Dr.No January 11, 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 higher quality. This version is denser, more potent, herbal, less bright than the original, and more polished. It’s an overloaded masterpiece. ➡️ 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 herbal tone. A hyper-masculine fragrance. The hard part isn’t the oud, but the leather-sage combo. Low versatility, elegant, nocturnal, and best for open-air settings. A bit invasive, but with great 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 and used it sparingly. Interesting, but I wasn’t a fan due to that tone, and it wasn’t a success, so they discontinued it for something friendlier. Paul Kiler also has a leather-herbal called Red Leather in his PK Perfumes brand, though I had to wash my skin quickly after wearing it. Too herbal-vegetal. —– Complex 2020 isn’t easy to love; it falls into the acquired taste category. I let three adults and two others smell it, and three reacted very negatively: “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 and thought 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 don’t feel the need to reapply. Boadicea has become my favorite brand. Oud Sapphire and Complex 2020 are leather fragrances worth it for leather lovers, although the latter was love at first sniff. Great job by John Stephen! 10 ✨

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Dr.No January 11, 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 higher quality. This version is denser, more potent, herbal, less bright than the original, and more polished. It’s an overloaded masterpiece. ➡️ 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 herbal tone. A hyper-masculine fragrance. The hard part isn’t the oud, but the leather-sage combo. Low versatility, elegant, nocturnal, and best for open-air settings. A bit invasive, but with great 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 and used it sparingly. Interesting, but I wasn’t a fan due to that tone, and it wasn’t a success, so they discontinued it for something friendlier. Paul Kiler also has a leather-herbal called Red Leather in his PK Perfumes brand, though I had to wash my skin quickly after wearing it. Too herbal-vegetal. —– Complex 2020 isn’t easy to love; it falls into the acquired taste category. I let three adults and two others smell it, and three reacted very negatively: “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 and thought 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 don’t feel the need to reapply. Boadicea has become my favorite brand. Oud Sapphire and Complex 2020 are leather fragrances worth it for leather lovers, although the latter was love at first sniff. Great job by John Stephen! 10 ✨

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