There needs to be a moratorium placed on masculines that reinterpret the tired, scratchy, and cliched formula of pink pepper, violet leaf, and musk, at least until someone tackles it from a new angle. One of the reasons I've avoided the house of Boss here on From Pyrgos is that I have a dreadful association with the brand: Boss Selection. This was my brother's college spritz five or six years ago. And I thought even less of it then than I do now, although it hasn't really improved in my estimation. The only difference today is that I understand what I'm smelling, and I appreciate that it is a mildly well-crafted and inoffensive fragrance for people who don't think much about fragrance. Sadly, the requisites of imagination and good raw materials aren't even remote considerations for the people who come up with stuff like this. Even college guys deserve some compositional tension and a few realistic notes to compliment whatever cheap thing they tackle their classes in. At least try to put a spin on the easily-exhausted realm of fresh-woody aromatics. Otherwise, what's the point of even bothering to create them? You're wanna make more money? Go sell tires instead.
Everything about Selection is drab, from its clunky, colorless bottle, to its spicy-fresh Blah-ness, to the deeply uninspiring magazine ads of chiseled nobodies in well-tailored suits. I'm almost positive Hugo Boss' advertising department is a sweltering back-alley office in Bangladesh, with guys cutting and pasting models from photographs and bundling them off at a seventy-five percent discount to wherever HB operates from. That this fragrance is still out there (and presumably selling) flabbergasts me, but when I peruse the fragrance counter at Kohl's, I bump into at least five or six incarnations of Boss Selection. I imagine the stubborn bastards behind them will likely die with briefs for more peppery-musky Blahs clutched to their chests. I try to live life with one thought in mind: do I mind dying with this fragrance? If it gives me pause, then chances are it's a no-go (if I haven't already purchased it), or it's a goodbye (if I have). When it comes to Boss Selection, simply pass altogether. This isn't even worth a try.