A couple of weeks ago, I started a thread asking about barbershop scented soaps. It seems that nearly everyone makes one, but since I never knew what to expect, I had never tried one. Reading the scent note descriptions didn't help me much, so I figured I would try a couple and see what "barbershop scent" really is. First up was Stirling's Barbershop soap. As some had suggested, it is very heavy on the vanilla. I had been trying to avoid anything heavy on the patchouli, since I don't care for it, and Stirling was pointed out as one that did not have a noticeable patchouli note to it. To my nose, however, Stirling's Barbershop is almost entirely a vanilla scent. It arrived with some bath soaps for my wife and a sample of the vanilla sandalwood bath soap. Off the puck, it is hard to tell those two apart. One poster had stated that you get more of the barbershop scent when lathering, and I would say that that is true, but the vanilla still overwhelms all else to my nose.
Asking what was not like Stirling elicited several other choices and I went with Wet Shaving Products Barbershop for my second try. I have used WSP soaps (and Stirling soaps) before and have found their performance to be excellent, so I knew that I wasn't taking much of a chance. All I can say is that if both of these soaps are Barbershop Scent then (see title of thread) there is no such thing as a barbershop scent. I cannot say at all what this soap smells like; it is quite pleasant, but it does not smell at all like any barbershop I have been in, and it has nothing in common with the scent of Stirling Barbershop.
Oddly enough, this morning I used a soap not called Barbershop that reminded me more of a barbershop than either Stirling or WSP Barbershop soaps. It's Klar Classic. Generally the descriptions you see of the scent highlight leather and spice, but my wife (my primary reference for scent evaluations) agrees that of the three, it is the one she would pick as the Barbershop scent.
I'll finish up the two "Barbershop" soaps I have, but I think I'll leave it at that.
Asking what was not like Stirling elicited several other choices and I went with Wet Shaving Products Barbershop for my second try. I have used WSP soaps (and Stirling soaps) before and have found their performance to be excellent, so I knew that I wasn't taking much of a chance. All I can say is that if both of these soaps are Barbershop Scent then (see title of thread) there is no such thing as a barbershop scent. I cannot say at all what this soap smells like; it is quite pleasant, but it does not smell at all like any barbershop I have been in, and it has nothing in common with the scent of Stirling Barbershop.
Oddly enough, this morning I used a soap not called Barbershop that reminded me more of a barbershop than either Stirling or WSP Barbershop soaps. It's Klar Classic. Generally the descriptions you see of the scent highlight leather and spice, but my wife (my primary reference for scent evaluations) agrees that of the three, it is the one she would pick as the Barbershop scent.
I'll finish up the two "Barbershop" soaps I have, but I think I'll leave it at that.