Flowerbomb
Viktor & Rolf (2005)

I can understand why people dislike this because it's a LOT. This is a Beast. Not Angel level Beast Mode, but plan your day around it, and get used to smelling it on your jacket for a week. Whatever notes you find stand out, you will get way too much of for way too long unless you apply it carefully. I also find this way too heavy to wear in warm weather. I'm a naturally conservative sprayer, and I'm even more cautious with Flowerbomb. I do one spray under my clothes on my decollete from a foot or two away; one spray in the air and wave my arms in the cloud.

On my skin it's mostly musky, powdery vanilla. No bergamot for me. I don't get fruit exactly, but I can detect the slightly peachy osmanthus. I wasn't expecting to see tea listed in the notes, but it doesn't surprise me because whenever I like a fragrance tea is almost inevitably there like a stalker. There's no trace of anything even vaguely earthy or green or pungent so the patchouli works from home, I guess.

It's definitely not unique but it's pretty, and it does work on my body chemistry. It would be an easy reach if not for the Beast.

Like the name, Flowerbomb is made of two parts - with no rational link between them.
I get the bomb part, although this isn't really a frag bomb as such - it's too restrained for that - and the flowers are way back in the mix ... so neither 'flower' nor 'bomb'.

It sounds better than VanillaBomb though.

The start is good, a JHAG-style black tea and 'cough syrup fruchouli', but the fun runs out - and it fades into a boring woody-musky vanilla.

Thrawn - and winsome: a strange combination, it was -surprisingly- a hit.
it's trying to be all things to all women (and doing a good job of it).

I smell a focus group...

I got a sample of this because perfume critic Chandler Burr likes the stuff, and I agree with a lot of his assessments. This time, though, he's way off base. Flowerbomb is just a total snooze, hard to tell from a hundred others....and it's a snooze in the heavyhanded '80s mode I like least. Ugh.

Sharp opening. Tea note isn't bad. More like a strong tea, with sugar, no cream. The top is nothing really special for me. The heart is better, with a deep floral vibe. Orchid, is lovely and noticeable. Jasmine? Nice. Freesia? Barely here. The rose isn't strong, overdone. Patchouli is sweet. Overall a lovely "designer" frag but, not one I would buy full-bottled.

Underwhelming, nondescript flowers and vanilla that somehow manage to be both extraordinarily heavy and extremely light. I received 3mls of this as a free deluxe sample at Sephora and planned to give it away. However, it worked okay when combined with a simple, fresh green scent (I chose Verde by Nest). I might try mixing it with a strong, dry wood next (maybe Cypress Cedar from Banana Republic's Icon Collection).

Overall, I can't give it a full thumbs down just because it's boring to me. I can easily understand its mass market appeal. I see this shining on the right person in the right setting (I imagine a high school girl who never wears makeup or perfume dressing up for her first prom), and I'm a full believer of 'to each his (or her) own.'

Floral sweetness incarnation. Good sillage, projection and longevity, but it gets fastly uninteresting.