Elixir de Bombe 27 87 Perfumes 2016

"There it is, the very moment when you just go for what you want without hesitating". Or at least that's what some of the marketing for Elixir de Bombe says. In all honesty, this is beyond mid for a niche house, achieving nothing more but a fruity-sweet feminine-leaning composition that neither stands out, nor justifies the price.

Right from the start, a very obvious synthetic accord jumps in, and it accompanies throughout most of the wear. How generous. A juicy tangerine paired with berry-like pink pepper greet you, whilst also incorporating some ginger warmth that also lends a bit of spice. Not a bad opening, just not remarkable. Things turn sweet rather quickly as the raspberry enters the stage, and it immediately sets the tone to fruity-sweet. It is gently tangy and tart, which does find decent chemistry with the creamy attributes derived from ylang-ylang, which simultaneously reminds of sunscreen. Cistus barely so manages to stand out, and no particular resinous facet is added; mostly just a mellow honeyed sweetness over the fruitiness. And speaking of honeyed, that basically paves the way for an amber-leading base to join, holding hands with a caramel note that's not particularly rich or realistic, just sweet and somewhat sticky. Regardless, these two hide a faint leather accent that never quite fully introduces itself.

On my skin, longevity sits around 9-10 hours, which is quite good, but projection doesn't quite match that. Apart from a rather potent first hour, the fragrance would leave a faint trail behind with not a lot of pushing power, settling completely into a skin scent by hour 4. But in this particular instance, I feel like most other people would manage to get more out of it in terms of projection, being just another case in which my skin wants to be difficult.

Elixir de Bombe won't really be an all-year round Swiss Army knife, as its sweetness mostly ties it to cooler weather. Apart from that, the scent profile is quite mass-appealing and it will work fine in most situations... for a woman. I can hardly see this pulled off by a man, as it really leans heavily on the feminine side.

So Elixir de Bombe is not a statement piece, nor a particularly unique composition or a bomb that exploded and took the market by storm. It's just a very unimpressive concoction of a DNA that has many iterations out there. And for €185 for 87ml (€95 for 27ml), I just struggle finding this worthwhile; many other takes on the DNA out there that are better made and less evidently synthetic. But, I guess it's true what the brand said: "There it is, the very moment when you just go for what you want without hesitating". So if you want it and like it strong enough, price becomes but a number.

Overall Rating: 4.9/10

Just like Jil Sander’s Sun, this is a nice fresh take on sunscreen. It’s fruity and aquatic and less cloying than Sun. And although it’s not in the note breakdown I get a hint of tea somehow.

I find this to be a very versatile scent. You can wear it day and night, it’s not powerful or overwhelming at all. It’s just a fresh, friendly friend sitting on your shoulder putting you in a happy place when you are down.

When you put a gun to my head and ask me if it’s masculine or feminine I’d say feminine but that’s like asking what gender your laundry detergent is. It’s perfectly fine to wear as a man.

This review is based on a sample from a discovery set. Will I wear this sample until finished? Yes indeed. Would I buy a full bottle? No, there are much cheaper alternatives.

I loved this one so much more on a tester strip than I did on skin. It doesn’t project very well on skin (have to press nose to skin) but at the very least does last a good amount of time (~6 hrs). This has a spiced kick of an opening with a hint of fresh ginger. The name works for the opening solely as it’s a bomb like spicy medley, but the heart of this tones it down a ton. It’s a caramelized raspberry with hints of sweet rose. The rose is stronger than I personally enjoy, but a rose lover may enjoy it way more. The dry down has a rich a leather and warmth, paired with a fruity sweetness. Scent isn’t bad, just isn’t my favorite once put into practice.

I bought a sample of elixir de Bombe because it was recommended to me, but unfortunately, I was disappointed. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, and the pepper scent was way too strong. I'm not a fan of pepper notes in general, but I wanted to give the perfume a chance. It's sweet, but a peppery sweet, which makes it too strong for me. The caramel note is nice, but it's again overshadowed by the pepper, and all that remains is pepper, pepper, and more pepper. It's almost like smelling real pepper, which makes me sneeze... The scent lasts a long time and has a good sillage. The bottle looks very boring, even disappointing. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.