Boadicea the Victorious is a new British niche brand which launched last week at London Fashion Week. The line, developed by hair stylist & creative director Michael Boadi, includes three ranges: a bespoke range, a "private collection" range comprising 33 perfumes available by private consultation, and the ready-to-wear Victorious collection.
Britain has produced many great leaders throughout time, but few have been as noble and strong as Queen Boadicea. Now, with the creation of the luxury brand bearing her name, the iconic legend has been revived. Boadicea's bravery, passion and unfailing drive are the very principles that propel the company.
Every Boadicea the Victorious product trumpets loudly it's British heritage and luxurious credentials. Traditional craftsmanship and skill have created a fragrance and lifestyle range that is unique, innovative and a truly noble. Boadicea is back, and her legacy is unutterably divine.
The fragrances in the Victorious collection include:
Majestic ~ "The delightful naivete of honeysuckle is at the core of this scent. Coupled with the chlorophyll freshness of the flowers stem, an almost grassy smell as well as wild narcissus, jasmine and the lightest touch of lemon grass. Transparent, flirtatious and young at heart."
Explorer ~ "As bright and sharp as freshly squeezed juice - Explorer is an enervating citrus scent containing acidic aromas of Sicilian lemon ripened under the Mediterranean sun. Subtle notes of citron and cypress lend it a full bodied, succulent potency."
Seductive ~ "A rare and original perfume whose colour evokes the mysterious amber of strong alcohols and the smoky teas of the Orient. Sweet Paraguay petit grain and green Maté absolute define its persona, buttressed by the provocative sensuality of leather and musk and gilded with a touch of iris root. It is sensual, carnal, and of the night."
Pure ~ "The mutable colours and scents of a glowing Tuscan sunset. This perfume opens with twinkling and bright citrus notes: bergamot, Sicilian lemon, green and acidic tangerine. Its middle notes then become warmer with touches of Mediterranean cypress, basil leaves, Egyptian cumin, and juniper berry. The base is sensual and oriental: ylang-ylang with sandalwood, amber, patchouli, and vanilla."
Exotic ~ "A swoon of a fragrance that's distinguished by a thick, sensuous and musky blend of black truffle and ylang ylang. These tropical blooms give way to fresh bergamot and a hint of blackcurrant, and are anchored with patchouli, vetiver, vanilla tears and sandalwood."
Delicate ~ "A delightfully old fashioned quintessentially British scent that's destined to be a cult classic. This, the pure distillation of the scent of bluebell woods is utterly beguiling and unique. A bouquet of blooms mingle at the heart of it – the earthy sweetness of hyacinths plus rose, lily and jasmine. Then flowers give way to spicy clove and cinnamon and the unique textural base note of bittersweet galbanum. Tremendously reminiscent of wet earth, moss and rain."
Romantic ~ "An evocative fragrance for the hopeless romantic and an original combination of notes never captured together before. Seductive blossoming gardenias melt into the invigorating smell of an orange grove after spring rain and gentle vanilla. A blend of fruits and of florals with a sweetness that lingers."
Energizer ~ "Sparkling, effervescent and alive with zestiness, Energizer is a refreshing citrus scent containing acidic aromas of Sicilian lemon and grapefruit ripened under the Mediterranean sun. Subtle notes of citron and cypress underscore the fruits – an enticing spritz that will lift you away."
Complex ~ "White flowers plucked from the cottage garden and carried on the breeze: a delectable perfumed posy of lily, honeysuckle and hyacinth infused with white amber, musk and myrrh. As flirtatious, light and capricious as perfume can be."
Inspiring ~ "A rapturously romantic and feminine conflation of gardenia blossoms and tuberose. The latter being one of the most prized floral ingredients in the world. This is a truly contemporary floral: as voluptuous and sensual as human flesh itself."
I will update with sizes and concentrations when I can find them. In the meantime, some of the fragrances are available for pre-order at Cult Beauty in the UK, or you can read more about the brand at their website. (via press release)
Does whoever wrote all that crap have more than a passing acquaintance with the English language? I mean, it's a reasonable approximation, but I lost count of the errors in grammar and punctuation. And worst of all is this:
“Explorer is an enervating citrus scent containing acidic aromas of Sicilian lemon ripened under the Mediterranean sun.”
“Enervating” is not a good thing! To enervate means to weaken, to destroy the vigour of, to suck the life out of. In other words, it means the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the writer was trying to convey.
None of this gives me confidence that the scents are any good. I mean, if the guy can't even be bothered to hire an editor, then why would we think he's hired a decent perfumer, either?
I think the bottle pictured here is an interesting choice as well. I'm generally drawn to something a bit more girly and glamourous looking. Can't wait to see what peope think of these and how they sell!
Is it me, but does the bottle looks like a hand grenade?
Oh dear, I was focused on formatting and missed that entirely. Ouch!
So far, though, have seen very little correlation between the quality of the ad copy & the quality of the scents. But haven't tried these.
It is a nice bottle.
After Flowerbomb, nothing else looks like a hand grenade to me 😉
The first comment here says EXACTLY what I was thinking when i read this! Can they not afford a good copywriter – or at least one who's first language is English? An editor? Yikes! And if they were familiar at all with the legend/history of Boudiccia (closer to the correct spelling…)…they'd think twice about some of these scents.
Speaking of grenades, you know what that bottle looks like? Remember when Mac computers first came out, if you got a fatal error the small round ball with the fuse would appear on the screen? That's it!
You're right! I remember that…. and of course, the huge floppy discs and TRS-80's……
You're almost certainly right that there's no correlation (the scents could be fantastic, for all I know), but it seems like an example of what I call the Résumé Theorem: if someone doesn't care about making sure their résumé (or, by extension, any other piece of writing they produce) is accurate and well-written, then they're not going to care about other aspects of their work, so why would I hire them? Same thing goes for newspapers (if there are typos in the paper, then there are probably errors of fact, too, and why should I believe anything they tell me?) and, by extension (which I concede is a bit of a stretch), fragrances (if they don't care enough to at least make sure their ad copy is error-free, why would I assume that their scent has been given any more thought and would therefore be worth buying?).
People tell me I over-analyze things. I think they might be on to something.
Very heavy on the Sicilian/Mediterranean/Tuscan/Oriental for a product that “trumpets loudly it's British heritage and luxurious credentials”.
I was going to cut them a little slack since they had a Mate fragrance, but then I realized that Explorer and Energizer have almost exactly the same notes!
I never had a MAC, darn it.
Hmmm. It does seem to me that someone could make wonderful scents but not be particularly careful with these sorts of details…I mean, when you're writing a resume or publishing a newspaper, you're relying on the written word to get the message across. When you're making a fragrance, that seems to me to be a different kind of endeavor. Not presenting it well to the public might be a huge mistake, but I can't see that it means you couldn't be the kind of person who would take care with the scent itself.
But then, I do agree about resumes — never understood sloppy resumes. And typos in printed books make me nearly apoplectic.
It's always that way, seriously. Nobody wants the smell of Great Britain, LOL…
Wow, they really do. Wonder if that's a mistake.
No, it's important. Typos drive me insane too.
Oh dear – they lost me when they named a honeysuckle fragrance (transparent, flirtatious, full of naivete, they say….) “Majestic”. Seems to be a contradiction in terms. And when I got to the “enervating”, that, as far as I'm concerned, was that.
English isn't my first language (hence my own mistakes), but when even I can spot mistakes in grammar and punctuation the writing must really suck!
I went to the website to check them out and I have to admit, the perfume bottle with the atomiser is very attractive. I almost want one just to own the bottle but the are rich (one hundred and twenty pounds!) The bottle has a very celtic feel to it.
all I can think of looking at that bottle is an old style squeezy-bulb horn on a bike.
The packaging is really lovely, and I do love black bottles.
LOL!
They just launched their brand and already present a line of “private” fragrances??? So what are the regular perfumes in their line? Does everyone have to go niche, private, luxe etc. even without the earned reputation of serving as a good brand that can stand to a standart of having the exclusive “private collection”???
If these are half as good as the descriptions, I will take ALL of them!
That is, minus all the errors in usage. I just like the concepts!
I am convinced that career Guidance Counsellors assess a child's ability to use “its” and “it's” correctly. If the child is unable to do so, they get tracked into a career in Public Relations. In nearly three decades of journalism, I don't think I've EVER seen a press release with it's and its used correctly. I've thus given up on getting agitated about poor grammar and spelling in press releases.
Howver, there's a bigger issue here: muddled history!
I don't recall Boadicea ever getting to Tuscany, the Med or the Orient – unless she took holidays abroad… (Imagine the duty free shopping: I'll take two breast plates, that scabbard, and some blades for the wheels of my chariot. Oh, and throw in a bottle of that perfume that reminds me of the Tuscan sunshine!)
I can't begin to imagine what Boadicea REALLY smelled like…
That will cost you a pretty penny 🙂
I don't get so agitated either…most ad copy is funny at best. I couldn't write it either, so no use throwing stones 🙂
I haven’t tried these, though I would like to some time. They aren’t sold where I live. I agree with the previous poster about grammar & usage! Also, from reading the fragrance notes some of them remind me of Annick Goutals (Eau d’Hadrien, Eau du Sud, Grand Amour) and Penhaligon (e.g., Bluebell). At any rate, the bottles are great looking. 🙂
They do sound similar to other brands, agree!