by Jeff Casto

Created on: December 03, 2010   Last Updated: December 04, 2010

“Want skin she can’t wait to get her hands on?” asks the sexy blond wrapped in a red towel on the ad flier. A scantily clad man and woman in the photo insets illustrate “wrestling moves” such as the “Happy Fireman” and the “Saucy Huglock.” This is “the art of skin contact,” according to Unilever, the makers of Axe Skin Contact hydrating shower gel, one of eight different Axe shower gels. Judging by the apparent success of this product (Axe is the leading men’s body wash in the U.S.), young men are easily manipulated. All it takes is an avalanche of sexual innuendos and blatant promises that using Axe products will turn any young man into a stud women can’t resist.

Unfortunately, it must only work for young men because “the Axe Effect” hasn’t seemed to work for me. Not even my wife noticed. I picked up a free sample at my gym and used it for three days. That’s as long as the 1.69-fl oz trial bottle lasted. The regular 12-fl. oz. bottle costs around five dollars. Do the math and that figures out to about a bottle every three weeks. Probably more expensive than bar soaps, but not expensive enough to break the bank.

The packaging is in keeping with the image of Axe products. The pistol grip shaped bottle is black at the bottom fading to white at the top. It has a black flip top cap. The purple and white label displays a big silver “AXE” across it. At the bottom of the label are the words, “ HYDRATING shower gel,” and below those it states, “for soft, strong-feeling skin with aloe vera.” Even the packaging is advertised in a sexual context. The Axe web site uses rollovers to indicate how sexy the bottle alone is. “The sultry shape reminds you why you’re getting clean in the first place.” About the flip-top, “Now that Axe Shower Gel comes out this smoothly, you’ll always be able to get some.”

Ingredients:

Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Acrylates Copolymer, Cocamide MEA, Fragrance, Glycerin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Citric Acid, Styrene Acrylates Copolymer, PPG 9, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Bismuth Oxychloride.

There is the usual warning to avoid contact with eyes.

My experience:

The first time I opened the bottle, I took a whiff to see what I was getting into. It wasn’t an altogether

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