Explosive

Provocation

Aigner 1986 Eau de Toilette

When I smelled this for the first time i thought. "Good Lord! Just come take me and end my misery". For me, this is easily the worst smell that i had smelled that happened to come out of a perfume bottle. People seem to be reminiscing about the good ol' 80s and how much it smells like the 80s, this makes me think - How bad did the 80s actually smell like?

The perfume is truly explosive. It's locked and loaded with a Gigaton of Aldehyde. The second you spray, it punches you in the face, borderline giving the same shock that as vinegar does.

Unfortunately for me, the longevity of this perfume is actually pretty good. Simply rinsing the sprayed spot to get rid of the scent DID NOT SUFFICE.

For people that love Aldehyde, the good ol' days, or unreasonably strong scents, this may be for you. But I would definitely not recommend buying this without thoroughly testing it first.

I had been longing for this, since I first saw the bottle. It must have been more than twenty years ago, that the shape and the carvings caught my eye by accident on a webpage. It looked so exquisite and luxurious, like an alien vessel or a rare gemstone found on a remote island.
I immediately journeyed back to the time as a child when I watched ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ from 1959 with James Mason among the stars. In the late 70s and early eighties we only had one national broadcasting station in Denmark, and on Saturdays they showed old movies, because they knew that the whole family was gathered around the TV. I do not remember a lot of the movie, but I remember it was really scary at times. One of the final scenes takes place in a cavern where loads of gems lie around. One of the characters becomes greedy and wants to bring a load of them back with him. Of course he ends up getting caught in lava or water - of that part I am not sure.
Explosive could have been among these beautiful gems. Or it could have been THE gem. When I first encountered this fragrance I did not care how it smelled, because I was so enchanted by the look of the bottle, it did not matter how it would actually smell. Luckily, the only bottle I have been able to retrieve is a miniature. That is totally fine with me.
This is, and will never be, a favourite of mine. I do, however, admire the lasting power of this amazing and somewhat strange mix from the mid eighties. I do find it totally impossible to wear, since it gives me a headache. But I like to dab it on a cotton pad and sniff it. Then it is actually acceptable.
At first, really strong Coriander and a vague floral note underneath. Then after half an hour the Rose becomes clear and the fragrance turns more to my liking. In the end the fragrance is mostly Patchouli. I would not dare to spray Explosive EdP, when the EdT is so strong. I have Explosive Feu de Nuit. I can recommend it instead of Explosive.
As I have already written, the bottle is really beautiful. Black, smooth and with carvings. Actually the bottle is the best part of the whole thing.
Year 2, 230/365

Apparently I have an affinity for aldehydic, mossy, geranium-rose bombs, and this one is indeed "explosive." The closest modern analog that comes to mind is Sisley Soir d'Orient, also a dark, bombastic beauty. Both feature rose with geranium, rendering the vibe more unisex courtesy to the greener, more aromatic elements of geranium as a counter-balance.

The opening is a true 80s-chypre conflagration of aldehydes, accompanied by the diffusive linalool-heavy combination of coriander and bergamot (reminiscent of Jean Couturier Coriandre at this stage). Soon, this descends to florals that lay in a bed of woody, mossy, muskiness. Undoubtedly unisex, performs like a champ, but is not nearly as aggressive as the name would suggest. Consider it blissfully 'explosive.'

Men, dress warmly! Tie a knot in your underwear or adjust your boxers. Here comes the resolute Ulla! Ulla has a lively figure, hair on her teeth and on her legs!
Ulla has a mission. She will clean up in the executive suites and show the old patriarchs what’s what.
She will replace the leadership team and fill it with 50% women.
The guys who still grope their female employees, treat them condescendingly, or belittle them will be fired. Bosses who stare at their secretaries' cleavage or call them "little mouse" will find themselves out on the street without notice. A hurricane is sweeping through the skyscraper!
The taut Ulla has bathed in soap and anointed herself with herbs.
She comes with a huge bouquet of roses. No, not May roses from Grasse or pretty anemones. These roses are almost black and have been fertilized with Mars gibberellin (that’s garden soil, available at any garden center), and the thorns are already 10 cm long.
She'll throw them at Mr. X, who has scared off all the female employees who aren’t 90 - 60 - 90, only have a cup size A, crooked teeth, and too thick legs (he calls that sauerkraut stomper). Only the receptionist was allowed to stay because she is the aunt of the company tycoon.
Now the box is rattling. And gentlemen, you will be taken aback! You will have to deliver your own children in the future! Oh, you can’t imagine how painful such a birth is? Here’s a visual: Imagine someone sticking an umbrella up your backside and pulling it out fully opened. Desired C-section? Not a chance!
There’s a slight anesthetic with the sandalwood club, and Ulla isn’t so bad after all; she has mercy and chypre. You’ll also get a moist moss bed and can comfort yourselves with amber.

It is quite astonishing how much scent perceptions can change… This is nothing new in itself, perhaps nothing worth mentioning, one might think, but it still amazes me time and again when I discover the described sensations within myself. And in a contradiction that leaves me almost (otherwise I could hardly be reporting on it here) speechless.

But perhaps I will first let you read my previous comment with a rating of 5.0 for the fragrance.

That was my original comment from just over 3 years ago:

“There they are, the 80s, shrill, colorful, and loud. And just as loud is this fragrance, catapulting us back 30 years with an explosive thrust.
I must admit, I felt torn when I wore it, as it revived childhood memories while simultaneously making me recoil due to the olfactory “BÄÄHMMM” that it inevitably brings with it. By the way, very characteristic of many perfumes from the 80s.
I couldn't identify the individual notes or - let’s say better - didn’t want to, because the recoil had clearly taken the upper hand. But this excessively present spiciness lingered, even after several attempts to wash the scent off.
If you like fragrances loud in the style of the 80s, Aigner's Explosive is just right for you; anyone else might store it as a rather, let’s say: overwhelming scent “experience.”

So much for my previous comment. And I thought - I was still quite lenient both in terms of the rating and my review, which was in fact not a really successful review, as I could neither describe the scent particularly well nor break down the individual components in detail; basically, I just found this fragrance completely and utterly unbearable and expressed that purely subjectively (as all fragrance reviews are) to the best of my ability.

Now, three good years have passed in (scent) land, I have evolved from a sweet lover to a herb lover, become an absolute fan of chypre fragrances, and know the charm of vintage scents, even the loud and all-encompassing ones. And so I found myself wondering more and more whether my aversion to these so-called flower-spice-boomers might have changed by now, or at least softened.
For this reason, I was able to acquire a bottle of Aigner's “Explosive” again through a swap with a very dear perfumista. And lo and behold….

… still, with the first spray, the green herbaceous and slightly soapy aldehydes paired with a rather bitter citrus note and a significant spiciness leap out at me… and I find it absolutely fantastic! I can hardly keep my hands off my wrist, so fascinated am I. Even the quickly emerging rose, darkly spicy, almost herbal, accompanied by the lighter, but hardly sweet note of the lily of the valley, elicits more delight from me than the previous recoil.
It leaves a spicy, dark aura, almost a bit peppery - even though pepper is not listed here - that even takes on a somewhat green-spicy character over time. This is probably due to the moss indicated in the pyramid paired with vetiver, even though I cannot filter both out in detail individually, but only perceive them as an overall accompanying scent impression. The patchouli brings a dark earthy tone into the mix, but in a very pleasant way (I must say I am not really a die-hard patchouli fan), as it keeps the scent impression mysterious and somehow enigmatic.

And so I am practically glued to my wrist (in stark contrast to the urge to wash it off three years ago) and am utterly thrilled that I can call this fragrance my own. So to speak, a 180-degree turnaround.

Now I have some questions:

Have I olfactorily grown or matured to the point that I now appreciate such fragrances?
Do you have to reach a certain age to like certain fragrances?
And does my environment perceive me according to my scent perception from three years ago when I wear Explosive?

And my answer to everything, after a brief consideration, is:
Whatever!
I am just happy to have rediscovered and completely re-embraced Explosive!

Cheers to the 80s! And to the flower-spice-boomers!

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A huge thank you goes to Amadea70, who has gifted me this wonderful fragrance with this great swap!!!