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Soap Smelling (or performing) So Bad You Had to Toss It?

Didn't tossed it but tucked it deep away a sample of stirling bay rum just can't stand the overpowering clove scent
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Cream: St James of London Lavender and Geranium.

I did have fair warning. It said exactly what it smelt like on the sample packaging. Binned after one shave, and brush thoroughly shampooed. My bathroom reeked of it for hours. Awful.
 
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All three Kaizen’s out. Nice enough base but they have little idea how to compose a scent. Excruciating fragrance oil scents with no direction and far too strong. It’s a shame really.
 
I've probably thrown out most soaps I've bought. Scents have a way of 'turning' on me and then I can't stand it any more. This applies mostly to strongly scented soaps, so a lot of the so-called 'artisan' stuff falls into that category.

Soaps that hit the circular file because of performance -

Horrible
Lightfoot's Pine.
Mamabear

Meh
VDH
Valobra - the stuff in the box, one was menthol. Pfffft....

Weird
Just about everything from Barrister & Mann. Some of it was like a science project, other stuff reminds me of non-lathering shaving cream in a tube. No bueno for me.
 
Just chucked a puck, of some old artisinal thing, out of an OS mug as it had lost all scent, and that just won't do. It was a fair soap lather wise, but I want some scent darn it.
 
I recently made a batch of shaving soap using only ghee that would make most people with a functional sense of smell retch!
I'll need to make a separate thread to talk about it, but it would be wise to only use a synthetic brush to lather it and wash it and your with another soap real well afterwards.
By the way, I had some free time and this experiment was the result.
 
Ghee. While this thread is one of my favorite threads on any forum any where, I would also like to read about shaving soap made with popcorn butter ghee.
 
Anything by Wholly Kaw. Great base, but their scents and I just don’t get along. I’ve never found one I can like. And I’ve tried a lot of them.

Declaration Grooming is very hit or miss for me also as far as scents go. Except I loved Sweet Lemon. Another great base with scents I can’t use.

Best most natural smelling scents by far for me come from Barrister & Mann.
 
GroomingDept Coattails - smelled like a shoe
Declaration Grooming Sellout aftershave (which smells like Pledge vs. the soap which I love because it smells like a fantastic interpretation of Aventus)

I have a bunch of other GroomingDept soaps sitting around that I don't use at all - bad scents (Molten), nice but can't crack my rotation because I like supporting other brands more (most Mallards, Veritas, Soap)

Also, I loved A&E Asian Pear before reading this thread...but now I smell the hairspray that a few others complained about (thanks guys! :mad5:)
 
I had an Italian soap once I had to give away. It was either Cella or Vitos and smelled strongly of almonds. It wasn't a bad smell but it brought back some disturbing memories of a past life involving a hot day, sniffer dogs and home made explosives. We didn't find the IED that day but we sure could smell it. Just a disturbing memory that I had no desire to wallow in every time I shaved, although it was good soap. Smells can sure activate memories.
 
Los Angeles Shave Soap - i bought it in 2014 and its definitley the worst soap i ever bought. Even CDB cant shave with it, he said so on a recent video using it.
 
Los Angeles Shave Soap - i bought it in 2014 and its definitley the worst soap i ever bought. Even CDB cant shave with it, he said so on a recent video using it.
This is interesting. I've shaved through a couple of samples. I didn't think it was the best soap I ever used, but it lathered fine and shaved fine. Some of the scents are really nice.
 
I have a stick of Arko that I haven't brought myself to use. To me it smells like a combination of Toilet Duck branded cleaner and toothpaste. I can't bring myself to imbue that smell in all my brushes, and then spread it over my face. I understand many enjoy that scent and, just not for me.
 
I have a stick of Arko that I haven't brought myself to use. To me it smells like a combination of Toilet Duck branded cleaner and toothpaste. I can't bring myself to imbue that smell in all my brushes, and then spread it over my face. I understand many enjoy that scent and, just not for me.

I just received my first puck of Arco and it smells like a cross between industrial cleaner and Mr. Clean. 🥵

Thanks for posting about the brush. IF I ever bring myself to actually shave with the Arco, out comes the $5 Wilkinson Sword brush. I knew I would find a use for that brush eventually!
 
I have a stick of Arko that I haven't brought myself to use. To me it smells like a combination of Toilet Duck branded cleaner and toothpaste. I can't bring myself to imbue that smell in all my brushes, and then spread it over my face. I understand many enjoy that scent and, just not for me.

Simply throw it in your toilet cistern for that clean fresh smell with every flush.
 
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