Dan Carter Is Reshaping His Legacy, One Signature Fragrance At A Time

Rugby icon Dan Carter shares the tenets behind his newest scent, one which embodies perseverance and dedication.

In 2021 when All Black legend Dan Carter announced his retirement from professional rugby and said he was “excited about my next chapter in life and what that will look like” you probably didn’t pick he’d have fragrance mogul on his vision board.

But three years later, here we are, sat across a marble table at a swanky hotel in Britomart, talking top notes. A year after the Louis Vuitton ambassador released his first fragrance, DC 10 Sport with Chemist Warehouse, he’s following it up with another. It makes sense, financially at least - the first sold out in two days.

And who wouldn’t want to smell like Dan the man? A decades-long, media-trained career has equipped the 42-year-old with a geniality that would stand him in good stead as a populist politician. There’s hardly a person in the country who would turn down the opportunity to have a cold one with the former number 10.

This universal appeal has long made him a brand favourite. Mention that you’re meeting Dan Carter and you’re just as likely to get a response that brings up his days as the face and mid-section of Jockey underwear as you are his time on the pitch.

None of this fazes the father of four, it’s all part of life’s rich tapestry. Like his new spray, DC10 signature, we find him in a life stage that is confidently multifaceted.

Below, we find out more about his attitude to reinvention, beauty and why even the realm of fragrance leads him right back into the locker room.

TYSON BECKETT: When you released your first fragrance last year, you said you didn’t want to be too bold. This, your second, is called DC10 Signature. Do you feel more assured in the beauty realm now?

DAN CARTER: It’s interesting because I do like doing things that are outside of my comfort zone. I guess with the first one, DC10 Sport, obviously being a sport person, there was a lot around motion and wanting to enter the market with a safer option - a fresh, clean, citrus-based fragrance. It worked well - I was happy with it and it sold well. I guess it can be a little bit more risky with this one.

TB: How much of a role does fragrance play in your life? Smells are so evocatively linked to memories. As a kid my dad was a chef in a seafood restaurant so fish weirdly reminds me of dad. Are there smells in your life that take you back to a time and a place instantly?

DC: Obviously, rugby has been a big part of my life. Liniment and Deep Heat, that’s the smell of the changing room. I know some people might throw up in their mouth when they think of the smell of a rugby changing room. Whenever I smell Liniment oh my god, it just brings me back to the changing room. I love that smell so much.

I wouldn’t wear fragrance on the field, but I had to put Deep Heat or Liniment all over my legs, quads, my hammers, strings, my calves. It was part of my pre-match routine. I just needed to get the muscles really warm, and it stunk!

TB: Are you a very nostalgic person?

DC: I am more now. It’s weird like when you’re young you’re living in the moment and you’re like, “what’s next, what’s next?” You have this drive. It probably wasn’t until I finished playing rugby after close to 20 years, that I had a chance to breathe and look back and start to reflect on some pretty special things you achieved or moments or people you may have met.

TB: How do you balance that with living in the present and not fixating on things or wondering how things could have been different?

DC: Having a really clear purpose helps with that, something you’re striving towards. Because if you ever just sit there and go, ‘Okay I had success and it was good, well done’ and pat yourself on the back, you’re not growing as a person.

In order to have success, you need a real growth mindset - making sure that you’re better today than you were yesterday will help you walk towards where you want to go. But you can’t focus too much on the future either because you trip up on what you need to do each and every day. I’m big on writing things out that I want to do and achieve each week and making sure I’m walking in the right direction. That helps me stay in the present moment.

DC: Yeah, it’s had its challenges. When I do look back in moments like this, what am I really proud about? That’s really helped me with what my future will look as well. What I’m most proud about wasn’t the World Cups won or the World Rugby Player Of The Year Awards, it was actually the impact that I had on the next generation of rugby players kids. Even people who might not like rugby but kids who have dreams. It reminds me of [being] a five-year-old with a dream of being an All Black and that dream becoming a reality.

With this next chapter of my life, I wanted to try and create impact and for me, it was more around social impact. That’s what’s driving me. That’s why I started the DC10 fund to help and support underprivileged children around the world in partnership with Unicef, helping children have more access to sport.

TB: You mentioned this fragrance evoking notions of perseverance and determination, obviously that’s very clearly aligned to sporting, but I wondered, what does that look like in your day-to-day life now?

DC: Understanding that you’re going to have good days and you’re going to have bad days. A lot of people look at my career or my life and only focus on the success that I had. But the person who I am today is not because of the success I had. It’s because of the setbacks, the disappointments, the resilience that I built through having things happen to me throughout my life.

I believe that coming back from those setbacks and deployments is what defines you as a person. I’ve been able to do that on quite a few occasions throughout my career and that’s what embodies the person that I am today. I wanted to showcase that with this passionate fragrance that embodies determination and perseverance, which I’ve shown in the past and will continue to show in the future.

It’s so hard sometimes, I’ve been in those situations where you’re like, “why me? why now?” Life isn’t fair but you’re not the only one going through those moments. That’s why I love doing work with Unicef. It brings things back to reality, you think you’re having a bad day and then you go on a field trip. My first one was just outside of Jordan, the Syrian refugee camp to see these people had to flee their country with their families. They lost so much and they’re living in refugee camps with young children. Still they’re smiling, they’re laughing, they’re wanting to play with the rugby ball.

TB: Talk to me about how you get out of a funk. How do you protect your wellbeing?

DC: I’ve been lucky because for close to 20 years, I got paid to keep fit, but when that stopped I truly realised the importance of exercise, whether that’s just going for a 20-minute walk with the dog, going for a run, doing a session in my gym at home. When I haven’t trained for a while it becomes obvious, I become agitated, grumpy. My wife just tells me to go for a run and often that’s the missing piece of the puzzle.

Another one I learned through my rugby career was when we’d have a touring squad of maybe 50-odd people. There are the obvious pressures that come with playing - representing your country and playing professional sport was challenging - there’s also the external pressure of travelling, being around people all the time highlighted the importance of just taking a little moment to yourself.

Whenever we’d go touring, I would make sure that I had 10 minutes to myself at some stage of the day. Finding little pockets of the day where you’re processing your thoughts, you’re focusing on your breathing techniques. I guess it’s a type of meditation without going too deep, just gathering your thoughts. It was an important part of my daily routine that I’m trying to keep [up] with now, it’s a bit harder with four children and the madness that we have at home.

TB: It’s annoyingly simple sometimes.

DC: That’s my whole philosophy around beauty and routines - it’s important to keep it simple. There are lots of different options and products and health routines, it can be quite consuming. Find out what works for you and to keep it simple it’s often the best formula.

TB: When you don’t have that to draw on anymore did you find it difficult to find that trust in yourself?

DC: It was such a change when you had an amazing team around you. Professionals, physios, doctors, nutritionists, coaches, mental skills coaches, everything is there for you. Then you’re removed and you have to do it for yourself. That sort of loss of connection and community not having that team and support system around anymore is really hard. But thankfully through that process, you’re learning a lot as well. It’s hard not to have the people around but the knowledge you do pick up through that time is because you are paying attention.

TB: I wanted to ask you about the term metrosexual. Because there’s been a lot of global reflection on it recently and I think in New Zealand, you symbolised this - intentionally or not - in the male beauty space. Looking back, how does it sit with you being linked with that?

DC: It’s a really sort of personal thing, style and beauty. I guess everyone’s different, and I applaud people who express themselves in a way that gives them fulfilment and happiness no matter what they decide to wear or how they decide to look.

I think it’s become a lot more open, for me in particular. You look at sport, in particular athletes, the fact that you’ve got these global superstars in the NBA, really caring about how they look and dress right before they are about to play and when you have role models like that it encourages the people that look up to them to go actually, well, I can express myself too. Often if there are people bagging them or saying they look funny or whatever it is, it’s because they have their own issues around confidence.

I lived in Japan and it blew me away how much they expressed themselves and are not judged and just wear what they feel confident and happy with. At times in New Zealand, we can be a little bit safe and cautious and not want to stick out too much.

It was similar when I was in a rugby environment, but I think times are changing and it’s accepted and okay to produce your own fragrance or have a skincare regime or whatever it is. It’s not for everyone and that’s perfectly fine, it was never for me - having a skincare routine through my teenage years or even my early 20s I never really thought much about it. But it’s a lot more accepted now. I think beauty comes from within, it’s a very personal thing and everyone’s different. Each to their own!

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