2
Very helpful Review
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.
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.