Note Pyramid
Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir
Five materials and nothing hidden behind them: Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir Eau de Parfum is a short composition and an unusually confident one.
Sage opens it, dry and herbal with that slightly bitter, almost savoury greenness it has, and black pepper joins in immediately with a dusty heat. There is no citrus and no sweetness at the top at all, which is rare in a men's release at this level. Black truffle is the centre and effectively the whole middle: earthy, damp, savoury and faintly sulphurous, the smell of soil and of something buried in it. It is the material that makes the fragrance worth smelling. Then the composition turns, and it turns hard. Vanilla arrives thick and dark, less a dessert than a resin, and frankincense threads a dry peppery smoke through it, so the finish is sweet and churchlike at once.
With five materials there is no long evolution. The turn from savoury to sweet happens about twenty minutes in, and after that it holds its shape for hours. If you prefer fragrances that unfold, this is not one of them.
At this concentration it is dense and long lived, nine hours is achievable, and one spray genuinely carries an evening. It is dated 2024. Wear it in cold weather and after dark. It is aimed at men, it suits dinners and winter evenings, and it would be an odd choice for an office or a hot afternoon. The truffle is the gamble and the reason to take it.
Carolina Herrera is a New York fashion house; its founder was Venezuelan and her clothes were first shown in 1981. Puig, in Spain, began making the perfumes on licence in 1988 and bought the fashion company outright in 1995.
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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