Ambre Noir by Yves Rocher

If I told you that you could pick up a hard-wearing and lovely smelling fragrance (and a 50ml bottle of it at that) for just £16 you would probably be calling for the men in white coats. No, I haven’t fallen for Old Spice (although a bottle of that is nearly £10). I have fallen for Ambre Noir by Yves Rocher.

Read on into my insanity....

When I was told by my other half (affectionately known as the ball & chain or Beautyqueenuk) that one of her PR contacts was going to send me an aftershave to sample from Yves Rocher my response was quite blunt (the expletives have been removed) - “who are Yves Rocher”.

Fast forward (weird flashback to my last job there) a couple weeks and a 50ml bottle of Ambre Noir popped through the letterbox. After looking for the aftershave online to do a bit of research and seeing that the same bottle could be picked up for £16 here my expectations were low - lower than a world champion limbo dancer in fact.

This is what the Yves Rocher folk have to say about Ambre Noir:

‘The intensity of dark woods, the sensuality of amber.

Assert your seductiveness with AMBRE NOIR, which combines the intense and woody character of patchouli and vetiver with the sensuality of tonka bean. At the heart of this fragrance, the subtlety of cedar and lavender accentuates its elegance.’ 

The main ingredients to Ambre Noir are botanically based: essential oils of patchouli, vetiver, bergamot, cardamom seed, mandarin, cedarwood, elemi and lavender, violet leaves and tonka bean absolutes.

First impressions were good, it was very light and fresh. To me, I was sure that the main top note was a light and very subtle lavender which blended with the mandarin to give a rather fruity citrus aroma (if you really do keep sniffing away you can pull out the sharpness of the mandarin just momentarily).

Within fifteen minutes the top notes die down yet the aftershave becomes sweeter on the nose - weird, but a good kind of weird. This sweetness remains for moments, less than five minutes. 

At this stage, the amber and tonka beans blend beautifully. It’s almost a weird union of the warmth of the amber and the sweetness of the tonka bean. Without the amber this would probably have the same sweetness as Versace Eros, Joop or Valentino Uomo, instead it starts to dry down to a lovely warm reliable fragrance very much on a par with Fahrenheit by Dior. 

As I have said, the fragrance on dry down has the warmth of Dior’s Fahrenheit, it has a depth of both spice and wood to make this probably a bit too earthy and masculine for me to wear out and about at night, but perfect for daywear on a regular basis. That depth and the dry down base keeps Ambre Noir sitting on the skin really well and for over ten hours which is always a plus. 

At every stage of wearing this what I found was a series of ingredients that blended so well it was a pleasure to wear Ambre Noir, and I rarely say that. Take into account the excellent, and I mean astounding value for money and the lack of burn when applying after shaving then I can’t sing it’s praises enough. Top notch stuff - one does doth ones cap to the perfumer who came up with this baby (sorry, I think I added this line after a night out).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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Lacoste Booster

Any regular reader will know I have a slight problem with aftershaves - I can’t help but pick them up, try them and buy them. It costs me a fortune, but it’s probably one of the safest addictions to have right?

Lacoste Booster didn’t fall into my collection through the standard routes, my brother actually left a bottle after staying over. It sat in my bathroom for months until I actually smelt it out of curiosity! The reason it had never aroused the urge to smell it previously is due to the extremely ugly packaging! The bottle looks ugly, cheap and very tacky!

You have to see it first hand to really appreciate how nasty it is. A green bottle coated in white plastic with a white plastic pump spray. Classy, I think not. I have never seen this on the shelves of perfume/aftershave counters and I’d be inclined to steer well clear as it gives off so many ’jog on’ signals I can’t understand why anyone would go for it. 

This fragrance was launched in 1996 and is aimed at the sporty, adventurous type of man who wants to feel manly but pleasant at the same time. Taking a peek at the Lacoste website will throw reams of information relating to the history of the company and what this fragrance will do for you.

The notes to Lacoste Booster state that this fragrance has hints of Menthol, Nutmeg, Eucalyptus and Lavender. Taking those main ingredients into account you would think this aftershave would have a very fresh, sweet smelling aroma with wooden undertones. You’d be wrong!

The first time I sprayed this onto my face I gagged! Although I hadn’t sprayed any in my mouth I could actually taste the fragrance it was so strong! This wasn’t a fruity, sweet smell. It was heavy and extremely overpowering. It was difficult to actually distinguish any particular smells at all.

Obviously panic set in. I stank! I was late for work and I literally hummed to high heaven of this stuff. Rather than taking another shower and changing, I headed off to work with rather paranoid thoughts running through my mind. Surprisingly, given 20 minutes, the fragrance changed dramatically. 

The overpowering odour had calmed down and certain smells became evident. The Lavender in particular was most noticeable, and rather than being heavy on my nose, it was bearable and in all honesty, quite refreshing for such an earthy aftershave.

After a few hours of wear, the smell changed again. The ingredients although surprising combined well to give a heavy citrus smell.

Marketed as a manly aftershave it did have that rough around the edges smell, but with only a small amount of time was needed for this to transform into an elegant, subtle fragrance that drew compliments from young and old alike. 

Given that the fragrance starts off being so powerful and heavy, only a little is needed to give you a great feel. Personally, I would recommend this to men aged 30+, and for use really during the day. 

It’s nothing special and if I had a choice, I wouldn’t use this as a pulling fragrance as there are much better aftershaves on the market that will bring the ladies flocking. This isn’t your young mans fragrance, if I had to sum it up, I’d say it was an upmarket version of Old Spice. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but you’re not going to knock people out with the stench.

The cheapest I have seen Lacoste Booster was online at just over £10 for a 50ml bottle. Bearing in mind only a tiny bit is required this is great value for money. Not only is this really cheap, the smell lingers for an absolute age still being evident after 10 hours. Lacoste Booster is too heavy a fragrance for me. 

Personally, I would only buy this if I was watching the pennies.

I prefer to pay that little bit extra and get a light, fruity sweet smelling fragrance from one of the more established fashion/fragrance houses. If you like/enjoy Old Spice, Brut or Fahrenheit this would suit you down to the ground for daywear, and daywear only.

RECOMMENDED (just)

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Diesel Zero Plus for Men

Diesel Zero Plus for Men - an aftershave I picked up on impulse when buying the ill fated Gucci Rush for Men. In terms of an impulse buying, this shopping trip it was a disaster!

Why did I buy an aftershave I’d never heard of nor indeed smelt? Simple really:

• Diesel is a pretty well known brand;
• It was cheap;
• The packaging was unique;
• I’d never tried it before and was curious

When I think of a Diesel product the first thing that springs to mind are jeans! Until I spotted it on the shelf I didn’t even know that Diesel had any fragrances on the market for men. Their marketing must have completely passed me by. Curiosity struck me and I bought a bottle for £7.99, yes that’s right, it was only £7.99 for a 50ml bottle. Alarm bells should have starting ringing but they didn’t…

Since buying my bottle I have seen this on sale all over the place and online. If you like it, don’t pay more than £12.99 for a bottle. Anything more than that and you are being taken for a mug. It can retail in some shops at up to £27.99.

Apart from the price and brand name the actual bottle and packaging does look rather funky as the pictures show.

Source

The male and female versions come in the same style bottles with the only difference being feminine and masculine written on the side.

The actual bottle is a deep red colour and comes enclosed within a clear plastic capsule. It looks good and doesn’t look out of place on a shelf with more expensive rivals in the fragrance market.

Launched in 1995, Zero Plus is classified as a refined, oriental woody fragrance which should blend to give a manly masculine fragrance suitable for eveningwear.

On first application the first thing that struck me was the actual grip I could get on the bottle rather than the fragrance. It is easy to grip, even with wet hands and the atomiser released a healthy amount of the fragrance with a fair amount of force.

As soon as the fragrance is released from the bottle it was like there had been an explosion of smells in my bathroom. This is one spicy fragrance. It quickly became evident that it’s a very heavy fragrance, the spicy fragrance became less obvious and yes it did have an oriental feel but the overriding smell after ten to fifteen minutes was that of an oak tree. Woody is an understatement; it was like sniffing a freshly chopped log at close quarters.

As the fragrance mixed with my skin over time the woody smell also became less obvious but it was still the strongest of the notes by far closely followed by a spicy assault on my nostrils.

As the smells changed and settled the first thing that sprang to mind was that I had smelt this somewhere before. I wasn’t imagining it, and after further investigation I realised that this is nearly identical in smell to……….Old Spice……..

The actual fragrance lasts for well over 8 hours as it is exceptionally heavy and it seems to cling to clothes.

As I only used two sprays from the atomiser I have to say in it’s defence, it would have been good value for money had I been able to wear it again as this would last for a number of months even if used on a daily basis.

I found Diesel Zero Plus for Men a cheap and nasty fragrance that left me feeling very self-conscious about how I smelt.

I’ve worn this once, and that was to smell what the fragrance was like and I won’t ever be wearing it again.

Designed for eveningwear my a**e, it’s designed to repel all known forms of life more like.
At £7.99 for the bottle I should have expected a nasty fragrance but I didn’t. I must have been having a ’senior’ moment in the shop.

Had I paid more for the bottle I would have been most upset but it’s true what they say. You get what you pay for, and in this case you most certainly do…….

To summarise:

• NASTY 
• NASTY 
• NASTY

NOT RECOMMENDED

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