily see a world where one would classify the note in either direction, somewhat comparable to how Maison Crivelli's Oud Stallion is simultaneously both woody and leathery.

The evolution of this fragrance is very impressive, but before I looked at the notes and accords, I wrote down a criticism, saying "it's just a bit too plain in my opinion". That criticism actually is reflected by what I am smelling in the air: Oud Sapphire is a very complex spicy-oriental with a prominent styrax note. That styrax is the note that is really overwhelming my nose on this Friday afternoon indoors test and based on that experience, I am assuming this is the strongest Boadicea fragrance I have smelled so far (est. longevity between 12-16 hours, rated 9/10; and sillage is approaching strong, rated 7/10). The price is obviously its own thing, but to me, the biggest issue with Oud Sapphire is the insignificance of wearable accords, i.e. the saffron, osmanthus, maybe even the iris & ambrette that others appear to be getting more of.

I am going to guess that if you layered Tubéreuse Astrale on top of this, this fragrance would be true S tier (rated 9.0 and above). Even without the wearable parts, this is probably the best execution I've smelled from Boadicea thus far. However, execution on its own doesn't make for top product - much like the previous reviews and statements in the Sapphires collection, the shortfall of Oud Sapphire yet again is the feeling that there is something missing. One can only hope that same criticism doesn't apply for the Zodiacs as I end my coverage next week.

The coverage has come to Boadicea's most famous premium product, that being Blue Sapphire Parfum. While Blue Sapphire isn't the first Boadicea I've tried at this price point (€835/100ml; shared with Nemer and Angelic); I am coming into this expecting the fragrance, dubbed in this review as the "golden child", to deliver an experience on par with the various €500-600 fragrances that rule my all-time ratings. Unfortunately, that was not a realistic standard.

I feel like it's worth noting that Blue Sapphire Parfum launched at the same time as two other rose-oud fragrances from Boadicea, those being Nemer Parfum and Almas. I didn't write a review for either of them, but to me, having an understanding of where they shine and fall short will give the reader an understanding for the type of product I was anticipating. With Nemer, you get a smooth opening of rose & saffron. The initial dry-down of Nemer is oud and chocolaty-earthy patchouli, but there are some interesting touches about Nemer as well - some aromatic nuances that most people would associate with Kilian's discontinued oud fragrances. The dry-down of Nemer is woody-oriental and there isn't much rose nor saffron. Almas is the exact opposite: a rose-oud fragrances that primarily smells of the rose & saffron, with the opening having strong overlap with Nishane's showstopper Nefs. Unlike Nefs, Almas doesn't have a lot of depth: the scent is structured on mild oud and moderate patchouli.

This brings us to Blue Sapphire Parfum which on my first and only wear so far opens animalic-woody followed by light rose. Much like both Nemer and Almas, the rose is done very well. In the top, the on-skin experience first smells spicy with prominent ambers, meaning the scent mostly smells of amber & oud with very little rose. In the heart, the patchouli becomes a dominant note, offering up both earthy touches and nutty ones. There are some touches of sage in the base also, but nothing too prominent. Relative to the voted accords, I don't smell any citrus, making the true accords woody-oriental-spicy with floral-animalic being a distant 4th and 5th.

As the previous 2 paragraphs clearly indicate, the issue with Almas is the lack of depth in the woody-oriental direction and the issue with both Nemer Parfum and Blue Sapphire Parfum is the lack of depth in the floral-sweet direction. Performance on all 3 fragrances is moderate-to-strong with Blue Sapphire coming out ahead, I am putting it around 10-12 hours on first wear for longevity with moderate-to-strong sillage.

For what it's worth, Blue Sapphire's place in the market is obviously cemented as I am yet to smell a single faithful take with fragrances like TSOD's Dubai - Majalis falling short and Electimuss' Auster being a horribly executed product. Nonetheless, Blue Sapphire Parfum falls short for the same reason as several other products from Boadicea: there is a lack of depth in either notes, accords or both to the point where the scent comes off unpolished. And unfortunately for the reader, going up in price within Boadicea's catalogue doesn't appear to be remedying the problem.

Boadicea month shall go on and here I come again, raining on the fanboys' parade. The premium side of Boadicea's catalogue was off to a very solid start with the first 3 products all scoring between 7.5 and 8.0. As with most things, that streak too had to come to an end.

As typical for me, I go into these tests without looking at the accords and listed notes, esp. for a scent that has this little coverage. Defender opens spicy-sweet and perhaps slightly powdery. Those accords are followed by moderate fruitiness and perhaps some amberwoody touches. From up-close, the first thing I wrote down is that it smelled medicinal, meaning the scent clearly incorporates ambers in some form. At this point, I was thinking this might be a competitor to Clive Christian's hero franchise Jump Up and Kiss Me Hedonistic and with the fruitiness having some bubblegum-like nuances to it, other comps like Mind Games' French Defense didn't feel far off either. However, after those first 30-60 seconds, I already wrote down an issue with Defender, that being the notes feeling very "non-descript". What I meant by that was the scent on-skin blends into a fairly simple amber fragrance with light floral touches, almost like a poor man's version of Clive Christian's other hero franchise, that being XXI: Art Deco - Blonde Amber.

This is the point where I look at the voted notes and accords. As per usual, I strongly disagree with the voted accords with the scent clearly being sweet-spicy first and anything else after. I never get even mild leather here. When I saw the comparisons section include Kilian's Smoking Hot, I did find myself to some extent agreeing with that idea. However, the fruitiness in Defender is noticeably weaker and there's no actual tobacco listed, there's just ambers and florals which is why I feel like this product is somewhere between Smoking Hot and Blonde Amber, even if those fragrances have very little overlap. The thing driving me towards that Blonde Amber comp is the constant presence of a floral touch which I'd argue is about as strong as the voted-for fruity accord across the scent's evolution.

All-in-all, Defender as a product is extremely underwhelming. The primary notes in the dry-down are the labdanum, myrrh, vanilla and mild jasmine; which is why I previously called it a poor man's XXI: Art Deco - Blonde Amber. Performance here is VERY puzzling: I don't understand how this type of a profile could get such little lift relative to the comps. Value is atrocious: you're looking at €600/100ml, relative to the Clive Christian's €550/50ml and even the Kilian does more for me at €260/50ml (for context, I own both of the 2). As somebody who is well-versed in the showstopper market, Defender might just be one of the worst overall packages I've ever seen in the category.

Boadicea month is off to a rocky start. After smelling and writing statements for 18 products from the British luxury brand, we capped out at a 7.5/10, those scents being Energizer and Jubilee. This is for good reason: Boadicea's core line has a multitude of designer-inspired products (incl. Terre d'Hermes, Grey Vetiver, Hypnotic Poison, Noir de Noir, and others) and even the ones that don't have any clear inspiration are extremely simple in their execution. So where will the road take us today?

Boadicea's 2024 release 1907 has a very evident niche inspiration. The scent opens tropical fruity, sweet & somewhat fresh. The inspiration is from Stéphane Humbert Lucas' hero franchise God of Fire and differentiating the two in the air is very difficult (we'll later touch on why this is an issue for Boadicea). The interesting part about 1907 is the fact that mango (nor any other tropical fruity accord) is not listed and you can get a good vision for how Boadicea pulled off this fragrance when you compare the notes with the on-skin dry-down. On-skin, the scent smells a bit of sweetened lemon with light spices, somewhat comparable to how Kilian's recently launched Angels' Share on the Rocks was executed. But with the Boadicea, that spiciness appears to be driven by the listed floral notes, especially the violet. Given that this is my 19th Boadicea product in the last ~10 days, I can pick up on some of the other listed notes too. Notably, I can sense the aromatic-woody tones that sit alongside the violet in the base. In the final dry-down, 1907 predictably arrives at white musk, a typical base note for fruity scents like this.

While my analysis might indicate that there is a lot going on, the core DNA stays true to the profile of God of Fire to the point where all those other aspects are barely worth mentioning. This is speculation, but I feel like the goal here was to build God of Fire on a different base so as to elevate the performance of the profile. However, that goal doesn't really come to fruition: we get some mild performance improvements, capping longevity at around 6 hours. For sillage, I do get a stronger opening than the SHL and while it does subside, it subsides quite a bit slower than God of Fire. All-in-all, that puts 1907 in a very poor market position: no feasible profile differentiation and minimal performance improvement, yet the scent retails for €650/100ml, a price that more than triples the SHL's €215/50ml.

To conclude, 1907 might be a good dupe/inspired-by product, but nothing exists in a vacuum and the conditions around the scent make for an underwhelming overall package.