Aquarius Black for Men by MCH Beauty

This is the age of Aquarius, sing along you all know the song. Today I'm reviewing another Strip Mall fragrance from MCH Beauty, Aquarius BLACK for Men. The first thing to notice is how cool the box looks. There is an embossed drip-into-water motif that is reflected to look like a spinning top, (you've seen Inception right?) or even an egg timer if you will.

Inside the bottle is perfectly cocooned, and the liquid comes in a bottle that is totally matte black. The cap is also black and plasticky, and sits a little clumsily atop the atomiser that gives it a metallic trim/ The lettering on the front is in pure contrast white, it would have been a nice touch to keep it all in silver like the box, but hey ho.

●  Top notes are Sea Notes and Bergamot;

●  Middle notes are Rosemary, wood Sage and Geranium;

●  Base notes are Incense and Amberwood.

Opening

To begin with there is a real push of aquatic sea notes. Almost like one is peering over the stern of a cruise ship and soaking up all the chaos that a 20 foot propeller can do to a body of water. It's fresh, it's earthy and it feels like it's punching way beyond its weight. Not what I expected at all.

Settle down

I don't get much bergamot, but the middle comes through in spades with the rosemary and geranium. I'm also getting some red apples in there somewhere. It's a very herbaceous, citrusy number, and it's packed with these generic aquatic notes like the aforementioned sea notes. There is some crispy seaweed in there, maybe some driftwood. It's utterly beguiling and I'm beginning to think I have a real bargain on my hands here.

Dry Down

From the earthy tones, the wood sage comes to the front and dovetails nicely into some incense, (albeit a little generic) before landing softly into a bed of amberwood. It's like parking up alongside a campfire in Pakefield. Or Wakefield, one of the Fields in the UK where there is just local couples. The woman owns a small crafts shop along the high street, the man runs day boat hire out of the harbour. Think Lowestoft, without the riff-raff.

Wants to be

ACQUA DI GIO' fragrance by GIORGIO ARMANI.

Where to wear

As you might I tell I am a huge fan of this scent. It's a puzzling PR message, an entirely black bottle gives it the verisimilitude of a mysterious black tie fragrance, perhaps an OUD based fragrance or a Leather/Woody scent. It should be in a translucent blue glass bottle with a photo of David Gandy splashing water over both cheeks simultaneously.