I was getting a prescription filled at Target yesterday and had some time to waste while it was being filled. I wandered down the shave aisle followed by the men's shower gels where I found a few bottles of the Axe Dark Temptation shower gel. I read the line or two on the back, recalled the commercial of a gaggle of young women chasing a guy down the block (who wouldn't want that?!) and made a mental note of a review I read a few weeks back claiming: "Axe's Dark Temptation shower gel smells similar to Molton Brown's Re-charge Black Pepper body wash, but for $4.99 Dark Temptation is victorious! But please, do not let the economy friendly price tag fool you, Dark Temptation was formulated by world renowned fragrance expert Ann Gottlieb. The notes include hot chocolate, amber, and red peppercorn." http://www.beautyblvd.net/2008/10/axe-dark-temptation-review.html Molton Brown could be my most favorite scent ever but at $25 a bottle, I have been searching for a cheaper alternative. With just a $4 investment I was on my way. I showered with it last night and will mention there was just a little scent, certainly nothing like that of Molton Brown...zero pepper, not much chocolate, no amber and just slightly sweet, nothing over the top "gooey sweet" smelling. When I opened the bath door my daughter was walking by and commented, "What is that smell? That's not so good." I had intentions of an extended snuggle session with my wife so I made a beeline into the living room expecting to be attacked. I was not jumped so I questioned my wife as to the scent of said shower product....her reply, "I don't smell anything." What - it was not supposed to be like this!?!? I asked that she take a sniff again certain her olfactory senses must be off but sadly her reply was the same. Well there it is, duped by slick marketing.
The Japanese formulation of the body spray is much more on the mark. I definitely get the dark chocolate, and the amber does come through nicely. No pepper, though... And my wife LOVES it.
You were supposed to get a coupon for one of those girls in the TV ad. You didn't did you? Well when you send 30 proofs of purchase to Axe they send out one of those girls, don't worry about sharing, they are all clones. You see, Axe has learned to clone scents and they have also learned to clone hot, lustful women too. There should have been a pamphlet too. You didn't get that either? I just sent for my "Axe Girl" yesterday. She should be here by UPS in the next few days. I guess I should post a review when she gets here.
THANK DARWIN!!!!!!! I cant even explain to tell you how happy I am that the scent is light and doesnt linger. Their body sprays are generally disgusting and stink up an entire room. They are not cologne! My room mate uses Gillette body wash and Old Spice body wash and they both smell horrible! Except theyres so much scent that it lingers in the bathroom for hours and he smells like a used deoderant stick. Maybe old spice is finally catching on that if they tone down their scents and use less of them, people will stop smelling like they havent showered in weeks and just wiped them selves down with one of those hanging pine tree air fresheners from their car.
I was sportin' a new haircut, new mouthwash and hoping the Axe would add to my trifecta of wonderfulness. :happy102
I think the only time anything to do with axe is acceptable is spraying your pits with a tiny bit after the gym if you have to run into a grocery store or some place on the way home to pick something up.
I just have never saw the fascination smelling of chocolate. I know everyone raves over QED's chocolate bar soap and shave stick but I never saw the purpose? Different strokes for different folks I guess.
It was not the chocolate smell that intrigued me, it was the comparison to Molton Brown Black pepper that sucked me in.
If you send me a tiny sample of the Molton Brown Black Pepper Body Wash, I'll see what I can do, S~S.
The Axe Bergamot body spray is okay... ...for those days I plan to work around the house or in the yard!
For the Dark Temptation, get the bodyspray instead. It's really night and day when compared to the BW
Axe bodywash in general can be smelled while you're in the shower, but I've never noticed it stick. I have used their sprays as well. Their scents are very hit or miss. About 90% of the scents make my fiancee gag, but a couple of them have very good effects. They have a new line of scents that seem a bit more traditional. I picked up a can of vetyver (dumb old spelling of vetiver, but I'll let it slide) but I haven't had a chance to get her to rate it.
Use bar soap! Body wash = shampoo and consequently doesn't cleanse adequately. It's why you encounter so many beautiful tigresses out there struttin they stuff at da club, just, like, lookin immaculate from toe to head, flauntin they whale tale while they wink at ya injecta shaved visage, but once they back at ya crib...:sick007
Many body washes cleanse better than soap, actually. I've studied up on the surfactants (synthetic detergents) quite a bit, and they have a lot of advantages over soap. Too many of the body washes use the cheaper surfactants, which cleanse great, but will dry your skin out horribly. Store bought soap is even worse for your skin (all of the glycerin is removed because it's probably worth more than the soap). I make my own bar soap now, which is much nicer. I may play with brewing my own body wash eventually (when I start getting irritated with cleaning soap scum.) If you live in a dry climate, you'll appreciate body wash a lot more. I spent 6 years of my life in Lubbock, TX after growing up near the tip of the state. Going from 70% humidity to 20% made me quite a bit more aware of what various products do to your skin.
Yeah I have to agree with Harlekin on that subject. Body Wash works much better then soap. I prefer Baxter of California Italian Lime Body Wash I tend to get a much cleaner feeling after using a body wash then I did with any bar soap out there. Anyways I cannot stand Axe body spray or anything they make really, I had a friend that would destroy a whole can of axe on himself it would make me nauseous.
What are good synthetic surfactants to which you allude? In the past I used drugstore variety body washes as well as, stupidly, more expensive ones - all SL(E)S based. When I use a nice bath soap - take Imperial Leather, take Claus Porto - I feel very clean after my shower, and ever since I switched to bar soap, my complexion's gotten so much better. I don't have a blemish on my body. People always complain that soap is "too drying." Well, it is - relative to body wash. Because it properly cleans!
Hehe, drying and cleansing aren't necessarily the same thing. A better body wash will replace some of the removed oils with moisturizing agents. Any body wash you find in an average drugstore from one of the major brands will be SLS or SLES (ALS and ALES are possible too, but tend to be mostly used in shampoos). In the kind of store that sells a lot of organic stuff you should be able to find some better products. Things like the glucosides, SMC Taurate, and sodium cocoyl isethionate make some more interesting products, but as they cost a lot more than the sulfates most of the large profit driven companies avoid using them in much quantity. The glucosides in particular are very mild and are used in a lot of baby products. They'll leave your skin nice and soft. That said, if you're using a really nice soap, not the typical boxed rocks that fill the grocery stores, you'll have a lot less trouble with the soap being drying. The biggest problem with most soap is that they take the glycerin out, which is the best part of the soap. Glycerin is a humectant, which absorbs moisture into your skin. Some of the artisan soaps have excesses of moisturizing oils, which also do a great deal to counteract the drying nature of soaps. It also matters what oils the soap was made from, which tends to be tallow and palm for the mass market soaps. They don't use much of the more gentle oils because of pricing and shelf life concerns. If you have hard water, though, soap will still leave scum in the tub/shower whereas a well formulated body wash will not.
