I don't know why it's called Flowerbomb. Yes, the official list of notes suggests all kinds of flowers, such as jasmine, rose, orchid and freesia, but every time I tried this Viktor & Rolf creation in the last five years, I got baby Angel.
It's the fruity patchouli, of course. I do smell the plastic rose note, but even that one feels fruity and Barbie Pink instead of something found in nature. Flowerbomb is not as cluttered and violent as Angel, but it has that sweet junk food vibe. I mentally place it in the same category with Miss Dior Cherie, Hanae Mori and Coco Mademoiselle, only more pretentious than the first two and less calculated than Chanel. They all follow a similar formula for what is considered young and yummy- chocolate-fruit-musky drydown. The fruit in Flowerbomb is a bit more abstract. Sometimes it reminds me of strawberries, other times it's peachy. The musk is the same one you find floating in the air of most department stores. It bores me to death.
The best thing I can say about Viktor & Rolf's contribution to the genre is that it shows a little more restraint. Maybe it does have more floral notes in the heart that give Flowerbomb some delicacy and keep it from fumigating cubicles and elevators all over creation. It's not a bad representative of this style and the generation that wears it, I just don't like it very much.
Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf ($100, 1.7 oz) is available from Sephora and most department stores, and judging by the number of samples I tested for this review, they are easy to come by.
Photos: Flowerbomb anniversary cake from trendland.net, Judith Leiber strawberry cupcake clutch from neimanmarcus.com.
Upon seeing the picture, I was thinking: "Those little boxes... those little - those are *little petit fours*! Those... are CAKE!!"
ReplyDeleteI want to eat those adorable little cakes - but not wear Flowerbomb.
Having said that, I must in fairness admit that I *really* like Hanae Mori. It's terrifically trashy, but at least it doesn't pretend to be anything other than. I have two 2ml spray samples, and my supply will probably last me the next ten years, since I never wear it out of the house.
I have such a weakness for Flowerbomb, you don't even know. I wore it everyday during one Chicago summer where I was walking a half hour to work in the heat to save money, and it was totally invulnerable-- anything else would just go sour or fade out on me. Plus, I wasn't very fond of the job, and the goofy over-the-top-ness of the scent always managed to lift my spirits.
ReplyDelete