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Spice Bomb! Spice Bomb! You're my Spice Bomb! and Baby You Can Turn Me On! A Review of SpiceBomb

post #1 of 103
3/2/12 at 5:55pm
Thread Starter 
So I received three sample bottles of SpiceBomb by Victor and Rolf last week. After a week of it, let me just say, the 80's are back, and they're back with a vengeance. This is a powerhouse patchouli and spice blended fragrance with a citrus note lingering. Victor and Rolf are having a Kajagoogoo moment here and this has more than a passing resemblance to Michel Almarac's 1989 classic Joop! Homme. Great longevity on this; 8+ hours easily. It's also quite pleasant to smell as well. Am I blown away? No, this is, as I said, a nostalgic creation, and I have some issues with versatility and imagining where this would be appropriate to wear. I found myself nervous wearing to to work because of the projection.

An Olivier Polge fragrance wouldn't be complete without the obligatory pepper note, and it's here too. Basically Pepper, Patchoulli and Citrus is what you're getting here. It's a bomb alright, but I'd be cautious on application, this can get cloying, go easy on the trigger

7/10 = respectable
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post #2 of 103
3/2/12 at 6:24pm
IMO I think it's one of the best recent releases.
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post #3 of 103
3/2/12 at 6:29pm
Liking it quite a bit.
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post #4 of 103
3/2/12 at 6:41pm
One of the best fragrances I've come across. Picked up a 100ml last week!
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post #5 of 103
3/2/12 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hednic View Post

IMO I think it's one of the best recent releases.

I have to agree, loving mine. Cant have enough of this concoction
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post #6 of 103
3/2/12 at 7:25pm
This creation is a star no doubt, but I wonder how it's gonna hold out in the summer months? My guess is it can get to be a little much after a very short while. Enjoying it in the cold of UT while I still can!
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post #7 of 103
3/2/12 at 8:14pm
Actually I bought this with the specific intent of using it as my spring/summer mainstay. I'm so used to wearing dark and heavy ambers that this one feels light to me so I guess it's all relative.
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post #8 of 103
3/2/12 at 8:22pm
It's great, isn't it? Join the club:

http://www.basenotes.net/threads/288...Rolf-SPICEBOMB
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post #9 of 103
3/7/12 at 10:07am
I love it!
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post #10 of 103
3/7/12 at 11:26am
So, out of the two, which would you say is better, Joop! or SpiceBomb?
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post #11 of 103
3/7/12 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rüssel View Post

So, out of the two, which would you say is better, Joop! or SpiceBomb?

Definitely Spicebomb for me.
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post #12 of 103
3/7/12 at 4:33pm
I am a BIG Fan myself.....Spice Bomb is Fantastic!!! I'm in the club!!!
Gary
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post #13 of 103
3/7/12 at 6:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rüssel View Post

So, out of the two, which would you say is better, Joop! or SpiceBomb?

Spicebomb for the smell b/c it starts off candy sweet and drys down nicely.
Joop! for the indefinite longevity and beastly projection.
Spicebomb for the bottle!
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post #14 of 103
3/11/12 at 9:11pm
Primrose very kindly sent me 2 spray samples of Spicebomb. OMG - it really is 'Da Bomb!" This is seriously good stuff. Sweet, woody , addictive to sniff ! It also smells very familiar- like I have smelt this recently or it's in my scent memory from some time back .
I would wear this ( this time ...Husband got sprayed 4 times with a sample before going out )
It's sexy ,alluring, does have good sillage and longevity .
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post #15 of 103
3/12/12 at 3:26am
MMm, sounds good..the sweet factor is kind of making me take a step back though. I'll try to test this soon though.
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post #16 of 103
3/12/12 at 7:15am
Sampled some when I went out the other day and received a test vial... Wasn't really a fan, but will try it again in the winter
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post #17 of 103
3/12/12 at 7:17am
Having been a fan of Antidote, I had high expectations with Spicebomb. And I was very impressed with this release. I don't find it too sweet like others have stated, maybe the fruitiness of it gives it off as being sweet, but there isn't even much fruits for me. I get a blast of spice right away. It reminds me a lot of stuff such as TV (maybe the cinnamon vibe), Royal Oud (spicy vibe) and a bit of T42 on its final stages.

Bottle is a beauty, projection is average and longevity is above average.

4.5/5
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post #18 of 103
3/12/12 at 7:39am
Kalli and HackerX - it's not so so sweet to me but there is enough to bring out the woods nicely, IMHO.
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post #19 of 103
3/20/12 at 12:47pm
I'm glad you said 80s because I get that feeling too; not in any specific note, but the overall enveloping feel. It's almost like the feeling I remember getting from Opium or Poison back in the day-- like I was Batman being overcome by Poison Ivy's hypnotic pollen. Overwhelmed on all sides; but with Spicebomb, I don't get the headache-inducing sweetness (nor the strong blast of bergamot everyone else does), and I find myself willingly giving in to the hype. Damn you, V&R!
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post #20 of 103
3/20/12 at 2:26pm
Yes indeed, a good one that might get a real head of steam. Fantastic marketing program to go with it. Fun to watch it all come together.
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post #21 of 103
3/20/12 at 2:30pm
I absolutely love it, the only let down on me personally is the longevity. On my skin I get 5 hours.
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post #22 of 103
3/20/12 at 8:48pm
This one doesn't seem to be as popular as I thought it would be. Longevity is also an issue with me. I get maybe 6 hours and in the last few hours it's very close to the skin.
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post #23 of 103
3/20/12 at 9:44pm
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I hear so many good things about this scent yet haven't had a chance to try.
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post #24 of 103
3/20/12 at 10:03pm
Here's the tune!
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post #25 of 103
3/21/12 at 9:43am
It's fantastic.
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post #26 of 103
3/21/12 at 10:08am
I've sampled it and really enjoy it, but I questioned it's longevity.

Might be one I need to throw in my briefcase and top up early afternoon. Many of my more recent purchases have been niche rather than designer, and unfortunately few designer fragrances compete in the longevity stakes.
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post #27 of 103
3/21/12 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyler-durden View Post

I've sampled it and really enjoy it, but I questioned it's longevity.

Might be one I need to throw in my briefcase and top up early afternoon. Many of my more recent purchases have been niche rather than designer, and unfortunately few designer fragrances compete in the longevity stakes.

Longevity is average, I can get through the day without re-application. Very pleasant scent, reminds me of a softer, more casual Tobacco Vanille.
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post #28 of 103
3/22/12 at 2:27am
I tried this yesterday.

It instantly reminded me of Caravelle Epicee the first 2 hours then reminded me of Back to Black sans the honey note.

Very nice release From Victor & Rolf.
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post #29 of 103
3/22/12 at 7:21am
In various places around the interwebs, I keep seeing scorn heaped on the highly designed marketing, bottle design, the poetic language used by V&R to describe the scent, etc. As though V&R are the first to ever do any of that? Nobody else ever had an expensive ad campaign with models? I don't want to sound like a cheerleader for them, I'm just asking why the pile-on?

It's as though no other house has ever said something like 'it is the scent of ebony starless night, the cloudless summer sky, of chances taken and possibilities to come, a memory of a dream of a song about a bittersweet farewell first kiss in the rain on a bridge in Paris in a wintry wood in the middle of a Moroccan desert and the violets you tucked into your still warm linen shirt that I was wearing when you came home from the orris harvest with a small leather box filled with those cardamom madeleines we always got at that little place (no, not that one, the other one with that waiter with the hair and the thing-- yeah, that one) in the whispering incense swirled shadowy depths of the sparkling red velvet cashmere-lined tear-stained laughter-filled oud-paneled halls of mysterious mystery. Also available in shower gel.
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post #30 of 103
3/22/12 at 9:12am
Well maybe I will have to try this now...
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post #31 of 103
3/31/12 at 1:42pm
Well, I tried it just now..way, way too much cinnamon for me to like this! My husband hates it and to me, it's too sweet, a sweet cinnamon. With a smidge of smoke and leather..I want to like it..but just can't. Too sweet. I do appreciate the other notes but no, I don't like it. Sorry SB.
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post #32 of 103
3/31/12 at 2:01pm
A great fragrance by V&R. One of the best new releases in a long time. It's on my "to buy list" and might pick it up at duty free if they have it.
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post #33 of 103
3/31/12 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smcandsmc View Post

In various places around the interwebs, I keep seeing scorn heaped on the highly designed marketing, bottle design, the poetic language used by V&R to describe the scent, etc. As though V&R are the first to ever do any of that? Nobody else ever had an expensive ad campaign with models? I don't want to sound like a cheerleader for them, I'm just asking why the pile-on?

It's as though no other house has ever said something like 'it is the scent of ebony starless night, the cloudless summer sky, of chances taken and possibilities to come, a memory of a dream of a song about a bittersweet farewell first kiss in the rain on a bridge in Paris in a wintry wood in the middle of a Moroccan desert and the violets you tucked into your still warm linen shirt that I was wearing when you came home from the orris harvest with a small leather box filled with those cardamom madeleines we always got at that little place (no, not that one, the other one with that waiter with the hair and the thing-- yeah, that one) in the whispering incense swirled shadowy depths of the sparkling red velvet cashmere-lined tear-stained laughter-filled oud-paneled halls of mysterious mystery. Also available in shower gel.

Great post and welcome.

It's true. Fragrance marketing has quite a bit of expected hyperbole. Spicebomb is just a fun marketing campaign with a catchy modern song and young male models. I think it's a great men's gourmand.

I draw the line at fake "histories" and "patrons" such as the house of Creed, Rance and D'Orsay. If the scents are wonderful, there is no need to falsehoods.

Rance was outed by Luca Turin in his blog.

There is enough out there on Creed's history, and the history of D'Orsay (founded in 1908 and not 1830 as on the bottles) is well documented:

Nigel Groom, 2nd ed. "The Perfume Handbook."
Ken Leach. "Perfume Presentations."
Madeline Marsh. "Miller's Perfume Bottles: A Collector's Guide."
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post #34 of 103
3/31/12 at 3:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hedonist222 View Post

I tried this yesterday.

It instantly reminded me of Caravelle Epicee the first 2 hours then reminded me of Back to Black sans the honey note.

Very nice release From Victor & Rolf.

That + the Tea For Two mention makes me want to sample it ASAP!
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post #35 of 103
3/31/12 at 3:55pm
I'm more curious to see the bottle "live" than about the frag itself: pepper frags doesn't work well on me. At least I haven't found one yet.
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post #36 of 103
3/31/12 at 5:55pm
I like Spice bomb way more than Pure Shot or Chanel Allure Sport Extreme. I don't know if I would wear it much in the summer but will be getting in the fall.
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post #37 of 103
3/31/12 at 7:17pm
I like SB better than the new Chanel, but that's not saying much. Tried it today at Nordie's. Spicebomb is a pass for me. No thanks.
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post #38 of 103
5/6/12 at 4:01am
Received a sample the other day.
I love cinnamon, therefore I like this fragrance. I felt like a walking sweet cinnamon stick, or a Big Red chewing gum. Delish...
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post #39 of 103
5/28/12 at 12:21am
Reminds me a quite a lot of LOccitane Eauv De Baux, not sure if I'd fork over $95 when I can get the EdB for $50.
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post #40 of 103
5/28/12 at 1:18am
A few months ago I went and got both spicebomb and eau de baux on a card and posted about them being very similar.

I now own both and can categorically say that they really aren't all that similar at all, in actuality.
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post #41 of 103
5/28/12 at 1:39am
i found spicebomb to be very similar to Tea for Two and Musc Ravageur.
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post #42 of 103
5/28/12 at 3:04am
I got a spray sample of this the other day. I like it, but it reminds me a little too much of Tea for Two, which I already own (and like better anyway). If I can find it at a reduced price, I might pick it up. For $95 I can get a nicer fragrance than this. Cool bottle, though.
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post #43 of 103
5/28/12 at 4:15am
I wore Spicebomb yesterday. It's nice, but not $95 nice.
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post #44 of 103
5/28/12 at 4:45am
I agree it's a little overpriced
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post #45 of 103
5/28/12 at 5:22am
Smells a lot like Bulgari Black to me(at least in the drydown). I put it on in the morning with 2 upper chest sprays and felt like I was suffocating by mid-afternoon.
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post #46 of 103
5/28/12 at 5:39am
Spicebomb appears to have purloined its varied, scent paths from other, existing scents. And, although I give the fragrance a "Thumbs Up," it is given unenthusiastically because of the flagrant lack of originality.
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post #47 of 103
5/28/12 at 6:39am
This is my SOTD, or should I say Scent Of The Hour, since that's all it lasts. This is a typical, crappy, watered down Macy's frag. Please don't even think the 80's are back. All you have to do is spray some Patou pour Homme on (a real 80's frag) to know Spicebomb is a major dud.

And for the bottle - Repulsive, hideous, and an insult to my intelligence. This stuff is marketed towards children who will enjoy the gimmicky concept.
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post #48 of 103
5/28/12 at 6:59am
Very unimpressed with this frag as well. I'm all about sweeter smelling fragrances, but this one just made me feel ill...

There are about a hundred other frags I would recommend at this price.
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post #49 of 103
5/28/12 at 9:58am
In contrast to thebeck I find that spicebomb has immense longevity and sillage. Almost too much, in fact.
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post #50 of 103
5/28/12 at 10:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smcandsmc View Post

'it is the scent of ebony starless night, the cloudless summer sky, of....

Also available in shower gel.

lol!
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post #51 of 103
5/28/12 at 10:51pm
Good Projection
Good Longevity
Not at all linear.
Fantastic stuff, and I must agree with hednic that this is one of the best deigner releases in a while, for me the best since original Dior Homme.

For a fleeting second in the spray just out of the bottle I pick up something that was present in the mid 90's Fahrenheits, that slightly abrasive supergreen accord. For that alone I love this fragrance.
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post #52 of 103
7/13/12 at 5:39am
Got some samples yesterday and I love it. I can see the 1 million, tobacco Vanille comparison but it is blended very well. A bottle is definitely on order.
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post #53 of 103
7/13/12 at 5:51am
When I first got SB I didn't think it was all that great. However, I think it's great now. It certainly does smell similar to Eau de Beaux and Gucci PH II. The projection is very strong for the first 2 hours but becomes a skin scent. Still only lasts 6-8 hours. I love the bottle. It feels very weighted and sturdy. The sprayer is fantastic...it's not quite Dior Homme smooth, or Creed powerful, but it's great in it's own right. I have the shower gel and it's pretty amazing. Lathers up easily and smells very nice. It's versatile and I can use the shower gel to layer when I wear SB, TV, Eau des Beaux, Gucci PH 2, or 1 Million.
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post #54 of 103
7/13/12 at 10:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarquisdeSod View Post

So I received three sample bottles of SpiceBomb by Victor and Rolf last week. After a week of it, let me just say, the 80's are back, and they're back with a vengeance. This is a powerhouse patchouli and spice blended fragrance with a citrus note lingering. Victor and Rolf are having a Kajagoogoo moment here and this has more than a passing resemblance to Michel Almarac's 1989 classic Joop! Homme. Great longevity on this; 8+ hours easily. It's also quite pleasant to smell as well. Am I blown away? No, this is, as I said, a nostalgic creation, and I have some issues with versatility and imagining where this would be appropriate to wear. I found myself nervous wearing to to work because of the projection.

An Olivier Polge fragrance wouldn't be complete without the obligatory pepper note, and it's here too. Basically Pepper, Patchoulli and Citrus is what you're getting here. It's a bomb alright, but I'd be cautious on application, this can get cloying, go easy on the trigger

7/10 = respectable

Yeah, Spicebomb is respectable and I agree with your rating of a 7. If it were $60 instead of $100, and if the projection was better, then it could be worth a 9 or even a 10 maybe.

The projection is a problem because the first hour it projects way too much and after that it barely projects at all.

(Yay, post 500!)
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post #55 of 103
7/13/12 at 10:52am
I was a bit disappointed with Spice Bomb when I tried it a few weeks back. Mainly because at the back of my mind I remembered this thread and was expecting a lot more. I agree it is very good, but just not overwhelmingly great.

I think scents like PI, Body Kouros, Altamir, Gaultier Squared are on par or better.

I don't get the connection to Eau Des Baux and Gucci PH 11, which I also own.
Regards,
Renato
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post #56 of 103
7/13/12 at 11:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smcandsmc View Post

...'it is the scent of ebony starless night....Also available in shower gel.

Literally LOL. That was excellent!

I recently sampled Spicebomb at the duty-free shop at Dulles airport. First impression: I agree with the 7/10 rating; respectable. Sweet cinnamon tea...I definitely got a similarity to Tea For Two, and dare I say it: it might be an improvement on T42. No, wait, hear me out:

Tea For Two was one of the first 'real' perfumes I ever bought, and I like it, BUT it has an achilles heel AFAIC: as an oriental with a 'hole where the amber usually goes' (as Tania Sanchez aptly put it), leaves it a bit TOO dry, and after a long day's wearing (and sweating), T42 can go unpleasantly sour (smells revoltingly like ketchup on me)...a problem that a touch of sweetness could have fixed.

So enter Spicebomb...a downmarket Tea For Two with a great big gumdrop sweetness up top, drying down respectably to something in the Bulgari Black extended family (was this an Annick Menardo juice???). It's a little too sweet in the topnote, but thankfully, it calms down after a short while into something quite wearable without seeming too frivolous. At the just-under-$100 pricepoint, it's a bit pricey, but I paid $50 more than that for my bottle of Tea For Two, and can't really wear it anymore, so $95 seems reasonable. Bonus: cute bottle.

I can't speak to the similarity to Eau des Baux (haven't sampled that one yet), but pending a sampling of EdB, I may actually replace my dusty bottle of T42 with Spicebomb.
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post #57 of 103
7/13/12 at 2:20pm
If it's only half as good as Antidote, I will sure blind buy it with no hesitation...
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post #58 of 103
7/14/12 at 2:27am
Is Spice Bomb must have for Gucci II lover? I can get it rather cheap (like 45euros for gift set with 50ml EDT). It is more similiar to Gucci PH II (which I love) or Tea For Two (which I like but find rather hard to wear) ?
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post #59 of 103
7/14/12 at 2:31am
I prefer Musc Ravageur over SB, less sweet from what I remember.
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post #60 of 103
7/14/12 at 9:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by andylama View Post

Literally LOL. That was excellent!

I recently sampled Spicebomb at the duty-free shop at Dulles airport. First impression: I agree with the 7/10 rating; respectable. Sweet cinnamon tea...I definitely got a similarity to Tea For Two, and dare I say it: it might be an improvement on T42. No, wait, hear me out:

Tea For Two was one of the first 'real' perfumes I ever bought, and I like it, BUT it has an achilles heel AFAIC: as an oriental with a 'hole where the amber usually goes' (as Tania Sanchez aptly put it), leaves it a bit TOO dry, and after a long day's wearing (and sweating), T42 can go unpleasantly sour (smells revoltingly like ketchup on me)...a problem that a touch of sweetness could have fixed.

So enter Spicebomb...a downmarket Tea For Two with a great big gumdrop sweetness up top, drying down respectably to something in the Bulgari Black extended family (was this an Annick Menardo juice???). It's a little too sweet in the topnote, but thankfully, it calms down after a short while into something quite wearable without seeming too frivolous. At the just-under-$100 pricepoint, it's a bit pricey, but I paid $50 more than that for my bottle of Tea For Two, and can't really wear it anymore, so $95 seems reasonable. Bonus: cute bottle.

I can't speak to the similarity to Eau des Baux (haven't sampled that one yet), but pending a sampling of EdB, I may actually replace my dusty bottle of T42 with Spicebomb.

You've really voiced the exact reason I bought SpiceBomb at launch, and habitually hesitate on Tea for Two. Thanks!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dreamer81 View Post

Is Spice Bomb must have for Gucci II lover? I can get it rather cheap (like 45euros for gift set with 50ml EDT). It is more similiar to Gucci PH II (which I love) or Tea For Two (which I like but find rather hard to wear) ?

SpiceBomb has a certain woody/spicy facet that is almost a dead ringer for one in GPHII - enough so that I tend to use the latter's shower gel when I'm wearing SpiceBomb. But I would have a hard time saying which one (GPHII or T42) it resembles more, overall.
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