OSP soaps. Scents.

I'm considering purchasing some of this artisan's products in the short term. They have already achieved the highest reputation and they have a formulation that looks pretty similar to those high-end American soaps so difficult and/or expensive to purchase for us European folks, with the advantage of being manufactured within the EU.

Bad news is that, according to some fellows at the forums I participate at over here, some of the scents are described as "difficult". My initial intention is to purchase two soaps. One meant for warm weather and the other one for cold weather. I honestly don't know in which of these categories would scents like the Bay Rum or the Barbershop fit. Surely, citric or menthol scents are nice for summertime, but then again, where would the Peppermint&Rosemary fit better? (it's one of the candidates, needless to say).

So, the purpose of the thread is kindly requesting those of you who have purchased these soaps to describe the scents of your soaps, and for what kind of weather you would recommend them. That would help me quite a bit in order to helping me decide which soaps to choose.

Your inputs appreciated. Thanks in advance, gents.

I am not really a scent guy, so I could not accurately match scents with the weather.  However, IMHO, the orange/patchouli and the rosemary peppermint are very nice, not too strong and would probably be OK in warm weather.

The bay rum is nice as well, but heavier.

Hope this helps.

It does help, indeed, Teddyboy. I also don't have the sharpest of smell senses so as to catch and be able to tell the different notes present in a fragrance. It happens pretty much the same with drinks. I can tell a good wine or beer from a bad one and will be able to match it with some food more or less correctly, but don't ask me if there's vanilla or licorice in the background . As far as soaps are concerned, I will neither be using Tabac or a Vetiver in August, nor a Lea  Classic in January .
So, chances are the Peppermint&Rosemary is likely to come home. You're the second person who praises the scent. Would be lovely to know about the Grapefruit& Menthol. On the other side, I'm hesitating between the Bay Rum and the Barbershop. Let's hope someone else chimes in.
Thank you .

Good morning,

I have tried two of OSP soaps and before I talk about the scents I will just add to what you have heard. These are truely great soaps and are the first soaps from the EU artisan sector that can compete with the US artisans. If you are interested in OSP make sure you have a look at Phoenix and Beau too as I heard great things about them.

I have tried Bay Rum and Grapefruit and Menthol. Both are medium strength scents. The menthol level in the grapefruit is also an average amount approx 5/10. As much as the performance of these are great I think his scents are average. I found the Grapefriut to smell much more like orange and in fact was similar to Stirling Orange Chill if you have tried that. The menthol very much dominates the scent out of the tub but does subdue during the shave. The Bay Rum is very standard and reasonably heavy on the Clove. It's nice but nothing different and interesting.

I have sold both as I find the scents lack any interesting features. James the owner has said he will not use fragrance oils but I think this greatly decreases his ability to create new and standout scents.

I mentioned P&B at the beginning because their scents are much more interesting and I will buy some soon.

I hope this helps and questions please ask

I believe Marko would have some input on this soap as well.

Thank you very much, WindsorCitrus. I knew the Phoenix and Beau brand, but I thought they were vegan, not tallow based, which is my personal preference. The good news is that they're locally available at one of my go-to wet shaving stores. I'll look into it right now .

Thank you very much, WindsorCitrus. I knew the Phoenix and Beau brand, but I thought they were vegan, not tallow based, which is my personal preference. The good news is that they're locally available at one of my go-to wet shaving stores. I'll look into it right now .

Yea they are Tallow, take a look if you get the chance there is some very interesting scents.

Hi @"Schrittmacher" , I purchased the OSP bay rum and the sandalwood last fall and while the performance was very good, the scent was mild to the point of virtual non-existence . I honestly struggle to tell the difference between the two soaps on a side by side smell test. If I ever mixed up the lids I don't think I would be able to say for sure which was which. The most dominant scent I get from the soaps is close to Probert's Saddle Soap. I discussed this with James the OSP and apart from saying that others considered it adequately scented he admitted there might be some batch variation. He didn't offer to send me a replacement that contained scent, however. I think its just a factor of Eurpopean soaps generally being more mildly scented than North American soaps. Obviously there are some notable exceptions like Meisner Tremonia. Obviously this all just my opinion and I know that others will have had differing experiences. I like the soap I use to, at the very least, have the fragrance that the maker represents them as having.
Marko

Well, Marko 's words have finally convinced me, and WindsorCitrus ' s advice has been very wise. The soaps from Phoenix and Beau, according to the reviews, should be, quality wise, on par with OSP's. But I've decided to hold it until the end of next month as they have announced a couple of scents that might be very interesting, "Denali" (menthol) and "Albion" (unknown). They have an attractive sample pack available, so I'll wait for those two scents to be added to their inventory, and this way, get my hands on all of their scents   . That should help me making my mind up, although that new "Denali" and the new "Spitfire" sound like very good summer and winter time propositions.
Thanks everyone for your help  

Check with the seller for samples of the soaps you think would best fit your criteria.

If that is not an option you could ask the nice gentlemen of this forum to sent you some to try out.

My $0.02