Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir

Most Helpful Critical Review

More of the Same

I'm not really sure where to start with this one. I don't enjoy it, but I didn't expect it to be something I would absolutely fall in love with. It's very much a department store style blue scent. My lack of enjoyment isn't so much a lack of it being good, because it isn't a bad scent, but it isn't... creative or different enough to justify being added to the product stack. There seems to be an industry trend, especially in men's designer, or releasing a modified exilir variation of popular lines, or lines in need of revitalization after Dior had tremendous success with Savage Elixir. I will say, the opening is horrible, for the first 30 mins or so, the artificial and chemical nature of this is overpowering, almost giving it the scent of a sun tan lotion for lack of a better way to describe it. Between that and an incredible overdose of ambroxian (or similar aroma-chemical) smother any nuance for the first hour. Once things dry down a bit, it does get better, but it's still a basically just a more potent representation of a blue scent. The note of truffle is nice as it does add a bit of dimension to the overly sweet vanilla in the core. The sweetness does dissipate with wear, but that sweet and blue cliche is really the main thing going on here. This isn't where the cliches end, as the introduction of thick wood resins hold the structure here… just like almost every other exilir or intense parfam from a design's men's line. This is something that is directly pulling inspiration from the rest of the market here, and making most of the newer exilirs feel very much the same, as the dry downs are getting to be so similar. What I think is being done a bit differently here is focusing on the original target audience for the Bad Boy line, as opposed to bringing in a customer looking for a more mature and refined version a la Dior. What I mean here is that Savage Elixir stands out as an outlier in the product stack. While the thick ambroxiany blue scent is still there, it's covered in rich woods and a licorice without being as intensely sweet like the remainder of the line. It leans more mature, more dirty, more refined. The rest of to savage line, EdT, EdP, and Parfam, all share a similar construction with a growing level of intensity. They are all very much Savage. What Carolina Herrera has done is create something that offers the intensity and richness of an elixir, to a person who already enjoys the standard offerings. It's still very sweet with that vanilla and resin dancing together through dry down, and it has the wildly enjoyed blue smell, but with a bit more of a darker twist. It doesn't stray too far from the base, and that might be a good thing, but I think there's a place for more youthful, playful, yet intense and rich scents. I don't know if that alone justifies its existence, as I feel it isn't offering anything revolutionary to the market. I can see what the target is here, and I just happen not to be it, and that's okay. I think there will be people who absolutely love what this offers, and it'll become a go to, especially for cooler months or days where things don't have to be so serious to be intense.