Lomani Body and Soul

I came upon this baby more than a year ago while researching an inexpensive alternative to the now reformulated Spicebomb - originally a brilliant creation, ultimately relegated to cinnamon bubblegum mediocrity. RIP. But I think what sealed the deal for me were the additional comparisons to Creed's Spice and Wood (incidentally my favourite Creed) and HiM by Hanae Mori (a wonderful spiced tea). Having worn and enjoyed all three, you can imagine my giddiness when I discovered that Lomani ostensibly had something to offer that was reminiscent of them all, though at a significantly lower price. But even after all the encouraging reviews, I was still hesitant to pull the trigger. That is, until Christmas came, and I thought to myself, what the hell, I love spicy frags, why not give it a go? And this is what I got. Batch – 3G71P2. First off, the cap was extremely difficult to remove and it took the silver “Lomani” part with it to reveal the crimped atomizer. I guess that’s what you pay for. Now I just store it with the cap off. Whatever. Love the red atomizer though - reminds me of the one on Ferrari Uomo. Nice touch. And when I first sniffed it, my immediate thought was...whoa. Spicebomb. It was THAT apparent. Even on the first spray, it’s ridiculously obvious. The opening is a fizzy sweetness from the amber, spices, lavender and grapefruit. 5 minutes in, the amber takes a back seat and allows the pepper to come through. Another 10 minutes and everything blends in nicely, while the white tobacco becomes noticeable at about the 30 min mark. It’s fairly well blended actually and sweeter than I thought it would be. But the best part is that the sillage remains beautifully uniform. That means that no matter how the stuff changes on the skin, the wafts you get are always the same – and they smell like Spicebomb. I honestly don’t think that the average person would be able to tell the difference. And just WHAT were people thinking with that Spice and Wood comparison? Update (Aug 2019): This stuff continues to surprise me. Yeah, it still smells like Spicebomb, but there are obvious hints of other fragrances in there too - Tea for Two by LAP, Royal Oud by Creed and even a touch of Tobacco Vanille! Unbelievable how this fragrance has gone unnoticed for so long. Still one of the best cheapies I ever bought. Scent – 8/10 Longevity – 7/10 Projection – 7/10 Overall – 8/10 - Superb value.

Lomani Body and Soul is among my first two of the Lomani house. I got this and Lomani Why Not? (A Jimmy Choo Intense/Yves Saint Laurent Y clone.) From my two experiences with Lomani, they put out pretty good clones. Body and Soul is a Spicebomb clone and a really good clone at that. I get a lot of black pepper and tobacco with some myrrh and amber. The pepper is strong and leads to the tobacco/myrrh mid. The amber mixes in with it. I am pretty sure Spicebomb has more going on than this though. That said, Body and Soul hits the main bulletpoints of Spicebomb really well. Performance is pretty good, especially considering it is a cheap clone. Spicebomb is sold often times 3/4 times the price, but Body and Soul holds up pretty good. It is nearly a club performer with borderline strong performance. Seasonality is fall and winter with it being more of a night scent. It works mostly as a date and club scent. While Spicebomb is great I dont think it is as common as you may think so this might smell unique. Lomani Body and Soul is a 7.6 out of 10. I grade it down as a clone but do know this is worth getting your nose on or worth getting if you want Spicebomb but want to stretch out the use of your bottle. If you want something different but in the same wheelhouse, go with Bvlgari Man in Black, Spicebomb Extreme or English Laundry Windsor.

Quick addendum now that I've had it for over a year... Yes, it still starts off like Spicebomb, but the mid is more reminiscent of Tea For Two from L'Artisan Parfumeur, with less smoke but the same dry leafiness. The drydown is where the comparison to Creed comes in - not Spice and Wood but Royal Oud. So basically, you get Spicebomb in the opening, Tea For Two in the mid - with perhaps a faint cherry in the back - and Royal Oud in the drydown. Amazing right? Yes it's synthetic and a bit rough around the edges, but hell, it's still one of my favourites to wear in the autumn. Best sprayed 50/50 on skin and clothing. Sweet, dry and spicy. Just the way I like it.

This is a good alternative to Spicebomb for those on a budget. While they do not smell exactly the same, they are close enough to warrant giving this a try. This is a quality fragrance and it only costs $14 on ebay for a 3.4 oz. That is crazy! Lomani has the best costs to quality ratio across their entire line up of any fragrance house in my opinion. The smell is not in the least bit synthetic. Projection and Longevity are average for me, but I can deal with average for $14. This is a definite buy if you like sweet spicy fragrances because for the money and the quality you can't go wrong.

I got my bottle of Lomani’s Body and Soul on a swap with Bigsly.(thanks man!:) When I first sprayed B&S on my hand, it immediately hit me and I said to myself "Whoa! Wait a minute, I've smelled this before" And I was racking my brain trying desperately to remember the scent it reminded me of!(and to my nose bore zero resemblance to Chanel's Bleu, which I do own as well) At first I thought it was like a cross between 1Million and some other spicy frag. It wasn't until I went into my room and did a spray of Spicebomb on my hand a couple days later, that I immediately made the connection! So I went about testing them side by side and there is a pretty big difference initially when I sprayed them both....Spicebomb was slightly sweeter/tobacco and cinnamon, whereas B&S is a little less sweet tobacco/amber and pepper scent. But after an hour or two, their drydowns were pretty close IMO. I think B&S is a great/long lasting scent and definitely worth a try if you like scents along the lines of Spicebomb.(sweet/light tobacco and spice scents) Especially considering the price, as I believe Bigsly said he got this 3.4oz tester for under $10 shipped to him...that's an outstanding value in my book.:)