First off, full disclosure. Both the bottles are decanted into scent free and clean old AS bottles for 3 weeks with periodic gas off and reposting of cap. All bottles are new production lots and not vintage.
Since living in India, I do not have any reference to or old memories of my old man using any of these classic AS. He always used alum block and I dare say his skin is better than mine even when he is pushing 80s. I just wanted to try not commonly available here; old school AS out of curiosity and understand if they are really the Bees Knees they are made out in these forums. As usual scents and highly subjective and so is post shave feel or perceived benefits of a particular brand. In the series Pinaud Clubman already is history and I am not touching it again with even a 20 feet barge pole.
Aqua Velva Ice Blue
The scent profile does not appear to be much altered even after storing in glass bottle. A sharp note opening of mint and lavender with trailing whiff of faint lemon and we are off to a linear journey of strong menthol blast with not much happening on scent front. When things settle down a bit I am hard pressed to note any middle note and proceed straight to leathery sandalwoodsy dry down.
On application the glycerine protection is more than enough for me and I would have preferred it much lighter with temps hovering around 36C. It is just an AS and I am surly not trying to pick up scents notes there. Some alcohol sting is welcome and AV does just fine with that. Other than a strong menthol Blast I don’t notice any skin calming effect after a shave. Overall a strong smell that subsides for me in about 15 mins and fresh whiff of leather and musk coming my way, when glycerine makes my skin break out in sweat.
I used AV through 6 shaves using badger brush and MWF soap, fresh Feathers in a fixed 3 piece mild aggressive Parker razor. I don’t have anything bad to say against AV but there wasn’t anything particularly impressive about it either other than a strong menthol blast. I don’t see myself returning to it when this bottle finishes since there is always Old Spice around.
Mennen Skin Bracer
Straight out of Plastic bottle SB smell profile strike me as rounder and sweeter than AV. Strangely the SB stored in glass bottle came noticeably sharper to me but still less sharp than AV. Plastic bottle seems to really impact Skin Bracer and impart a funky sweet plastic smell into it.
There is less alcohol sting than AV but I like alcohol sting so that is not much of an issue with me. However the menthol kick is less than Aqua Velva which is easy fix with pinch of few menthol crystals.
Overall I liked the scent profile much better than AV and even if it is little sweeter smelling, it is in a good way. To me scent is slightly more complex than AV, opening with a mint note the powdery smell engulfs you and there onward not much is happening. I do not like sweet powdery notes in an AS but being a utilitarian aftershave Skin Bracer comes across as a well mixed concoction. It looks like a mouthwash with garish green color but as skin toner I felt it does a better job than AV as it contains not glycerine but another modern substitute of it and I did not feel am sweating a lot with Skin Bracer.
The scent is even less lasting than AV and I do not mind a re-application but I biggest gripe is cheap plastic bottle and a design flow in pour reducer on top. Velva have a better designed pour restrictor but with SB, aftershave just flows uncontrollably the moment your finger slips away from opening.
Overall like it much better than AV and especially pleased that storing it in glass bottle has taken away some bit of sweetness off it. Maybe it will improve more as it ages. I will buy a bottle for keeps if there is ever a rumour that SB is being taken off the shelves.
Since living in India, I do not have any reference to or old memories of my old man using any of these classic AS. He always used alum block and I dare say his skin is better than mine even when he is pushing 80s. I just wanted to try not commonly available here; old school AS out of curiosity and understand if they are really the Bees Knees they are made out in these forums. As usual scents and highly subjective and so is post shave feel or perceived benefits of a particular brand. In the series Pinaud Clubman already is history and I am not touching it again with even a 20 feet barge pole.
Aqua Velva Ice Blue
The scent profile does not appear to be much altered even after storing in glass bottle. A sharp note opening of mint and lavender with trailing whiff of faint lemon and we are off to a linear journey of strong menthol blast with not much happening on scent front. When things settle down a bit I am hard pressed to note any middle note and proceed straight to leathery sandalwoodsy dry down.
On application the glycerine protection is more than enough for me and I would have preferred it much lighter with temps hovering around 36C. It is just an AS and I am surly not trying to pick up scents notes there. Some alcohol sting is welcome and AV does just fine with that. Other than a strong menthol Blast I don’t notice any skin calming effect after a shave. Overall a strong smell that subsides for me in about 15 mins and fresh whiff of leather and musk coming my way, when glycerine makes my skin break out in sweat.
I used AV through 6 shaves using badger brush and MWF soap, fresh Feathers in a fixed 3 piece mild aggressive Parker razor. I don’t have anything bad to say against AV but there wasn’t anything particularly impressive about it either other than a strong menthol blast. I don’t see myself returning to it when this bottle finishes since there is always Old Spice around.
Mennen Skin Bracer
Straight out of Plastic bottle SB smell profile strike me as rounder and sweeter than AV. Strangely the SB stored in glass bottle came noticeably sharper to me but still less sharp than AV. Plastic bottle seems to really impact Skin Bracer and impart a funky sweet plastic smell into it.
There is less alcohol sting than AV but I like alcohol sting so that is not much of an issue with me. However the menthol kick is less than Aqua Velva which is easy fix with pinch of few menthol crystals.
Overall I liked the scent profile much better than AV and even if it is little sweeter smelling, it is in a good way. To me scent is slightly more complex than AV, opening with a mint note the powdery smell engulfs you and there onward not much is happening. I do not like sweet powdery notes in an AS but being a utilitarian aftershave Skin Bracer comes across as a well mixed concoction. It looks like a mouthwash with garish green color but as skin toner I felt it does a better job than AV as it contains not glycerine but another modern substitute of it and I did not feel am sweating a lot with Skin Bracer.
The scent is even less lasting than AV and I do not mind a re-application but I biggest gripe is cheap plastic bottle and a design flow in pour reducer on top. Velva have a better designed pour restrictor but with SB, aftershave just flows uncontrollably the moment your finger slips away from opening.
Overall like it much better than AV and especially pleased that storing it in glass bottle has taken away some bit of sweetness off it. Maybe it will improve more as it ages. I will buy a bottle for keeps if there is ever a rumour that SB is being taken off the shelves.
