Bottle Design:
Camille Toupet

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Collection Black

Flash Back Olfactive Studio 2013

A perfume by Olfactive Studio for women and men, released in 2013. The scent is fresh-citrusy. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Fresh

Citrus

Green

Woody

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Grapefruit Rhubarb

Rhubarb

Orange

Heart Notes

Granny Smith apple

Pink pepper

Base Notes

Vetiver

Cedarwood

Musk

Amber

Perfumers

Olivier Cresp, DSM-Firmenich

Ratings

Longevity

6.5146 Ratings

Sillage

5.7151 Ratings

Bottle

7.4146 Ratings

Value for money

6.934 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 08/08/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Collection Black collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Elysium pour Homme Eau de Parfum

Terre d'Hermès Eau de Toilette

Eau de Rhubarbe Écarlate

Costa Azzurra Eau de Parfum

Idyllwild

Oltremare Eau de Toilette

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

06/30/2016

6Scent 8Longevity 5Sillage

Silverfire
134 Reviews

Silverfire

Very helpful Review 2

A Journey Back To Infancy

Flash Back begins with a deep ambery base with just the right amount of pepper, surrounded by a luxurious warm orange-neroli note, kicked off by the tang of bergamot. Fifteen minutes in, lily-of-the-valley comes to the front, turning it a touch too soft/feminine for me. Eventually the orange-neroli comes out again, taming it, and by four hours in, nothing but the softness of the flower remains along with ambergesis and a tinge of something fresh that makes it reminiscent of the beginning, just more peaceful. Eventually it dies away to a sweet musk. On subsequent wearings, I get less of the ambergesis and more of the bergamot, while the middle stage of the clean/fresh/lily-of-the-valley extends outwards as the base disappears in a memory of neroli.

The more I think on this scent, the more it seems to be a journey backwards to infancy. The moment the picture is taken somehow begins the journey; the ambergesis and the pepper bring on a sense of mystery, while the neroli and lily-of-the-valley suggest youth, innocence and purity; they fade to a time where we were not, prior to birth.

While I find the structure and associations of Flash Back intriguing, it is weighed down by the fact that the excitement occurs only at the beginning. The rest is a rather uninteresting denouement. I have enjoyed other fragrances by Oliver Cresp (Polo Sport, Juniper Sling), and I was curious about the rhubarb note, but neither proved to be a guarantor of quality or excitement.

06/30/2025

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

AlexD76
103 Reviews

AlexD76

1

A Nostalgic Whiff in a Bottle

Flash Back is a colorful, emotional fragrance that definitely delivers on its name: a vibrant scent that looks to provide a crisp and modern take on a nostalgic scent memory. The house of Olfactive Studio commissioned perfumer Olivier Cresp to create this offerings, a unisex Eau de Parfum that blurs the boundaries between tart and sweet, fresh and woody - beautifully blending notes around a vintage moment.
"Flash Back" takes reference of the olfactory memory of a rhubarb tart with its warm and lively scent. Its spicy evocation of nostalgia and whiff-called excitement is terrific first and foremost the beauty and vivaciousness that explode in its opening.
This fragrance is a dynamic fragrance with well-suited for spring and summer because it is a bright and refreshing fragrance. However, it carries enough warmth to be a gentle option in other seasons, especially for day wear.

04/26/2016

6Scent 2.5Longevity 5Sillage

Meggi
1018 Reviews

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Meggi

Top Review 21

A Drop of Chemistry Is Not Enough

Whoever pulls the trigger on Flash Back - metaphorically speaking - is immediately bombarded by a cloud of herbaceous, astringent rhubarb. But within a few minutes, fine, nutty vetiver reveals itself. The overly sharp acidity retreats appropriately quickly and makes room for a more aromatic sourness. Even a Granny Smith can still be counted among the such in comparison to the rhubarb.

This is quite successful. Herb-fresh-distinguished. Undoubtedly a pleasant summer scent. If it weren't for, firstly, a clear excess of closeness to Terre d’Hermès. Within two hours, Flash Back takes on a similar flint-like twist. On the skin, the vetiver may be nuttier than in the original, but that is not enough to be considered truly independent.

Particularly, of course, Flash Back soon loses its freshness. After a lackluster two or three hours, it has become quite earthy, and after four hours, it is on the skin. While it remains present into the evening, it is additionally noticeably supported by a musk base. The vetiver also maintains its nutty-earthy character quite well, but overall, it presents a very weak picture (höhö). Ultimately in both senses. The clone colleague Red Vetiver from the house of Montale is better from start to finish.

If something special or original must be found by force, at least the following idea should be mentioned: A chemical scent that I had already perceived in Ombre Indigo from the same studio, which is presumably due to the marketing concept surrounding photography. That could also be involved in Flash Back; not overly penetrating, but I still find it noticeable. However, it might also be a leftover of rhubarb. The stuff smells to me almost fresh from nature, as if it has sprung from a laboratory.

So I have a choice. The "classic" or the niche. Only: If it’s niche, then I would undoubtedly reach for the far more durable Montale, which also comes at a more affordable price.

Many thanks to Ergoproxy for the sample.

02/29/2020

6.5Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

Taurus
1164 Reviews

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Taurus

Top Review 19

Cash Back

Spring is just around the corner. Very close - within a knock's reach. At least in terms of the meteorological spring, even if one hasn't yet awakened to any spring feelings.

As theoretical as the beginning of spring is, Flash Back is also intended for the budding season. At least it has everything on paper that evokes thoughts of warm, sunny days.

In reality, it looks a bit different. While the opening with the appealing fresh-sour grapefruit note is somewhat successful, a flashback to past spring days just doesn’t quite happen - if anything, it leans more towards the more successful TdH. The equally greenish-sparkling rhubarb can't save it much either.

The culprit is a serious misuse of too many chemical ... uh, synthetic additives, which turn the Granny Smith into an indigestible fruit and make the vetiver appear rather old.

The approach itself may be okay, and I can imagine that the pyramid with more natural or higher-quality ingredients would conjure up a top refresher, but somehow it seems to me that someone has really pulled the cost brake.

Therefore, I wouldn't expect to hear cheerful spring elves humming at the conclusion of Flash Back, but rather the shaggy gray-red zonk. Especially when I consider the price-performance ratio. Some might even think of Cash Back in light of the damned trio of scent, longevity, and sillage.

03/21/2013

9Scent

Bertel
236 Reviews

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Bertel

Top Review 19

Winner Number Five

I have liked Olfactive Studio so far; I own and appreciate the house and its concept, as well as the fragrances that have been released until now. How does the newcomer, the fifth fragrance from this house founded in 2011, perform?

"Flash Back" opens with a very beautiful, round, harmonious, dense note of rhubarb, grapefruit, and orange (the pyramid above is incorrect or incomplete; a correction has been submitted), initially with a fresh-bright-sour inclination more towards lemon, but shortly after it transitions into a deeper, fuller dark orange, no longer so citrusy bitter, but rather dark-fruity-juicy, with the characteristic sweet-sour note of rhubarb that is here very gently and finely integrated and does not play an unpleasantly prominent role (like, for example, in Mark Buxton's "Devil in Disguise" *shudder*). Equally round, harmonious, and perfectly integrated, pink pepper initially joins softly, then a bit more confidently, to give the fragrance spice, breadth, and aromatic depth, while in the upper registers a green-bitter-sour apple note of Granny Smith slightly enhances the bright citrus tones into the fruity realm - somewhat similar to the "Creed effect," for example, in "Aventus," but of significantly higher quality, harmoniously integrated, and more restrained. The development arc of the fragrance is rather slow, continuous, and harmonious, moving gently and steadily towards the base with seamlessly following green vetiver and softly woody cedar, along with amber and musk.

The idea that the rhubarb note is supposed to evoke the name-giving "Flashback" to childhood memories because it reminds one of rhubarb pie I consider to be outright silly marketing nonsense. I also personally cannot establish a connection with the pixelated image underlying this fragrance or the digitally edited video by Laurent Segretier, but perhaps I am simply anosmic to images, as I was rather helpless with the previous fragrances as well ;-)

The previous fragrances were not exactly wonders of originality or unprecedented combinations, but rather relied on more familiar accords and concepts. "Flash Back" is neither new nor spectacular in this regard. However, I really like the fragrance, as Olivier Cresp manages to strike a balance between a contemporary citrus-fresh construction with fruity notes on one hand and a very high-quality, complex round-harmonious execution with a dense and very natural texture on the other. Again, nothing fundamentally new, but executed in an extremely appealing and elegant way in the details, while at all times, despite its elegance, it is by no means watery or flat, but rather present, perceptible, and confident.

For me, another great fragrance from this house that I will very much enjoy wearing in the upcoming warmer months (along with "Still Life")!

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