for Invictus after gym and shower is ideal, applying 1st thing in morning blunts the morning rise in cortisol. in this situation cortisol is your friend. gym work also increases spike in cortisol, so applying after gym and shower is my go-to way of using.
as to smell, I highly recommend splitting do
se [morning/early evening], so you are only applying 5ml, this is not a large amount and any odor should be short lived.