Pick up any bottle from Boadicea the Victorious and you are holding metalwork. A round pewter shield sits on the glass, engraved with knotwork and set by hand. Some carry crystals. Some carry 24-karat gold. The full presentation runs to black tissue, lead crystal and silver.
The house behind the shields is British and, by perfume standards, young. Michael Boadi founded it in 2008 after a career in high-fashion hair, with Chanel, Gucci, Etro and Missoni on his CV. The name works twice over. Boadicea was the Celtic queen who led the rising against Roman rule around AD 60, and Boadi is the founder's surname. As brand ancestors go, she is not a soft choice. Boadi has called the engraved style of his bottles "Year 3000 Celtic" in an interview with Basenotes.
Ardent is the scent that made the house's reputation among oud wearers. Christian Provenzano composed it in 2012. Turkish rose, saffron, coriander and carrot seed open it, a heart of rose, jasmine and beeswax follows, and it settles into oud, vanilla, amber, benzoin and musk. It is an English reading of the Middle Eastern rose and oud pairing, softened with wax and honey rather than smoke.
Be clear about what the money buys. The juice is serious, but a good share of the price is the object itself: lead crystal, hand-set pewter, silver and gold detail. Collectors love that, and the bottles hold their place on a shelf like trophies. If the shield means nothing to you, though, you are paying for someone else's armour.
Ardour is our 35% Extrait spray inspired by Ardent by Boadicea the Victorious: the rose, saffron and oud line without the pewter bill. It leads our Boadicea inspired collection, backed by the 60-day money-back guarantee.
