Wife and I are just back yesterday from a two-week business-and-fun trip to Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
Of course I wanted to examine the state of DE and other shaving in these Scandinavian countries and relate what I found for the shaving cognoscenti here.
For the trip I didn't want to take anything I couldn't afford to lose (TSA and all) .... so razor-wise, I took a Feather Popular, a well-used Escali badger brush, and the proven La Toja stick. I hoped/figured to purchase odd and exotic shave stuff on the way. This was only semi-succesful, as you may see.
In Denmark: Got off to an interesting start in Denmark. At Fotex, the local grocery chain, plenty of bath/cosmetic stuff is sold. Disappointingly, the Mach 3 seems to be king here, and domestic Danish stuff is scarce. I saw Gillette silver/blue blades (England) here, for 53.00 Danish Kroner (DKK). A rule of thumb for translating kroner into dollars is times two, drop a zero. So these blade five-packs were around $10.60. Yikes! Not a lot of choice ... you can also buy Mach 3's for ... think it was like $60 for a multi-pack.
What I did score was a large bottle of amazing Danish after shave for 50 DKK, or $10. Wished the bottle was smaller, as had to lug it for two weeks and the scent was an unknown. Luckily the stuff turned out to smell great, here it is:
Anyone familiar is welcome to chime in. It seems to be made in Silkeborg, which is the lake district. "Espirt de Valdemar Fougere" can be googled, but not much is learned:
http://www.shampooshoppen.dk/shop/esprit-de-valdemar-5413p.html
A "fougere" is this:
Fougère, pronounced: [fu.ʒɛʁ], meaning "fern-like", is one of the main families into which modern perfumes are classified, with the name derived from the perfume Fougère Royale (Houbigant) by Paul Parquet, now preserved in the archives of the Osmothèque. This class of fragrances have the basic accord with a top-note of lavender and base-notes of oakmoss and coumarin (Tonka bean). Aromatic fougère, a derivative of this class, contains additional notes of herbs, spice and/or wood.
Members of the family are especially popular as fragrances for men. Many modern fougère perfumes have various citrus, herbaceous, green, floral and animalic notes included. The most common modifiers to this basic accord include vetiver and geranium. Bergamotis often present to add sharpness to the lavender top-note.
Anyways. The stuff smells *a little* like Lilac Vegetal, but unlike the Veg, I like this a lot and can wear it.
More on the trip later, with further posts, if people are curious ...
Of course I wanted to examine the state of DE and other shaving in these Scandinavian countries and relate what I found for the shaving cognoscenti here.
For the trip I didn't want to take anything I couldn't afford to lose (TSA and all) .... so razor-wise, I took a Feather Popular, a well-used Escali badger brush, and the proven La Toja stick. I hoped/figured to purchase odd and exotic shave stuff on the way. This was only semi-succesful, as you may see.
In Denmark: Got off to an interesting start in Denmark. At Fotex, the local grocery chain, plenty of bath/cosmetic stuff is sold. Disappointingly, the Mach 3 seems to be king here, and domestic Danish stuff is scarce. I saw Gillette silver/blue blades (England) here, for 53.00 Danish Kroner (DKK). A rule of thumb for translating kroner into dollars is times two, drop a zero. So these blade five-packs were around $10.60. Yikes! Not a lot of choice ... you can also buy Mach 3's for ... think it was like $60 for a multi-pack.
What I did score was a large bottle of amazing Danish after shave for 50 DKK, or $10. Wished the bottle was smaller, as had to lug it for two weeks and the scent was an unknown. Luckily the stuff turned out to smell great, here it is:
Anyone familiar is welcome to chime in. It seems to be made in Silkeborg, which is the lake district. "Espirt de Valdemar Fougere" can be googled, but not much is learned:
http://www.shampooshoppen.dk/shop/esprit-de-valdemar-5413p.html
A "fougere" is this:
Fougère, pronounced: [fu.ʒɛʁ], meaning "fern-like", is one of the main families into which modern perfumes are classified, with the name derived from the perfume Fougère Royale (Houbigant) by Paul Parquet, now preserved in the archives of the Osmothèque. This class of fragrances have the basic accord with a top-note of lavender and base-notes of oakmoss and coumarin (Tonka bean). Aromatic fougère, a derivative of this class, contains additional notes of herbs, spice and/or wood.
Members of the family are especially popular as fragrances for men. Many modern fougère perfumes have various citrus, herbaceous, green, floral and animalic notes included. The most common modifiers to this basic accord include vetiver and geranium. Bergamotis often present to add sharpness to the lavender top-note.
Anyways. The stuff smells *a little* like Lilac Vegetal, but unlike the Veg, I like this a lot and can wear it.
More on the trip later, with further posts, if people are curious ...
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