Favorite Scents

Taylor of Old Bond Street Tobacco Leaf shave creme. That stuff smells so wonderful. Takes me to another place. Indescribable scent, just pure olfactory bliss.

IConloniali
Caties Bubbles LPV
WSP Olympia
Mystic Waters Bay Rum


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IConloniali
Caties Bubbles LPV
WSP Olympia
Mystic Waters Bay Rum


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good list. LPV, Olympia, MW Bay are in my fall favorite short list as well.

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I'm going to limit my rather long response here to shaving scents from "shaving"-oriented companies -- as opposed to, say, colognes, EDTs, EDPs, parfumes from "perfume/ scent" companies.  

And having limited myself like that, I have one scent that absolutely, utterly stands above all else -- DR Harris Arlington Aftershave. Described as citrus and fern it is bright, clean, citrus, enlivening.  Puts a smile on my face.  The one scent -- of many I've tried from soaps, aftershaves to perfumes, etc -- that my wife really truly likes.  Very popular and a classic for a reason.  (I don't like the cologne version even a fraction as much, so I tend to pair the aftershave with citrus-forward parfum scents).  I also don't love the Arlington soap that much because the scent doesn't come through, and the soap, while good, is not in my favorites.

Beyond Arlington, there are three other things I've pictured.  

For a soap, it's A&E Vacanza Romana.  Sadly, no longer made by A&E.  While described as a "woody chypre," and the notes were of citrus, basil, mint, cardamom, jasmine, I always get a comfortable level of tobacco, but not overly so (as most "tobacco" shaving scents tend towards.  But no longer made and I'll be really sad when this puck is finished.  (A&E also did an aftershave Vacanza Romana splash that I didn't just not like, but affirmatively found too cloying.)

Then a soap/splash combination:  Summer Break Soap's Cannonball!  It's like jumping into a pool on a hot summer's day.  Incredible stuff (to me).  SBS's description:, "an initial burst of of Pineapple and Orange, but the sweetness is quickly cut by the scents of Water, Ozone, and Chlorine, creating a unique and complex scent that is truly perfect for summer."  I agree.  Both the soap and the splash work for me.  They also both have a non-menthol coolant that is -- for me -- not intense but pleasant. Oh, and the soap base is pretty darn good, too.

And finally another two SBS choices -- History 101 and Bell Ringer.  Sadly (again) both are no longer being made but History 101 was a wonderful leathery tobacco scent and Bell Ringer was a bright grapefruit and mango.  Glad I bought several of each of these.  History 101 pairs well with Vanille Havane by Les Indémodables and Bell Ringer pairs incredibly well with Louis Vuitton Pacific Chill perfume (just to mention two scents).  

Finally, a few other scents that I really like (not pictured as I'm at my beach house and so don't have any of these): 

1.  Barrister & Mann's Vespers -- love this scent of incense, cranberries, balsam.  It IS winter, Xmas, holidays and cheer. Both the quality soap and the scent.  I'd have pictured it but I don't have it at my beach house (where I am right now).  

2.  Acqua di Parma's aftershave (specifically "Tonico Dopobarbra ala Colonia") - as classic as one can get and quality stuff. 

3.  SV (Saponificio Varesino)'s Felce Aromatica soap and aftershave -- a lot of pleasant fern.  

4.  Tallow + Steel Indian Bay (another discontinued one) - a great kind of bay-scented soap and splash.  

In bay rums, specifically, (5) my favorite is the often overlooked DR Harris Bay Rum aftershave which is, to my mind, just elegant.

And lastly, (6) Fitjar Islands' Fjellham -in both the cream and aftershave.  A little known shaving brand that makes really high quality creams - and also soaps but I like their cream formulation better -- and subtle excellent splashes.  Fjellham is, as they would describe it, as if you rolled in a bunch of juniper bushes. 

And one other note:  since two of their scents made my list, I have to say that I really like all Summer Break scents. Their 'nose' profiles align with mine.  The two I listed happened to be my favorites, however.

This will be hard to do and keep it relatively short but here goes. Listed by brand in no particular order:

APR - Fenchurch
CB - Quatre Cent Vingt
Summer Break - Daydream & Cannonball
Moon Soaps - Bixby
Phoenix & Beau - Whitechapel
Grooming Dept - Coconut Rum, Otium, L'Avventura
CRSW - Bergamot & Bay
Nuavia - Rossa and Blu
Gentleman's Nod - Kensei
Noble Otter - Lonestar
Mystic Water - Vetiver & Oakmoss
PAA - CaD and Gondolier
Shannon's Soap - Woodlands
HAGS - Barberwood
Eleven - Bosco
Saponificio Varesino - Flying Mango
Seaforth - Black Watch
Zingari Man - The Brewer

Ok I failed miserably but there go 20 mighty fine smelling soaps and I actually would like to add about 10 more. It's strange that my two favorite colognes are Aventus and Virgin Island Water and yet no dupes of those ended up on the list.

Ethos Succes
Ethos Greenfresh
Ethos Colonia
Ethos Tonka Bean
Oaken Lab Batavia Barber
HOM Indigo

There were previous favorites until I started collecting Ethos soaps. I guess I’m a snob, but I enjoy the natural essential oil aromas significantly more now. There are still a few I am probably forgetting that are not a part of the Ethos line though.

Ethos Vanilla Safi
Ethos Bay Rum
Ethos Tonka Bean
MacDuff's Birth of the Cool
MacDuff's Backcountry Bourbon

DERBY CHOP SHOP BAY RUM TONIC

(in alphabetical order):

• Atkinson - I Coloniali: powdery guaiac wood gentleman cologne, timeless classic.
• APR - Torchwood: forest fire extinguished with whiffs of cologne and leather whips.
• Declaration Grooming - Darkfall: not allowed to have an entire tub, it would be my 7/7 x 365 soap.
• Grooming Dept - Luxury: green leathery perfection, might actually have some quality oud inside, one of the very few.
• Tallow + Steel - Cairo: bright and vibrant citrus potpourri in a fizzy cola vibe, so pleasant.

It was pretty hard to keep scents like B&M Night Music, Talbot Shaving Authors Ridge or Noble Otter Hamami off this list, but a man has to make choices.
A lot of old dead entries too, I haven’t sniffed many new stuff in the past two years... It’s tough to try to keep up without falling back down the rabbit hole lol!

• Barrbarr – Noble Otter
  
• From the Woods – Los Jabones de Joserra
  
• La Forêt de Liguest – Chatillon Lux
  
• Old Strathcona – MacDuff's Soap Company
  
• Rodrigo de Jerez – Los Jabones de Joserra
  
• Tobacconist – House of Mammoth
  
• Trail Tobacco – MacDuff's Soap Company
  

Masters of the Green & Colonial Oud from denton majik

First Night & Atomic Age Bay Rum from PAA

Black Watch by Spearhead/Seaforth

42 by B&M

Florida Water

Lots of Pinaud Clubman stuff punches way above its weight class

As far as Frags I'm currently liking
Spice Bomb by Victor and Rolf
Burberry London
4711
Burberry brit for men