Bois du Portugal Creed (1987)

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7.9 / 10 326 Ratings

Bois du Portugal is a popular perfume by Creed for men and was released in 1987. The scent is woody-spicy. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.

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Perfumer

Olivier Creed

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bergamot, Lavender
Heart Notes	Cedarwood
Base Notes	Sandalwood, Vetiver, Ambergris

Ratings

Scent

7.9 (326 Ratings)

Longevity

8.0 (242 Ratings)

Sillage

7.3 (225 Ratings)

Bottle

7.7 (224 Ratings)

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 20.07.2019

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Reviews

06/15/2019

8.0 8.0 8.0 7.0/10

Norleans
0 Reviews

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Norleans

Very helpful Review 7

I have tried several times...

First of all: pure woody scents and my nose are not the best friends.

When I ordered my first bottle of BdP for testing, I was almost a bit overwhelmed by the fragrance. It smelled like an old gentleman and so not at all imperial à la Napoleon. Rather after Mercedes-Benz (built 1986, 1st hand, eggshell, top groomed) - driver, who likes to drive with his car and his wife every Sunday to the confectioner and slurps his pot of coffee on the confectioner's terrace (because outside only little pot), takes his piece of marzipan cake and treats himself to a little liqueur before going home.
So it's quite likeable, cosy and constant - but not very varied and radiating even less esprit. I was disappointed.

After a few months I accidentally saw that a sharing was started to BdP and I remembered my first fragrance impression. Maybe it was the bottling that didn't make me like him so much? Maybe it was a little overlaid? So I took part in the sharing and got a fresh Bois du Portugal sent to me. Unfortunately my impression has not changed.

BdP in my nose is a very linear scent of... yes, wood. I'm to blame myself if I've hoped for more, for example, the sparkliness or a stronger unfolding of lavender.
We are dealing here with a solid wood scent, which has already become old with 1987 as the year of birth. The perfumers' intention at no time was to create a fragrance that could be so interesting for U-45 people. You had to bring in a certain old-fashioned aura, because you wanted to take Napoleon into marketing. No one would have believed that Napoleon had used a fragrance like Nightflight or Le Male.

I don't want to accuse the lovers of this fragrance of old-fashionedness, but only give back my final impressions of this little complex, somewhat dusty, but very solid fragrance.

Thanks for reading.

4 Replies

05/27/2019

8.0 7.0 8.0 8.0/10

DonJuanDeCat
0 Reviews

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DonJuanDeCat

Greatly helpful Review 14

Napoleon, the perfume!

Hello you perfumed ones, here I am again and describe once again a fragrance! And today it's about a Creed scent!

No, man, no, no! It's not about Aventus,...!! Yes, I know, I play the card "I-make-me-again-fanatic-Aventus-disciples-funny"-card too often when I mention Creed, but it's really true when it comes to batch codes from that scent, isn't it? Everybody's going crazy! :D
And since now also a Flanker of Aventus appears (and/or appeared), thus the Aventus Cologne, surely again endless discussions and comparisons between the different Aventus versions will be ignited. Which is good, because this proves once again that I'm just a passionate collector with all my comic and Star Wars stuff, while you fragrances are the real freaks, you are man :DD

But let's get to the scent. As you can see, there are also some other fragrances from Creed than Aventus. One of them is Bois du Portugal here, which officially appeared in 1987, but according to legend its original formula was already created in the early days of Creed in the 1760s. Even Napoleon (yes, THE Napoleon) was so enthusiastic about this fragrance that he allegedly used over 150 bottles of it... in only three months! If Napoleon were still alive, I bet he'd be a member here on Parfumo and certainly looking for THE Batch as well, but of course from this fragrance here rather than from Aventus... which would be another proof that everyone who registers for Parfumo will sooner or later change from passionate fragrance users to insane freaks... :D

The fragrance:

I smell a beautiful, classic, but also quite old-fashioned fragrance that smells of lemons, lavender and tart cedar. A slight sweetness appears afterwards, which apparently comes from the amber. The sandalwood also makes the scent softer and softer and even a little creamier. Only the Vetiver seems to be the only fragrance you can't perceive at all.
Actually, the fragrance then remains as it was for a long time, only that the lemons lose a little intensity over time and that the lavender comes across a bit more herbaceous and spicy, so that the fragrance is even more reminiscent of some old-fashioned scents of bygone times.
Towards the end, the fragrance remains as it is. There are no other scents added, so that you still smell the described scents, but in the base the intensity of the lavender gradually decreases, so that the scent appears even softer. The woods become slightly stronger and the amber a little sweeter, which gives the fragrance more warmth and all in all a rather good, if not particularly spectacular fragrance.

The Sillage and the shelf life:

The Sillage is quite good, so that the scent is easy to smell even if you are not very close. The shelf life of over eight hours is also quite long.

The bottle:

The bottle has the typical shape of almost all Creed fragrances and is rectangular with an oval base. The bottle narrows towards the neck and then closes with a lid that widens again in an arched shape. The Creed logo can be seen on the front of the bottle, under which the label of the fragrance has been affixed. A beautiful bottle, where there are more beautiful color variations.

So this was the scent Napoleon liked to use. Of course, all this is not proven and more a legend, so this is more regarded as a marketing gag by Creed, but interesting is the story anyway. Especially since the scent is really good, at least for an old-fashioned scented scent. With such a kind of scent, many people say "old man's scent", you can see that one way or the other, and I have to say that this scent seems to be more suitable for men from middle age than for guys in their twenties.

In my opinion, it can be used at any time as a daily fragrance. It's not particularly complex or spectacular (so it's not really suitable for going out), but it has a nice scent, doesn't bother anyone and can be used as a work scent or as a day scent at any time of the year.

And that brings me back to the end. I hope the Aventus disciples aren't crying in a corner because I made fun of Aventus again, but I guess they don't have time to cry anyway, as they surely go through their lists and tables with various batch code entries and try to get a sample of every Aventus batch to find the ultimate Aventus scent, mu ha ha ha ha :D

All right, you freaks. Have a nice evening. See you next time :)

6 Replies

05/10/2019

8.0 7.0 8.0 8.5/10

FabianO
0 Reviews

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FabianO

Greatly helpful Review 13

Balanced between warm, cosy and woody and a little bit mineral

In 2013 I already wrote a somewhat diminutive commentary on "Bois du Portugal", came to speak of too much "patriarchally sweet woodiness", did me with the Creed classic quite a bit difficult. With a new model now, from a definitely fresh flacon, I have to relativize the impression of that time.
(Maybe Creed's fragrances are just not as durable as theirs, but after 3-4 years I often give them a little fatigue, not to mention staleness.)

Well, the "Portuguese wood" is now quite happy with me. Maybe it is also due to my 6 years more maturing, but in the portfolio of the brand this fragrance still occupies a recognizable right to exist.
In the beginning perhaps still something special, which may be due to the intense lavender, which in combination with the cedar wood and the already somewhat mineral-balsamic ambergris is a little bit more pointed.

But after 5 minutes everything is well balanced, the lavender a little tamed, and what I had called "old-fashioned" at that time, I would rather describe with a very comfortable, almost hugging, woody atmosphere. This will make you notice once more how easily neutral terms per se may become charged with atmosphere or how strongly your own basic state of being takes over everything (even falsifying).

After about 20 minutes "Bois du Portugal" has arrived in its heart phase, for me the best with this fragrance.
The ambergris has spread cuddly, the wood is primed with masculine spices, lavender is recognizable, but soft and mildly ethereal in the background and the fragrance is carried by a balanced warm, soothing aura. I have to admit it. :-)

6 Replies

03/23/2019

8.0 7.0 8.0 9.5/10

MrInfinite
0 Reviews

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MrInfinite

Bois du EDEN !

I didn't intend to write a comment, because my mood is going towards 0 with the constant rain. 16 o'clock; I am forced to apply a fragrance to change this. It should be woody but not too earthy or too sweet.....not too heavy or intrusive.....more like a warm hug with woody notes. After a short search I had to decide between BdP or Azzaro Pour Homme. The similarities of the two are amazing but the Azzaro is too spicy for me in the course.
BdP is much quieter and as mentioned above it should not be so intrusive.
This fragrance leaves the wearer no chance of having a bad mood; it always brings a smile to my face. A nice friend who tells you to switch off and turn stress into relaxation. He'll stay with you for a whole day, too.
A little paradise for the soul...

1 Replies

03/08/2019

9.0 6.0 8.0 8.0/10

Konsalik
0 Reviews

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Konsalik

Greatly helpful Review 14

A radical middle course

Through the whole Aventus story, the niche house Creed is a little burned for me. It's a little blasé of mine, I admit it, but in my imagination Creed is somehow... guilty. On the one hand, "Green Irish Tweed" (through no fault of my own) is partly responsible for the wave of aquatics that does not want to subside (no pun intended), on the other hand, the ever-increasing numbers of Aventus imitators, who recently found their way into the Douglas and Müller shelves of this republic through Montblanc's jump on the train, make me turn up my nose. Somehow the distance between old, European perfumery house Noblesse and contemporary mass taste seems to me here once too often to be lifted.

Thought the wrong way, it's clear: What can people at Creed do to get trends off the ground? After all, Jean-Michel Jarre or Kraftwerk are not to blame for the fact that since the nineties a great deal of shit has been done with synthetic sound production. Nevertheless: An aftertaste remains and the more recent releases already seem as if one is reluctant to withdraw the foot once set in the door. Be that as it may: The last great litter of old Façon is not considered a few "Bois du Portugal". The fragrance pyramid also let me immediately become straight in the cross. I wasn't disappointed!

Bois du Portugal" is a perfume that holds its balance like no other in the classic masculine triad of "citric", "herbaceous-spicy" and "woody" - let's call it that for the sake of argument. A bergamot strongly illuminated by rather English lavender and whitish-powdery (not necessarily "powdery") herb or moss tones - could be almost a lemon - opens incredibly bright and airy. This is soon joined, albeit quietly at first, by the typical, somehow very dry, but never piercing woodiness of the cedar, which continuously increases in strength and maintains the overall so astounding scent of the bright, whitish radiant. Strangely enough, the vetiver is clearly audible without being pastel as in other fragrances; rather, it hangs into the cedar without break and cheerfully. Strange how far the color metaphor carries here: How should you change almost pure white to pastel?

A really beautiful, airy fragrance, which, despite its summeriness, is still sufficiently strong throughout the year and at the same time thoroughly masculine and elegant. I still give him "only" eight points. What's the problem? Probably an olfactory ideosyncrasy on my part, which the inclined reader should not necessarily understand as a warning. Maybe it is an incompatibility of lavender with another component, but: Something in "Bois du Portugal" reminds me in the course of the fragrance of cabbage. Kind of poopy methane. I've only had it with Guerlain's "Jicky."
But this small "individual-associative" mistake does not prevent me from recommending this fragrance to every gentleman looking for a high-quality signature fragrance suitable for the whole year as a work of art that is balanced to the last (and never bland because of its almost radical balance).

8 Replies

12/25/2018

7.0 8.0 8.0 7.0/10

MajorTom
0 Reviews

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MajorTom

Creed or nothing? Then nothing!

I must admit, most creeds haven't ripped me out of my chair yet. Neither the Aventus that so many have stylized into an absolute fragrance, which I personally don't like at all (perhaps because it simply smells too often, too often, too excessively?). Various other representatives of the brand. So far I found the Green Irish Tweed alone interesting, so a detailed test will follow.

But now to the Portuguese woods. The prelude, determined by bergamot and a little lavender, I find quite pleasing. Pleasing but inconspicuous. Which doesn't have to be bad. And for me, the most diverse woods dominate surprisingly fast, whereby to be honest I am not able to define when exactly the heart note changes into the base note. An almost seamless transition from my point of view and yes, the woods dominate this fragrance to the end, with a small added vetiver crisis, which may, however, be reserved. Any luck? No, no surprises at all, the fragrance is almost soft towards the back and, from my point of view, slightly powdery.

What am I gonna do with a perfume like that? As described above, I find it pleasant, pleasing, basically always wearable, but also somehow too reserved (especially for the Creed brand), not grandpa-style, as some of the previous speakers mentioned, but simply a bit too smooth, too discreet, too arbitrary and almost too boring, just too little extroverted - for my taste/ sense of smell. By no means a bad part, we've already got quite different things under our noses, durability and sillage underline the high quality. But the better is the enemy of the good, and the dog is buried in it. For 50 ml, 160 stones are called, people people! In return, I expect something that flashes and doesn't bore me. And that's why this perfume won't be coming to me, sorry

6 Replies

11/27/2017

MasterLi
367 Reviews

MasterLi

Helpful Review 2

Pleasant and conservative men's fragrance...

I do like this one. I find it the type of fragrance which doesn't smell completely "modern" in it's approach. It takes very traditional masculine ingredients here and comes up with a smart, slightly formal and traditional fragrance.

What I get from here immediately is the sandalwood and lavender combination. It's a very good combination and one used very often in male-marketed compositions (most famously in Guerlain - Héritage). In fact, Bois du Portugal is very similar to Héritage (the eau de toilette version).

Having said that, although this is a very well made fragrance, no doubt... I can't help feeling that if you are on a budget you can find this effect for less.. In fact, it reminds me not just of the Guerlain fragrance, but also of a great fragrance by the house of Caron called The Third Man (which I would recommend as this fragrance but with a more daring, floral edge). That fragrance has more flair than this one. I would say that, again, as with all Creed fragrances, if you have the money, go for it. Yet if you want your money to go a little further by mixing it up a bit, then go for the other French houses. As always, a very safe and traditional choice for men from Creed.

03/15/2017

8.0 8.0 8.0 8.5/10

Syed
5 Reviews

Syed

Creed Bois Du Portugal - Ahhh Frankie Sinatra

One fine day I had a weird thought to try a Creed fragrance belonging to my year of birth i.e. 1987, and to really feel what exactly the fragrance house was into the late eighties, and I have to say that I wasn’t a tad bit disappointed, in terms of being good at what was going on, it’s one of the examples of extravagance, exuberance and fresh rawness of the 80’s era bottled.

Since the first spray this fragrance reminds me of a mixture of other famous perfumes namely, Armani, Polo Green and to a great extent Old Spice cologne. Faintly familiar and timelessly surprising.

One great thing is that there has been no heavy restructuring or reformulation of any sort, and is exactly what you expect it to be, clean crisp and sharp.

Bois Du Portugal was launched in 1987, and is the brainchild of Olivier Creed who is famously said to have designed this fragrance as he conjured up sights and smell of the fragrant trees of Portugal, which is literally what the name of this scent means.

Mentioned below is the review:

Bottle design (8.5 / 10) - We have the same Creed bottle outline, but what makes it special is the attention to the detail. The top is jet black with a golden Creed sigil embalmed on it (yes GOLDEN), the actual bottle has tailor cut green on it with ‘Bois Du Portugal’ imprinted on it in golden. It is, simple, yet elegant and royal in its stature making me feel proud of its possession.

Scent (8.5 / 10) - It is tough to decide the range of score here, for some it would be a hit or a miss, and may easily be classified into a wet shaving community cologne, and a barber favorite. However, all said and done, I still admire this very much, since it is to me a defining statement of the late 80’s era, sharp, crisp, citrusy and in your face.

This is a Woody/oriental scent; and too much woody at that. It opens with a burst of bergamot and settles down into the extremely well balanced lavender, which is not nauseating, rather soothing and sweet if I may say so.
It is the constant interplay of these 2 elements in the scent which makes this scent simple yet definitive, and right at the base is the smell of vetiver and sandalwood which evolve and linger on you giving it the earthy and woody texture, it wants to encapsulate.

Longevity (7.5 / 10) - The perfume lasts on my skin for a good 6+ hours, however after the 2-3 hour point, it lingers more closely to the skin.

Overall the performance is pretty good, with reasonably appreciative silage that is not disturbing and over powering

In summary, the fragrance still retains its crisp and clean masculinity and is definitive of a time and era bygone whose remnants I look forward to clinging on to.

One fact this one was Frank Sinatra’s signature scent.

Overall: 82% ( B+ )