Lightly scented soaps you find bland

The scent strength is probably the one piece of consistent feedback I've gotten. I'm happy to say that I've been able to correct with a change in technique (without having to increase the concentration of oils). That said, it was never intended to be an air freshener.

For me, its all about having a scent present during the shave. If I can't smell the scent after a bit on the first pass, I assume I'm used to it. Then I wipe on the second pass and expect to smell the scent. If its still not present, its a let down. Whats the point of having a scented shave soap if the scent isn't present? If all shave soaps had light to no scents like the soaps I mentioned in my original post, I would clear them all out and just use unscented Soap Commander purely for how it performs. Its not about something being an "air freshener" its about the soap having a scent that sticks throughout the shave and enhances the experience. Otherwise, one could just count on aftershaves/colognes for scent and again, just have one or two go to unscented soaps that perform well for your shave. Hell, even Barbasol has a scent and its freaking $1.26 people come on.

The scent strength is probably the one piece of consistent feedback I've gotten. I'm happy to say that I've been able to correct with a change in technique (without having to increase the concentration of oils). That said, it was never intended to be an air freshener.

Idle Hour is definitely the strongest of the three that I've tried. The soaps still works great for me and you do a really great job putting the scents together. I'll be looking forward to the new batch if they are going to be a little stronger.

The scent strength is probably the one piece of consistent feedback I've gotten. I'm happy to say that I've been able to correct with a change in technique (without having to increase the concentration of oils). That said, it was never intended to be an air freshener.

Idle Hour is definitely the strongest of the three that I've tried. The soaps still works great for me and you do a really great job putting the scents together.  I'll be looking forward to the new batch if they are going to be a little stronger.

Brouhaha has good scent strength as well- not sure if it is the latest formula or not but it's quite nice.

Brouhaha was the proof of concept with the new technique. It takes me a little longer to scent the batches, but the scents are stronger.

I Coloniali Mango -  The scent of this soap was a mild mango. It was a pleasant fruity scent but with barely any strength. It almost felt scentless.

Grim - I Coloniali has no mango scent in it. It has mango oil in it for skin prediction, glide etc, similar to coconut oil in many soaps. I say this respectfully, but I just cannot fathom how you could find the scent of this soap to be fruity and almost scentless. The scent is a quite strong and unique incense, like they use in Catholic Church Mass.

Are you sure you have not confused this soap with another soap? I ask because your description here is wildly at odds with not just my own personal experience, but also with that of every other review if this soap I have read to my recollection.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't like overwhelming scented soaps. I like the scent to be pleasant while I'm shaving, but once I'm done, I'm fine with dissipation.

It gives me the opportunity to indulge in whatever aftershave or cologne afterwards. If it happens to be a match, cool, but I like to have options.

Cool topic.

For me, its all about having a scent present during the shave.  If I can't smell the scent after a bit on the first pass, I assume I'm used to it.  Then I wipe on the second pass and expect to smell the scent.  If its still not present, its a let down.  Whats the point of having a scented shave soap if the scent isn't present?  If all  shave soaps had light to no scents like the soaps I mentioned in my original post, I would clear them all out and just use unscented Soap Commander purely for how it performs.   Its not about something being an "air freshener" its about the soap having a scent that sticks throughout the shave and enhances the experience.  Otherwise, one could just count on aftershaves/colognes for scent and again, just have one or two go to unscented soaps that perform well for your shave. Hell, even Barbasol has a scent and its freaking $1.26 people come on.

I agree 100%. If the scent is too lite, its into the (trash) ...

Now some will lather and the scent dissipates but when you relater you face, a new wave of scent hits you. Those are OK.

I Coloniali Mango -  The scent of this soap was a mild mango. It was a pleasant fruity scent but with barely any strength. It almost felt scentless.

Grim - I Coloniali has no mango scent in it. It has mango oil in it for skin prediction, glide etc, similar to coconut oil in many soaps. I say this respectfully, but I just cannot fathom how you could find the scent of this soap to be fruity and almost scentless. The scent is a quite strong and unique incense, like they use in Catholic Church Mass.

Are you sure you have not confused this soap with another soap? I ask because your description here is wildly at odds with not just my own personal experience, but also with that of every other review if this soap I have read to my recollection.

Nope, that is what I got from it. Light and fruity like a mild mango. Remember, 30% of all scent sensors in human are different. That's why one person's rose is another's .... sewage. http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases..._receptors

Researchers from the Monell Center and collaborating institutions have found that as much as 30 percent of the large array of human olfactory receptor differs between any two individuals. This substantial variation is in turn reflected by variability in how each person perceives odors.


And so I just Googled i Colongia Mango review and the first one that came up was this http://www.shaving101.com/index.php/prod...cream.html

" The aroma of the cream has a mango fruit-like character to it, but it is more subtle and blended with a light smokiness that gives it an interesting fragrance. With no bright or citrusy sweet tones"

Now I forgot to mention the light menthol but I don't think menthol is a scent. Like that author, I got light fruity scent that was like a Mango, and since I like Mango Ice Tea, it was sort of like that.

Here is another review

"To me it smells of over-ripe tropical fruit generally rather than mango specifically"

Other people call it smoky, cocoa. Here

"The scent is a mixture of mango and smoke"

Here

" I picked up the fruity scent throughout. It’s not especially strong"

So obviously a few people besides myself thinks its a fruity smell. I have no idea why people thinks its smoky. If you want smoky, try TTFFC Through The Fire. Now that is strong and the smoke smell will stay on you for an hour later.

OK, the thread I would have started if someone else didn't already do it. I like there to be scent present while I'm shaving. I like the scent to actually smell like it is promoted as smelling like. Its about expectations - MWF will smell like sheepy soap and I expect that but here is my list of the big disappointments I've had:

Obsessive Soap Perfectionist Bay Rum / Obsessive Soap Perfectionist Sandalwood - James is obviously not as obsessive about scent as I found the soaps difficult to distinguish. They smell remarkably similar and that smell to me is Proberts Saddle Soap.
CRSW Bergamot and Bay and Vetiver Moderne - I struggle to get any scent whatsoever out of these two. I won't be getting another CRSW soap, strike 2 you're out.
Beaver Woodright Blackbeard - this is supposed to be Bay Rum and Lime - you get a very mild lime whiff and nothing else, plus it burns my skin - goodbye.
First Canadian Shave Soap Co. - What? you call it Bay Rum? You could have called it anything because it smelled like nothing. Hasta la vista, baby.
Caties Bubbles Menage a Lavande - seriously? very mild lavender soap marketed as the ultimate lavender bomb. Not.

On the subject of whether shaving soap scent should be an air freshener or not, I say it should be an air freshener for the time that the shave lasts. This is the time where the scent of the soap is enjoyed by the shaver alone without any risk of offending delicate noses - do I want by aftershaves to be overpoweringly and tenaciously scented? No I don't, those should give you a nice hit and then fade to subtle in reasonably short order.

Clearly not everybody feels the way I do (sadly) and that is just fine. If soap scents actually turned out as they are marketed there would be no problem. Those of us who like stronger scent could buy soap that is sold as and actually is strongly scented while those wanting milder, more subtle scents could buy soaps that are marketed as such. The problem arises when a soap is marketed as a scent bomb and its got nothing. thats just a big disappointment and a good reason not to buy that brand again.

I don't have the cream - I only have the hard soap. Perhaps there is some difference in scent between the two. I don't get smoke as from a fire smoke, rather it is smokey incense, which is a different smoke type scent to me.

Wow, huge differences in scent perception on this one, no doubt about it.