La Bomba Intensa by Carolina Herrera

This is only a first impression from a small in-store test, with one spray on skin, so I didn’t get to properly evaluate longevity or the final drydown. The opening is a fruity explosion, sweet and quite intense. To my nose it feels like a raspberry and cherry syrup, more sweet than tart. It’s rich in its opening and quite striking and strong, but that initial intensity drops quickly, within seconds or a few minutes. After that, the fragrance becomes much more linear. It’s still fruity and sweet, but a coarse, synthetic, medicinal facet starts to appear that I don’t like much and that, curiously, I also perceive in the original La Bomba. I thought that medicinal thing was because of the pitaya, but I’ve smelt and I own other perfumes with that note and they’re not like that. I’ve read several times that Intense has nothing to do with the DNA of the first one, but my nose says the exact opposite: I do clearly feel the kinship, only this one seems to me much more fruity and sweet. During the time I wore it, I didn’t feel the patchouli in an obvious way, at least in the opening and middle development. I can’t say much about the base because I got home and washed my hands, so it wouldn’t be fair to evaluate its longevity either. As for projection, with a single spray on skin it dropped quite a bit after the opening, but it kept making itself known and even at times invaded a little the softer perfume I was wearing. Anyway, this also doesn’t represent normal use for me, because my skin tends to eat up perfumes pretty quickly and they usually last and project much more on clothes. I think it’s not bad. If I were given it, I’d happily have it in my collection and I’d probably enjoy it because it has something different, but I doubt I’d pay around $170 for it when there are other options I truly fully enjoy. I still feel that in La Bomba a good part of what you’re paying for is that spectacular bottle and the advertising campaign. I’d like to try it again more calmly and, above all, in summer. The original La Bomba seemed much richer to me with heat and humidity than when I tried it in winter, so it leaves me curious to know if Intense does something similar. Now, if they took something as beautiful as Very Good Girl and put those fruity, sweet notes from the opening of La Bomba Intense on it, but managed to keep them throughout the whole development, Carolina Herrera would have, at least for me, a true bomb.

🦋 I liked this version considerably more than the original. Although it retains part of its DNA in the base, the opening has a much more fruity and acidic character, probably thanks to the red fruits, and that makes it more my style. As the minutes pass, the perfume evolves into a sweet and warm drydown, but without being gourmand or heavy. On my skin it retains a very pleasant fruity sweetness that seems perfect to me for spring and summer. Although it projects a little less than the original version and the drydown stays closer to the skin, the longevity remains very good even on hot days. In addition, I still think the bottle is absolutely adorable.

Darker version, big sister to the traditional La Bomba. The dragon fruit gave it that mentholated, strange sensation; personally, I loved that, but here that’s moved aside and gives way to red berries, mainly an intense black cherry. And a raspberry. The drydown is less vanilla-heavy and more amber. If you didn’t like the first one, try this one <3 There's a bit of the Power Of You vibe in the drydown.

🫐🍒 Smells lovely, very berries and grown-up, a tiny bit citrusy-sour but nice. It projects and lasts. It’s really well made, outstanding. You need to try it; like the first, it has loads of personality and isn’t a basic.

🦋 I liked this version quite a lot more than the original. Although it keeps some of its DNA underneath, the opening has a much fruitier and sharper character, probably thanks to the red berries, and that makes it suit my style better. As the minutes pass, the perfume evolves into a sweet and warm dry-down, but without being gourmand or heavy. On my skin it keeps a really pleasant fruity sweetness that I think is perfect for spring and summer. Even though it projects a little less than the original and the dry-down stays closer to the skin, the longevity remains very good even on hot days. Plus, I still think the bottle is absolutely adorable.