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

The Perfect Summer Scent? Liz Earle Botanical Essence Eau de Parfum No 1

I was sent Liz Earle Botanical Essence Eau de Parfum No 1 for consideration a couple of months ago, and it has become a bit of an everyday staple for me since then.  In fact, I've nearly used up the bottle, so I have requested a second bottle for my birthday in a couple of weeks.

Like all Liz Earle products I've used to date, this is beautifully designed.  The Eau de Parfum is contained in a class and chic square glass bottle, with a chunky stopper.  It comes packaged in a sturdy pull-out cardboard drawer, so it looks good on your dressing table, whether you keep the outer packaging or not.  The packaging is very solid  - I took in on holiday with me without the cardboard drawer, and it survived two long-haul flights without breaking - quite a risky thing to do really!

I find it so hard to describe the smell of perfumes, but I'll give this one a go.  On first spray, it smells like a combination of mown grass and a forest in the rain - it's quite powerful, but this quickly subsides, and a more richer and deeper smell is detectable, with a hint of sweetness.  The richer smell then develops further, combining a very slight sweetness, with a deeper, yet somehow fresher smell, with a hint of citrus.  After a while, the scent develops to a slightly nutty aroma, with a herby, pine smell also detectable, bringing out fresher notes in the perfume.  Finally, once the scent has settled on the skin for an hour or so, I swear it smells lightly of chocolate, but with only the slightest hint of sweetness. This is how it reads on my skin, and I love it.

It's not a strong or heady scent, and I would definitely class it as more suitable for day wear rather than at night.  As I mentioned, I used it on holiday, and it was the perfect summer daytime fragrance.  It's the sort of smell that wouldn't offend anyone by being too strong, or catch in your throat.  However, it provides a relatively long-lasting daytime scent.  If I apply it first thing, I can still detect it after I've finished work.  However, it does wear off eventually, and you would need to top up if you were going out in the evening.  I have got through my bottle of this pretty quickly, as I've been quite liberal with its application.  I'm not sure if this is because it is quite lightly scented, or whether it's because I've abandoned most of my other perfumes in place of this!

I'm personally not a fan of grand, sickly sweet and artificial scents.  I generally tend towards fresher and more citrus note fragrances, such as my all time favourite Paco Rabanne XS Pour Elle, or Boss Orange Sunset.  Therefore, the Liz Earle Botanical Essense Eau de Parfum No 1 could be a fragrance designed specifically for me!

I've deliberately written this review without looking at the ingredients list.  However, looking at the list now, it contains the following ingredients:

Bergamot Essential Oil, Geranium Essential Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Coriander Essential Oil (perhaps this is the herby smell), Vetiver Essential Oil (the grassy smell?), Tonka Bean Absolute, Patchouli Essential Oil, Mandarin Essential Oil, Bitter Orange Oil (those are the citrus scents), Cardamom Essential Oil, Nutmeg Essential Oil (the nuttiness and chocolate?), Cedarwood - Texan Essential Oil and Damask Rose Absolute.

This can be purchased from the Liz Earle website for £40.35, or from other Liz Earle stockists.  As I've said above, I have requested a second bottle of this, as I think I will get a lot of use out of it over the summer.  If you're after a light, delicate fragrance for day wear, I would recommend you have a sniff of this!

DISCLAIMER: This item was provided free of charge for review purposes.  This has not influenced my review in any way - I always express my honest opinion on any product I review.