After a few sniffs I decided to treat it as cologne and put a little on before heading out this afternoon, then used it as was intended as an aftershave tonight.
First Impressions
You sent me a whole bottle? yay!
I was expecting a little sample.
Box is a bit bashed and very thin
Bottle
Excellent. Good chunky, solid bottle. Easy on the eye and nice to handle
Labelling
The design of the label I like. The printing and sticking looks a bit cheap. I sat it on the bathroom wondowsill with my other shaving gear and had a bath, by the time I had gotten out of the bath the label was bubbling and had started to peel a little, I wasn't in for long. I get the feeling the label will be gone soon. If I bought a few of your products in similar bottles, the bottles I really like, I get the feeling I would have to write the name on the bottles with a marker.
Scent
First few sniffs reveal the grapefruit is by far the dominant scent. It has a little more depth than just grapefruit, perhaps a slight incense quality. I wasn't able to pick up on the lavender, black pepper, violets and sandalwood as individual notes but they make a nice background for the grapefruit. I really like the scent, it's got the fresh citrus zing but it avoids the bathroom cleaner/cheap sweets comparissons I often find in citrus scents.
Burn
This is the first time I've tried something with witchhazel in it. I was a bit worried there would be no burn, there was. Nothing too strong, no sink gripping, but enough to allow for a decent session of faceturbation shortly afterwards. I might prefer a little more burn but I feel that way about Old Spice.
Longevity
After dabbing on a little this afternoon I was noticing the scent for a long time, I used it as an aftershave well over an hour ago and it's still very obvious to me. This is a plus for me but I can't agree with you that it's a fleeting scent. I wouldn't be putting edt on 30mins after using it, unless it was grapewood edt. I can see me using it regularly but not if I was shaving for a night out and was planning on some nice cologne.
Value For Money (£9.99)
Seems like a fair price. Is there postage on top of that?
Summary
After minimal usage I really like the stuff. It performs well as an aftershave, soothes the skin and gives a little burn.
I liked the product and the bottle but the label, whilst looking fine, isn't going to last in a wet shaving environment and the box was pretty thin and bashed up in the short time it took to get here, it will probably end up in the bin soon. I'd much prefer a better quality label and no box.
The grapefruit is strong. I like it. The question "Should you buy this aftershave?" is really "Do you like grapefruits?"
The other thing that struck me is that this seems very much a summer scent, I am enjoying it but some sunshine would complement it much better than the current cold & damp that's keeping it company today.
Shave:
Thank you very much for the freebie Martin. I wasn't expecting a full bottle, I'm sure I've got some sample bottles somewhere so I'll try and track them down and pif a little. Not too much though as I'll be wanting a decent amount for yours truly.
I'll add a little more once I've gotten to know it better in a week or so.
Cheers
Gary