Unknown Pleasure Acid Bomb
John Richmond Unknown Pleasure Acid Bomb Eau de Parfum 100ml has a name that promises something harsher than what is actually in the bottle, and the gap between the two is part of its appeal.
What you get first is sharp rather than corrosive. Bergamot, italian mandarin and lemon come up together, the mandarin rounder and sweeter than the other two, and pink pepper sits over them with a dry, rattling crackle that gives the opening its fizz. Apple follows and is the clue to the name, green and tart rather than ripe, and it keeps the first twenty minutes bright. Jasmine softens the middle without turning it into a bouquet, and elemi is the interesting addition there, a resin with a lemon peel sharpness and a hint of pine to it, which keeps the whole heart from going sweet. Amber warms it from below.
The close is darker and quite simple. Patchouli brings damp earth, leather adds a dry, slightly tanned firmness, and musk smooths the two together so the dry down sits on skin rather than above it. Eleven materials, with the energy at the top and the weight at the bottom.
At eau de parfum strength it will give you six to eight hours, loud for the first thirty minutes and then well behaved. It reads as unisex, leans masculine in the base, and works best on cool evenings and in autumn, where the citrus still registers but the leather has room.
John Richmond is a British designer, born in Manchester in 1960, who left Kingston Fashion School in 1982 and started his own label straight away. The design work has stayed in London while production moved to Italy, and the clothes have always been built around rock and roll and street culture. The label's intellectual property passed to the Luxembourg company Fashioneast in 2015, and the brand joined the Arav group in 2017.
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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