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Nivea After Shave Balm Men Sensitive
by Trampmaster90
I have always found that shaving, whether using an electric razor or manual blade, can leave my skin feeling irritated and looking red, especially around my neck area.
I have tried several products to try and calm down the post-shave irritation, and all in all they have either caused a stinging sensation or even made the ... appearance of my skin worse. I recently saw this product advertised as for sensitive skin and decided to give it a go and what a difference!
One of the worst things about applying a product after shaving is the stinging sensation. However with the Nivea post shave balm, that has not been an issue in the slightest.
A small application is needed to cover the entire area. It is non-greasy, with a pleasant odour. The balm itself is white in colour which is absorbed rapidly into the skin after application. It gives the skin a pleasant, soft and hydrated feeling all day and calms down any redness that may occur.
I believe that the outside box has changed since the picture above, however it is still easy to spot in the men's toiletries section of any supermarket or drug store. A bottle has lasted me for around three months and it can get a little expensive to replace at around £5 a bottle. However if you do suffer with red irritated skin after shaving, give it a go!
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Very Valentino Aftershave
by redhead78
I went through a phase several years ago of buying lots of perfumes as I like to have a choice of what I was going to wear. Nowadays, as I've gotten older (sniff sniff) I prefer just to have a select few and tend to keep one for general daily use, one for special daily use, one for nights out and one for special occasions. Very Valentino ... is a fragrance I discovered in my days of plenty and has been a constant on my dressing table ever since.
The bottle is what first attracted me to trying it. It is a simple, classic looking bottle, short and squat and made of a substantial and chunky clear glass. It's quite square in shape with simple silver accents showing the name of the perfume and an opaque chunky plastic lid. Overall it looks lovely and simple, quite understated really when you think of what some perfume bottles are like now. 30ml of this eau de parfum cost me around £30 in Duty Free but that was quite a few years ago. Unfortunately it seems to be harder to get hold of nowadays and I hope they're not discontinuing it as I'm nearly out now and will be needing another bottle soon!
The perfume is dispatched, typically, through a pump squirt action and I generally tend to use two sprays of it, one on my neck and one for my wrists. This amount is perfect for me. I don't like my perfumes to be really strong or overpowering and I find this is just nice and subtle with the amount I spray on, but not so subtle that you can't actually smell it!
The reason I love this perfume so much is that it's really versatile. I said earlier that I have certain perfumes depending on occasion or time of day, but this one I can wear either during the day if I'm feeling like I want to make it that bit more special and it also sees me right through to an evening out. As it's quite alight fragrance it is suitable for day time wear but another additional squirt to up the power of it a bit means it can be worn on an evening too.
The overall fragrance from this perfume is divine and it's definitely in my top 3 perfumes of all time. It's light, slightly floral, quite fresh and very feminine with just a hint of musk in the background. Apparently the top notes are bergamot, mandarin, blackcurrant, magnolia, citrus and lily of the valley, it has a heart of jasmine, rose and violet and a base of sandalwood, vanilla, amber and musk. I'm not exactly a perfume connoisseur so I don't really know what all of that means but I do know that they all combine to make a delicious fragrance! None of them stand out too much however, which is good as I don't like really fruity or floral scents, but these all combine really nicely.
The only slightly annoying thing with this perfume is that the lid doesn't fit snugly on the bottle so if I put it in my handbag to take with me wherever I'm going it always falls off. I don't think this is a design flaw, however, as I previously had another larger bottle and the lid didn't fall off that one all the time so it's either a problem with the smaller bottle or maybe I was just unlucky to get a faulty bottle I don't know, but it is an irritation.
Overall, I love this perfume. I find it nice and light and feminine but it still lasts me through the day. As it's also suitable for evening wear too another squirt is all it takes to refresh it so it is a really long-lasting perfume. The bottle design is classy, simple and elegant, although the lid is an annoyance, but overall I don't think I'll knock a star off for that as I love this way too much and it is one of the few perfumes that I will buy over and over again.
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Molton Brown Fresh Bushukan Citrus Splash
by northernlovely
Molton Brown has always been, to us, the mark of a good bubble bath and soap.. but is it up to the job fragrance wise? I think not, based on Molton Brown Fresh Bushukan Citrus Splash.
** Price and Availability **
You can buy Molton Brown Fresh Bushukan Citrus Splash on the high street, in department stores like ... House of Frasier, Selfridges and Debenhams, and in Molton Brown shops. You can also purchase this online from the same retailers and also from Amazon and independent retailers.
Price wise it's around £36 for 100ml so certainly in the mid to upper price bracket for men's fragrances, personally I expected it to be cheaper but I was hoping for a good quality product to give to my husband as a gift.
** Looks **
The bottle is very Molton Brown - wide, stubby, with a curved top and ridged metallic cap, clear with the Molton Brown logo on the front - in fact when it's sitting in the bathroom you could be excused for thinking it looks like a bubble bath albeit a small one, as I have a number of Molton Brown products that look very similar. It actually comes complete in a brown cardboard box which makes it a nice gift and easy to wrap.
** Application **
One thing you must note is that as a 'splash' there is no spray or pump dispenser with Molton Brown Fresh Bushukan Citrus Splash, you apply it Home Alone style (if anyone gets that reference, well done!!) It therefore isn't something you can easily carry about and apply on the go as you need to wash your hands afterwards, really.
** Scent **
The website describes it as a fresh and zesty scent and I'd agree with that, it has citrus hints, it's not really musky or strongly male aftershave smelling, it's quite light.
As it's an eau de cologne you'd expect it to be light but for my husband and for me it's just too light, it goes on nice and fresh smelling, but literally within half an hour you couldn't really tell anything was there other than literally sticking your nose into his neck and inhaling (not something you really want strangers doing!). I don't favour the over strong bathed in aftershave type scent but this is so subtle as to be almost nonexistent. Rather than being a light airy fresh scent it's just a damb squib.
** Overall **
Honestly, I feel that I should give it 4 / 5 for the scent but what's the point of a scent which doesn't last even until you get out of the door in the morning? You might as well not bother. So I have to give this 2 / 5, and even then that's pretty generous as even though my husband has used half of this bottle up, it's more just to get it used up day to day. You can't use it for a special occasion, or even a day at work because it just doesn't have the staying power.
I am a bit disappointed because it wasn't cheap and I do like Molton Brown products generally but I wouldn't buy another scent of theirs after buying Molton Brown Fresh Bushukan Citrus Splash. My advice for anyone looking for a zesty light scent for a man is to try Armani Aqua Di Gio or Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue, both are similar in tones but last much much longer and are around the same price point.
Overall I can't recommend this at all, it's a waste of money.
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