The Editors choice: Aramis, Hugo, Giorgio, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana. All good friends of mine.

I won’t lie to you, I am smelling good today. No…I mean real good. Like teenage desire and success. I’m joking!

But I thought this would be a good time to tell you what SLXS endorse for summer. I have put my winter fragrances aside because they are too heavy for this hot weather. Well today is not exactly hot in Cape Town, it’s actually raining, so I’m writing this article at a bad time. But if you read this on a sunny day it will make perfect sense.

My classic winter fragrance is Gucci. Don’t ask me the specific name of this fragrance because I have no idea. It’s just Gucci and it is the best stuff I have ever bought. The great thing about it is that no one else I know owns it. In fact, I think it is more of a select group of people who own it. Which makes it all the more special. I’m not a fragrance nerd, and I can’t tell you that it has base notes of juniper, middle notes of oak and top notes of the seeds of ripe blackberries. What I will tell you though is that it is what you want in winter. The only other thing I can tell you is that it smells woody, and it makes you smell wealthy.

Seriously, if you had to wear the Gucci, while sitting in your office that smells of rich mahogany, whilst reading a leather bound book, you would immediately be put onto the Fortune 500 list. It’s THAT good. I think the best thing about it is that it caters to the individual who is not swayed by massive marketing campaigns. I never see it advertised and it doesn’t claim to make you into a superstar. It does not claim to do anything, rather the magic is in it’s power to seduce. I must say, I was wearing it, and it seduced me.

You can go mainstream and buy a fragrance that has a huge marketing campaign, but then you know that every second guy at Hemisphere and FTV is going to be wearing it. Gucci is for the thinking man. They have actually released the second version of the Gucci, and it has a blue colour to it. I have not tried it on my skin, but in the bottle it smells good! You need to try out fragrances on your skin because they all interact with people differently. It may smell good on those sample cards, but once it mixes with the wearer, it might not be so good. So always try these things on your skin and wait a couple of minutes for the fragrance to develop on you.

I remember always liking the Giorgio Armani Aqua di Gio, but when I tried it on myself, it was a bit of a mess.

Then I have the Giorgio Armani Black Code, my other winter fragrance that was given to me as a gift. This stuff is also awesome, and I alternate randomly in winter between that and Gucci. It keeps people guessing and keeps an air of mystery around me. Because I am an enigma of sorts. Well…that’s what I like to think.

For summer though I have just run out of my Aramis Life, which was a good deal. However, I thought it faded a bit quickly and never lasted an entire day, but it really is one of the best summer fragrances. It’s refreshing after a day spent looking at models on Clifton 4th beach. Trust me, I have battle tested it. Hard.

So that ran out and I decided to cruise on over to Edgars (Or was it Truworths?), to get a new personality for me. And by “personality” I mean “fragrance”, because what you wear in effect reflects your personality.

Interruption: I am currently listening to the White Barry on my iPod. Had to let you know. Back to the story:

As soon I walked in I could not help but notice that there were about a million different scents awaiting my testing. I kind of already knew what I was going to get, but I sniffed around anyway. The lady at the counter asked me if I would like to try the new Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, and I was not convinced because I have seen the advertising campaign and it is bizarre. There is a guy in a white Speedo just chilling in Phuket or something and it looks like the place where The Beach with Leo was filmed. He is on a speedboat, or a raft, and it’s not cool at all. Actually, just have a look for yourself:

No thanks Fabio

And the fragrance is supposed to be summery, but its quite floral and I don’t think I could cope with it on a hot summers day. It’s way too much and I need something more fresh. So I sprayed it on, and then I had to leave to wash it off. It’s not that it’s bad, it just does not suit me in summer. Which brings me to an interesting point. When these sales ladies give you something to try, and they are saying how nice it is, is it rude to tell them that is smells horrendous? I’m too much of a nice guy, and always say “Wow darling, that is lovely!” before running home and having a shower. I feel bad telling them that it is hideous.

And this brings me on to another point. I like David Beckham, his hairstyle and his general style, but his fragrance, David Beckham “Instinct” is disgusting. I can’t even describe how bad it is. You must just try it, it is so bad! It’s one of those bad things that you have to try, to fully come to terms with how insanely terrible it really is. So that’s two things I don’t like about Becks now. His skinny, perma-tanned and pouting mannequin wife, and his fragrance. But I still think he is cool.

So I came back the next day, after showering, and after I had been given a 2ml sample of the Light Blue, which I doubt I will use. I went straight for Hugo.

SLXS summer choice

The Hugo Boss is a classic, and the first time I came into contact with it seemed to be ages ago, like 8 years or something. Was it around that long ago? All I know is that it is a classic. In it’s day, if you bought it, everyone would have had it. But now it has aged a bit, and so not everyone wears it. Now once again, a select group of people wear it because the trend has worn off. So that’s why I bought it. While everyone else snaps up the bottles shaped like apples and the rest, I come in and buy an old school classic. It’s actually so awesome I can’t believe I have never bought it before. I had previously tried it, but now I own it.

So the Hugo Boss is my SLXS summer fragrance choice, and I’m quite liking it. It’s fresh, young and just crazy. You know…like me. Obviously!

I also like the advertising campaign with the line “It’s just a fragrance. The rest is up to you” The campaign features Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the actor, who is in Mission Impossible 3. And a whole lot of other movies, but I just watched the MI3 DVD, so that’s what comes to mind.

I like the theme of the advert, with all the images coming out of the bottle having a city vibe to them. This fits perfectly with Cape Town, which is a city, and a trendy one at that. So it’s perfect for me, for SLXS, and for you!

So with all of this information, you have no reason not to smell of desire and crisp, cold, refreshingly new South African bank notes.

Now go attack summer.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

The Z3 and the VR3

A while back I received a brand new phone, the Motorola MotoRizr Z3 and I was convinced that this phone was cool. I played with it for about a week and after that I was horribly regretting getting the phone. I still regret it, because of the hassles I told you about in the Motorola MotoRizr Z3 review.

Read that first if you have not read it already.

Anyway, last week Monday I sent the phone in, complaining that the battery was still only lasting two days(This was after they had already replaced the battery). They sent the phone away, and last Friday I received an sms telling me that my phone was ready. So I went to collect it and they had sent me a brand new phone! Normally this would make me happy, but I still am not sold on Motorola. The text messaging is enough to drive me to drink, which it has. I just can’t get used to it.

I have previously used Alcatel, Nokia and Samsung, and nothing compares to the poor texting on the Motorola. Nobody I have spoken to in my circle of friends have had anything good to say about Motorola. Motorolas are good looking phones but good looks are not enough to cut it. It’s like the Paris Hilton of phones. Good looking but useless.

Anyway, Samsung is still my choice of phone and the Samsung U700 is looking good. Or maybe an HTC. Or a Blackberry. But not a Motorola.

That would just be too painful.

Side note: Two of my friends have been using the new Nokia N95 and apparently it is the phone you DON’T want. Seriously it’s terrible. Jerry D got rid of his and paid cash for a new phone because he could not bear to use it anymore. So stay away from that one. And the MotoRizr Z3. Probably stay away from Motorola in general.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

I remember when I was a young kid, I never really cared what I looked like. That’s because I had not really known of this phenomenon we refer to as “girls”

However, as I got older I realised that in order for these “girls” to in fact “like” me, I would need to do more than use my mothers shampoo, and I would need to do better than to go a kids hairdresser. However, for years I went through this whole grooming thing like a little lost soul. I was 14 and yet no supermodels wanted to date me, shocking! The problem was that I was going to a hairdresser who seemingly knew nothing about hair. I would come out of that place thinking “I look fantastic, I have just been to a respected hairdresser.”

Before: I look like hell! AUDREY! This is bush. Bush league.

However, looking back on those photos it looks like I had gotten broken on box wine the night before, slept on my front lawn, and my father had ridden over my hair with the lawn mower. Times needed to change and as I got older, girls got sexier and seemingly wore less clothing. Inside me there was a Tom Jones crooner waiting to sing “Sex bomb” to all these girls. But my exterior was far from sex bomb. Tom Jones can get away with looking like hell because he IS TOM JONES! And he actually sang Sex Bomb originally. I, on the other hand, needed to look good. In fact, I NEED to look good.

So a couple of years ago when this whole male grooming trend took off, I heard that a new place had opened called Evolv. Apparently you could go there and have your haircut while sipping an ice cold beer and watching TV. This seemed to be the ticket for me. Originally their store was in Canal Walk, but it has now moved to SHG House opposite the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The new place is great, and you can park upstairs, take a little stroll down, past a super expensive car dealership, then take a left and find yourself at Evolv.

I personally get my haircut by Shareen, and it has changed my life. I actually trust Shareen remarkably well and last time she wanted to give me a mohawk of sorts, I was a little hesitant. Anyway, I let her go ahead and she threw a few chemicals on my hair, put some or other treatment on it, blow dried it, put some wax on and…well shoot me down! I looked good. I’m not going to lie, I looked like I could wear a suit with confidence. I mean…I looked real good

I wanted to shout “Come on everybody…Come and see how good I look!”

I actually don’t really say that, nor do I intend to. It’s for the purpose of this article.

After: Shareen bent my hair like Beckhams

Wearing a mohawk with a suit tells the ladies “Yeah…I might be an investment banker by day, but by night…by night I’m a party animal and a Lionel Ritchie crooner. I run this city” Unfortunately, I never wore the suit, but it would have been awesome I think. I should try it next time. Maybe even pull out the old tweed suit, which when paired with a mohawk says “I might be of the old school, opening doors for the ladies, taking their coats off(Um…at the restaurant of course…not…ok whatever) and complimenting them on that lovely new set of earrings. However by night…by night I’m a rock star. And a crooner”

Evolv offer all sorts of things now including haircuts, shaves, massages, skin treatments and nail treatments. Hell, you can even bend it like Beckham and get waxed at Evolv. Painful.

The place is fantastic and it always feels like home when I am there. I usually arrive a little bit early, and then sit on the leather couch reading a GQ or whatever else is on offer to read. As soon as I sit down I am always offered a drink, and then I just relax there watching TV, on their projection screen TV. The only problem is that when the sun is shining brightly, it is a little hard to see the projection on the wall. Other than that, I could sleep at Evolv. Everyone is friendly and people are always chatting, Shareen always smiles when she sees me(Only because she knows she can abuse me into doing some other hairstyle) and it’s just a really awesome experience.

I think that is the key these days, to offer more than just a haircut. At Evolv you don’t merely go for a haircut, you go there for the experience. You go there to relax and take a bit of time out. I used to hate going to the hairdresser, as it did not feel very relaxed. I was always thrown on the chair, my hair was chopped off and I was sent out the door.

With Shareen, I sit there chatting, laughing, seeing my hair being worked into shape, as opposed to being chopped, and I can feel confident that if GQ had to ask me to do a fashion feature, I could appear as the model. Well, my hair could anyway.

I really would recommend Evolv to any guy out there wanting to charm the ladies. The looks they can’t help you with, but with a hairstyle like the ones Shareen cuts, no one will even notice your face. I mean, people have not commented on my face in ages, but the hairstyle…well that’s another story.

Give them a call on +27 21 418 0533

And definitely pay them a visit at: 2 Lower Loop Street SHG House Cape Town

Click HERE for a map

Or visit them on their website

Sean Lloyd

Editor

You might recall the review I did on my current phone(It won’t be current for long if it keeps playing around) Anyway, I took the phone back, about four days later it was ready, and I was happy.

The invoice says “Not charging/intermittent/charger/short battery life.”

Then it says that they replaced the battery at a total cost of R270 and a few cents. Obviously it cost me nothing because it was under warranty.

Well then…what do I have to say about this?

The battery still lasts only two days! Most times I charge it, it actually lasts slightly under two days.

So let me take a guess here. Vodacom initially found that the battery indeed did need replacing. So there WAS something wrong with the battery. Now I supposedly have a new one. But what are the chances that two batteries in a row are faulty?

Let me take another guess and say that Vodacom think I am a complete idiot, and they did not replace the battery.

I’m not accusing them of not replacing the battery and then saying they did. But I am suspicious.

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have all day to drive back and forth to Canal Walk to get my phone fixed. Nor do I enjoy driving to Canal Walk, standing in queues and battling with Vodacom.

I will take the phone back during the week, and then see what happens this time.

Vodacom, you don’t want to mess with the bull.

Because you’ll get the horns.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

The whole point of SLXS is to only feature the best. And if we feature it and it’s not the best, then you will hear about it. This little story has been a long time in the making, and finally I have a deodorant that works. If this deodorant becomes “The next big thing” then it’s in no small part to the work of SLXS and the testing I have done on this deodorant.

Let’s take it back a bit.

Sometime last year I went through a stage where I was really depressed, because I found myself throwing out all my white T-shirts from the likes of Levi’s and Dockers. The problem was that the underarms of the shirts were all yellow(Disgusting, I know. But we all know this happens) Anyway, my shirts were looking horrendous and I was forced to buy new ones, virtually an entire new range of T-shirts for the SLXS wardrobe. I usually go for the classic white T-shirt, like our men in Top Gun and even James Dean.

Then looking at some of my other shirts, the darker ones, deodorant had left white stains on them! Disgusting and not very fitting of an excessive lifestyle. Chicks don’t dig it. So I did a little bit of research and I had learnt that aluminium in deodorant could be causing these stains on my T-shirts. Immediately I was on the lookout for a new deodorant that would be fitting for what I do.

So then I took a stroll through Dis-Chem(My pharmacy of choice) where I found a deodorant called “Naturally fresh deodorant crystal” It said on the bottle that there were no harmful aluminums(American spelling) and in fact all it contained was water and natural mineral salts. Fantastic, so I purchased a bottle, only one, because I was not expecting water and salts to keep me fresh throughout my wild life.

Well then…I was wrong!

I used it and by the middle of the day, not only was I still fresh, but it smelt like I had been sweating desire and money. I literally smelt like fresh, crisp banknotes. I have never liked cheap deodorants like AXE which make me smell like a teenager. I don’t like the cheap smell of them. I want something that is fragrance free so I can spray on some Gucci afterwards without the fragrances clashing.

Anyway, I became addicted to this deodorant and went out and bought another two bottles. They got used up and when I went to buy more…there were no more! I got a mild shock. It’s like walking into Woolworths in the evening and their roast chickens are sold out. It will literally break your heart. I had to have more. So I asked at Dis-Chem if they were getting more in and they said it was a once off order that they had received and would not be getting more.

I freaked out. I was not going to be smelling of desire anymore and this worried me highly. So I went for a browse on the internet and I was willing to throw a case of this deodorant on the credit card. I found websites that sold it but they did not deliver to South Africa. This was quite disturbing as I realised my new Dockers white T-shirt would soon be getting trashed from inferior deodorants. So I looked at the bottle of deodorant and realised they had a website. I promptly sent them an e-mail, asking when I would be seeing my favourite deodorant on the shelves of Dis-Chem again. This is the e-mail I sent to sales@tccd.com in December last year:

Hi there

I am from Cape Town South Africa and about a month ago I bought the Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal Spray Mist at a Dis Chem pharmacy. However, they no longer stock it and say it was a once off order. Is there any way I can get this product in South Africa? It would be great if you could stock it here as it is possibly the best deodorant I have ever used.

Regards

Sean Lloyd

A reply came back, the very same day. Impressive service! This is what it read:

Dear Mr. Lloyd,

Thank you for your e-mail message and enquiry about Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal products. We are working with Dischem at this time to import our products using their own private label.

I am not sure how long this process will take but I have asked Dischem to consider purchasing some products now for customers like yourself who are interested in purchasing them.

We truly appreciate your interest in our products and hopefully soon, Dischem will have the products available. I have sent your e-mail message to Saul at Dischem as well.

Regards

Linda A. Bart

And then I waited. I waited eight or so months! I used some or other Aloe deodorant, but it never had the same effect. I wanted the silky smoothness of the spray mist. I wanted to smell of teenage desire!(What?)

And then like Marky Mark Wahlberg walking through the snow in Four Brothers, I walked into Dis-Chem last week and was looking for some Gillette after shave. When out of the corner of my eye I saw a white light, a halo…my deodorant was back! This crystal mist stuff is like Sex Panther to me! They were true to their word, and this stuff was in South Africa!

The new bottle on the left, and the old on the right. Awesome stuff.

So the new bottles have arrived in South Africa and they are branded with the Dis-Chem logo and the only thing that has changed is that “aluminums” has now been changed to the South African spelling of “aluminiums” It’s still the best deodorant out there and I would not use anything else.

I have been doing some research on the internet on the dangers of aluminium in deodorant, and a lot of things I have read have said it is not really harmful to you. Some articles go on to say the amount of aluminium in deodorant is negligible and that we are more at danger from chemicals in tap water. However, I would still rather use this deodorant than spraying alcohol and aluminium under my arms.

This deodorant is back in my life and I am so happy I don’t even know how to express myself!

What I will tell you is to go out to Dis-Chem and buy this deodorant. It is understated, there are no lame ads claiming it will get you a girlfriend, but I promise you, when you are chatting to a girl and smelling of Gucci, and not some cheap Axe fragrance, you will see the result.

They have done studies you know. 60% of the time it works…everytime.

Seriously though, you need to buy it. I’m not even being paid to say this but it’s something you have to use. Guys and girls.

No wrecked shirts, it won’t clash with your expensive perfume/cologne and it rocks.

So have a shower, spray on some mist, then musk up with something quality like Armani Black Code or Gucci.

And watch miracles happen.

Dis-Chem in Cape Town is situated at Cavendish Square shopping centre in Claremont and the Canal Walk shopping centre. Well worth paying them a visit. Alternatively, go to their website and use the store finder if you are in other parts of the country.

I definitely endorse this product.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

That is competing for the most pathetically lame headline ever. I’m not even afraid to admit it.

D500 vs Rizr V3- D500 wins by efficiency 

I have been testing the new Motorola Rizr for just over a week now and cannot tell you what a nightmare the phone is. It is a beautiful looking phone, very young and trendy. That’s where it stops. I have been looking at getting a Motorola for a while now as they have a very fashionable edge to them. Even the names are cool in my opinion. A while back I saw photos of Paris Hilton with the pink Motorola V3. I should have known right then that they are a bad choice.

Let’s start with the dismal battery life. The last charge has lasted two days, which included 15 minutes of calls during those two days. Horrendous. The charges before that lasted about the same. Let’s not focus on this yet because I am taking the battery to be checked. I cannot convince myself that they knowingly made a battery with such poor performance.

The predictive text is so shockingly slow that I want to cry. I type too fast for the predictive text and then it completely loses the plot and starts throwing out words that make no sense. Add to this the small point of ending off a sentence. If you use a full stop(With predictive text), then start typing a new sentence straight away without leaving a space after the full stop, it loses the plot again. Because you have not left a space after the full stop, for some bizarre reason it connects that full stop with the word you are typing, creating a language of it’s own.Let me try explain.

If the last word of a sentence is “can” with a full stop at the end. Like this

“Because I can.“Straight after that full stop I try typing the word “See”

This is what the Motorola gives me:

Because I can’Pde

Is this some sort of joke Motorola? Are you trying to flip me over the edge? Because it’s working. So after full stops you need to leave a space. Why? This is bizarre.

Also, I sometimes find myself typing a message and then something happens and I need to close my phone quickly. On my Samsung D500(Best phone ever!) it would save my message immediately. My Motorola just deletes it. Great.

Typing messages on the Rizr is just something you don’t want to do. It’s more of a hassle than anything else. If I am replying to a message, I type the message and make a mistake in the typing. Now the “Send” button is right above the delete button, so quite regularly I try hit the delete button and instead hit the send button. People think I am smoking crack. Charlie V sms’d me the other day asking something and I replied “79″ He asked if my life was in a downward spiral. No not yet, but if I have to keep this phone any longer I will go into a deep state of depression.

My Samsung D500 was like a gift from the cellphone GODS! The keys had more of a stiff feel, where when you press them they would positively click in. The Rizr’s keypad is too soft and squishy, and so when typing quickly you will not press quite hard enough and miss a letter. The predictive text goes mad and absolutely loses it. After typing a few messages in a row, you feel your fingers stiffening up like you have been riding a mountain bike all day. Trust me, I know the feeling.

I’m not even going to go more into this review. Maybe I wil ltalk about this phone more in the future. I probably won’t. I don’t want to talk about the other so called “features” This phone is not a feature. I finding my mood deteriorating fast. What a poor phone. I suppose when someone as stupid as Paris Hilton uses a Motorola, you should run for the hills. I’m not even sure if she uses it anymore!

When you are advertising a phone to attract a young and trendy crowd(Cough cough), then you should design one with an easy to use keypad as the majority of young people send lot’s of sms’s. It’s not rocket science Motorola!
Samsung please save me…

This nightmare needs to end.

NOTE: I will do a review on this phone again at a later stage. Please do not take the poor battery life as a standard feature on all these phones. I am having it checked out soon, but I had to throw this review out there as I promised you I would. If nothing is found to be defective with the battery then I’m going to go on a cruise liner and drop the phone in the Atlantic.

Sean Lloyd

Editor