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Axe - moving up!

post #1 of 29
6/22/09 at 11:34pm
Thread Starter 
I usually go to the grocery store every 2 days since I drink about a gallon of milk a day and ear 5000 calories but fear it all going bad if I buy too much at a time. Today I was surprised since there were 4 new Axe scents on display out of the blue (as well as 3 new liquid crack brands, LEGAL NAME: energy drinks). So I tried them and was impressed. They have a leather scene that smells real nice for $3.99. It's no Knize Ten or Habit Rouge but its the really cute girl who's all alone at 4 a.m. at the bar (and isn't a transvestite unless that's your thing which is 100% okay if it is . . . REALLY). It smells of leather and better than the Pierre Cardin Centaure series which I always though t was a great scent for the price. Axe had three others that smelled better than the usual fare of department store designer brands. The scents all lasted too. In the age of modern science with molecular technology at it's finest its scary to think that Axe will use its power, money, and advertising ingenuity to take a chomp out of the fragrance world.

- Al
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post #2 of 29
6/23/09 at 12:11am
If the leathery one you're talking about Axe's new scent, "Instinct", I had the exact opposite reaction. I think it smells like rubbish.

On the other hand, I'm very excited that they have taken the "recovery" scent they have been using in their body wash and finally turned it into a spray. It's a great summer scent and smells like a lemon-lime soda mixed with a gin fizz.
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post #3 of 29
6/23/09 at 12:31am
Well, if it's something I like about Axe, it's actually some of their discontinued fragrances like Inca, but only if these scents would be not only revived, but also made available with longer lasting power.
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post #4 of 29
6/23/09 at 6:25am
There's a certain demographic in the US that says ax instead of ask. I'm not sure if this is the same demographic that wears Axe fragrances, next time I'll have to ax one.
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post #5 of 29
6/23/09 at 6:42am
Even though I don't like them for Axe's fragrance style is not what I like, Unilever clearly states in their positioning statement documents that their objective is to offer good quality scents at affordable prices.

I only wish they would do the same with classic - style scents!
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post #6 of 29
6/23/09 at 9:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruggles View Post

There's a certain demographic in the US that says ax instead of ask. I'm not sure if this is the same demographic that wears Axe fragrances, next time I'll have to ax one.

I take offense to this.

I enunciate well, however the word "ask" I cannot pronounce correctly when speaking fast. I've become so self-conscious about it that I've started using words like "inquiry", "queries", "pose a question" instead. Using the "big words" makes me sound like a pretentious jerk to some. I can't win.

I know I have a problem with this word so when in public someone catches me saying "ax" they get the one-finger hand wave if I'm not in a good mood.
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post #7 of 29
6/23/09 at 9:13am
I liked instinct at first and even stated that here on BN. However, it didn't take too long for me to feel it is rubbish as well.
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post #8 of 29
6/23/09 at 9:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SirSlarty View Post

I take offense to this.
I enunciate well, however the word "ask" I cannot pronounce correctly when speaking fast. I've become so self-conscious about it that I've started using words like "inquiry", "queries", "pose a question" instead. Using the "big words" makes me sound like a pretentious jerk to some. I can't win.
I know I have a problem with this word so when in public someone catches me saying "ax" they get the one-finger hand wave if I'm not in a good mood.

Don't take offense SS, it was just a comment on an observation. Do you wear Axe? Just asking.
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post #9 of 29
6/23/09 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
Good grief its, a $3.99 can of paint spray at the grocery store people. I repeat it's the cute girl sitting alone at a bar at 4am, not the supermodel you're going to wine and dine then marry. But for something as disposable as it is I'm just saying its getting to be more impressive.

- Al

And the comment about "ax" is actually out of line as such statements can and have (not here but in other places) been misinterpreted as "racist." OBVIOUSLY it has nothing to do with anything here and there was no malicious intent but I'm just saying.
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post #10 of 29
6/23/09 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gekko View Post

If the leathery one you're talking about Axe's new scent, "Instinct", I had the exact opposite reaction. I think it smells like rubbish.

On the other hand, I'm very excited that they have taken the "recovery" scent they have been using in their body wash and finally turned it into a spray. It's a great summer scent and smells like a lemon-lime soda mixed with a gin fizz.

I saw that when I made a bedroom run to Wal-Mart yesterday, but didn't steal a spray. I think I'll do so next time.
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post #11 of 29
6/23/09 at 11:55am
Being a Lynx user (Axe in the UK) I feel 'Instinct' is an excellent value scent (spray and aftershave) and Lynx really have started to up their game in recent years. In the early days the Lynx scents were very accomplished BUT they didn't last that long. I'm talking 'Oriental', 'Java', 'Inca' etc.

Then at the turn of the millennium they seemed to lose the plot somewhat and the scents were pretty basic and not very interesting (to me). I mean, 'Touch' smelt like TEA for crying out loud!

But recently they've really improved. 'Dark Temptation' was pretty good value and 'Instinct' is very distinctive and both last quite well (especially the AP sprays) and the surviving old skool scent 'Africa' (Kilo in the US) has a much improved longevity. Now they have released 'Fever' and I find that one to be superb also. I think you can't go wrong for just over £2 a can personally.

Now they should bring the old skool scents back with their improved longevity!!!
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post #12 of 29
6/23/09 at 11:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gekko View Post

On the other hand, I'm very excited that they have taken the "recovery" scent they have been using in their body wash and finally turned it into a spray. It's a great summer scent and smells like a lemon-lime soda mixed with a gin fizz.

I instantly think of bubble blowing mixture when I smell this... I think it's great!
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post #13 of 29
6/25/09 at 12:49pm
Look what Octavian Coifan just wrote, a blog post on Axe scents!

http://1000fragrances.blogspot.com/2...e-or-adam.html
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post #14 of 29
6/27/09 at 2:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbo1979 View Post

I instantly think of bubble blowing mixture when I smell this... I think it's great!

My girlfriend says it smells like 7up. She hit the nail on the head.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WinifredBanks View Post

Look what Octavian Coifan just wrote, a blog post on Axe scents!

http://1000fragrances.blogspot.com/2...e-or-adam.html

My roommate uses Axe Vice ever since I gave him a free sample vial they were giving away on my college campus. He's been hooked ever since.

Axe is heavily criticized because it is mass-produced and over used by teenagers the world over. That's a shame because their continuous experimentation with their scents has produced a few huge hits. My ranking for Axe scents:

Tsunami (if you're curious, check the reviews on this site; I wrote my thoughts there)
Recovery
Kilo
Vice

Kilo is fantastic. For the price you pay for this stuff, you get an amazing level of quality in this scent. It's definitely a woody scent so if you don't care for that sort of thing, you're out of luck.

Odd observation: Dark Temptation shower gel smells great; however, the spray doesn't smell as good...could be a bad dry down scent?
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post #15 of 29
6/28/09 at 3:20am
Kilo is Africa in the UK. What is Tsunami over here?
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post #16 of 29
7/15/09 at 12:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbo1979 View Post

Kilo is Africa in the UK. What is Tsunami over here?

As far as I can tell, it was only launched in the US as part of the initial Axe launch in 2002. If it is available under the Lynx brand it should be under the same name, like Phoenix.
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post #17 of 29
7/15/09 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbo1979 View Post

Kilo is Africa in the UK. What is Tsunami over here?

A guy at work was wearing something I rather liked - enough so that I axed him what it was he was wearing. It turned out to be Axe 'Africa'. He was so kind to go to his locker and show me the bottle.
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post #18 of 29
7/15/09 at 2:36pm
I tried the leather one too, yes I think it is called Instinct. Didn't like it AT ALL.
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post #19 of 29
7/16/09 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gekko View Post

As far as I can tell, it was only launched in the US as part of the initial Axe launch in 2002. If it is available under the Lynx brand it should be under the same name, like Phoenix.

Not necessarily, since Africa was renamed Kilo for the US release and chances are Tsunami 'may' have been renamed from it's UK version. Of course it also may be an exclusive US release too....?
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post #20 of 29
7/16/09 at 12:58pm
After trying to like axe, it was too much work. They are gimicky and smell ok from the can but the don't have longevity unless you dump the whole can on your and at they point, they are just gross.
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post #21 of 29
7/16/09 at 1:10pm
shudder Axe smelled good to me at one point...in 8th grade. Now I can't stand the smell of that stuff and instinct is no exception. I think it smells like bug spray or something. Horrid stuff.
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post #22 of 29
7/16/09 at 1:52pm
I'm sorry but Dark Temptation smelled to me exactly like a mixture of dirt and strawberry shampoo. If I ever come across the leather one I will give it a shot though, Anak is not the first BNer to praise it
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post #23 of 29
7/16/09 at 2:23pm
Why do you suppose they have different names in the US and UK? Does 'axe' mean something different in the UK? Why give alternate, masculine sounding names (Tsunami, Pheonix, etc.)? Also, the Pierre Cardin Centaure leather series isn't that great (I have a few). Probably not a good benchmark (see post #1).
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post #24 of 29
7/16/09 at 11:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shermanirving View Post

Why do you suppose they have different names in the US and UK? Does 'axe' mean something different in the UK? Why give alternate, masculine sounding names (Tsunami, Pheonix, etc.)?


Axe is called Lynx in the UK and Australia (as well as a couple of other places) purely for legal reasons (I believe there was already a company called Axe or something like that so they couldn't use the same name over here.)

As for the scent names. Africa was renamed Kilo over in the states upon release... perhaps to avoid upsetting black people? I'm only guessing since I have no proof, but we all know how sensative 'the powers that be' can be and like to play it safe, much like the UK renaming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles back in the 80s.
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post #25 of 29
7/17/09 at 3:24am
I liked their older products when I was younger, 'Africa' is OK but it's not that great anymore to me. I don't remember their other ones very well but I remember liking 'Phoenix'. I guess they weren't that memorable. I hardly remember any of the pre-2000 sprays.

Of their new ones, I don't like 'Instinct' at all. Or 'Fever' (the orange one). I'm not a great fan of orange scented things anyway and this smells so much like orange fanta or tango. 'Dark Temptation' is alright.

The best of their recent offerings would probably be 'Sharp Focus'. The new 'Recover' body spray based on the shower gel of the same name is also good (haven't tried the 'Shock' or 'Boost' body spray (also from shower gel) but would be interesting). I like 'Click' also. Not tried the others.
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post #26 of 29
7/17/09 at 7:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by somnambulist07 View Post

best of their recent offerings would probably be 'Sharp Focus'. The new 'Recover' body spray based on the shower gel of the same name is also good (haven't tried the 'Shock' or 'Boost' body spray (also from shower gel) but would be interesting). I like 'Click' also. Not tried the others.

And yet I find those offerings awful. The shower gel of Recover is very good, but the spray is mank. Can't stand Sharp Focus or Click. In fact after Voodoo (1999) I found pretty much ALL of Lynx's offering were poor until the Dark Temptation one (which was just OK). Fever and Instinct I think are bloody good and unique enough to remind me of the 'good old days' of Lynx in the 80s and 90s.
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post #27 of 29
7/17/09 at 1:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbo1979 View Post

And yet I find those offerings awful. The shower gel of Recover is very good, but the spray is mank. Can't stand Sharp Focus or Click. In fact after Voodoo (1999) I found pretty much ALL of Lynx's offering were poor until the Dark Temptation one (which was just OK). Fever and Instinct I think are bloody good and unique enough to remind me of the 'good old days' of Lynx in the 80s and 90s.

We all have different opinions, but I didn't like Fever solely because of the dominant orange in it. Have you tried the Boost or Shock body spray versions of the shower gels? I'd be interested to know what they're like, especially Shock as the mint in the shower gel is nice. I guess the older ones are definately better, just a shame I've forgotten what they are like.
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post #28 of 29
7/18/09 at 1:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by somnambulist07 View Post

We all have different opinions, but I didn't like Fever solely because of the dominant orange in it. Have you tried the Boost or Shock body spray versions of the shower gels? I'd be interested to know what they're like, especially Shock as the mint in the shower gel is nice. I guess the older ones are definately better, just a shame I've forgotten what they are like.

Yes of course we all have different opinions. I hope I didn't come across as accusing your opinion of being wrong as that wasn't my intention. Even if it is! (joking! )

Not tried the Boost or Shock body sprays yet. I like the Shock shower gel for it's refreshing feeling, BUT the scent isn't really up to much (IMHO) and the spray will probably have that same averagely uninteresting smell. Boost didn't really have much of an impact on me with it's shower gel either, so much so I cannot remember what it smelled like.

Recover shower gel is very nice, but the spray isn't much like it which I was disappointed about. Fever shower gel was awesome (I like orange scents) and the spray was equally as satisfying for me.
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post #29 of 29
7/19/09 at 1:21am
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Recently a magazine I subscribed to folded, and they starting sending me Maxim instead to cover the rest of the time left on my sub. Groan. But I did manage to catch a whiff of one of these new Axe jobs while leafing through one, and to my surprise, it was very tolerable. I believe it was the leather one, and while I don't believe I will be running out to purchase, I certainly would not find it offensive to smell on others. To be honest though it has been years since I have knowingly smelled Axe, so I have no idea where the bar is set for them at this point in time.
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