drseid's Review of Bolt of Lightning by JAR

Bolt of Lightning opens with a super "high-pitched," piercing bitter-green accord before very slowly moving to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the "high-pitched," piercing green accord loses just a bit of steam, still remaining relatively acrid, while a faint white floral tuberose starts to grow in the background. The further the composition moves into its heart, the piercing green recedes more and more as the tuberose increases to the point that it eventually takes over as the star. During the late dry-down the piercing green accord is all but absent as the tuberose turns milder, even a bit sweet and creamy through the finish. Projection is below average and longevity average at about 8 hours on skin.

Bolt of Lightning is indeed a shock to the system. Immediately after application the acrid high-pitched green accord is enough to scare away most anything in its path (and many wearers, I suspect). At this point the tuberose goes near completely unnoticed, as the greens are so potent and off-putting one can't help but focus all their attention on them. Luckily, the extended open starts to very slowly soften, and by the one and a half hour mark the tuberose starts to take some of the sting away from the greens until eventually it all but swallows them up. Those that hang around for the finish are in for a treat, as the fine tuberose turns a bit creamy and a hair sweet, as maybe just a touch of sandalwood is used to soften it late. The real question at hand is can one (and indeed *should* one) hang around for the payoff?... Each individual will have to answer that question for themselves, but in the case of this reviewer the torturous open and early heart sections are not outweighed by the relatively pleasant late dry-down. In short, the answer in my opinion is "No." The bottom line is "Bolt of Lightning" is a very apropos name as the composition is one half initially intolerable and shocking and one half excellent, earning it an "above average" 2.5 to 3 stars out of 5 rating on the whole and a neutral recommendation.

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