Secret Scent Box

I have a slight obsession with fragrances, I search out bottles when I get even a hint that I might like them or simply buy bottles without smelling them entirely on impulse. Sometimes I pick up lemons (as in really bad aftershaves) and sometimes I pick up some little gems (Eros by Versace springs to mind). It’s like a Stephen style touch of aftershave roulette, except unlike real roulette I win more often than I lose. When I was asked if I would like to sample a subscription aftershave box I naturally was intrigued and after taking a peek at their website I couldn’t help but say yes to the Secret Scent Box. 

‘Secret Scent Box is a monthly UK fragrance box subscription that lets you discover new designer & branded perfumes or colognes. Get a 30 day supply of three fragrances delivered through your letterbox every month for just £15.’

So, for £15 you get a box that contains three different fragrances - aftershave and cologne if you choose the male box and perfumes if you choose the female box. You don’t just get three little testers to try, you get the notes to the fragrance as well which for me lets me sit back and imagine how I think they will smell not just on first application, but also as it evolves through the heart and dry down notes. I can see myself becoming very addicted to this service! 

In my first box I received three aftershaves that I hadn’t smelt before:

Davidoff Champion

Head: Bergamot, Lemon

Heart: Galbanum, Clary Sage

Dry-down: Cedarwood, Oakmoss

Boss Selection by Hugo Boss

Head: Grapefruit, Lemon, Mandarin, Pepper

Heart: Geranium, Star anise, Cedar leaves

Dry-down: Cedarwood, Patchouli, Vetiver, Musk

Jimmy Choo Man Intense

Head: Lavender, Honeydew Melon, Orange

Heart: Davana, Geranium, Pepper

Dry-down: Patchouli, Cistus Labdanum, Tonka Bean

After reading the notes, making a prediction of what they would smell like on me and actually trying them I have been impressed. If I asked my friends to pick out three aftershaves for me to try I would expect to dislike at least one, but not here, I love them all. Davidoff Champion stands out from the box as one where I will have to go out and buy a bigger bottle.

I received my male fragrance box a few days ago through the post (the box fits through the letterbox so no red cards from the Post Office and a trip to the local sorting office to collect) as you would expect and I have to say it wasn’t what I had expected. I’d had the thought myself of a creating a fragrance box when I first started this blog and considered just sending out one 30ml bottle of aftershave a month. Secret Scent Box have taken that idea and added in variety. For £15 you receive 27ml of fragrance, three 9ml testers with atomisers that should, with frugal use keep you going for a whole month. 

For me personally I really like this concept - I’ll get to sample a number of new fragrances every month, get given the low-down on the notes to each and I know this is sad, but just opening the box to see a card say “hello handsome” first thing in the morning brings a wry smile to my face. 

Cracking concept, I love the contents and the price won’t leave your bank account less than fragrant. For just £15 you can sample some really cool new fragrances before you go and shell out for a larger bottle. Bravo people, bravo.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Exclusive BeautykingUK reader offer:

Get 15% off your first Secret Scent Box when you sign up here by using the code:

‘BEAUTYKINGUK15’

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Echo by Davidoff

Davidoff Echo, an aftershave for men was originally an impulsive purchase by yours truly when firmly in the mindset that spending $35 for a 100ml bottle wasn't too much if it was nasty once I got my sniffing tackle around it. If you want to buy a bottle after reading this, then you can for under £20 from places like Fragrance Direct. Before you rush over to buy a bottle, read on.....

The first thing that attracted me to this on the shelf was the stylish bottle, it has to be the funkiest aftershave bottle. Made from clear glass it is more of a sculpture than a bottle. On deeper research it comes to light that a designer was commissioned to actually make the bottle! A bit over the top for an aftershave, but a nice touch all the same. A work of art? No? 

To this day I've never seen Echo advertised in the UK so you really have to do some digging to find the marketing blurb, or as I shall now call it 'garbage':

'Dynamic, cool and masculine Echo is an urban trendsetter'

The notes to Echo build it up as an airy innovative fragrance that contains:

Head: Suede, musk, liquid air.

Heart: Sandalwood, cedar wood, nutmeg.

Dry-down: Chilli pepper, black pepper.

From reading the notes I would be inclined to think from the notes that the fragrance would be very dry and heavy on the nose and the combination of suede, musk and sandalwood would make this strong providing a very hard wearing masculine fragrance.

Actually applying the fragrance is a bit tricky due to the size and shape of the bottle. The smooth ridged glass combined with wet hands is not an option and I found that I had to use two hands. One to hold the bottle and the second hand to actually press the atomiser! The first thing to strike me was that large amounts of the aftershave are dispensed with one press of the atomiser, meaning that three squirts are more than enough.

My initial thoughts about this fragrance were correct, heavy suede with a warm musk was the first smell to strike me and it was far from cool. After shaving this stings, it stings a lot and in my case inflamed the area around my neck when I applied it after shaving. I am not a big fan of heavy fragrances and as such I wasn't happy when I first applied this, but to its credit, the head notes do fade very quickly, however the woody and spicy notes are equally as strong as the head notes and again, these seem far too heavy on the nose. 

Thankfully within 10 minutes of application the head and heart notes do become lighter and less evident, however there remains a warm, woody spicy fragrance and the dry down notes to me were at no time evident. This doesn't mean that they weren't lingering though. An hour after applying Echo my better half would not come within 50 yards of me, due to the "awful pepper smell". 

In the interests of seeing if the fragrance altered over time, and indeed how long it would last I persevered - I even tried changing my moisturiser, tried it with a beard, tried it shaved all to no avail. Unfortunately the fragrance does not calm down. 

Overall, I was drawn in by the cool bottle and cheap price but was left disappointed by the heavy fragrance. To this day Echo sits on the shelf in the bathroom and is never used. Although some people would like this sort of fragrance (Davidoff themselves do say that it is for a more mature audience - that rules me right out). 

I personally prefer light fragrances that have a citrus base and personally would never ever buy this for myself or as a gift for others. It simply is not refreshing enough and lacks that certain something that would make people stand back and say "wow, that smells lovely".

Davidoff Echo in my opinion would appeal to those who like Christian Dior Fahrenheit, Polo by Ralph Lauren and Diesel Zero Plus. I could also only see it suitable for daywear due to the heavy nature of the fragrance.

If you like your fragrances to be light, citrus based and easy on the nose you should avoid this at all costs.

NOT RECOMMENDED

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Silver Shadow by Davidoff

Silver Shadow (sounds like it should be an evil nemesis of Spiderman) was not a fragrance I had ever heard of until a raft of samples of the pure blend Eau de Toilette and regular Eau de Toilette came flying through the post.

Despite the difference in name and price between the two blends, ultimately there is very little difference and therefore no need to write two individual reviews of the aftershaves.

For the record I will be reviewing my thoughts on the pure blend Eau de Toilette, which normally comes in both 50ml and 100ml bottles that don't contain an atomiser - I still find it weird to apply aftershave without an atomiser, I always apply far too much.

Prices range wildly as you would expect from online and high street retailers. Normally a 100ml bottle would cost in the region of £20 online with prices on the high street approaching the £40 mark.

The marketing for Silver Shadow states that it is a non-ordinary fragrance for a non-ordinary man (you can say that again). Charismatic and mysterious, the Davidoff Silver Shadow man leaves behind him an unforgettable fragrance trail. His fragrance is his signature, a fascinating shadow of his personality. (Source: www.zinodavidoff.com)

With the hindsight of smelling the fragrance I can’t help a wry sarcastic smile at the words ‘unforgettable fragrance trail‘. Yes, unforgettable, truly unforgettable!

Functional, but very boring, the bottle doesn't really project the luxurious image it would appear Davidoff aims for. As I’ve said, the bottles do not have an atomiser, therefore the aftershave is simply poured onto the hand to apply.

Personally this reminded me of days gone by when I used to play with (and empty to his displeasure) my dads aftershaves trying to feel grown up. It's been years since I'd used an aftershave where you had to measure out the quantity by sight alone!

The notes to Silver Shadow are:

• Head: Orange, coriander and cedar leaves
• Heart: Saffron and patchouli
• Dry Down: Amber and oak moss

From the notes I had an idea that Silver Shadow would be a heavy fragrance, there were simply too many earthy ingredients for it to be anything else, but on application I was pleasantly surprised by the head notes, the orange citrus was overwhelming and the zest seemed to block out the coriander and cedar fragrances completely.

I wasn't very liberal when applying either, literally a tiny amount of the fragrance was required to leave the room smelling like the inside of an orange box. This is strong and felt like an assault on my senses!

Unfortunately, the citrus orange note faded quickly and only a faint undertone remained and this is in my opinion where the fragrance started to go horribly wrong.

The coriander and cedar start to become overpowering, making what was a strong fragrance overly heavy and arid. There was nothing refreshing about the application or indeed the fragrance. Combined with the heart notes and finally the dry down of amber the fragrance become exceptionally heavy with no redeeming features.

It was too warm and earthy with the oak moss being most evident. In an attempt to give this a masculine aroma, Davidoff have simply added too many ingredients that counteract each other and after around an hour I smelt like I had been camping in woodland for a week.

Overall I was hugely disappointed with Silver Shadow. It is a hard wearing fragrance due to the heavy ingredients and lasts for well over 12 hours, sadly that is not a good thing at all.

When you take into consideration the price, the fragrance and the fact that everyone you pass will look at you as though you have just murdered a close family relative I would not recommend this to anyone. If asked to describe Silver Shadow in a nutshell I would have to say that it is a bastardised blend of old spice combined with topsoil!

Personally after using this once I decided that I would never ever wear it again, and I certainly would not shell out up to £40 for a bottle. If earthy, rugged masculine fragrances are for you then there is a slight chance that you will find Silver Shadow acceptable for daywear and possibly formal occasions.

Silver Shadow is not luxurious, charismatic and mysterious, however it is unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

NOT RECOMMENDED

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Davidoff Cool Water Game!

When it comes to aftershaves I have a large and rather varied collection, some come and go without ever being replaced whilst a few firm favourites are bought well in advance of them actually running out.

Never being one to stay with just one brand I am obsessed with trying new fragrances and it was whilst out shopping I tried the tester to Davidoff Game. The tester had me instantly hooked due to the slap in the face refreshing citrus aroma and relatively bargain price.

Being a fan of the Davidoff Cool Water and Cool Water Deep range I had no hesitation in purchasing the full gift pack for £45, which included a 100ml bottle of the aftershave, moisturising lotion and shower gel. £45 may seem excessive but readers should bear in mind that 100ml of this aftershave (taking the other items in the pack out of the equation) will last for well over 9 months when being used on a daily basis and if purchased individually the price comes down to only £35 on the high street. Alternatively it can be purchased from several reputable online aftershave retailers with prices as low as £25.

The bottle to Davidoff Game is blue in colour, as are most of the aftershaves in the Davidoff range and totally unique in style. Made from thick glass the bottle is fairly heavy at first.

The sunken sections of the glass makes it very easy to hold onto even with wet hands removing the risk of injury should you accidentally let it slip from your grasp in the bathroom.

The actual amount of thought that has gone into bottle design isn't surprising, it is something of a Davidoff trait with all of their aftershaves having very novel bottle designs, the funkiest that springs to mind is Davidoff Echo, a great bottle but absolutely vile aftershave.

Before going any further I will explain the differences between head, heart and base. The head note ingredients are usually the first ingredients you will smell in an aftershave or perfume. In light a fruity fragrances these tend to be citrus fruits or plant extracts. The heart notes provide the deeper body to the fragrance and usually consist of tobacco, berry extracts and milder spices while the base notes provide the long lasting fragrance when combined with the head and heart notes.

The published notes to Davidoff Game are:

• Head: Grapefruit, watermelon and bail verbena leaves.
• Heart: Green Blackcurrant, gingko and lavender.
• Base: Cedar wood, patchouli and musk.

The marketing blurb to the aftershave (which I have to say is incredibly accurate) sells Davidoff Game as an aftershave that has notes that will spark you to life with fruity bursts of citrus that will contrast with underlying notes to produce a refreshing yet warm sensual masculine fragrance.

My own personal experience has actually been summed up in a rather brief manner by the Davidoff marketing department, but it doesn't give the full picture of how this aftershave changes over time, something it almost definitely does over the day.

As I have said, I was drawn to the aftershave when out shopping - it was an impulse buy so I bought it based upon the top notes and before actually trying it on myself over a full day.

The last time I did this I ended up with the lemon that is Davidoff Echo so I was eager to try it. Only 3 gentle squirts of the atomiser release enough of the aftershave to cover the face and neck and my first impressions were that I had fallen into a fruit salad. The grapefruit and watermelon are instantly noticeable and provide a very strong and refreshing assault on the senses.

The grapefruit provides the zesty citrus aroma that seems to linger yet as it blends on the skin the most evident fragrance is that of watermelon and this remains for around 30 minutes as it is absorbed into the skin.

The heart and base notes begin to become the dominant ingredients changing it from a light airy fairy aftershave into something deeper, warmer and far more masculine than I expected when I first tested it. This is not to say it is a bad thing, in fact I was actually surprised by how much I liked the fragrance after it had dried down.

It is rare that I personally like aftershaves that become heavier and warmer over time; Davidoff Game is one of the exceptions to the rule. As the watermelon fades so does the citrus vibe to the entire aftershave, the heart note of lavender then becomes most pronounced and as this blends with the cedar wood and patchouli it is as though the nostrils are taking in warm air.

The fragrance becomes almost floral with hints of a spicy wooden undertone and this is how it remains for hour after hour. Most aftershaves last around 10 hours, Davidoff Game can still be smelt 20 hours later its staying power is that good. While it does fade eventually I personally can't argue with an aftershave that I really like that is affordable, long lasting and has the ability to remain lovely late into the evening after applying first thing in the morning.

After wearing Davidoff Game on and off for years I have to say it is one of those inoffensive fragrances that will have something for everyone.

Those who enjoy their light, refreshing citrus fragrances will love the initial blast of watermelon while those who prefer their rugged masculine fragrances will be impressed with the dry down aroma.

I wear Davidoff Game around the office and when hanging around the house at the weekends.

RECOMMENDED

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