Relax Davidoff 1990 Eau de Toilette

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8.3 / 10 368 Ratings

A popular perfume by Davidoff for men, released in 1990. The scent is spicy-woody. The longevity is above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.

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Main accords

Spicy

Woody

Green

Sweet

Fresh

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Spearmint

Tagetes

Bergamot

Lavender

Lemon

Tarragon

Heart Notes

Heliotrope Laurel

Laurel

Aniseed

Carnation

Geranium

Jasmine

Patchouli

Rosemary

Vetiver

Base Notes

Tonka bean Amber

Amber

Benzoin

Moss

Vanilla

Leather

Patchouli

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

8.3368 Ratings

Longevity

8.2284 Ratings

Sillage

7.9287 Ratings

Bottle

7.1288 Ratings

Value for money

7.571 Ratings

Submitted by MartinGE, last update on 03/23/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Relax After Shave

Gula

Deep Forest Eau de Toilette

Green After Shave

Background Eau de Toilette

Bogner Man (1985)

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/17/2022

BrianBuchanan
353 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

1

A good idea gone to waste

Somewhere, in this failed fougère was a good idea, tarragon and spearmint.
But with a cutting overtone - like lavender gone wrong - it got lost in bad execution. And it doesn't go for long before it breaks down into sweet-bland dustiness.
The weak vetiver drydown is ok, but by that time I’ve lost interest.

10/04/2020

8
Bottle 4
Sillage 5
Longevity 6
Scent

Drseid
821 Reviews

Drseid

1

Relaxed Standards...

Relax opens with tonka bean sweetened spearmint supported by grassy tarragon spice before transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart, the mint remains, now supporting an emergent prominent mossy green oakmoss that takes the fore, with additional aromatic patchouli and thyme-like bay leaf spice support. During the late dry-down, the composition morphs to a relatively dry, slightly powdery vanilla and amber focus as the mint and spice vacate, leaving remnants of the patchouli in support through the finish. Projection is below average, and longevity on the low side of average at around 7 hours on skin.

Relax is the kind of composition that can easily be overlooked. On the positive side it smells relatively good with its rare, sweet mint focus not too unlike the Edouard Flechier composed Jean Luc Amsler Homme that came out a full decade later. That said, unlike the latter that in many ways is superior smelling by adding an interesting cucumber note to the mix, Relax starts out near equally impressive, but has a very ho-hum late dry-down with equally disappointing performance metrics. Maybe in 1990 when it was the only choice of the two to be had I might have found Relax more compelling, but nowadays it just seems to be a "good enough" release from thirty years ago that didn't distinguish itself enough then, and even less-so now. The bottom line is the long-since discontinued $300 per 75ml bottle on the aftermarket Relax is a "good" 3 stars out of 5 rated effort, but it comes nowhere near close to distinguishing itself from its 90's peers (and Jean Luc Amsler Homme) to justify a recommendation to seek it out at any price (let alone the crazy cost it currently commands).

10/09/2020

8
Bottle 8
Sillage 9
Longevity 9.5
Scent

Can777
129 Reviews

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Can777

Top Review 73

Faunus

Who still knows the bottle from Relax, knows that on the back of the flacon and the cardboard box there was always a little Faun, Pan or Satyr. Why this was or is, is and will probably remain a secret of Davidoff. On the other hand, you can draw various comparisons to a faun if you know or get to know the scent. A Faun could, if it existed, also smell like this! The faun or faunus is the protector of the forests and nature. If you look at old pictures or statues, this forest spirit or deity of the ancient world is usually very relaxed, chilly or even relaxed. And Relax is Relax by Davidoff really is!
Relax
After a relatively short, cool introduction of freshly ground mint and ethereal lavender and aniseed, Relax quickly gets down to business and shows what it's made of. What has always made Relax so special was the highest dosage of heliotrope, which in this context was often compared to woodruff. At the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s, highly unusual for a men's perfume. As soon as the heliotrope is worn, Relax becomes sweeter but never too sweet. The marzipan heliotrope is mixed with spicy floral accents. Notes of masculine, herbaceous rose geranium and tangy carnation run through the fragrance like a weave of spicy, wild green. A muggy-warm and earthy patchouli remains grounded and allows relaxation to become darker and deeper. Warm, mossy nuances and golden-brown, spicy tones of tonka and creamy-sweet benzoin give Relax an incredibly beautiful, attractive and deep-green warmth and aura. Associations of mysterious and relaxing forests, jungles or oases are not long to come!
Conclusion
I catch myself almost every sunday putting on Relax when it should be cozy and cozy since I own it again. He has something incredibly calming and keeps his promises. Relax spreads a very pleasant aura of sweet-green, spicy, earthy and soft-warm warmth. The scent is incredibly chilling and at the same time very attractive and seductive. Relax is incredibly cuddly and almost warm-hearted and has a calm, soft-harmonic pace. There are no hard corners and edges. Everything has been worked in a smooth and very fluent way. Its durability is very good and accompanies you almost the whole day through many hours. The Sillage is normal to strong depending on the dosage and always well perceptible. Anyone who still owns this emerald-green oasis from Davidoff can consider themselves very lucky. It no longer exists. Unfortunately! Many men (and certainly also women) still mourn him today, which I can understand very well. A perfume that would still be contemporary, successful and more than wearable today, would still exist. Fortunately I got a bottle and now I do what a faun does best. To withdraw in my emerald green oasis and relax,....relaxen!..;)

When man has come to rest, he works.
-Francesco Petrarca-

04/09/2021

8
Sillage 9
Longevity 10
Scent

Farneon
111 Reviews

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Farneon

Top Review 25

What were those great times!? The longing dies last ...

Well, you can of course try to sell this no longer produced fragrance for 999 euros (no joke) on Ebay, but there are idiots everywhere. Why Zino and Cool Water are still available, but Relax no longer, understand who wants. I have consumed several bottles of it at the time, but now there are unfortunately only dupes, on which I like to fall back, and which (I must admit) are also pretty good.

The 90s were MY decade of growing up, have shaped me with great music (Britpop, crossover, grunge) and me after university rather accidentally "flushed" in the advertising industry. Niche fragrances I did not know at the time and Davidoff, Jil Sander, Joop, Calvin Klein and Bulgari were considered at the time quite "first cream"! :-)

Many then fragrances I miss today, because masculine freshness was then redefined and arranged. "Relax" is the best example of this: inconspicuous, but convincing. Suitable for everyday use, but innovative. Fresh, but challenging. All with a little "Cool Water" DNA underneath, but a little more leathery, floral, spicy or woody at the back. "Background" by Jil Sander and "D&G By Man" come to mind off the top of my head.

So what are we dealing with? With minty freshness, which is slightly sweetish cushioned, almost like the chewing gum of Wrigley's Spearmint. With a slightly soapy base note that unites the "old man" with the "barbershop" faction. And with a floral jubilant heart that makes you wonder: is this a bouquet of flowers for men, or are these the main ingredients for a future trend cocktail?

One will no longer be able to find out, but the Dupe manufacturers I'm grateful for the fact that such a great fragrance construct in a world full of uniform products and toogeballert with sweetness does not disappear completely from the world!

11/23/2020

9
Bottle 9
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Unterlaender
7 Reviews

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Unterlaender

Top Review 16

A giant -- forever mysterious

For this excursion please all take a flashlight with you, because we are going into the forest. Not into the typical German mixed forest, but into the, shall we say, Black Forest. To the place where only the coniferous giants grow, come with us into the dark, night-black undergrowth where ferns and mosses thrive and it is pleasantly cool even on hot summer days, because even the strongest ray of sunlight does not reach that far.

Come with me to where the humid air makes your glasses steam up -- this is his home, Davidoff's masterpiece "Relax". A mysterious magician, a beguiling magician who smells of moss, wood and even a good bit of woodruff. Who unabashedly brings vanilla into play just as we are lulling ourselves into the certainty that we have all the ingredients figured out. "Relax" continues to make hooks, because geranium and rosemary raise the flag, tonka bean, sandalwood. Galbanum comes along. Jasmine honours us, but is a little coy. For this, bergamot hits the notch.

The little Sartyr, who is also pictured on the back of the flacons, has meanwhile, appeared out of nowhere, climbed the monster scent and rides this wild animal towards darkness, deeper and deeper into the forest, where none of our flashlights will be able to follow. Sparks are flying, dark green-black sparks that smell like spruce needles, blackberries, blueberries, lichens and fir brushwood. Of forest honey and morning freshness. Of leathery autumn afternoons and the clinking breeze of winter.

We are shocked by the performance just now in the middle of the infinite silent darkness and look with open mouths, stammering associations, panting down the ingredients we thought we heard. But no matter what we think, what we say, what we mean, what we believe and wish, what we see -- none of us have understood it, again not, probably we have never understood it, got it -- and if we did, only to a certain extent at most.

Now he's gone. He's long gone. Painfully long. And it doesn't look like he's coming back again. Too bad, too bad. Though we wouldn't measure him in his giant size again. He remains a fascination. And will always remain mysterious. But maybe the "Relax" never existed and we all only dreamed about it together?

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