What are the LEAST favorite soap scents you've tried?

[John Stetson]

Barrister and Mann’s WAR, and it’s not even close. Foul. And I quite liked the other 3 scents in the 4 Horseman set and normally love B&M.

A distant 2nd is Stirling’s Electric Sheep (another Artisan who offers many great scents).

 

[honeycutt]

Any soaps made by A&E

 

[ivan_101]

Monsavon.

 

[midwestshaver71]

GFT Coconut Oil
Used it once and thought it smelled like a chemical factory that was on fire, put out with coconut water.
Then I realized it contains parabens and promptly tossed it.

 

[nemo]

Arko

 

[bluewater23t]

Stirling Glastonbury. Mic drop.

 

[TOVT]

Fortunately for me, out of the 21 soaps and creams I've tried, there are only 3 that are my least favorite. It's not that I don't like them, they're just at the bottom of my list because they smell like basic bath bar soap. ARKO! Derby and Jikoryen.

 

[guitarslinger]

Noble Otter Batters Up, it’s whack. Mrs. Raven thinks somethings wrong with it, could be right. Performance is good, but that smell. I‘m two shaves in and trying to figure things out. It’s like seeing something gruesome and you can’t avert your eyes, I keep going back to the puck to smell if things get any better…they don’t. I‘m not prone to stunt shaving, so I just might punt this down the road, maybe.

Disgusting. One of the very worst I’ve ever tried as well.

 

[NotEntirelyaNoob]

HC&C Year of the Tiger comes to mind, I think it was missing in the scent notes but once you start lathering a strong note of cannabis comes through, read: reeks, and it's not a note I don't enjoy at all It does seem to be fading slightly with time so maybe in 5 years it'll be okay. B&M Marilyn is pretty polarizing as well, but I don't know how I feel about it. Oh and A&E/The Club Boo reminds me of Thruway/Turnpike Service Center men's restrooms, so not a great scent either.

 

[WhatAFool]

Noble Otter Batters Up, it’s whack. Mrs. Raven thinks somethings wrong with it, could be right. Performance is good, but that smell. I‘m two shaves in and trying to figure things out. It’s like seeing something gruesome and you can’t avert your eyes, I keep going back to the puck to smell if things get any better…they don’t. I‘m not prone to stunt shaving, so I just might punt this down the road, maybe.

Yeah, Batters Up is ... harsh... and I like woody scents but it's something else. It doesn't exactly "stink" but it isn't even remotely pleasant.

I recently received a sample of Leviathan and I gotta say... what exactly is the scent he was going for? I think it vaguely smells of something like a soft pretzel but not quite as good. So I agree that Barrister and Mann's scents are somewhat polarizing... I also don't care for Waves, Cool or Seville, don't execute me for saying that. Dirtyver from Declaration Grooming was very much a no for me as well.

 

[FeatherBBS]

Barrister and Mann Lavender. It smells more like wet dog to me than lavender.

 

[Markdad2]

Everything from Saponificio Varesino. They all smell like the sort of cologne the office sex pest might wear.

I should probably have posted this in the unpopular and controversial opinions thread.

It's a shame because it's great soap. The desert Vetiver wasn't bad, but I got frag burn from it.

 

[Markdad2]

Barrister and Mann's War, Lavender, le Grand Chypre, full measure of man, were all ones that I didn't care for. Also Cool,. Spice I tried to love but it was too much. I like Seville, Nordost, and Leviathan. Cheshire is decent too, but smells alot like pepper. Tabac isn't great either, which is too bad because it preforms well. Southern Witchcrafts Autumn Ash got sold too.

But the king of soaps for bad smells, Midnight Stag. My wife bought a sample for me as a gag. That stuff is something else.

 

[Eben Stone]

Interesting. Some of the ones mentioned are also in the masterpieces thread. Ex: B&M Eigengrau.

For me it's ToBS Jermyn St.

 

[SamplingNature]

I wasn't a fan of Conk's bay rum. And I love bay rum aftershave. I was really eager to use it, but was quite disappointed.

 

[musicman1951]

Amber and Oud from Grooming Dept. I love both scents, so I assumed this would be a great choice. It was pretty nice soap, but the scent was just short of disgusting - but at least it was strong. I believe there was a mercy killing and it's no longer in production.

 

[pixelrebel]

Barrister and Mann has many polarizing scents. I play it safe with them and stick to Seville

Seville gives me an awful headache.

 

[Dtownvino]

Sandalwood

And Stirling Sheep - I can smell the animal in it.

 

[willk93]

Seville gives me an awful headache.

I’m sorry to hear that! Thankfully there are plenty of other wonderful barbershop scents out there

 

[lancre]

Arko! #1 with a bullet.

It's dirt cheap, and I guess it lathers OK, but the STENCH!