Dr.No January 7, 2026

Found a treasure where there was no map… There are two versions of Complex: the 2008 EDP and the 2020 version (launched in 2017), which is worth double and makes sense. The ingredients are of higher quality. This version is denser, more potent, herbal, less bright than the original, and more polished. A supercharged version. ➡️ Complex 2020 is dominated by smoky, rough leather with a touch of oud. But it doesn’t stop there: the leather pairs with sage, creating a very marked herbaceous tone. A hyper-masculine fragrance. The challenge isn’t the oud, but the leather-sage combo. Low versatility, elegant, nocturnal, and suited for open-air settings. A bit invasive, but with good performance as a perfume. 💡 Fortunately, it has no medicinal tone. This reminds me of a rough leather from Zoologist called Rhinoceros (original formula). I owned it but used it sparingly. Interesting, but I wasn’t a fan of that tone and it wasn’t a success, to the extent that it was discontinued for something friendlier. Paul Kiler also has a leather-herbal fragrance called Red Leather in his PK Perfumes brand, though with that one I had to wash my skin quickly. Too herbal-vegetal. —– Complex 2020 isn’t easy to like; it falls into the acquired taste category. I let three adults and two others smell it, and reactions were very negative: “go away” and another “if I get touched on a plane, I’ll ask for a seat change”. The third was neutral, “tolerable”. —– Until recently, I knew it thinking I wouldn’t like it (I wasn’t a fan of the EDP), but this one is fantastic. As I write this, it’s my fragrance of the day, and after five hours, I feel no need to reapply. Boadicea has become my favourite brand. Oud Sapphire and Complex 2020 are leather fragrances worth it for leather lovers, although the latter was love at first sniff. Great work by John Stephen! 10 ✨

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Dr.No January 7, 2026

Found a treasure where there was no map… There are two versions of Complex: the 2008 EDP and the 2020 version (launched in 2017), which is worth double and makes sense. The ingredients are of higher quality. This version is denser, more potent, herbal, less bright than the original, and more polished. A supercharged version. ➡️ Complex 2020 is dominated by smoky, rough leather with a touch of oud. But it doesn’t stop there: the leather pairs with sage, creating a very marked herbaceous tone. A hyper-masculine fragrance. The challenge isn’t the oud, but the leather-sage combo. Low versatility, elegant, nocturnal, and suited for open-air settings. A bit invasive, but with good performance as a perfume. 💡 Fortunately, it has no medicinal tone. This reminds me of a rough leather from Zoologist called Rhinoceros (original formula). I owned it but used it sparingly. Interesting, but I wasn’t a fan of that tone and it wasn’t a success, to the extent that it was discontinued for something friendlier. Paul Kiler also has a leather-herbal fragrance called Red Leather in his PK Perfumes brand, though with that one I had to wash my skin quickly. Too herbal-vegetal. —– Complex 2020 isn’t easy to like; it falls into the acquired taste category. I let three adults and two others smell it, and reactions were very negative: “go away” and another “if I get touched on a plane, I’ll ask for a seat change”. The third was neutral, “tolerable”. —– Until recently, I knew it thinking I wouldn’t like it (I wasn’t a fan of the EDP), but this one is fantastic. As I write this, it’s my fragrance of the day, and after five hours, I feel no need to reapply. Boadicea has become my favourite brand. Oud Sapphire and Complex 2020 are leather fragrances worth it for leather lovers, although the latter was love at first sniff. Great work by John Stephen! 10 ✨

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