Strangest Soap/Cream Scents

[huck1995]

Dear fellow shavers,

In my reading of far more old threads than I should probably admit to, I have come across mention of some very interesting, very strange sounding scents of shaving soaps and creams. One that springs to mind is Vicco Turmeric, while another is St. Charles Shave Bacon.

My question to you is, what is the strangest scent of a shaving soap or cream you've heard of, and have you used it? Also, if you've used it, how's the performance?

Keep in mind that strange doesn't necessarily mean bad, just not something you would expect in a shave soap. Turmeric for example is a smell I quite like, though I can't imagine it in a shaving cream.

Let's try to limit it to scents that they were aiming for, or soaps that have a well defined scent (unlike the Arko "urinal puck" smell, which while unusual, is probably not the specific scent identity they were hoping you would associate it with. Granted, I don't mind that smell at all..). Bonus points for weird smelling soaps or creams that are pretty cheap or are available in far flung locations or only in very small regions (since I am someone who likes to experiment with weird stuff myself, but I'm an impoverished grad student, so I should be practical with my shaving purchases for the time being ).

Looking forward to what you folks come up with!

 

[Clay S]

Well, I would have to say "Unicorn Farts" smell a lot like Lilac, Lavender, Lemon Verbena, and a touch of Vetiver.

At least for naming it should be here.

I haven't tried it. I don't believe in Unicorns!

 

[Raven Koenes]

Cyril R Salter French Vetiver quite polarizing but I love it.
Cyril Salter French Vetiver shave cream.....YIKES!

#34 Toddy said: If I had to describe it I would say it has an earthy, smoky scent, imagine orange peel, oakmoss, sawn timber, woodsmoke and autumn leaves, with a slight sweetness to it.

#15 Kingfisher said: wow. I'm really surprised by this. I thought the scent was dang near intolerable. Shaved with it once and then threw it away. Had I known it was a favorite I would've sent the sample along to somebody else.

It definitely has a smokey scent.

 

[huck1995]

Cyril R Salter French Vetiver quite polarizing but I love it.
Cyril Salter French Vetiver shave cream.....YIKES!

#34 Toddy said: If I had to describe it I would say it has an earthy, smoky scent, imagine orange peel, oakmoss, sawn timber, woodsmoke and autumn leaves, with a slight sweetness to it.

#15 Kingfisher said: wow. I'm really surprised by this. I thought the scent was dang near intolerable. Shaved with it once and then threw it away. Had I known it was a favorite I would've sent the sample along to somebody else.

It definitely has a smokey scent.

Hmm, very interesting. As someone that uses birch tar soap as shampoo in the morning and to wash my face in the evening, and has several vetyver heavy colognes, this sounds like something I should look into.
That's what I love about fragrances, everyone's tastes vary so wildly!

 

[TropicalHotDogNight]

Salter's French Vetiver is truly vile. A friend and I both very nearly vomited when we smelled it at a shop, a few years back. It was unbearable!

Barrister and Mann's Roam was quite a polarizing soap. I liked the scent itself but ultimately found it to be too strong. It was like cigarettes and leather and grass. I thought it was true to the cowboy theme they were marketing for, but some would say it was more like rubbing your leather smoking jacket in the dirt and setting it on fire.

There used to be a motor oil scented soap by Chiseled Face Groomatorium, if I recall. That's another unusual one.

 

[Raven Koenes]

Hmm, very interesting. As someone that uses birch tar soap as shampoo in the morning and to wash my face in the evening, and has several vetyver heavy colognes, this sounds like something I should look into.
That's what I love about fragrances, everyone's tastes vary so wildly!

If CRS made a French Vetiver bar soap as well I'd be in heaven. I think it is just a pure Vetiver scent straight up and unadulterated. The thing I like about it is how the scent blooms while lathering it. I remember riding around in the car with my wife after using it. I thought, wow, I think I can smell the fires going on in California. I live in Colorado. Then I smiled and realized I was catching a hint of the CRS French Vetiver scent I'd just shaved with.

 

[guitarslinger]

Chiseled face pine tar is the weirdest one I LOVE.

 

[les24preludes]

Tallow and Steel have some pretty weird formulations, like the original West Indies. I also found DG Trismegistus pretty weird.

WK Merchant of Tobacco was another that was strange for me - smelled of cocoa rather than tobacco. Cocoa is one of my turn-offs in a soap.

 

[spolct]

There used to be a motor oil scented soap by Chiseled Face Groomatorium, if I recall. That's another unusual one.

CF Midnight Stag - I have it in a sample. Smells a bit like burnt rubber. I'm fairly certain I don't like it but I'll lather it up at some point just to be sure. Here's their description:

This one is masculine. Like really, really masculine. Like a “take an old, beat up leather jacket, drape it over a couple of tires to make a table and clean your guns on it” kind of masculine. Dark, unrefined, and totally unresistible, this is a scent for those who don’t mind sticking out. Those who forge the paths. Those who are proud to be a man.

Scent is made of the following notes: Russian Leather, Motor Oil, Hoppes #9, Birch Tar, Oakmoss, Gasoline, Smoke, Cedar, Cade, Bergamont, Vanilla

 

[jesseix]

Southern Witchcrafts alchemist is really a weird one for me. I get whiffs where there are elements that I enjoy, and then whiffs where I feel like I need to get this away from me as fast as possible.

 

[mrlandpirate]

was in a soap pass around a couple years ago and 1 soap was Bacon scent with a lard base , I won't be trying it a second time....just sayin'

 

[JamesBlades]

Declaration Grooming Darkfall

Here's their scent description:

Darkfall is a spicy oriental designed to capture the spirit of fall in the rural south. Agarwood, amber, and benzoin provide a deep, warm base for the cinnamon and clove top notes. Birch tar adds a slight smokiness that represents the ever-present smell of burning leaves that heralds the arrival of fall in Georgia.

I get the burning leaves and woodiness from the scent. But there's an additional smell that's like there's animals being burnt up in that brushfire with the hair still on them!

 

[Frederic]

PAA space nog, waaay too sweet....

 

[skibik]

The strangest scent I have is Castle Forbes Cedarwood and Sandalwood shave cream. I don't notice the sandalwood in it and can get the hint of cedar wood but then my mind drifts and get the scent reminiscent of driving down a dusty gravel road in a school bus when I was a kid 45 years ago. I don't mind the scent and it is a great performing soap.

Sometime I don't get how one names a soap but bought Catie's Bubbles Tonsorium, "A familiar fougere topped with citrus". I purchased by the description and to give the maker a try. It does have a citrus type scent to it but not necessarily a fougere in my book. Decent performing soap but bad thing is I might have to get rid of it as I get a slight skin reaction using it.

 

[pbrmhl]

For me, it’s B&M Roam. As my wife so eloquently put it, the scent is eau de burnt match. I still enjoy it, as I enjoy the Veg (which she describes as “powdered cow patty”).

 

[koolkankat]

Catie's Bubbles Revolution. The performance is great like all CB soaps, but the scent is truly blah. I can't even tell you want the scent notes are. I used it only once. Life is too short to use bad scented shaving soaps.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

 

[barreno]

Wholly Kaw ~ Tempest, too much wet basement for me.
Grooming Dept ~ Ambrosia, fish stink, I don't know if it was intended.
TABARCO, TABAC+ARCO Franksoap, Tabac in the laundry doesn't works for my nose.

Scents are a YMMV thing.

 

[Scaramouche]

For me, it’s B&M Roam. As my wife so eloquently put it, the scent is eau de burnt match. I still enjoy it, as I enjoy the Veg (which she describes as “powdered cow patty”).

+1 on Roam. Part cowboy sweat, part prairie fire, part buffalo herd....not for sissies.

 

[Aziraphale]

From the Dr. Jon's "Christmas Pajamas" description . . . (it my be a pretty normal holiday scent but his description is priceless) It may not be a weird scent per se but the name is awesome.

I was a stupid kid, the only thing that made it better is that my sisters were also stupid. Every Christmas Eve our Mom told us we could open one present, we all got very excited imagining what one toy or book we would get and trying to figure out how we could convince Mom to let us stay up so we could enjoy it. We would all gather on the couch with a hot chocolate with mint and eagerly await our gift, not even realizing that we were in for the same disappointment. Mom would hand us our gifts and we would tear into them immediately, only to realize that again we were given pajamas.....just like every previous year of our lives. Eventually it became a joke that we still carry on today, everyone gets pajamas from Mom on Christmas Eve. Now I get to watch my nieces and nephews suffer through the same soul crushing ritual.

This Christmas I thought I would share my most vivid Christmas memory with all of you. Christmas Pajamas is the scent of cocoa, mint and that same spicy potpourri that every mother used all wrapped up in one delightful little package. I tried to include the disappointment and stupidity but could not quite figure that one out.

 

[bluesman 7]

For me, it’s B&M Roam. As my wife so eloquently put it, the scent is eau de burnt match. I still enjoy it, as I enjoy the Veg (which she describes as “powdered cow patty”).

Your wife needs to get a job describing scents. LOL