Fahrenheit by Christian Dior

After nearly a month I’m back - I’m not sure if it was a lack of energy or just the fact that I’m simply overwhelmed with the sheer volume of things I have to write about. Needless to say, let’s ease back into this gently and by casting my thoughts on an old school favourite of mine.

Fahrenheit by Dior is one of those staple aftershaves, it stems from a period in my life when I had a job that allowed everything I wore to be made by Dior, Valentino or YSL.

Christian Dior oozed class to a younger, less wiser Stephen, although I have to say their shirts still scream quality and to this day retain an air of distinction.

The packaging is very dull. If I was out shopping, the packaging and the bottle itself would probably put me off trying this at all. The bottle comes wrapped in burnt red box and the bottle bears the same colouring. 

The notes to Fahrenheit state that this is a warm sensual fragrance with hints of hawthorn, honeysuckle, sandalwood, cedar and patchouli (whatever that is).

After applying the product I found the smell to be very warm with an earthy and strong woody overtone. 

As the smell stayed on my skin it changed becoming a distinctive honeysuckle smell that was delightful, it lightens and becomes softer but you are never far away from the warmth striking your nostrils.

I always find that aftershaves that suit me aren't noticeable after being applied. This basically means I can't smell it. Fahrenheit, after about an hour is one of those fragrances and only a tiny amount was required for good coverage.

Although this is marketed as a sensual fragrance I wouldn't say that it's one of those aftershaves that will make heads turn (not unless you put too much on) in the street but it is very pleasant. 

Personally I wear this fragrance to work. If you're looking for a "pulling fragrance" and if you pardon the pun, it won't have temperatures rising. For that, you are much better off trying Joop or CK Truth, they have softer notes that leave a far sweeter smell fragrance after time. 

In my opinion this is an aftershave for a man‘s man, but it's not one of those smells you'd prefer on a night out. OK for daywear, left on the dresser for big nights out. 

Despite that, it is a quality product and you can do a lot worse.

Fahrenheit can be purchased in 30mls, 50mls and 100ml bottles. A 50ml bottle will set you back £17.99. At that price it represents excellent value for money and is well worth a look. 

RECOMMENDED

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Clinique Happy for Men

It's been a while since I posted - I was going to take a bit of a break throughout August as I go and soak up the sun but my blog draws me back. 

Happy by Clinique wasn’t something I’d wanted to try but after a friend encouraged me to buy a bottle on the assurance that it was ’the best ever’ (vague to say the least), I parted with cash and took the plunge. 

Coming in an orange card box, the bottle looks tacky to say the least, oval in shape, the overall first impression was "eurgh" but the looks were indeed deceiving.

On removing the lid I was greeted with a fruity citrus aroma that reminded me more of a bowl of oranges (hence the colour of the bottle I'd say) and upon inspecting the notes, this is marketed as a refreshing masculine scent made from a blend of lemons, mandarins, oranges and grapefruit and is recommended for day wear around the office.

Source

The full notes to Happy are:

• Head: Lime, green notes, mandarin orange, lemon and sea notes;
• Heart: Freesia, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley and rose;
• Dry down: Cypress, musk, guaiac wood and cedar.

Taking the blend of ingredients into account it wasn't surprising that my first impression of the fragrance was one of a very acidic, fresh and citrus aroma. As stated earlier, the overbearing initial fragrance is oranges, but once applied it fades quickly and after around 30 minutes the entire fragrance is subtle, the lime and jasmine begins to stand out over the other ingredients. 

Over the course of the day, the lime fades and lemon and oranges are again the predominant fragrances.

This is not what I would call a masculine aftershave, but it is still lovely.

I can't stress enough how subtle this is. Without actually sniffing at area's I had sprayed I wouldn't have known I was wearing this. Saying that however, it is a sign of a good quality aftershave and that it blended well with my skin and can’t actually smell it.

Bearing in mind I couldn't smell this after an hour you would think that quite a large amount of the aftershave would be needed for a day in the office. You'd be wrong, three to four sprays from the 50ml bottle is all that is needed for well over 12 hours of smelling gorgeous.

At under £30 for 50ml, this is a real bargain and is an ideal stocking filler for that man in your life.

Clinique Happy:

• Smells gorgeous
• Is reasonably priced
• Long lasting
• Refreshing
• Will get you noticed for all the right reasons
• Is a versatile fragrance, ideal for office wear, but personally I prefer to wear it when out on the town.
• The only faults I could find with this fragrance were the actual bottle design which to this day looks completely out of place. It is neither unique nor pleasing to the eye and after shaving it stings like no other aftershave I own. I put this down to the actual citrus and alcohol ingredients, but it is seriously sore for a few minutes after applying.

Taking everything into account, and the fact that you will get noticed wearing this it can only receive the thumbs up from me. 

RECOMMENDED

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Givenchy Pour Homme Blue Label

Givenchy Pour Homme Blue Label came into my collection of aftershaves as a gift. Personally I had never heard of this fragrance but I assumed that it did indeed rival the "fit man smell" of Ralph Lauren Blue and Joop. 

Having owned previous Givenchy offerings and personally finding them all to be of a high quality I had no hesitation in trying this out.

I didn't buy my bottle, but you can expect to pay around £22 for a 50ml bottle and £33 for a 100ml bottle of the EDT. 

In brief this is one of those ‘nice’ fragrances in my opinion, it is nothing special to write home about and certainly not an aftershave I would be shouting a recommendation for from the rooftops.

The packaging to the fragrance looks rather refined, but once the bottle has been retrieved the first thing that strikes you is that it looks extremely tacky made up from clear chunky glass and melted down blue biro's. 

The blurb for Givenchy Pour Homme Blue Label states that:

An aromatic homage to the traditional gentleman, reinterpreted for the modern man of action. This fragrance embodies the energy, style and attitude of today's man. It goes on and on, but basically the fragrance should be cool, mixed with spices with woody undertones to give a warm manly scent.

The notes are:

Head: Grapefruit, hedione and bergamot;

Heart: Cardamom, davana and pepper;

Dry down: Olibanum, vetiver and cedar.

When I think of that description of a fragrance I think Fahrenheit with it's warm woody tones and before trying I actually thought this might simply be a rip off of the Christian Dior fragrance. 

One spray of the atomiser dispenses a large amount of the fragrance, and first impressions are of a light citrus fragrance that is easy on the nose and ultimately unique and refreshing - you really can pick out the grapefruit tang. 

It should be noted however that the refreshing feel is replaced by a severe burning sensation - Christ, this burns more than other fragrances when applied after shaving due to the high alcohol content.

After settling the citrus fragrance vanishes completely with warmer undertones coming to the fore. The cardamon and pepper really make this warm and spicy, and I swore that I could detect hints of tobacco and amber. 

Given an hour to settle and this certainly does become more of a manly, warm and rugged spicy musk smell, although it isn't overpowering in the slightest. It's masculine but exceptionally subtle. The fragrance remains faint but is noticeable on clothing and when stationary for well over eight to nine hours.

The actual results of applying this fragrance were not unpleasant, I do like the smell, however I just don't think it suits me personally. 

Initially this is a light and refreshing fragrance but this fades too soon for my liking and I am not a big fan of deeply woody fragrances, they remind me too much of Old Spice. 

Although my wife liked this when she purchased it, she went off it very quickly and it now is only used for casual wear and for around the office during the day, I certainly wouldn't be spraying this on myself if I was embarking on a romantic evening out, there are better fragrances that guarantees the right type of attention. 

At most, only two sprays of the atomiser are all that is needed to give good coverage making the actual product very good value for money. 

All in all Givenchy Pour Homme Blue Label is not an offensive fragrance that will have people walking past holding their noses and judging by the price and bottle design it isn't trying to capture the crown of the more exclusive male fragrances on the market. 

I'll continue to wear it until the bottle finally runs out but I won’t be rushing to replace it. 

If you are looking for a fragrance that is fairly cheap, long lasting and spicy/woody in nature this is for you. 

If you are looking for something light, refreshing and will make you stand head and shoulders over everyone look elsewhere.

RECOMMENDED………….at a push

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Comme des Garcons 2 - Unisex Fragrance

It’s rare that a lemon falls into my aftershave collection and it has been a long time since I made a schoolboy error and bought an aftershave that could stun a wild boar at 20 paces - Gucci Rush and Diesel Zero Plus spring instantly to mind. All this changed recently with the deliver of a Selfridges&Co male grooming box.

The box contained a 9ml bottle of Comme des Garcons 2, a unisex fragrance I confess I’d never heard of until I opened the box of other grooming goodies to see what was inside.

Comme des Garcons 2 came in the silver packaging

If this was actually a lemon it would have the saving grace of having a nice citrus aroma, the blunt truth is that it’s overpriced, way too feminine and has the staying power of a car on the slope of a mountain with the handbrake (parking brake for my American readers) left off.

It started with such promise, a whiff from the bottle and it doesn’t seem that bad but that doesn’t last, oh no, it dries down, and down and down in the same way my expectations plummeted through the floor.

Comme des Garcons 2 Eau de Parfum is a unisex fragrance marketed as an aftershave/purfume that has a powerful presence (hmmm, yes, for about 45 minutes and not in a good way).

This is the first time I’ve tried a fragrance with ink in it - the ingredients list like they have thrown what was left at the end of a shift into the mix in an effort to get to the pub while the sun still shines. With baldheads, orange, mandarin and magnolia it also combines the ink, patchouli, labdanum, amber, vetiver along with cedar and juniper.

The full notes are:

• Head: Aldehydes, Orange Mandarin, Tea, Angelica, Mate
• Heart: Nutmeg, Ink, Magnolia, Coriander, West Indian Bay, Cinnamon
• Dry down: Patchouli, Cedar, Vetiver, Labdanum, Amber, Incense

Considering that a 100ml bottle of this will set you back between £55 to £75 it isn’t cheap so I was expecting class, style and quality like you get from established fashion houses such as Bvlgari, Ralph Lauren and Prada. What I got was an assault on my senses.

I used about 2ml of it the first time I tried it and my hand to god I gagged as I splashed it on. It’s like a combination of old gran smell. In fact I had a flashback to being younger trying to escape the clutches of a ‘huggy’ gran welcoming her not so favourite grandson into her house.

Vile - you can pick up strong hints of the magnolia straight away and the labdanum comes through far too much. After 5 minutes my eyes were streaming and I considered washing it off.

As it started to settle my ability to smell it diminished but the cedar was still evident. However, after 45 minutes of wearing I asked a friend to tell me what she thought of it. Her response - “are you wearing any aftershave” which made me think “what they hell”.

Undeterred by this (and stupidly) I tried to apply even more thinking I hadn’t put enough on. Again the gagging and streaming eyes until it clamed down a little. I asked again, what do you think after an hour to get the same response. Not good, not good at all!

I asked for thoughts about 30 minutes after applying in the hope that I’d get some decent feedback on how it smelt on my skin - the pick and most positive of the comments received was:

“You could spray that to keep flies away from the door.”

In summary, this takes the mantle for worst aftershave ever to enter my sizeable collection. It’s overpriced, smells like my gran used to, dries down to give an Old Spice vibe and lasts as long as a candy bar in Death Valley. 

It’s a massive no from me and it’s going in the bin.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

What’ has been your worst aftershave/perfume experience? Why not tell me in the comments below. I always try to respond.

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