When you exchange gifts during the Holidays there is an occasional moment when you receive an unexpected present. It’s nice because it reminds you there is still a magic to this time of year in its ability to surprise you. The crusty perfume reviewer is having his own overflowing desk of presents this Holiday season. There has been an increased amount of new releases in these final weeks of the year. It makes me want to find the ones which are easy to dismiss. Except a week or so ago I got my own perfume surprise package in a sample of Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Holiday 2019.
Victoria’s Secret has been selling fragrance next to their lingerie for thirty years. It has always been a brand which follows trends. They are a classic example of safe fragrance meant to be purchased as an impulse while shopping in their stores. Ever since the launch of Bombshell in 2010 they’ve been releasing seasonal flankers two or three times a year. I’ve always categorized them as good functional perfumes. This year they decided to release their first Holiday edition. This is still a fruity floral, but it has a much different personality than any other Victoria’s Secret perfume I’ve ever tried. I don’t know who the perfumer is, but I am going to keep trying to find out because they did a fantastic job.
The fruit being used is pomegranate. It is given an icy chill to the point that it reminded me of having a pomegranate snow cone. The coolness complements the tartness of the fruit nicely. There is a much more transparent version of jasmine providing a floral veil instead of the usual strident presence I’m used to finding. It is like the pomegranate can radiate through the jasmine. The base is the very unusual choice of birch. Most of the time these perfumes end on a clean woody accord of synthetic woods and cedar. That the slightly acrid birch is allowed to finish this off is against nearly everything that has come before. This is another winter-like wood effect. The birch has a bitter woodiness which is allowed to pick up the cold tart of the pomegranate to create a gorgeous Holiday harmonic.
Bombshell Holiday 2019 has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.
I know that I never expected my surprise package this Holiday to be from Victoria’s Secret. Bombshell Holiday 2019 has reminded me how much fun it can be to be surprised.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample supplied by Victoria’s Secret.
–Mark Behnke
