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Sandalwood: The most meaningless word in wetshaving?

I have Captain's Choice Sandalwood soap and...add that one to the list. I would venture a guess that it's a bit more baseline.

Only one other wet shaving term as meaningless as Sandalwood...and that's Bay Rum.

My favorite sandalwood scents are AOS and Proraso Red. I don’t like ToBS or Stirling sandalwood. Captain’s choice is a nice scent, but sandalwood seems to be one of many notes.

I’ll add Barbershop to Bay Rum as a scent no one knows what it’s supposed to be.
 
Here in Europe ,”Barbershop” scent
is pretty standard and that is the
scent of the Floïd Blue asl.
The production of this particular asl
was ceased almost a decade ago ,
but once upon a time it was the most common asl in most European barbershops .

Aqua Velva Ice Blue ,Epsilon Blue
Meditteranean ,Razorock Blue Barbershop and Furbo Blu are
currently some a.s. lotions that have a reminiscent scent of the legendary
Floïd Blue .Pretty close to the original
actually.
 
Barbershop scent is probably way more meaningless since Sandalwood is a real thing. Although sandalwood is an odd name for such a fine wood.

Proraso red has real sandalwood oil, so that's the real scent and a great product. Others have mentioned the real sandalwood bath soaps from India. These are available online from retailers like Amazon or sellers on Ebay if you don't want to go to an Indian market.

Most other sandalwood scents are artificial where they just put some nice smelling fragrance oils together resulting in something much sweeter than the real thing. Some people are into that. It's great to have options for everyone. Then there are blends. There are different bay rums out there and I kind of like the Ogalalla bay rum with sandalwood scent.
 
My first cream when I got into this hobby was TOBS Sandalwood, and while I enjoyed the scent, it didn't smell like sandalwood particularly. Same with Proraso.

I was fortunate to get my hands on some wild sandalwood oil a while back, and while there are no soaps that smell exactly like the oil, I think Art of Shaving Sandalwood and Barrister & Mann's new Sandalwood soap are pretty close.
 
Bay Rums should, theoretically at least, resemble each other somewhat, because there is a traditional bay rum formula that's fairly simple.
Barber-shop scent, on the other hand, is necessarily in the nose of the beholder.
 
Mysore SW EO is very expensive now, but ~20 years ago, TOBS Sandalwood Cologne was rather similar to the real McCoy;
today's version is so very different (synthetic, etc.), however.
 
I have Captain's Choice Sandalwood soap and...add that one to the list. I would venture a guess that it's a bit more baseline.

Only one other wet shaving term as meaningless as Sandalwood...and that's Bay Rum.
What about "barbershop"
 
You're right!

🤔 Luckily I have the AoS sandalwood oil, and use that for a baseline on judging the stuff.


AA
If you ever truly want to know the beauty of sandalwood I know a few good mysore sandalwood pure essential oils. Simply bliss, if anyone here wants to a link to where, just shoot me a message either on this thread or a pm. I have the AOS sandalwood scents and they’re nothing like the true deal... big frag head speaking here is all, not trying to shatter anyone’s favorite scents or anything like that. Just trying to inform and let people in on the truth haha
 
Natural sandalwood oil is damn precious so they use it very less and mostly is synthethic lab made frag.

We can't grow it locally in India as it has to strictly handed over else hefty fines are levied

Its TRIPS secure so not even allowed for export so I assume almost all the sandalwood flavours are synthetic or modified or is of Austrailian origin

For india If you want to experience best its the Government owned Mysore Sandalwood soap as thats the only company so far which does use Natural sandalwood oil.

In shave creams its Vicco sandalwood shave cream but I doubt its natural oil content and the frag as its not that simmilar to Mysore Sandalwood soap.

The reason for Mysore sandalwood soap is due to it being considered the best varities in the world with the highest concenrtrarion in the oil
As a frag head, I can pull from experience and agree that Mysore is certainly the best one can experience in terms of sandalwood scents. It would blow a lot of peoples’ minds here to get their nose on it
 
Agree 100% on the "mysterious sandalwood" scent. My first try (after graduating from Van Der Hagen) was Proraso, which I loved, and still do, b/c it smells just like original Old Spice to me! Then I bought a sample of Taylor of Old Bond Street sandalwood. Also very good....fresh clean scent....but is that what sandalwood smells like? Next, I tried Stirling's sandalwood....meh....not much scent at all! So, I've given up the chase for now. I love the Proraso red (in both soap and cream), and a few of the other Stirling soaps that are more on the strong side. I'll stick with them!
 
Its just like everything else, its all what the soapmaker's interpretation of what a scent should be. Just look at barbershop, they all smell a little bit different.
Being a Buddhist and spending quite a bit of time in Buddhist temples where they use sandalwood incense, I think that I probably understand what a, "proper" sandalwood is better than most. To me, a sandalwood is supposed to be woody and a little sweet.
IMO, Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood isnt a traditional sandalwood, so I wouldnt use that as an example of what a proper sandalwood should be.
 
To me, sandalwood is Mysore sandalwood. Very precious and expensive stuff. There's nothing else like it, even the nose feel is unique. Last genuine sandalwood I've used was QED Sandalwood, which used to be the benchmark

In a fragrance, Floris Sandalwood
 

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The Instigator
Most sandalwood soaps give you an "impression" of sandalwood using synthetic fragrance ingredients, or other types of wood.

If you can shop at an Indian market, you can find this soap:
View attachment 1226624
This scent is very familiar to most Indian people. But, I think the soap is mainly used by the older generations.

Four-pack, inbound! 🤔 Because we needed more soap in this house.

🧐 Wife will be handing out soaps at my memorial...


AA
 
I am no expert, but I love this aftershave (bought it in early September). It appears to be the real deal in Sandalwood and the smell is awesome. Could not be happier with this product. I use it with, among other products, my Barrister and Mann Soft Heart Sandalwood. The soap is fantastic, but there's no comparing the smell of real sandalwood.

 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
Many alleged sandalwood products smell more like like cedar to me; others smell like the shavings in an old school pencil sharpener.
 
Four-pack, inbound! 🤔 Because we needed more soap in this house.

🧐 Wife will be handing out soaps at my memorial...


AA
Yeah, same here... 4 pack inbound, like the cupboard wasn't already stuffed with bars of soap (which is separate from the cabinet of shaving soaps and creams). lol
 

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The Instigator
Yeah, same here... 4 pack inbound, like the cupboard wasn't already stuffed with bars of soap (which is separate from the cabinet of shaving soaps and creams). lol

Ok, Mysore Sandal Factory, export quality, sandal(wood) soap arrives!

Beautiful box, package: bar is sealed in a bag inside.

🤔 The scent is familiar, but not what I expected. It's in the vicinity of my $$$ AoS sandalwood oil, but.

Cut grass, needed a shower. This soap is wonderful!

Why am I surprised. India's Godrej shave rounds (soap) is another great product (clean industrial bathroom smell, not sandalwood) . There are probably a zillion great products from there we don't have easy access to.

🤔 The Mysore soap performs differently than other bar soaps. Hard to describe. Rinses easily? 🧐Something made a good impression. Wife even liked it, and I was expecting a negative comment.

Anyways. Another great tip from the forumites! 👍


AA
 
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