Okay...I decided to write this review to give a scent-only perspective on some aftershaves I just recently sampled. I am definitely not a “scentsmith,” but maybe this can help somebody else to navigate some of the 100s of choices this “hobby” presents.
For reference, I really don’t have a childhood connection with any of the old scents (or, if so, I haven’t found it yet), but I am partial to an aftershave that lingers throughout the day. At 44 years of age, I really don’t have an old barbershop connection either. I have also been shaving my head for about 10-15 years now. I love menthol. I don’t want to “announce myself” when I enter a room, but I like to be able to smell the scent on myself for the entire workday. I have also found so far that, in general, I prefer an aftershave that matches my soap scents. I currently have 5 soaps in my den, and I truly love them all. So you can get an idea of scents that I prefer, my soaps are: WSP Tobacco & Barbershop, LASSCo Blackfern & Black Rose, and Stirling Gin and Tonic on the Rocks. I have the matching aftershaves for both WSP soaps and they are my favorites so far. I have the matching aftershaves on order right now for the LASSCo soaps as well.
The aftershaves in my sampling were:
Clubman
Clubman Special Reserve
Fine American Blend
Fine Fresh Vetiver
Fine Italian Citrus
Floid Vigoroso
Geo F Trumper Limes
I immediately applied the scents to small paper towel sections and ranked them, then asked my wife to rank them as well. Here are our initial rankings (best - worst):
Her - Fine Fresh Vetiver, Fine Italian Citrus, Geo F Trumper Limes, Clubman Special Reserve, Floid Vigoroso, Clubman, Fine American Blend.
Me - Geo F Trumper Limes, Clubman Special Reserve, Fine Italian Citrus, Fine Fresh Vetiver, Clubman, Fine American Blend, Floid Vigoroso.
I will now give our combined and final rankings after I applied the aftershaves to my skin. I asked for my wife’s appraisals after the scents were on for about an hour. We differed slightly on a couple, but agreed on most, especially the top 2. Here ya go (ranked in reverse order):
Fine Fresh Vetiver - To my nose, old lady. This was my wife’s pick out of the bottle, but she hated it as well when I splashed it on. I like fresh scents, and I too, thought it smelled pretty good from the bottle. A “fine” example of “try it before you buy it.”
Fine Italian Citrus - Another scent we both liked out of the bottle, and both hated when I wore it. The Citrus blast we both loved on paper, quickly turned to an overpowering powdery citrus that, again, reminded us of an over-perfumed old woman. Crazy.
Floid Vigoroso - A truly uncommon scent that was not for me. Powdery and musky? I didn’t hate it, per se, but couldn’t see wearing it all day. Seemed to have decent linger, however, and I loved the menthol kick.
Clubman Special Reserve - This is one that I thought I was going to like after smelling out of the bottle, but when applied, it was just too much for me. Complex and a little spicy (?), but just not something I want to smell all day. Very strong and lingering.
Clubman - This is closest to a “familiar scent” for me out of the lot. I kinda like the scent, but the wife did not - at all. Maybe too much going on here. Probably not a scent that I want to smell all day long. However, I did not decant into a glass bottle as many have suggested. Doing so, may be the difference for me. I may try this, but I’m unlikely to keep it because of the wife’s aversion to the scent.
Geo F. Trumper Limes - A very fresh citrus blast that I love paired with my Gin and Tonic soap. May have been my favorite, but it just doesn’t linger much at all. I could see buying this to use in the summer or on days when I don’t want a lingering scent. Clean. Fresh. If I was forced to pick the one product that my skin like the best, it was this one.
Fine American Blend - I chose this as my favorite mainly because it goes with all of my soaps and has pretty good staying power. Smells a little overpowering to my nose out of the bottle, but it mellows on the skin and smells powdery fresh for most of the day. If this had menthol, I might like it better than my WSP Barbershop. An all-purpose keeper for sure. When people say “barbershop,” this is the type of scent I imagine. Funny again, that this was my wife’s least favorite on paper, but when I wore it, she said “you smell great.”
Of course, all of this is extremely YMMV. There are many die-hard fans of all of the scents on this list. There seem to be many, also, who speak of scents “growing on them.” These were all only tried once, so maybe my opinion on some of these would change should I continue to wear them. I tried to give you an idea of the types of scents I prefer so you can maybe discern which of these would be a good match for you. The biggest things I took from this are: 1 - Although I really like patchouli and similar scents by themselves, I didn’t care much for them when mixed with powdery scents and applied to my skin, 2 - Try before you buy! Don’t just smell the bottle and decide that you love or hate a scent...you may be very disappointed, and 3 - Get the wife/significant other involved! In the end, you know you won’t be wearing anything that doesn’t meet their approval!
Cheers.
Oh...and 4 - This hobby is getting expensive. Thank God Maggard offers samples!
For reference, I really don’t have a childhood connection with any of the old scents (or, if so, I haven’t found it yet), but I am partial to an aftershave that lingers throughout the day. At 44 years of age, I really don’t have an old barbershop connection either. I have also been shaving my head for about 10-15 years now. I love menthol. I don’t want to “announce myself” when I enter a room, but I like to be able to smell the scent on myself for the entire workday. I have also found so far that, in general, I prefer an aftershave that matches my soap scents. I currently have 5 soaps in my den, and I truly love them all. So you can get an idea of scents that I prefer, my soaps are: WSP Tobacco & Barbershop, LASSCo Blackfern & Black Rose, and Stirling Gin and Tonic on the Rocks. I have the matching aftershaves for both WSP soaps and they are my favorites so far. I have the matching aftershaves on order right now for the LASSCo soaps as well.
The aftershaves in my sampling were:
Clubman
Clubman Special Reserve
Fine American Blend
Fine Fresh Vetiver
Fine Italian Citrus
Floid Vigoroso
Geo F Trumper Limes
I immediately applied the scents to small paper towel sections and ranked them, then asked my wife to rank them as well. Here are our initial rankings (best - worst):
Her - Fine Fresh Vetiver, Fine Italian Citrus, Geo F Trumper Limes, Clubman Special Reserve, Floid Vigoroso, Clubman, Fine American Blend.
Me - Geo F Trumper Limes, Clubman Special Reserve, Fine Italian Citrus, Fine Fresh Vetiver, Clubman, Fine American Blend, Floid Vigoroso.
I will now give our combined and final rankings after I applied the aftershaves to my skin. I asked for my wife’s appraisals after the scents were on for about an hour. We differed slightly on a couple, but agreed on most, especially the top 2. Here ya go (ranked in reverse order):
Fine Fresh Vetiver - To my nose, old lady. This was my wife’s pick out of the bottle, but she hated it as well when I splashed it on. I like fresh scents, and I too, thought it smelled pretty good from the bottle. A “fine” example of “try it before you buy it.”
Fine Italian Citrus - Another scent we both liked out of the bottle, and both hated when I wore it. The Citrus blast we both loved on paper, quickly turned to an overpowering powdery citrus that, again, reminded us of an over-perfumed old woman. Crazy.
Floid Vigoroso - A truly uncommon scent that was not for me. Powdery and musky? I didn’t hate it, per se, but couldn’t see wearing it all day. Seemed to have decent linger, however, and I loved the menthol kick.
Clubman Special Reserve - This is one that I thought I was going to like after smelling out of the bottle, but when applied, it was just too much for me. Complex and a little spicy (?), but just not something I want to smell all day. Very strong and lingering.
Clubman - This is closest to a “familiar scent” for me out of the lot. I kinda like the scent, but the wife did not - at all. Maybe too much going on here. Probably not a scent that I want to smell all day long. However, I did not decant into a glass bottle as many have suggested. Doing so, may be the difference for me. I may try this, but I’m unlikely to keep it because of the wife’s aversion to the scent.
Geo F. Trumper Limes - A very fresh citrus blast that I love paired with my Gin and Tonic soap. May have been my favorite, but it just doesn’t linger much at all. I could see buying this to use in the summer or on days when I don’t want a lingering scent. Clean. Fresh. If I was forced to pick the one product that my skin like the best, it was this one.
Fine American Blend - I chose this as my favorite mainly because it goes with all of my soaps and has pretty good staying power. Smells a little overpowering to my nose out of the bottle, but it mellows on the skin and smells powdery fresh for most of the day. If this had menthol, I might like it better than my WSP Barbershop. An all-purpose keeper for sure. When people say “barbershop,” this is the type of scent I imagine. Funny again, that this was my wife’s least favorite on paper, but when I wore it, she said “you smell great.”
Of course, all of this is extremely YMMV. There are many die-hard fans of all of the scents on this list. There seem to be many, also, who speak of scents “growing on them.” These were all only tried once, so maybe my opinion on some of these would change should I continue to wear them. I tried to give you an idea of the types of scents I prefer so you can maybe discern which of these would be a good match for you. The biggest things I took from this are: 1 - Although I really like patchouli and similar scents by themselves, I didn’t care much for them when mixed with powdery scents and applied to my skin, 2 - Try before you buy! Don’t just smell the bottle and decide that you love or hate a scent...you may be very disappointed, and 3 - Get the wife/significant other involved! In the end, you know you won’t be wearing anything that doesn’t meet their approval!
Cheers.
Oh...and 4 - This hobby is getting expensive. Thank God Maggard offers samples!
Another one for the list to try! Tabac is actually one that I wanted to try but I couldn’t get a sample...and those bottles are huge!
