Davidoff Silver Shadow Eau De Toilette Spray

Silver Shadow was not a fragrance I had ever heard of until the nice people at Davidoff decided they would send me 10ml bottles of both the pure blend Eau de Toilette and regular Eau de Toilette as I purchase numerous items from them direct.

Despite the difference in name and price between the two blends, ultimately there is very little difference and therefore no need to have two categories. For the record I will be reviewing my thoughts on the pure blend Eau de Toilette, which normally comes in both 50ml and 100ml bottles that don't contain an atomiser. Prices range wildly as you would expect from online and high street retailers. Normally a 100ml bottle would cost in the region of £33 online with prices on the high street approaching the £40 mark. By no stretch of the imagination is Silver Shadow an affordable product when compared with the price of other Davidoff brands such as Cool Water and Cool Water Deep.

The marketing for Silver Shadow states that it is a non-ordinary fragrance for a non-ordinary man. Charismatic and mysterious, the Davidoff Silver Shadow man leaves behind him an unforgettable fragrance trail. His fragrance is his signature, a fascinating shadow of his personality. (Source: www.zinodavidoff.com)

After opening the dark blue box you are greeted by a very plain and poorly designed plain glass bottle. Functional, but very boring and it doesn't really project the luxurious image it would appear Davidoff try to give this product. As I have stated earlier, the bottles do not have an atomiser, therefore the aftershave is simply poured onto the hand to apply. Personally this reminded me of days gone by when I used to play with my dads aftershaves trying to feel grown up. It's been years since I'd used an aftershave where you had to measure out the quantity by sight alone!

The notes to Silver Shadow are:

Head: Orange, coriander and cedar leaves

Heart: Saffron and patchouli

Dry Down: Amber and oak moss

From the notes that came contained with my bottles I knew that Silver Shadow would be a heavy fragrance, there were simply too many earthy ingredients for it to be anything else, but on application I was pleasantly surprised by the head notes, the orange citrus was overwhelming and the zest seemed to block out the coriander and cedar fragrances completely. I wasn't very liberal when applying either, literally a minute amount of the fragrance was required to leave the room smelling like the inside of an orange box. This is strong and felt like an assault on my senses!

Unfortunately, the citrus orange note faded quickly and only a faint undertone remained and this is in my opinion where the fragrance started to go horribly wrong. The coriander and cedar start to become overpowering, making what was a strong fragrance overly heavy and arid. There was nothing refreshing about the application or indeed the fragrance. Combined with the heart notes and finally the dry down of amber the fragrance become exceptionally heavy with no redeeming features, it was too warm and earthy with the oak moss being most evident. In an attempt to give this a masculine aroma, Davidoff have simply added too many ingredients that counteract each other and after around an hour my smelt like I had been camping in woodland for a week.

Overall I was hugely disappointed with Silver Shadow. It is a hard wearing fragrance due to the heavy ingredients and lasts for well over 12 hours, and only a tiny amount is needed making the actual bottle very long lasting but when you take into consideration the price, the fragrance and the fact that everyone you pass will look as though you have murdered a close family relative I would not recommend this to anyone. If asked to describe Silver Shadow in a nutshell I would have to say that it is a retarded blend of old spice combined with topsoil!

Personally after using this once I decided that I would never ever wear it again, and I certainly would not shell out up to £40 for a bottle. If earthy, rugged masculine fragrances are for you then there is a slight chance that you will find Silver Shadow acceptable for daywear and possibly formal occasions, but both my wife and I find it repulsive.

Silver Shadow is not luxurious, charismatic and mysterious, however it is unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Thanks for taking the time to read and rate.

Steve :o)