Note Pyramid
La Bomba Intensa
Three perfumers worked on Carolina Herrera La Bomba Intensa Eau de Parfum, Christophe Raynaud, Louise Turner and Quentin Bisch, and the result is a loud, red, deliberately cheerful fragrance that makes no attempt at subtlety.
A wild berries accord opens it, dark and tart and jammy all at once, and bergamot cuts through with a clean citrus bitterness that stops the fruit from being sickly in the first minute. It is an immediate and obvious start, and it is quite clearly meant to be. The middle is where the name earns itself. A Venezuelan orchid accord gives a creamy, slightly spicy floral that is fuller than an ordinary white flower, and orange blossom brightens it with something clean and honeyed. The two of them carry the fragrance through its longest stretch and keep it from being merely fruity.
Red amber and patchouli make the base. The amber is warm, resinous and faintly sweet, and the patchouli is earthy and damp with a bitter edge that gives the finish some grip. It is a short list of materials, six in all, arranged for impact rather than for study.
Eau de parfum strength suits it: this lasts and it carries. It belongs to evenings and to parties, it works best in cooler weather where the warmth of the base has something to push against, and it reads feminine and extroverted. Carolina Herrera's house has been designing from New York since a first collection in 1981. Perfume came in 1988 under licence to Puig of Spain, which bought the fashion company in 1995. Six materials is a short list for something this emphatic, and nothing in the bottle is hiding behind anything else.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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