I don't understand.

[Esox]

Yes it is nice to have a shave cream that smells nice while you shave but is it really all that important when that scent fades quickly as soon as your done shaving and then put on after shave?

I never use an aftershave. I've been using Stirling soaps exclusively for the last 4-6 weeks and some scents linger longer than others. The performance, well, it is Stirling so its there as well.

My favorite scent from them is Black Cherry, but it only lingers minutes on my face. Executive Man, Margaritas in the Arctic and Sunflower Fields however I can smell, faintly as it may be, for hours. When I finish a shave I just wipe my face with a towel.

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

If you followed the Mayo Clinic posts you will see that they are referring to both physiological and pathological conditions of which there is a long list:

Loss of smell (anosmia) Causes

Either way, men have the tenancy to have a much lower level of ability to smell than women do!

Men have a lousy sense of smell compared to women. http://www.counselheal.com/articles/12740/20141106/official-womens-sense-smell-better-men.htm

Can you please point me as to what the physiological conditions mentioned there are? I can't find them. Thank you.

In that page i only find:

Problems with the inner lining of your nose
Obstructions of your nasal passages
Damage to your brain or nerves

^ These are pathological conditions.

 

[meliahog]

Scent is for me olfactory delight, hence part of the performance of ANY grooming product. If I find a great soap or cream that has a bad smell or something I don't like, then it's out of my den. Pretty much the same consideration for neutral products or products with no fragrance at all, which I would describe as "soulless".

+1... Well put!
Mikey

 

[dangerousdon]

I would like to remind you all that the OP's question was more about shaving creams and if the scent is important or not, than medical conditions related to scent. While much of the information in this thread is interesting, I think we need to keep on topic so as to answer the original question. Thank you all for participating here and have a great rest of the weekend!

Don

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

Yes it is nice to have a shave cream that smells nice while you shave but is it really all that important when that scent fades quickly as soon as your done shaving and then put on after shave?

The responses here seem to indicate that it really is a matter of personal preference. Going with what works for you would seem to be the best strategy. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters!

 

[Pat Puma]

Scent in a soap is not as important as performance to me. I've yet to use one where the scent made the soap or cream unbearable. Having said that, if you can have both, isn't that the best option?

A member here once told me, "the scent in your soap is for while you shave, aftershave is for after." While I felt that made sense, I haven't always followed the advice. I do tend to have soap and AS pairings, not all of the time, but often. Of course, if you don't use aftershave the scent of your soap or cream might be much more important.

 

[dangerousdon]

Personally, I am of the opinion that most soaps and creams have scents that don't last that long and therefore is not nearly as important as say post shave feel or residual slickness or say cushion (pick your favorite shaving quality and insert here). However, I won't shave with a scent that I absolutely hate...but those are few and far between. That being said, there are some soaps and creams that have a stronger more lingering scent. These I try to pair with an aftershave that is in the same scent realm as the soap or cream. There are others that really are not that strong of a scent profile and I can likely wear just about anything with. But in the scheme of things...scent doesn't usually bother me all that much.

 

[Merle]

Enjoy your unflavored compounds for shaving. If you have difficulty finding them, it may be a true market reflection of how many people prefer olfactory diversity to one note experiences. Perfumery is an art which came from the times where many many fragrances in the immediate environment surrounding humans were considered undesirable and frankly foul. Now days perfumery is the evolved art of compounding that which is natural with tones considered complimentary even if they are toward base human odors crafted for impact and effect. Thus, and as everyone wants to earn a living for their contributions to the human experience, we have a market for companies who manipulate odor molecular compounds to change the experience of food, garbage bags, cat litter, and the experience of a shave soap base. I find it enticing, a remarkable rabbit hole of behaviors, and extraordinary in how much money is consumed in it's pursuit.

 

[ColonelHogan]

Personally I prefer products that are fairly linear in scent. Ingram smells like menthol, for example. I like that. Proraso green like eucalyptus & menthol, etc. My fave soaps & creams are those that smell... like soap. Simple scents like those of Williams, Arko, Palmolive, etc. That doesn't mean they are unscented; just that they are scented to smell how we have agreed soap should smell.

 

[otto76]

I would almost say scent trumps performance for me. I like the performance of my favorite soaps (MWF for example) better than the performance of my favorite creams but enjoy the scents of my favorite creams (T&H 1805..TOBS etc) so much I use them more often.
When I was shaving with a straight this wasn't the case.

 

[ZigZiglar]

For me scent is more important than performance. I have creams/soaps that are outstanding in performance but i don´t use them or only once or twice a year ´cause the scent is not my cup of tea (Caties Bubbles LPV, Razorock Santa Maria Del Fiore). My technique is top, I can have a great shave with every blade and almost every soap or cream (except this one: worst ever--> Rasiercreme )...so performance of the croap is not a need for a great shave in my case. Maybe the beginner benefits more from a top performer. But a pleasant scent is a must for me to enjoy my shave.

Yep. This is why I hang on to the Proraso Red that's in my cabinet. Far from the best performer, it smells nice. Also why some of my RR soaps get no love, even though they are top performers.

 

[john-difool]

Yep. This is why I hang on to the Proraso Red that's in my cabinet. Far from the best performer, it smells nice. Also why some of my RR soaps get no love, even though they are top performers.

Proraso Red is one of my top 5 commercial soaps / creams just a great scent and still a good performer and the price is awesome! Ever tried "de vergulde hand"?

 

[Steve56]

@Merle Unscented is not hard to find. XPEC, Valobra, L&L, and AoS are examples. Truefitt and Hill Ultimate Comfort and AdP are so light they're functionally unscented and Simpsons makes an unscented that I have not tried. AoS Ocean Kelp and Lemon are very lightly scented.

When you do the unscented thing, there is no reason to buy many brands and types, because they all smell the same! I could get along fine with Valobra, AdP, XPEC, and UC and have more than I really needed. Also, if you can find AoS tallow, the scents have usually faded to just a shadow of their former glory, difficult to detect.

Cheers, Steve

 

[robertj298]

Since the scent usually lasts just a very shot while, why not just put a drop of aftershave under your nose to enhance the experience?

 

[TheVez2]

Try shaving with unscented soap for a week and see if you miss using scented soap!

 

[Merle]

@Steve56 Thank you for the heads up! Truly a good selection of options to enjoy and have a bit of diversity while building lather and using it. At this point, I'd need to grab my 28mm El Dorado or 26mm Omega 6212 and go on a lathering spree with the intent of 'use it like you hate it' to winnow down the scented products already on hand.

...Funny thing, recently, I've been discovering just how much lather you can build with a Wee Scott or #1 Emperor / Emillion. (Knots 21mm or less) Having at it this way I'm just extending the time I'll have the use of these products!

@TheVez2 I could do this. I have Unscented B&M from before the recent formulation. I might have some LEA, and Valobra stashed away too. Heck there's at least one stick of ARKO somewhere in the lot. It's not unscented,, but as others have said, it does smell like "soap".

 

[davent]

@TheVez2 Neither here nor there, i avoid breathing through my nose while shaving so i won't smell the scent. Even worse is if upon only breathing in the fumes through my mouth i can taste the scent. If i open the container and get a brief waft of scent that's enough, i don't want more and that's the ones i like or can tolerate.

When there used to be department stores with their scent departments on my route through, i'd hold my breath the whole way through so i didn't have to smell/breath any of that doctored air, could not bear it.
dave

 

[TheVez2]

For me, it's all about each shave being a new and different experience. If I had no scents along the way, it would get mundane. Picking a new soap scent and new aftershave each day, keeps it fresh. I have thousands of possible combinations in my den.

 

[Steve56]

For me, it's all about each shave being a new and different experience. If I had no scents along the way, it would get mundane. Picking a new soap scent and new aftershave each day, keeps it fresh. I have thousands of possible combinations in my den.

I agree 100%, also with the thought that after using unscented for a week that you'd want some fragrance!

However, I try lots of soaps for fun as a hobby, and after I've been 'fumigated' with the latest North American 'artisan' fragrance atrocity, unscented is very much welcome.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Merle]

@TheVez2

When there used to be department stores with their scent departments on my route through, i'd hold my breath the whole way through so i didn't have to smell/breath any of that doctored air, could not bear it.
dave

Ha! I remember those days as a preadolescent! I hated the shopping malls with the 'upscale' department stores at either end. Great locations to come in from the parking lot, but they Always laid out the perfumery Right at the main floor transition into the larger mall. I did the same thing; holding my breath until I got to clear air. Later, reading books about how the juice is sold, I understood why we hated the experience. Marketing agents spraying themselves and saturating the air all around them with one product. ON bad days, many different products. Oh the headaches I remember having back then.

Life along the way wot? Now, in controlled measure, pleasure and surprise.