Dark Temptation Axe 2010 Eau de Toilette

Seriously? Forget it. It started off badly...

The once-great AXE commercials were the beginning, because I found the one for Dark Temptation... well, let's just say: bad. So much for being irresistible, ha ha. Maybe something could have been salvaged if the chocolate guy had hung twin cherries over his ears. What do I know... You can claim that I go to the cellar to laugh, but I completely miss the joke of this spot, let alone that it motivates me to buy. I long for the genius elevator ad. Those were the days...

Back to the scent: one could think that nothing could come of it given my bias. But I'm open to being proven wrong. I used to think of Escada as old-lady fragrances, and now I have my second one in almost daily use. And since we were looking for something new for my husband for everyday wear, we decided to give this scent a try. It was worth a shot.

But what can I say? Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed. You can't smell the pepper at all, the chocolate dominates, but not in a pleasant way. It smells like a chocolate bar long forgotten in the back corner: just musty. And combined with the amber, it really smells anything but pleasant to me: artificial, overpowering, incompatible. Patchouli and cherry are almost completely masked, only providing minimal glimpses of brightness when they occasionally drift into the nose. The EdT somehow feels sticky, heavy, musty, as I mentioned before...

Fortunately, it doesn't last too long. I tested it on myself and on my husband, who unfortunately could only agree with me: a lot of noise about something that is absolutely incomprehensible to both of us. So better keep your fingers away, that's wasted money. Others have already shown that you can do much better for little money.