Flowerbomb by Viktor&Rolf

I ordered this blindly at an official perfumery and I can’t say whether I like it because I can’t even smell it. It makes no sense; I’m indignant.

I never liked florals, or so I thought. I met it at thirty and it won me over with just a spray. It is outrageously sweet, I admit, but every time I wear it I receive a thousand compliments and I love smelling it all day; I never get tired of it. Clearly it’s not for everyone, but if you know how to appreciate it, you’ll be enchanted.

I bought it blindly motivated by the reviews and the hype on social media. I didn’t like it. It is extremely sweet and I don’t sense any florals, just vanilla and sugar to my nose. Youthful. Medium longevity. Overrated in my opinion.

I received my Flowerbomb today and the truth is I expected it to be more floral. If it’s true that it resembles Jimmy Choo, as one comment says, it is quite generic. I thought I’d find a floral bombshell. It’s not a bad perfume, but it’s just Meeeh. I’ll wait a few months and see if it improves. For now, I only like it, but I don’t love it.

The opening is a potent sweet patchouli, like Lolita Lempicka. My expectations were for a floral bombshell like Chanel, but it’s not like that. After a while, the flowers emerge timidly, along with osmanthus and vanilla, giving a somewhat ‘whimsical’ aura that adds an air of mystery and a touch of witchy.

I own it in my collection, but it’s not one of my favourites. It smells very much like La Vie Est Belle, though less potent and with more patchouli. It’s elegant, sweet and super floral as the name suggests. After that initial floral impression, there are powdery and delicate notes, yet it doesn’t lose its potency. It’s a pity that this strong patchouli gives me a headache for the first hour, so I don’t wear it.

More than a bomb of flowers, it’s a bomb of resins, oils and essences. It’s thick and very aromatic; I see it as a mature, warm and spiced perfume, definitely for cold weather. It’s not unpleasant and very well crafted, but it has nothing to do with flowers.

This perfume is like when you go to the florist, open the door and smell freshly cut flowers. Not one specific flower, but all of them at once. It makes you feel fresh and clean. More than one person has asked me what I’m wearing.

It starts with a potent, pungive olive note; the opening is brash and green, then dries down to patchouly and powdery, with quite a bit of tea in the dry-down. Although they have nothing to do with each other, it reminds me of a cheaper and airier version of La Vie Est Belle, being different. Watch out, they aren’t the same but they share that patchouli that makes them similar. It’s a patchouly flower bomb with tea.

I expected something super girly with high expectations, but it smells brash and like a fennel infusion (no, I didn’t confuse it with Good Fortune, that one smells much better). It also smells like aniseed, like Anís del Mono. And a nasty patchouli, the trendy one like in LVEB. I don’t know what it has to do with flowers to carry that name. On top of that, it doesn’t last long (thank God I sprayed it on my skin by mistake).

I absolutely adore this scent; it’s one of my favourites. It doesn’t last long, but it’s totally worth it.

Calling this ‘Flowerbomb’ is disrespectful because the flowers are completely absent. It never appealed to me, especially given the sheer number of clones I’ve tried that I never liked. I was given a sample and, as it was spring, decided to try it. What a mistake. There’s a faintest citrus note at first that smells of alcohol, lasting only fifteen or twenty seconds. I suppose it’s meant to be tea or bergamot, but as someone who drinks green, white or black tea, I can assure you this doesn’t smell like tea. After those seconds, we jump straight to sweet notes that remind me of a macaron. There’s no jasmine, rose, freesia, orange blossom or osmanthus. Just hyper-sugared vanilla with a touch of floral air freshener. It’s not strident, but it lacks elegance and class. It just evokes a dessert, which isn’t bad, but it is generic. I don’t understand how it’s still on the market since 2005 when other beauties like Shalimar Parfum Initial failed to achieve this. Presentation: 4/10 (the bottle looks ugly, so plain). Longevity: 3/10 (lasts about three or four hours on skin). Sillage: 3/10 (stays close to the skin, I can’t even smell it on myself). Originality: 2/10 (there are hundreds or thousands of shameless copies). Versatility: 5/10 (I wouldn’t wear it, but it’s wearable). Season: Autumn and mild winters. Personal taste: 1/10. Would I buy it again?: No.

Well, if you want to smell like an explosion of flowers with vanilla underneath, it’s not my passion, but my partner liked it and I had the sample for a few days. I didn’t buy it and won’t; there are more wearable perfumes out there, and in my opinion, less overpowering ones.

It is beautiful, very feminine, a sensual and lovely scent for spring. Its longevity and projection are good, and it is not overpowering.

I will never understand the hype surrounding this perfume; to me, it is simply sweet with no evolution or development in its aroma. Rather one-dimensional and easily replaceable by many others. That said, claiming it resembles La Vie Est Belle is sacrilege to Lancôme, as it could never match it in anything: neither longevity, sillage nor scent.