Dunhill Icon Racing Eau de Parfum

I was lucky enough to be given three mini sample spray vials of this eau de parfum for men in Debenhams when I went in the other day. I have to admit that when I saw this brand I immediately thought of cigarette lighters and cigarettes and didn’t know that the brand covered other items..

~#~#~#~#~#~ ABOUT DUNHILL ~#~#~#~#~#~

I was correct in my memory it seems as Alfred Dunhill was indeed an English tobacconist as well as an inventor. Dunhill these days creates luxury goods as well as the Dunhill branded tobacco products . Their market is aimed at men and so all the items they make in the luxury lines are for males.

The products they make under this brand include menswear, bags, wallets, luxury bespoke suits and even personalised luggage. I see now why I have never come across these as I don’t smoke and we are not in the market for bespoke suits or personalised luggage.

~#~#~#~#~#~ WHAT DUNHILL SAY ~#~#~#~#~#~

“The thrill of the open road. the adventure. the image of a man driving through the British landscape in a racing green, open-top sports car. This energy and masculine sophistication is distilled into every bottle of Icon Racing, the latest addition to our Icon fragrance family. Icon Racing embodies a fresh aroma for men on the move.”

~#~#~#~#~#~ THE NOTES IN THIS ~#~#~#~#~#~

The top notes that are the first you smell when you apply this are : Bergamot, Grapefruit, Cardamom

The heart notes which develop after a short time and blend with those top notes are : Orange Flower, Lavender, Fresh Pepper

The base notes which are those that linger after the perfume has dried down and really settled are : Guaiac Woods, Vetiver, Musk

~#~#~#~#~#~ THE PACKAGING ~#~#~#~#~#~

It is really obvious that this is product aimed at men as it is a simple, classy, sleek minimalist design.

The box is black with two white stripes coming from the top and bottom. The brand and perfume name are central and in silver text.

The bottle has a black leather look and is round. The lid is the same leather look circular design which hides a silver spray dispenser The lid has a silver rim and silver Dunhill on the top. Once again it is sleek, manly and minimalist.

~#~#~#~#~#~ MY VIEWS AND EXPERIENCE ~#~#~#~#~#~

This is a male perfume so stronger and more intense that an eau de cologne , eau de toilette or after shave would be and so it lasts a lot longer.

I do quite like some male scents when I am in the mood for something less sweet. My sons are both keen on nice smelling EDP and EDTs while my husband refuses to wear perfume as he feels that is a female thing.

Male scents tend to be more citrus and herby with woody base notes and they avoid floral notes .

This one is immediately fresh and citrus but the cardamom takes that and makes in much more warm and deeper aroma. I love cardamom and use it in my cooking a lot but in perfume it gives a wonderfully aromatic and resinous fragrance.

I found that the heart notes of fresh pepper, lavender and orange very quickly blended with those top notes and I still had a great warm, slightly spicy aroma. Both cardamom and fresh pepper are widely used for they spicy notes and I am often drawn to show gels and other products with these notes.

After around an hour or so the perfume has really settled and blended with my own skin as well. It smells very manly, the hints of the herbs are still evident but the cardamom, pepper are now blended with the woodier notes combining with vetiver which has an earthy, woody scent with hints of chocolate and smokiness. The musk adds that warmth. It used to be obtained from the anal glands of the musk deer but these days it is often manufactured from plants. It high concentration it smells like faeces but fortunately in perfume the concentration makes it sell more and the musk makes the perfumes smooth, sweeter and makes the scents last longer.

I found this has good sillage which means that others could smell it on me and I could smell it on my son too.

It lasted ages on my skin and on my son’s too. We must have pretty similar skin as it smelled quite similar on both of us . Perfumes can smell completely different on different people sometimes that is why you should always test a new perfume on your skin not on the bits of cardboard they spray in shops. I would say I could still smell this on my skin around six hours later and on my sleeves of my clothes I could smell it quite strongly the next day.

I can’t say I will be rushing out to buy this one as it is quite masculine and I do have an excess of perfumes already as my husband will testify to. I do enjoy trying new scents tough and always apply for free samples when they are on offer and ask in Boots and Debenhams when I am in there hence my samples collection is in excess of a hundred while my own full size perfumes I also have at last fifty so I really don’t need to go and buy any more!

~#~#~#~#~ BUYING THIS ~#~#~#~#~

This is not a perfume that is in all perfume shops. I couldn’t find it in Boots or the specialist perfume shops but luckily Debenhams had it and had the samples for me too.

It is available in to sizes 50 l which in Debenhams cost £63 and the 100 ml which thy were selling for £84 so not exactly an average priced one.

The perfume shop on line and escentual both have both sizes for the same prices. So it seems that is the price you will have to pay so check on cashback sites if you want to save a bit.

~#~#~#~#~ RECMMENDED ? ~#~#~#~#~

Yes I think I would as it is a lovely masculine scent that lasts really well but is never overpowering and offensively strong. It has great notes which give a wonderful warm, woody, spicy aroma sweetened a little by the lavender and citrus notes.

I think it is expensive but that doesn’t always mean you get a good quality lasting perfume but in ths case I feel you are getting your value for money if you like the scent.