My 4yo daughter often helps me pick my SOTD... her descriptions of the different smells are quite poetic... Man do i love those moments!
Does anyone else fall for these long and descriptive scent descriptions?
- Thread starter Jinx18
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You simply must watch this video of the scent description of Castile from Penhaligon's. This is where I got my ideas from in my earlier post.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KMt8Dd8eX2c
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KMt8Dd8eX2c
Rhapsody: Orange flower, lemon, orange, pear blossom, cherry blossom, apple blossom, rose, bay, patchouli, sandalwood, thyme, lavender, musk, vanilla
This has me contemplating B&M and I can't even lather B&M. The new soap commander sounds nice too:
notes of Lavender, Cedar, Fir Needle, Crushed Pine, Camphor, Patchouli, Hay, Tobacco, Citrus, Juniper, Vetiver, Black Tea and a kiss of Wild Hyacinth.
This has me contemplating B&M and I can't even lather B&M. The new soap commander sounds nice too:
notes of Lavender, Cedar, Fir Needle, Crushed Pine, Camphor, Patchouli, Hay, Tobacco, Citrus, Juniper, Vetiver, Black Tea and a kiss of Wild Hyacinth.
I don't mind the long, overly poetic descriptions -- at worst, they give me a chuckle -- but I get annoyed by soap names that don't even offer the slightest clue as to the category the scent belongs to. Soap Commander's product line is the worst in that regard ... their soaps have the most ridiculous and least informative names ever.
This one almost got me, I had it in the cart multiple times but thankfully I somehow abstained:
Inspired by the rugged individualism of American cattle ranchers, we blended the aromas of real pipe tobacco absolute, smoke, leather, herbs, damp earth, and grass into a bright, robust scent reminiscent of life on the open range. Timeless and virile, Roam harkens back to the days of the Old West.
From this description I got the feeling it would smell like a leather saddle deep and complex with some wet tobacco and fresh cut grass notes. It sounds great from the description. When trying a sample that I later acquired my nose got the scent of a full ashtray in the tin and a half full ashtray once lathered. The smoke smell was dominant and it was more or a cigarette smoke scent than anything complex like a rich pipe tobacco with leather notes. It just didn't work for me at all despite it's excellent performance.
My scent description would be as follows:
This scent takes me back to my childhood riding in the Country Squire station wagon loose and free, laughing and rolling from one side of the car to the other at every turn. Those in the front of the luxurious wagon smoking away carelessly, filling the ashtray until it wouldn't hold even another single cigarette butt. The windows open just enough to allow a small amount of outside air into the cabin as to not mute the billows of smoke coming from the burning cigarettes. Notes of tobacco, smoke, and exhaust fumes reminiscent of that stuffed country squire ashtray on a cool summer day.
Others here have really loved the scent and I am rather fond of other soaps from this particular maker myself. It just goes to show that everyone's nose is different and that it's always best to try samples first because just like everything else here ymmv.
Inspired by the rugged individualism of American cattle ranchers, we blended the aromas of real pipe tobacco absolute, smoke, leather, herbs, damp earth, and grass into a bright, robust scent reminiscent of life on the open range. Timeless and virile, Roam harkens back to the days of the Old West.
From this description I got the feeling it would smell like a leather saddle deep and complex with some wet tobacco and fresh cut grass notes. It sounds great from the description. When trying a sample that I later acquired my nose got the scent of a full ashtray in the tin and a half full ashtray once lathered. The smoke smell was dominant and it was more or a cigarette smoke scent than anything complex like a rich pipe tobacco with leather notes. It just didn't work for me at all despite it's excellent performance.
My scent description would be as follows:
This scent takes me back to my childhood riding in the Country Squire station wagon loose and free, laughing and rolling from one side of the car to the other at every turn. Those in the front of the luxurious wagon smoking away carelessly, filling the ashtray until it wouldn't hold even another single cigarette butt. The windows open just enough to allow a small amount of outside air into the cabin as to not mute the billows of smoke coming from the burning cigarettes. Notes of tobacco, smoke, and exhaust fumes reminiscent of that stuffed country squire ashtray on a cool summer day.
Others here have really loved the scent and I am rather fond of other soaps from this particular maker myself. It just goes to show that everyone's nose is different and that it's always best to try samples first because just like everything else here ymmv.
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Yes b&m roam is deffinately stinky ashtray.
Fragrance descriptions are like paint color descriptions- not terribly useful. What is "seafoam"? Depends on who you ask. Likewise, fragrances can be way too subtle for some folks to tease out all of them in a product. I just go by the main one (e.g., bay rum) and then give it a try.
Got a stick today thanks to a PIF. That was exactly my first impression along with a citronella scent. It's not bad but they could improve it.
Give it a little while for the lemon to fade a bit.
It'll change to an "Industrial Ivory" scent
To me it smells like a wet night of camping, not one of their scents I prefer. But I guess a wet night of camping could smell similar to an american cattle ranch. Although I've never been on an american cattle ranch, they both entail smoke, herbs, damp earth and grass !!
I think what you describe is synonymous with many small time Artesian soap makers. Mainstream products stick with simple and time honoured traditional scents like Menthol, Lavender, Barber shop, Sandalwood, Almond, Bay rum, Talc or Citrus to name a few.
Its the artisans that mix up various scents and spices, give it a silly name and then write some fluffy, irrelevant poetic tale to describe the product. I relate it to what Gordon Ramsey often says when critiquing fine cuisine. A chef inspired dish should speak for itself and utilize only a few complementing flavour notes. Any more is over-compensating, pretentious and arrogant!
Its the artisans that mix up various scents and spices, give it a silly name and then write some fluffy, irrelevant poetic tale to describe the product. I relate it to what Gordon Ramsey often says when critiquing fine cuisine. A chef inspired dish should speak for itself and utilize only a few complementing flavour notes. Any more is over-compensating, pretentious and arrogant!
Agreed. Leviathan was spot on in that regard.
Longwinded descriptions turn me off. I like a brief description of what the manufacturer hoped to achieve followed by a list of some of the key notes.
B&M seems to do a good job...
Latha - "a classic barbershop fragrance with notes of lavender, vanilla, oakmoss, carnation, geranium, heliotrope, and musk"
Cheshire - "A combination of bergamot, clary sage, lavender, and patchouli, this soap captures the classic essence of Earl Grey tea using only high-quality essential oils"
Seville - "A traditional barbershop scent, this soap contains bergamot, lemon, patchouli, oakmoss, lavender, and rosemary"
B&M seems to do a good job...
Latha - "a classic barbershop fragrance with notes of lavender, vanilla, oakmoss, carnation, geranium, heliotrope, and musk"
Cheshire - "A combination of bergamot, clary sage, lavender, and patchouli, this soap captures the classic essence of Earl Grey tea using only high-quality essential oils"
Seville - "A traditional barbershop scent, this soap contains bergamot, lemon, patchouli, oakmoss, lavender, and rosemary"
Barbershop scent is probably the most ambiguous soap scent description there is. Ask 20 people what a barbershop scent is and you are likely to get 20 different answers. Even the B&M products you reference, describe Latha as a "classic" Barbershop scent and Seville a "traditional" Barbershop scent. Anyone want to explain the difference between a "classic barbershop scent" and "traditional barbershop scent"?
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Wait, "pear blossom?" All the pear blossoms I've ever smelled have smelled like literal crap. I wouldn't want to go around smelling like pear blossom!
My experience is generally that the products with long lists of fragrance notes will either smell like generic cologne, or nothing like what I expected. Personally, I think that B&M Roam is spot on. I tried 11 different Strop Shoppe soaps, however, and most of them had that generic cologne vibe, and I could not smell the notes that I was excited about. As I try more and more products, I am finding that my favorites are simpler scents with only a small number of blended fragrances.
While I understand and can probably live with the "top, middle and base note" descriptions, what I like best is a comparison to some other existing scent that (hopefully) I have tried. Like a comparison to an edt. In that regard, B&M often says what the inspiration for the soap scent was in terms of the perfume/edt idea he was trying to capture. And, when asked, Queen Charlotte Soaps did the same thing. And I particularly like when we, the users, discuss what this and that smell like here on the forum. It is a difficult proposition because I don't think any two people perceive exactly the same scent or scent strength. But if you tell me that a soap smells like Brut, I can go get a whiff of Brut and form a pretty good idea if I would like the soap or not.
This one from micky lee has my interest
Inspired by Balinese spas and the famous "Mandi Luluris" spa treatment that involves a sumptuous body scrub followed by a scented floral bath. Bali Hai captures what we believe to be all the exotic, subtle beauties of the Southeast country of Bali. A creamy blend of jasmine and sandalwood set in a base of black tea and coconut milk. It's like your own personal spa in a jar.
And Country Club Magnolia while we are at it
Magnolia is not a single note scent, but it is a perfect floral medley of Magnolia, Ylang Ylang, Lily of the Valley, and Citrus Oils
Inspired by Balinese spas and the famous "Mandi Luluris" spa treatment that involves a sumptuous body scrub followed by a scented floral bath. Bali Hai captures what we believe to be all the exotic, subtle beauties of the Southeast country of Bali. A creamy blend of jasmine and sandalwood set in a base of black tea and coconut milk. It's like your own personal spa in a jar.
And Country Club Magnolia while we are at it
Magnolia is not a single note scent, but it is a perfect floral medley of Magnolia, Ylang Ylang, Lily of the Valley, and Citrus Oils
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