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Guerlain Homme L’Eau Boisee ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 31 October 2012 17 Comments

Guerlain Homme L’Eau Boisée

Guerlain recently launched Guerlain Homme L’Eau Boisée, a flanker of a flanker: Guerlain Homme begat Guerlain Homme L’Eau and now we have Homme L’Eau Boisée. (Hey, Guerlain, what about a NEW men’s fragrance…and let this “idea” rest?)

Homme L’Eau Boisée was developed by Thierry Wasser; his goal — to overdose the Homme L’Eau fragrance with an “exceptional new type of vetiver” from Coimbatore in Southern India. Indians have been growing, distilling, wearing (and drinking!) vetiver (khus) for a long time, but I was curious to see if 1. there was an ‘overdose’ of vetiver in Homme L’Eau Boisée, and 2. if this vetiver smelled different from other types of vetiver I smell all the time in perfume.

Homme L’Eau Boisée opens with lime and mint (these are vibrant notes, not wishy-washy); next comes a resin-y, dense wood note — made buoyant by some of the promised “rum” and a pinch of (what smells like) nutmeg. Slowly, rich vetiver rises to the top of Homme L’Eau Boisée; the vetiver is earthy — “wet” and tangy (but nothing I’ve not smelled before).

As it turns out, Homme L’Eau Boisée , with its simple formula of lime, mint, rum, vetiver and woods, smells pretty good, but if Monsieur Wasser thinks the perfume is “overdosed” with vetiver he must be the type who (blushingly) says: “Wow! I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m putting a SECOND lump of sugar in my coffee!”

Though its overall character is pungent, Homme L’Eau Boisée has close-to-the-body sillage and average lasting power; it’s available in 80 ml Eau de Toilette for $80. (As far as I can tell, this is not widely available in the U.S.; I found it listed only at Sears and Amazon.com)

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Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: flanker, guerlain, thierry wasser

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17 Comments

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  1. sergelutencio says:
    31 October 2012 at 1:50 pm

    I’ve just bought this one, and you’re absolutely right, there’s nothing about overdosis here,the vetiver is quiet and discreet.

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    • Kevin says:
      31 October 2012 at 1:58 pm

      SLCIO: I was really hoping for that ‘overdose’ but it is still a nice fragrance.

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      • sergelutencio says:
        31 October 2012 at 2:44 pm

        Very nice

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  2. annemarie says:
    31 October 2012 at 7:11 pm

    That sounds pretty good, overdose or no. Especially in the summer I often have a fancy for relatively simple, legible fragrances with just a few, well done notes. Of course Guerlain has been exploring that concept for years with its Aqua Allegorias. I have a few favourites in that line – Flora Nymphea and Tiare Mimosa – and they get a lot of use.

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    • Kevin says:
      31 October 2012 at 9:00 pm

      AnneM: strange that it’s so hard to obtain!

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  3. hajusuuri says:
    31 October 2012 at 10:26 pm

    I have never associated Sears with perfume! I’ll have to go there to look around one of these days as I do usually go there for Lands End stuff. It would be nice if this were to be available in the U.S.

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    • Kevin says:
      1 November 2012 at 12:25 am

      Hajusuuri, ha…I know, a surprise that it is at Sears.

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    • Tama says:
      1 November 2012 at 1:48 pm

      I went through Sears recently and the fun thing about it was that they have testers of all these cheap drugstore brands that you can’t ever smell, like Love’s Baby Soft and such. It was fun to see. I didn’t look at the men’s – I’ll have to see if the have this.

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  4. nozknoz says:
    31 October 2012 at 11:16 pm

    This must be aimed at an audience that has no idea what vetiver is, i.e., would never have tried any of the classic vetivers.

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    • Kevin says:
      1 November 2012 at 12:28 am

      Noz, it is strange to stress the vetiver when it’s not the main ingredient

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  5. NinaraPoll says:
    31 October 2012 at 11:22 pm

    Perhaps this is one of those cases where “overdose” means “can actually be smelled and recognized as a particular scent”?

    NP

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    • Kevin says:
      1 November 2012 at 12:29 am

      Ninarapoll, may be!

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  6. Merlin says:
    1 November 2012 at 3:06 am

    You put a SECOND lump of sugar in your coffee? Good grief, I hope you didn’t add milk as well – LOL

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    • Kevin says:
      1 November 2012 at 9:46 am

      Merlin: sugar, cream, booze…bring on the overdose

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  7. Rictor07 says:
    1 November 2012 at 11:22 am

    I have never seen any flankers for Homme here in the US. How many are we up to now? 4 or 5? I loved the original on paper, but something turned funky on my skin and i couldnt wear it. I’d love a flanker that didnt turn funky. I dont think Sears has tester bottles.

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    • Kevin says:
      1 November 2012 at 12:04 pm

      Rictor , I’ve never seen Homme L’Eau here in the US either…seems like they are releasing a Homme flanker every couple of years….

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  8. joey86 says:
    8 November 2012 at 1:25 am

    I’m thinking that the overdose here is used as a marketing term. Guerlain has been listening to their fans on the net lately, and I believe that the term is also used in Monsieur Guerlain’s website:

    The Guerlinade includes a customary principle that prescribes counterpointing, overdosing and simplicity when writing the perfume formula. With this principle, Guerlain aims to give the perfume a pronouncedly sensuous, emotive impact.

    perhaps Thierry Wasser is using the term overdose in this context.

    Other signs of how Guerlain has been listening to their fans on the net is how their reformulations are more sparkly and robust compared to previous reformulations that robs the perfume of its soul. the new Habit Rouge and Vertiver are more sparkly and cheerful and not watered down.

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