Our take
What does Bad smell like?
Diesel launched Bad in summer 2016, with actor Boyd Holbrook in the campaign. Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaim composed it. The opening is fairly classic. Nothing here would scare a first-time buyer. Bergamot, cardamom and lavender sketch an aromatic freshness that violet leaf turns greener. The heart carries the main idea. A salty, slightly briny caviar accord meets iris and sage. The effect stays abstract and suggests salty skin rather than fish roe. The base brings together tobacco, tonka, ambroxan and patchouli. It is warm and a little sweet. Tobacco gives it a dry, slightly honeyed edge, and the ambroxan keeps it radiant on clothing. Compared with Only The Brave, the brand's other big men's scent, Bad is less leathery and saltier. The matte black bottle does the rest of the marketing work. Inside, the juice is better than the bad-boy pitch suggests.
When to wear it
Wear it on cool evenings, over a sweatshirt or jacket. Three sprays last a few hours.
It belongs to the Woody family. Bad is one of 14 creations by Diesel in our encyclopedia.
