Luna Rossa EDT by Prada

Launched in 2012, Prada Luna Rossa was an aftershave that passed me by for a good eighteen months until a sample arrived for me to try. 

Let’s just say it didn’t take long for me to moan and groan, huff and puff until a 50ml bottle appeared as a gift to cheer me up - it was a record time actually after extending my bottom lip out and mumbling something along the lines of “but I never buy any new aftershaves any more“.

The first blast of Luna Rossa had me hooked. 

This is what the marketing blurb says about Luna Rossa:

‘Prada introduces a new masculine fragrance in Sept 2012, named after the sailboat and the sailing team "Red Moon" or Luna Rossa, which participates in the American Cup competitions. The new fragrance, considering its name, draws its inspiration from the world of extreme sailing, prestige, marine nature and passion for innovation and victory.

The composition is developed around the main note of lavender by perfumer Daniela Andrier of Givaudan. Intensity and freshness of accords are emphasized by the use of classical notes in new, innovative ways. Those notes include lavender absolute and bitter orange in the top, clary sage and spearmint in the heart, and ambrette absolute and ambroxan molecule in the base.

Bottle design is inspired by modern sailboats, signed by Yves Behar. The fragrance is available as 50, 100 and 150 ml Eau de Toilette. The nose behind this fragrance is Daniela (Roche) Andrier.’

So you have the basic notes in the blurb but here they are at a glance:

• Head: Bitter oranges, Lavender
• Heart: Clary Sage, Spearmint,
• Dry-down: Ambrette, Ambroxan

When I first smelt Luna Rossa I have to admit that an in depth analysis was not undertaken, I was simply blown away by the fact that I loved the overall first impression and how it evolved on my skin over time to the dry down. It was immense, and considering I expected something cheap and nasty (on a par with Gucci Rush which regular readers will know I use as a benchmark for filth) to say I was smiling was an understatement. 

I have seen some describe this as having almost herbal top notes - personally I’m not sure what they are sniffing (aftershave or stronger) but it didn’t and has never been my experience. 

The oranges provide a fresh blast of citrus, its very sharp initially and is by far the most over-riding note, and remains so for a good five minutes. It is fresh and screams young and vibrant. Within the first five minutes of putting this through a full analysis (i.e giving it a long hard whiff every five minutes before getting people to smell me) I thought to myself that this would make a great summer fragrance - this thought process didn’t change, even though as it blended and dried down it did.

Personally I didn’t detect even the remotest hint of lavender until after around fifteen minutes, it is there but so subtle and soft you really struggle to pick it out. It provides a good counter balance to the sharpness of the orange making it much warmer. Still no hints of herbal though. 

After around twenty minutes you start to notice that the sharpness of the orange top note has completely gone, leaving a warm citrus - lovely. However, at this point the whole fragrance has altered to become slightly heavier on the nose, the sage is evident but again, the warm citrus is the dominating fragrance. 

After an hour to me this became more of an earthy, masculine fragrance. The oranges started to fade and the dry down notes became evident. I would have put this down to either cedar wood or sandalwood but no, it is all down to the Ambroxan.

Now, I don’t claim to be an expert on this kind of thing, I just say what I smell, but I was intrigued and played around on Google to find out what this mystery note is. I was quite surprised that the response I received from Google wasn’t that technical. Ambroxan is a key element responsible for the odour produced by ambergris. Ambergris is well sought after and is produced by the digestive systems of whales - it sounds vile but the waxy substance is used in a lot of high end perfume and aftershave as it provides a long, hardwearing and almost sweet fragrance (it also means they don‘t have to add alcohol to the fragrance that dries out your skin - there, you learn something new every day). 

These dry down notes provide an excellent base - it turns this once fresh and citrus fragrance into one that is quite sweet, even after five-six hours. That sweetness that you would associate with Joop, Uomo by Valentino or Eros is balanced by the light musk of the Ambrette.

Only a few sprays - three at most are needed to make sure you stay smelling from dusk until dawn, and I say this as Luna Rossa is perfect for nights out as it is so hardwearing, leaves a slight trail which means others will be able to smell it and it will give you the self confidence that you smell amazing.

50ml of this baby will set you back around £35 so it isn’t going to break the bank and when you consider the fragrance, how long it lasts and the compliments that you’ll receive you can’t ask for more. 

Taking the price, the lovely fragrance and the fact that it passed the sniff test with friends and family then I have to say you shouldn’t look any further. It would make the perfect gift for Christmas, Valentine’s Day or birthdays. 

It’s true what they say, the Devil really does wear Prada (and he wears it regularly)!

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Elements Aqua by Hugo Boss

Launched in 1996 by Hugo Boss, Elements Aqua was a fragrance I never had any intention of buying and therefore I was a little disappointed when I opened a gift from my mother to find this instead of the Bvlgari aftershave she knows I love.

Whilst my bottle of Element Aqua was a gift it can be found in most high street shops and can be purchased online at numerous retailers however I would add a note of caution. The price of Elements Aqua can vary wildly and I would always recommend that you shop around should you wish to buy this. Actual prices range from £15 for 50ml of the EDT up to a whopping £30.

Marketed as a classic fragrance I was very apprehensive about using this as I personally hate Hugo Boss Dark Blue and am not a big fan of sharp and woody fragrances. Despite my reservations I did eventually use Elements Aqua (the name itself suggests a clean and light fragrance) and all in all I wasn't overly disappointed although I will reserve complete judgement just to make you read the rest of my rambling lol.

The bottle to Elements Aqua is plain glass, moulded in a wavy design with a pale blue colouring it looks more like a stylish bottle of coloured water rather than an aftershave. Granted, the wavy bottle design does make it exceptionally easy to grip, and the atomiser does give very good coverage without using much of the fragrance.

The notes to Elements Aqua are surprising:

• Head Notes: Lavender, pineapple, spearmint, wormwood;
• Heart: Coriander, freesia, pepper, tea;
• Dry-Down: Vetiver, patchouli, sandal and vanilla

Reading the notes to Elements Aqua left me feeling rather upbeat and less apprehensive about using the fragrance. From the notes I expected a heavy, cool spicy fragrance that dried down to a woody yet fresh undertone. I also expected the lavender and pineapple to be overbearing notes leading me to believe that it would have a citrus tang if nothing else.

As stated above, a few squirts of the atomiser were all that was needed to get a liberal spread of the fragrance. Despite not shaving prior to using this did on first application sting a bit, and it is clear that alcohol is a major ingredient within the fragrance.

Indeed, as expected when I first applied Elements Aqua the lavender and pineapple were evident, as was the spearmint giving this a very strong fresh smell that was more oriental than actual citrus. The head notes only remained for around 10 minutes before they started to alter and the freesia and tea started to become the overriding fragrance making the overall aroma heavier and warmer. Gone was the fresh sensation and I would describe this as more of a manly masculine fragrance on a par with Fahrenheit.

The heart notes were the strongest of the fragrance, remaining evident for well over an hour and I was surprised by the delay in the emergence of the dry down notes. When they did start to become clear, the freesia was still there lingering however in the same way as nutmeg as a note brings out woody notes, the patchouli and sandal combined wonderfully to make this a very light almost woodland fragrance.

It was clean and crisp yet still warm and the dry down notes were still noticeable well over 12 hours after application.

Despite the fact that I don't tend to like woody or heavy fragrances Elements Aqua was something of a new sensation and a very unique fragrance that I really did like much more than any other that fall into the same category. Personally I use Elements Aqua for office wear due to it's excellent staying power and clear defined smell, however I wouldn't say this is something you would want to wear on a date or at a special occasion.

All in all, only a small amount of the fragrance was needed on a daily basis, and due to the affordable price tag I would say that Elements Aqua is very good value for money. It is not my favourite and will never replace the lighter fragrances in my collection, but it is one that is handy to have around for a change.

I wouldn't go out and buy another bottle, but I also wouldn't be disappointed if I received this as a gift again in the future.

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Dirty Springwash Shower Gel by Lush

In my youth I had a phrase - “Lush Sucks”, mainly because every conversation I started with a woman would always turn to their products. 

It was a lazy way to shut down that particular line of questioning so that a massively hormonal Stephen could concentrate on other things. I am of course talking about food *cough*, honest.

After overcoming the smell that turns my stomach and growing up (yes, yes, stop laughing, I’ve matured) I ventured into a shop and bought a few products. 

I’ve written before about my love for I Should Coco soap and my quest to get them to start stocking it again but using the bath bombs, the facial scrubs and gels had me converted. The stock phrase from my youth was banished.

Here and now I use Lush products off and on depending upon how I’m feeling and how much time I have on my hands. If you are dropping a couple of quid into the bath you don’t want to be draining the water in minutes, you want a long soak.

Under the microscope today as the title blatantly gives away is Dirty Springwash Shower Gel.

A 250g (yes, based on weight rather than volume) tube will set you back £8.95. Now that isn’t cheap for shower gel in my view, but the proof is in the pudding and all that….

Marketing blurb intermission:

Like a dip in a mountain spring, with spearmint & menthol to make your skin feel cool in a hot shower. Don’t be dirty - get fresh with this tingly, and extremely minty body and hair gel.

As there was a dirty great sticker over the ingredients (mine was made by Dawid like I really care) I couldn’t make out what was in it but boy do you get a huge idea from the fragrance! 

When described as extremely minty that is one hell of an understatement. As soon as the cap is off - BANG, it hits you in the nose like the fist of an angry man after taking a bottle of angry pills on Saint Angry Day.

The spearmint and menthol attack your senses like a battalion of infantry on speed - it’s a lovely smell that gets stronger as soon as it comes into contact with the hot shower water. The fragrance provides a fantastic wake up call first thing in the morning.

The shower gel lathers up really well, it isn’t rich but a small amount of the gel is needed to wash the entire frame of a six foot man - me. 

This is a man’s wash and as the lather runs over the body you can feel the menthol properties, they are right. Even in a warm shower the menthol was making me feel really cool. I can see this being a firm favourite if we have a hot summer this year.

I always feel clean after using this and the spearmint and menthol lingers on the skin - it’s very subtle and doesn’t interfere with aftershaves that are added over the top. A bonus in my book. 

You really won’t be dirty if you use Lush’s Dirty Springwash on a regular basis. It doesn’t dry out the skin and I’ve found that to the touch it is smooth and soft.

The price is a stickler for me - it does last for a long time but it is expensive in my view. I’ll buy again for the summer months but probably go back to a mainstream and cheaper brand in the interim. 

It does what it says on the bottle and you can’t say fairer than that.

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