Talk to me about After-shaves

[cheesepiece]

I've been using after shave since before I was shaving, since I was about 11.
I got bottles of Joop! and CK one very early on and grew out of those.
I am 22 now and a few weeks ago I started DE shaving. I regularly use Paul Smith Extreme EDT.
When the word after-shave is used here, in relation to colognes and such, not balms and post-shave care, are we still talking about alcohol EDTs and the like?
I only wonder as nobody ever recommends the big, popular scents like Gucci and Jean Paul Gaultier but often refer users to Tabac and Old Spice... Is this personal preference? Do the popular aftershaves I've mentioned do the same job as the DE shaving recommendations like Tabac? Or am I missing something?

I smelt Bay Rum aftershave in Boots, in the UK, the other day and thought wow, that smells like a shave den condensed into a bottle. I will get some soon. I just wonder, do those traditional shaving aftershaves replace people's mainstream aftershaves, surely one doesn't use both...

Thanks for the help guys, it's just all the talk revolves around aftershaves I never heard of and wonder if there's a reason for that...

 

[heybatter]

Personally I use 'aftershave' only to describe splashes and balms applied directly after shaving to sooth the face. EdTs and colognes are a separate category, 'fragrances', I suppose.

 

[dcobranchi]

EdT are much more concentrated than aftershaves. If you used as much EdT as I do my A/S, your colleagues would be wearing gas masks. EdT is a fragrance only. A/S are more a skin treatment to cool you down after a nice close shave.

 

[Relentless]

Personally I use 'aftershave' only to describe splashes and balms applied directly after shaving to sooth the face. EdTs and colognes are a separate category, 'fragrances', I suppose.

+1

Most of my aftershave has fragrance that lasts a good 30 minutes or hour tops. Aside from The Mighty VEG of course. I'm free to use most of my cologne (EDT or EDP) anytime after I shave and apply aftershave, but sometimes the frags clash so I'm just a bit careful. When I use my better fragrances I can use any scented soap but generally opt for a neutral or odorless aftershave option so there's no interference. YMMV

 

[John Von Wuggz]

Personally I use 'aftershave' only to describe splashes and balms applied directly after shaving to sooth the face. EdTs and colognes are a separate category, 'fragrances', I suppose.

+1

 

[Emanon]

Aftershave is just that "aftershave." It's meant to treat the skin after the attack of a shave. The scent of an aftershave is sort of an afterthought. Most aftershaves don't last long as far as smell goes. The ones that do last a bit longer usually still don't have the strength and staying power of colognes which are meant to kind of dress you up fragrantly. Colognes are more part of your attire than your shave. You can put on a cologne anytime, shave or not. Aftershave is for after your shave.

 

[SmoovD]

Popular scents? You mean Tabac, AV, Speick and Floid aren't popular? You must be hanging around the wrong crowd.

I tend to think of aftershaves in terms of performance first. Afterall, that is its primary job. If it doesn't sooth my face then I really don't care what it smells like because I will not use it. The scent comes in second. If the aftershave performs well but I do not like the scent, it doesn't stick around. I use cologne/EDT, not aftershaves for fragrance. To each his own.

 

[Mick]

After shave is understood to be in reference to a splash (with or without alcohol)

After shave balm is a cream

Some after shaves are labeled aftershave colognes, these tend to have stronger longer lasting scents.

Before purchasing you should read the product label to find out if it has alcohol or not

 

[Emanon]

The funny thing is that I love the aftershave scents. But a lot of them don't come as cologne. I am not really interested in what it does for my skin...not as much as I am in the smell.

I buy according to scent.

 

[Klopstick]

Somebody send that man a bottle of Clubman Special Reserve!