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Carlitos01
Very helpful Review
10
The extreme winner
Another grenade? really?
V&R offers a normal flask in the feminine side of the business, while keeps on handing army toys to the gents customers. The grenade shape is there for some time now, but I am still not convinced that an explosive shaped container is a good choice as a perfume bottle, or for any product for that matter. Perhaps it calls for virile thoughts association and V&R thought it to be a good marketing image. I keep picturing a wife giving her husband one of this hand grenades to pass him an hidden messages like:
"I want to explode you!!" or "Need a gadget, army boy?"...
But I must recognize that it is a flanker. The product family image should be kept, and you receive a quality container with a good sprayer. I prefer the Lalique or Bvlgari presentation good taste.
"Extreme"?
The word "Extreme" may have an awful lot of different meanings in perfumery. Most of the times it may simply designate a flanker where a note or an accord has been intensified. What often occurs is that some other notes just got fainter or vanished. Over the years I learned that "Intense" and "Extreme" are two different concepts in this industry.
Actually I prefer this version even if I find this fragrance less "intense" than the original. It is a tiny less spicy (no pink pepper note? no pungent chili note?) and a bit more sweet due to a new dark vanilla heavy note in the base. It is kind of warmer and creamier too, probably due to added amber to envelop the vanilla-tobacco base accord. I never complained about the original Spicebomb performance, but there seems to exist a bit of a gain in this domain as well. Longevity is good enough for 9 hours with three sprays, and sillage peaks at 7 feet assuring a noticeable projection for 2.5 hours.
The evolution.
It opens pepperish with an undertone of grapefruit. Black pepper is used instead of pink pepper and chili. Some people claim it to be a bit intrusive but I like it this way.
In the heart, the warm an sweet strong cinnamon scent is omnipresent all through the fragrance lifespan and it's the soul of this perfume. A slight body odour (cumin?) makes it smell very natural.
The dark vanilla and tobacco base combo sweetens the fragrance even further, but in a very civilized and manly way. The sweet and hot spices are dense but smooth and comfortable due to the increased ambery background.
Let's disassemble this extreme hand grenade:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
- Opening: 9.0 (Very spicy, mainly with black pepper and cinnamon - great!)
- DryDown: 10.0 (Heavenly, with cinnamon, black vanilla and some tobacco in an amber background)
- Longevity: 9.0 (Up to 9 hours with 3 sprays)
- Sillage: 8.5 (Up to 9 feet; it projects for 2.5 hours)
- Uniqueness: 7.5 (Yes, it's a flanker and very similar to the original, besides some other designer offers)
- Usability: 7.5 (Cold season for both night and day time; avoid any type of non cold temperatures)
- Versatility: 9.0 (An elegant and manly perfume both for formal occasions or the cosiness of a fireplace)
- Compliments: 9.0 (Compliment magnet)
- Quality: 10.0 (Top quality ingredients, solid flask)
- Presentation: 7.0 (Ok... some people like the grenade shape)
- Price: 6.0 (90 ml / 100~105 Euros... pricey for a designer fragrance)
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Overall rating: 8.41 / 10.00
- between 7 and 8 = above average;
- between 8 and 9 = recommended;
- greater than 9 = do not miss;
Recommendation: This is a top choice as an elegant and masculine scent to use in cold temperatures, either during the day or at night. It fits a ceremony, the office (provided you are the boss), or at home in a family environment. A Christmas season perfume? Why not...
Blind buy? No, because it is priced above 100 Euros. But if you happen to try it, you will most certainly love it.
Music: Brandi Carlile - "The Story" (I was made for you)
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