Racing Club Blue: The Frugal Alternative

It's amazing on the box they can write, Our Version of Polo Blue by Ralph Lauren. I'm unsure if that's legal, but I do appreciate the honesty. Once again, possibly done so you could at a glance conflate the two brands and think you're buying into something luxury. But this, RACING CLUB BLUE by Mirage Brands, is not that.

There is also not a lot of information about Mirage Brands, only one chat forum on Reddit but not much back and forth. It's almost a brand that is deliberately staying in the shadows to avoid a footprint on the internet. To avoid potential lawsuits.

But God loves a tryer. The flanker that I previewed in another blog, was very average to be polite. Would RACING CLUB BLUE come up to scratch? Let's find out.

The bottle:

A string cobalt blue glass with sloping shoulders. The cap is awfully plasticky and again, my expectations are soured immediately. The atomiser has about as much pressure as a Liverpool Midfield right now (Timely football reference, which is to say none at all).

Opening:

I was hoping for something of a playful aquatic scent, generic at best, that I could either wear to client meetings or to the gym. Maybe just for date nights at home. But once I got the first whiff I knew I was in trouble. It has a very sharp opening, like a pear note that's on the turn or has been in the bottle too long. I leave it a couple of minutes and return, and dare I say, it's starting to smell a little funky.

Settle Down:

Has a fragrance ever been that bad where you can't even bring yourself to wear it at home, on your own. I can't even bring myself to wear this around the dogs. So it wants to have spice, to have a mystery to it, and instead it smells like a batch of synthesised spices like thyme, parsley, and christ is that onion powder? I think they mistook the recipe for some veggie soup at a primary school canteen.

It's borderline offensive with how egregious this scent becomes in the middle phase. I'm tempted to shower but I'm a completionist and I have to hang around for the dry down. I'm doing this for you readers.

Dry down:

Just when you think it couldn't get any worse. There is a musk there, but it's the kind of musk you get from old clothes that have been in storage. I was promised some woods, but that's not there. Neither is the suede, unless they're talking about the old clothes from storage. Perhaps a mothballed suede jacket that has been plucked from landfill.

Where to wear:

At a wedding for your ex-girlfriend who you're still in love with and whose family you now hate.