Hugo by Hugo Boss

One of the few that doesn’t give me a headache; with just three sprays, I can last all day at the office without issues. It’s subtle, people only notice when they get close, so I’m never afraid of smelling like an idiot.

The quintessential scent of the 90s. I wore it for years; it was one of my first fragrances, the classic college cologne everyone had. It smells like memories, cleanliness, and carefree days. Fresh, herbal, with that unmistakable touch of green apple that defines it. Very easy to wear, youthful, elegant, and subtle. It has that clean scent that never fails, super versatile, and perfect for everyday life. Lasts 6 to 7 hours with moderate projection. Ideal year-round, though it shines in spring and summer. Youthful, fresh, and full of soul. Rating: 7.5/10.

This, my friend, was bottled 90s rebellion in a flask that looked like a Swiss Army canteen. You wore it with baggy jeans, a V-neck tee, and absurd dreams of eating the world without paying VAT. Hugo wasn’t just a fragrance; it was a statement: ‘Don’t imitate. Innovate.’ Or something equally pretentious, but with more echo in the gym locker room. Walking out, you get slapped in the face with green apple, like someone spit cider at you under pressure. Then it caresses you with herbal, mentholated notes, a touch of pine, and some lavender, as if you were showering in a Nordic forest after fleeing your responsibilities. Fresh, green, clean… but with a cheeky edge, like that kid who always looked disheveled yet hooked up more than you. Hugo was the fragrance for the guy who didn’t know what he wanted to be yet, but smelled like he already had it figured out. The college student who wore a blazer without needing one. The rebel listening to Radiohead while ironing his resume. You’d smell this and think of freedom, youth, crashing festivals, and stolen kisses on balconies. And now? Now you smell it and know time has passed. Not badly, not with resentment. Just… it has passed. Hugo today smells like nostalgia, that Adidas tracksuit with zippers you swore you’d never throw away. It’s the scent of someone who doesn’t want to give up on the ‘niche’ world but also doesn’t want to smell like a post-pandemic club. And there’s its charm: it still works. Still clean, still fresh. Like that lifelong friend who hasn’t changed a bit… for better or worse. Do you feel like spraying it again? Of course you do. But you also feel like rewinding a tape with a Bic pen. Because Hugo isn’t just a perfume. It’s an era.

Opening with that apple that on my nose has a watery edge; it’s fresh, green, and aromatic from the start. Tonic in a sense. Fortunately, I barely perceive the lavender, perhaps very lightly in the second phase, but it seems well-blended with the rest of the notes, resulting in a slightly sparkling citrus finish. At some point, my olfactory memory recalls some nuances from the 80s-90s, but it has held up well over time, especially for younger profiles. Within half an hour, green woods and patchuli emerge with a dry-down that works very well. A comfortable, versatile fragrance; perhaps it lacks a bit of personality, hard to dislike, yet equally hard to be remembered for. Perfect for summer and daytime, except in winter; it’s a perfectly valid battle-ready eau de toilette. The price is ridiculously low considering it has a sillage of about an hour and lasts around 6 hours in close proximity. In my case, reapplying mid-day is optional.

A bullseye hit with eyes closed. For me, reviewer @azurita hit the mark when explaining that this ‘Hugo’ plays in the line of Tommy Hilfiger’s Tommy but elevates itself when mentioning the series Beverly Hills 90210, a 90s classic. Certainly, the show’s aesthetic fits the mentioned fragrances, but fortunately, they have aged better than the series and its protagonists. Hugo is the second Hugo Boss fragrance I’ve tested, and I really liked it. Fresh from the first spray, it allows the wearer to enjoy a pleasant, green, and youthful aroma that then mutates very elegantly into flowers that, without losing the green note, give a sense of nonchalance without falling into extravagance or inappropriate notes. I perceive it as undeniably masculine—which makes me curious to try it on a woman—and it has correct longevity and projection. Perhaps now it might seem a bit plain compared to current youthful fragrances for spring or summer seasons, but I believe it’s a very good bet for a user who wants to enjoy a youthful image of cleanliness and neatness while being considerate of their surroundings. I recommend it.

Green with a minty twist, perfect for spring and those crisp summer days. Very masculine. Performance is just right. Good starter scent. Not giving it more stars because there are plenty of fragrances like this. Rating: 7/10.

I picked this up in the early 2000s. At first, I didn’t like the strong scent and wore it little, but over time I grew to love it. It was impeccable during my university days; I got tons of compliments. The mere whiff of it brings back great memories. It’s a Hugo Boss classic, the famous thermos. Green apple, mint, and lavender—a perfect combo that makes it a compliment machine. Lasts over 5 hours on skin and even longer on clothes. Very versatile, day or night, for young or old. Rating: 10/10.

Fresh and herbal. I love the mint, basil, and sage notes. Rating: 8/10.

I’m writing this in the context of comparing this perfume to Tom Ford’s Costa Azzurra, especially the Anglo-Saxon version on this page. As others have mentioned, Hugo is a very current fragrance. Since the 90s, it proposed a composition similar to an aromatic fougère but with a green apple accord that adds a certain sweetness, allowing it to hold its own against the blue fragrances that emerged two generations later. Its versatility is evident; the blend of floral and fresh spicy notes gives it an ethereal and bright character. That’s why I’m surprised it’s compared to Costa Azzurra, a family of dense, smoky, and sticky compositions. However, I understand how they can overlap within the coastal aromatic fougère genre. I wouldn’t recommend it as a substitute, but it’s worth trying both if you enjoy them.

Exquisite scent, but I’ve worn it for quite a while and switched to something else because the longevity and sillage barely lasted more than two hours.

It’s my dad’s signature scent forever; I fondly remember him putting it on me when I was 7 or 8. Although it’s a youthful rose anyone could wear, every time I smell it, I see myself wearing it, but I don’t because with that perfume I saw my dad hundreds of times and it makes me miss him. It’s a super rich rose, highly recommended: it has apple freshness, basil, cedar, and patchouli, perfect for cold weather or fresh environments, whether casual or formal.

It smells good but is very generic, like a classic Nautica Voyage, and has very little sillage. I don’t recommend it: it costs $35 in my country and isn’t worth it. If it’s worth it compared to that, it’s Nautica Voyage, which costs up to $14.

They’ve reformulated it too much; you only smell it in your personal space unless you’re within a meter. I bought it today and the longevity is poor. It resembles many cheap but good fragrances like Nautica Voyage, and it feels soapy. Even though it’s Hugo Boss, I don’t recommend it: the scent is nice, but they went too far. Other scents at half the price smell much better and last a lot longer.

I’m going to buy it for my husband, he loves it!

Just today my new Hugo bottle arrived; the new one looks like the Victory Nox bottle, a kind of hybrid bottle with a canteen cap, but honestly it doesn’t smell like the Hugo I used to have. This would have been my third bottle, now I’m trying to return it because it smells terrible, like they put burnt plastic instead of green apple. The super synthetic scent seems more like a cheap spray deodorant, what a disappointment, I expected my usual perfume which was very sweet.