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.

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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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Pantene Pro-V Classic Care Shampoo

In our house as a child the choice of shampoo was staggering (taste the sarcasm), it was Vosene, Vosene or Vosene. Eurgh, just the saying the name brings back horrid flashbacks of the smell and sends a shiver down my spine.

Thankfully, as more and more brands came onto the market and I managed to start to control purchases I was firmly converted to Pantene Pro V Classic Care shampoo.

After first having my long hair cut and styled into short spikes, my use of gels and waxes resulted in a scalp that had dried significantly - worst of all, dandruff was beginning to appear. Oh the horror and shame!

I’d tried Head and Shoulders but it didn’t remove the hair products I was using completely so no matter how much I used it my hair never felt entirely clean. You can usually buy these on special offer but you can expect to pay around £1.89 for a 250ml bottle.

Pantene Pro V Classic Care shampoo claims to leave your hair healthy looking and manageable from root to tip.

As this is shampoo application is easy, simply wet hair and apply the product as necessary. With my hair short only a small amount of the shampoo is needed which means that a little goes a long way, and for the purchase price it offers good value in comparison to other brands. Squeezing the shampoo, roughly the size of a two pence piece produced enough lather to wash with.

The shampoo itself is white in colour and has a fresh clean wonderful smell that is very easy on the nose. It has an overwhelming apple fragrance that I personally adore.

After lathering the shampoo in my hair for a few minutes the shampoo rinsed easily. Whilst rinsing I noticed that my hair felt really smooth to the touch. After drying my hair with a towel and then blowing it dry I noticed an improved shine to my hair and instead of looking limp and lifeless it had body and seemed slightly thicker/heavier than normal.

On inspection of my scalp there were no noticeable traces of dandruff and I’m happy to say that after using this product for years I haven’t seen any dandruff in my scalp or on clothes.

In addition to this my hair is shinier, more manageable and stronger than before I started using Pantene.

As stated earlier, the smell of the product is very clean and fresh but not too overpowering. After my hair had been dried the smell of the product became more subtle but lasted for hours after.

Would I recommend this product?

Yes, I would - Pantene Pro V Classic Care really is a classic. It will leave your hair dandruff free, shiny and full of extra body.

RECOMMENDED

I wouldn’t say that I highly recommend this product. I have been trying out a few other brands recently and living in London in a hard water area, I‘ve found something that leaves my hair so pliable and easy to style I can only reserve the rating for it. More on that one to follow soon!

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Gillette Fusion Proglide Shaving Gel

Every time I pick up Gillette Fusion Proglide I have to say I chuckle to myself in a kind of schoolboy way. Probably a reference to first ever seeing a tube of lube called ultra-glide as a kid.

Anyhow I digress; I’m here to give my thoughts on a shaving gel not my adolescence!

Every since entering the world of shaving (and mainly bleeding as a result) I’ve never been a fan. Maybe I’m a sensitive soul (thousands who know me are now laughing themselves to an early hernia), but no matter what I used in my formative years I always ended up with dry skin after shaving, red blotchy marks and usually a face looking more akin to Freddy Krueger than the soft smooth finish I was looking for.

Gillette back in the day offered a few products that really helped - my skin would always feel dry but the red blotchy marks were less noticeable.

Ever since I’ve been hooked. The products and range on offer has expanded and apart from King of Shaves I’ve rarely ventured further, I’ve never needed to.

My current favourite is the Proglide. The marketing blurb says that it “makes it easy to get the look you want”.

The shaving gel comes in a squeezable tube and is ice blue in colour. While a ‘clear’ shaving gel there is clearly a colour. To cover my beard in the gel a squeeze to release a blob about the same size as a 50 pence piece is needed.

As soon as you start to rub the gel in what strikes you immediately is the lack of lather - it’s actually like rubbing hair gel on your face. A bit weird at first, but it is easier to apply and doesn’t seem to disintegrate on contact with water.

A little goes a long way with this, so no need to be over the top. It might not seem like a lot of gel but really, you don’t need it. As the gel is spread a lovely fresh Aloe Vera fragrance fills the room. It adds a kind of clean and sanitised feel to the shaving experience in my opinion.

Personally I let the gel soak in for a few minutes and start to shave. The hairs on my face seem softer and easier to remove and after rinsing off my face my face is beautifully smooth. The acid test for me is the look and feel after about 30 minutes after drying. With Proglide I’ve never been let down.

My face is always smooth and even the morning after shaving there is an absence of dry skin. For the first time in my shaving life (22 years) I don’t get red blotchy skin after shaving. Rejoice people - rejoice.

£4.49 for a 175 ml tube is in my humble opinion well worth it. It will last for weeks if used daily and months if you like to grow a bit of five o’clock shadow now and again.

It stores well if you are a more infrequent shaver and if you fancy chancing your hand at a new brand or a different line of the Gillette range then you should look no further.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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Lush I Should Coco

I had been mildly successful in avoiding Lush stores – while being able to smell them a mile away I've never really managed to get over the general sense of revulsion I experience when walking near one. I bit the bullet and actually decided to venture into their Manchester store a couple of years go (looking back, sadly for me it was actually close to a decade ago) – yes the hype I’d read about Lush overcame the rational (well I think I’m rational) thoughts bouncing around my noggin (that’s head for you non-Northern readers).

"I Should Coco" soap bar. I’d read about the "I Should Coco" soap bar online and saw it as too girlie to actually use. I bought a 100g bar and from the first time I used it I was hooked.

The pictures show the bar in all its glory and I won't be going into any amazing description of it. The only thing that you tend to miss nowadays when buying it online like some sort of subversive is the coconut on the top as shown below from my latest eBay purchase. For £1.95 for a bar weighing 100g it was never cheap soap by any stretch of the imagination. 

Layered into three shades of pink the topside of the bar was coated in flakes of coconut making it very easy to grip, even when wet. Basically the soap looked and oozed a very feminine vibe. It’s not something you’d be rushing to take into the showers at the gym.

The bar itself contains creamed coconut along with Orange and Coriander oil which smells almost sickly sweet. I wasn't never sure whether I should be washing with it, or indeed taking a sizeable bite from it. The mild coconut aroma is striking and blends fantastically well with the Orange oils.

After it is immersed in warm water, the aroma from the bar increases but never becomes overpowering on the senses. I'm now down to my last nub of the soap and actually worried about the day it is no more, deceased like a certain Norwegian Blue (if you don't get it reference 'Dead Parrot' by Monty Python).

The beauty of this soap is that that it lathers up superbly, with a little going a very long way. The coconut flakes act as a mild abrasive, exfoliating dead skin as you wash meaning that not only did you not need to use half a bar in the shower, but you also didn't need to use a different product to moisturise after washing.

The final results were and continue to be amazing, my skin felt clean, fresh and above all moisturised. Any traces of body odour after travelling on a packed tube train were removed and the soap left a very subtle but noticeable coconut fragrance that lingered for a few hours. What more could you ask from a soap?

I now regularly use this in the shower and haven't noticed any adverse effects at all. I'm actually quite tight with the use now though! The only problems apart from the actual price is that when used in the bath the soap does fall to pieces rather quickly. It turns the water pink, there is an oily residue around the bath and floating pieces of coconut seem to take an absolute age to remove when getting dried!

Overall I love this product and will not be returning to 90% of the major high street brands.

Using this encouraged me to try more from the Lush range. I’ve been converted – I’m no longer a Lush-o-sceptic!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BeautykingUK needs you! 

I'm so in love with this soap that I think we should let Lush know how we feel. 

Show your support for the reintroduction of "I Should Coco" by clicking on the poll on the right hand side of this page - two seconds of your time could sway opinion.

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Hugo Boss Dark Blue

It’s rare that I end up with a lemon in my aftershave collection as the notes to fragrances tend to give me an idea of what to expect.

Hugo Boss Dark Blue came into my collection as a gift a number of years ago and it’s still there with just a few inches of the liquid gone. Personally I was impressed by the actual look of the bottle, very sleek, very stylish and shaped like an urn. The bottom two thirds of the bottle being dark blue in colour whilst the top third has a metallic finish. The metal top screws off to reveal an atomiser that dispenses the fragrance.

The dark blue colouring combined with the actual shape are unique and give off a Hugo Boss feel of style and quality.

The notes to Dark Blue build it up as a light citrus fragrance with subtle hints of nutmeg, which should make it warm, refreshing and ideal the man about town. Aimed at a younger more sophisticated individual I took my purchase in hand and went to test it out.

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The first thing that struck me was that the screw lid was an absolute bugger to unscrew. The design of the bottle doesn’t allow for any grip at all and even slightly damp hands will struggle to actual get at the fragrance inside!

Five sprays later and I was greeted with a sweet, invigorating citrus aroma that was both light on the nose and refreshing at the same time. Although light and sweet, the fragrance immediately after application came out with warm mossy undertones which can only be attributable to the nutmeg extract giving this a manly smell.

Unfortunately and this is the only problem with this fragrance the smell did not stay the same as it was on application. Within an hour the citrus smell had all but disappeared, the light aroma had started to become heavy and the fragrance resembled a cross between cat urine and rotten cabbage. Not pleasant at all, in fact every time I got a waft of the fragrance I gagged it was that bad and washed it off as soon as possible. This was some six hours later so unfortunately it does have staying power!

Whilst wearing there were no compliments and a number of people did comment on that strange smell much to my displeasure. This starts off with an amazing amount of promise and descends very quickly into an instantly forgettable fragrance.

This was a gift and has only been used a few times – for kicks I let mates use it when they ask if I have any aftershave they can borrow before we head out on the town. This bottle has and will continue to gather dust in my bathroom cabinet forever more.

There are better, cheaper fragrances on the market and I’d strongly suggest you try anything rather than Dark Blue.

Hugo Boss Dark Blue is not a cheap fragrance, it may smell cheap and nasty but at £29 for 75ml it certainly isn‘t at the bottom end of the price spectrum . A 125ml bottle will set you back a staggering £36.

Hugo Boss also produce a range of shower gels, soaps and shaving gels based around this fragrance and based upon my experience of the EDT I won’t be trying them.

One word: VILE

NOT RECOMMENDED

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Mont Blanc Presence

If you think of Mont Blanc the first thing that would probably spring to mind is overly priced writing instruments. At a push jewellery and other assorted items from a luxury range that has diversified faster than speeding bullet may be conjured within your cranium.

For me, considering buying an aftershave from a company better known for pens than perfume would put me off. Presence was one of the first fragrances released onto the market by Mont Blanc back in 2001 and while I prefer to stick with favourites from the Bvlgari range due to my love of fresh, fruity fragrances Presence has skilfully worked its way into my affections.

The flowery marketing blurb from Mont Blanc tells you that Presence is about the presence of a man in a woman’s life. It embodies the wearer’s personality, charisma, aura and scent. It goes on to claim that the presence of the wearer evokes the emotions of the woman. Clearly while writing this sort of guff is like paying good money for old rope the key to a good fragrance in my books can be judged on a number of factors, most important is obviously whether it smells good to the wearer and those you come into contact with, longevity of the fragrance, price and overall the value for money it provides in comparison to other brands.

My first bottle (and actually like most of my aftershave) was a gift. If you had to part with your hard earned cash you’ll struggle unless you buy direct from Mont Blanc or live close to one of their stores. When I last tried to find a bottle I received a number of blank (I was so tempted to say Blanc looks there) in Boots and the Perfume store. A 75ml bottle will set you back just shy of £40. That to me seems expensive and I could roll out a very long list of cheaper aftershaves.

The notes to Presence are:

• Head: Bergamot, ginger and cardamom.
• Heart: Cinnamon, sage, apple and heliotrope.
• Base: Tonka beans, sandalwood and musk.

The notes suggest a heavy, very spicy fragrance with fruity undertones while the base notes suggest a warm and very masculine aroma. With a personal preference towards light and fruity fragrances I wasn’t sure I would like Presence but the proof of the pudding was to be in the tasting, no not literally but I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

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The difference between the two bottles - old above, new below.

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Two light sprays from the atomiser releases enough of the aftershave to give full coverage, and as a word of advice, close your eyes, it really does spray widely.

After shaving as you would expect there is a very nasty burning sensation which dissipates very quickly leaving just the warm spicy tones from the head notes. The bergamot citrus aroma is most evident and blended with the ginger gives an initial strange warm fragrance that is both fruity and spicy.

The general assault on the senses is pleasant, not too heavy and not so light it could be confused as a perfume. As with all male fragrances, the initial fragrance doesn’t tend to linger for long and with Presence the heart and base notes contain so many heavy duty ingredients that within 5 minutes that initial pleasant fragrance falls away as it becomes heavier and even warmer.

As the bergamot becomes less prominent you would expect the heart notes to come to the fore but alas they do not, the cinnamon and apple are never identifiable within the fragrance and only a hint of sage comes through taking the edge off the fruity aroma which makes the ensuing fragrance even spicier. After 30 minutes of blending and being absorbed by the skin what is left is completely different to the fragrance that left the bottle.

The woody, earthy base notes become the overlaying fragrance and the musk and sandalwood dominate the senses. With the fragrance still being evident on the skin over 10 hours after spraying on the aroma has the same strength from that that formed 30 minutes after application and that is a fragrance that not only is fresh, warm and masculine but also very subtle.

Presence does not sit in with the style of aftershave I like yet I’m strangely drawn to it. The fragrance is completely unique, so subtle so people can pick up on it without overpowering and very hardwearing meaning that it is perfect for romantic nights out, office and casual wear.

With a little of the aftershave going a long way and a reasonable price tag the product has every ingredient of a good aftershave.

The bottle may have been a nightmare to use (it used to be a half-moon shape which was a nightmare but has been re-designed) but thankfully my future purchases haven’t been blighted by this little hiccup. If your own personal preference when it comes to aftershave is like mine I would urge you to branch out and give this a try, you will be surprised by the way in which the ingredients blend together. This is very much a luxury version of Christian Dior Fahrenheit, just not so heavy.

Given that a little really does go a long way a 75ml bottle will last an absolute age making it good value for money.

You could do a lot worse than Presence.

RECOMMENDED

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