Relax (1990)
by Davidoff

This stuff is completely vile and horribly dated. It will always be remembered as my first disastrous blind buy (influenced by all the praise it once received around here).

One perfume experience I'd rather forget.

[Original submission date: 05 July 2008]

It certainly shares a similarities to Zino, there is no doubt about that. It`s mainly that patchouli note (playing with some other notes) which is extremely similar in these two. It`s easy for me to bet my life on that they have same perfumer(s), too.
So if you have smelled Zino, and then wonder, "hmm....how that oh-so-hard-to-get Relax might smell...", then I suggest you to imagine this : Cut off the bergamot burst opening from Zino, take that animalic charachter of Zino a bit down by grinding the patchouli a tad rounder and reducing the amount of indoles, and then add a healthy amount of sweet, warm and a bit smoky benzoin to it.

Relax is a good, long lasting fragrance. It is still lightyears away from the magic of Zino, though.

Davidoff Relax, you are an odd creature. I find you comforting yet I cannot take you outside. You are a loud, obnoxious fougere. When you are around you have to tell everyone around you who you are. You are relentless and obscene and you smell like you've been drinking. Relax, big guy and douse yourself with some mint to cool your nerves. Ahhh no not with a mohjito... ah well.

This was chosen for me as a gift by my then companion during my year abroad in 1990-91. He had Cool Water, which was, at the time, wonderful (first I'd encountered it), because it hadn't "arrived" in the States yet, and, not yet being ubiquitous, was tremendously sexy for a guy in his 20s. So he chose Relax for me.

Now, to Relax. Yuck. The drydown is too powdery for me. It has a complexity that doesn't feel well integrated, but overdone. The powderiness has a cloying quality that makes it almost unbearable in warm weather. The patchouli/amber feels too rich and aromatic and sweet.

The astringent ingredients don't seem to keep this one clean. The sweeter and spicier notes dominate in the blend, and could really use that offset to keep it clean. That lack of cleanliness makes me only yearn for the craft of the much-maligned Cool Water even more (but one can't wear the same as one's companion). alas, I had to wait until the year was up to ditch this one.

To quote Frankie Goes To Hollywood: "Relax! Don't do it!"

This scrubber is very sweet, floral, and fruity on top, Relax at first smells like a tropical vacation. Then again, maybe its just the fluid’s Caribbean green color. Or the name. The tropical drink accord is soon joined by a generous helping of powder, plus some very soapy lavender and plenty of syrupy immortelle.

By the time it settles into its heart, Relax has grown into a powdery gourmand, backed by a bitter soap accord and some very musty wood. I guess I could call it well blended, since it’s hard for me to pick out individual notes. My impression is that it’s supposed to be a nice fluffy pillow of a scent, but to me it’s just flat, dull, and cloyingly sweet. The olfactory texture is the equivalent of milk-of-magnesia, and like the medicine it has a metallic chemical edge that’s just plain unpleasant. I think I actually like this less than Cool Water.

Wow, the last guy to review this hit the nail on the head...sophisticated Brut. I also agree with the second guy, there is a note that i can only imagine is the spearmint, that is really offputting, but this is one of those scents that you start smelling something warm and candylike and you go "wow what is that...hey its me".