Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb

Considering the complete lack of flowers in Viktor & Rolf’s very popular, Flowerbomb, I had to try out Spicebomb to see if it lived up to its name.

Spicebomb

Spicebomb

In Bottle: In short, no, this isn’t a spice bomb. It’s rather pleasant though, sweet and warm with a hint of spiciness.

Applied: Initial spray of bergamot that settles into a sweet cinnamon candy scent that makes me think Spicebomb is taking the same “bomb” approach as Flowerbomb. Which also leads me to think Viktor & Rolf’s idea of a bang is something sugary. The fragrance ages into a more mature spice as I keep wearing it, but it never shakes the sweetness that it gathers in the top notes. The scent takes on a stronger cinnamon and peppery scent as it flows into its end stage with a wilting smoky tobacco scent and a bit of synthetic-smelling leather. Over all, I’m not all that impressed, but the longevity was fairly good, giving me a decent ten hours of wear.

Extra: If you were wondering what the elemi note listed below is, it is a resin from a tree. I didn’t get much resin from this.

Design: The shape is somewhat reminiscent of Flowerbomb, given more angles and straight edges to appeal to a more masculine audience, I guess. I don’t really like it and think this particular depiction is a bit lame. Sorry, Viktor & Rolf.

Fragrance Family: Spicy Leather

Notes: Bergamot, grapefruit, pink pepper, elemi, saffron, cinnamon, pepper, paprika, vetiver, tobacco, leather.

Spicebomb failed to impress me in numerous ways. The fact that it started out sweet and reminded me of a more gourmand Flowerbomb didn’t really help matters either.

Reviewed in This Post: Spicebomb, 2012, Eau de Toilette.

6 thoughts on “Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb

  1. I’ve read some really great reviews on this. However, when spritzed at the perfume counter all I got was a lot of sweet. That was only on paper however and it didn’t intrigue me enough to put some on my skin. As for the bottle…a bit too gimmicky. Maybe for a younger man, but not for an more mature guy like me 🙂

    • I don’t think you would have missed much on your skin. The initial sweetness gets a little more help with a spicy note and some smoky leather notes, but I’ve smelled much better spicy smoky leathers that this just doesn’t even come close. That, and the bottle design was a real disappointment.

  2. How interesting! I get almost no sweetness in Spicebomb. Probably it’s one of those sweet notes that I can’t smell. I thought that I liked this perfume… but it started annoying me hour or so into wearing. And my vSO refused to wear it as well saying that he doesn’t like the scent (which happens not too often, I should say).

    • I think I might just have a thing against Viktor and Rolf and their “grenade” shaped scents. I haven’t tried one that I liked, and the design always turns me off. I always had the nagging sweetness in this scent and I think that’s what turned me off from it.

  3. I had low expectations for this one, this is probably why I liked it. One suggestion for those of you who will this by the counter: they have taken the daring approach of creating a scent that develops a lot over time. This is not your regular mainstream release. It has distinct phases and keeps me intersted for hours. The fact that it is not a spice-bomb, the same way Flowerbomb was not a flower-bomb, is actually something I like, it shows consistency and conviction from a house that is aiming for larger audiences.

    • When looked at it in the light of V&R and who their target audience is, I can see how Spicebomb–and Flowerbomb–can do well. I think this is a case of this fragrance not hitting it off with me and I (admittedly) don’t much like V&R’s other offerings into the frag-o-sphere either which counts as two strikes against this house. I keep trying them though, hoping one day they have something that really hits it off with me. 🙂

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