Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Extreme

I've been inspired recently to try out new scents and perfumes.  I think this is partly due to the brilliant BBC4 programme, Perfume, and I've also been really enjoying LoveAudrey's Scent Series on her fabulous blog.  So, I rummaged through all my beauty storage and pulled together my perfume collection, which is slightly larger than I thought it was, and I've also added to it as well over the past week.

I've heard about Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf, but it seemed really expensive, and it didn't really appeal to me.  However, I found a small sample of Flowerbomb Extreme in my collection and thought I'd test it out.

My first thought was that it was disgusting!  Not only was it sickly sweet, but on my skin it smelt of burnt candy floss - and I hate candy floss.  As the perfume grew on my skin, the burnt candy floss smell didn't change - if anything it got stronger.  And the sweetness was nausea-inducing.  This perfume is seriously strong, lasting all day and polluting the air around you - I had a meeting with about 10 other people - I was very aware of the scent I was wearing and was worried about choking everyone around me.

Saying that, this is a more complex scent than just burnt candy floss and sugar.  As the day wore on, I could detect vanilla and a hint of musk, as well as more spicy undertones.  No flowers though, I couldn't make out a hint of floral to the scent at all.  It's certainly a bomb, but more of a sugar bomb, rather than floral.

So I really disliked this scent and it wasn't for me at all.  I certainly didn't find it sophisticated and glamourous, more a teenage sugar rush.

However, something about this scent does appeal to me.  The day after I wore it, I put on my dressing gown which I had been wearing when I sprayed the perfume and was envelopped by a lovely, sophisticated, grown up fragrance - the scent I'd had a hint of when wearing it on my skin, but was completely masked by the burnt candy floss.  It was a gorgeous fragrance on my dressing gown, just not on my skin. Perhaps I would try it again.

And then I went out for my sister's hen do.  We went to a pub/club type place at the end of the night  - usually the sort of place I avoid like the plague!  As I walked across the dance floor I kept getting whiffs of Flowerbomb, assulting me from numerous women.  It's such a distinctive fragrance and so strong, it really stands out, but it appears to also be really popular.  Although sweet, I could only smell the complex undertones on these other women, not the burnt candy floss.  It made me want to give it another go...

So I tried it again.  The first smell was the candy floss... But I used a lot less the second time I tried it, and the candy floss smell didn't linger all day, like the first.  It was still far too sweet for me, but the undertones took over, and it became a more marshmallow type sweetness rather than sugar.  This was much more pleasant to wear.  Again, there were no flowers, but the scent was much less cloying and sweet, with the complexities and slight powderieness of the fragrance detectable.

This seems to be a bit of a bit of a love/hate scent for me, and the reviewers on Fragrantica are equally divided...

At around £50 a bottle, there's no way I'm going to be buying this anytime soon.  It has sort of intrigued me and I'm glad I've tried it, as I usually stay well away from sweet, sticky fragrances, prefering more green, citrus and spicy notes.  In the end, I liked it, just, but I won't be buying a bottle!

Have you tried Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Extreme?  Do you like it, or does it hit you over your head with its sweetness?

Thanks for reading! xx