Shaving Cream/Soap Samples – Lessons Learned, A Ton of Empty Jars and Process Results

I'm going to disagree about the talcum powder and barbershops thing.  Perhaps I'm so old that the Sioux still roamed the Great Plains, but my recollection, from the 50's,  was that after a haircut my barber had a whisk that he used to brush away any loose hair clippings from around your neck and that whisk was always dusted with plenty of some sort of talcum powder.  When he was done,  the back of your neck felt dry and powdery. You could definitely smell it in the air, along with a variety of scents from hair creams and aftershave tonics -- at least in Kenny's Barbershop.

I agree, except for me it was Frank's barbershop. You nailed it in every way possible, as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, I know the whisk thing but it was fleeting. The barber would use some shaving cream and a straightedge on your neck, a splash and the whisk.  But the powder to me was fleeting in no way able to dominate the rest of the stale ciagarette butts, musky old comc books, newsprint, brylcream and bayrum. one dominated the other. Sometimes we forget just how prevalent smoking used to be, an entire room of adults chain smoking never mind the butts overflowing ash trays or better yet the large ones with sand that probably never were dumped!

Nostalgia, funny what we remember

Yes, I know the whisk thing but it was fleeting. The barber would use some shaving cream and a straightedge on your neck, a splash and the whisk.  But the powder to me was fleeting in no way able to dominate the rest of the stale ciagarette butts, musky old comc books, newsprint, brylcream and bayrum. one dominated the other. Sometimes we forget just how prevalent smoking used to be, an entire room of adults chain smoking never mind the butts overflowing ash trays or better yet the large ones with sand that probably never were dumped!

Nostalgia, funny what we remember

Fair enough, grim, but I think I'll take my nostalgia over yours.

@"Uzi" Yes sir! When I lived in NYC I used to get my haircuts all the way in Brooklyn at an Italian barber shop.

Pinaud talcum powder was a staple after a nice neck clean up

I've only been getting haircuts at a proper barbershop for the last year or so and all the ones I've gone to still use a splash of Clubman after cleaning up the neck with a straight razor. So to me, that is the "quintessential" barbershop scent.

@"Uzi"    Yes sir!  When I lived in NYC I used to get my haircuts all the way in Brooklyn at an Italian barber shop.

Pinaud talcum powder was a staple after a nice neck clean up

Where in Brooklyn, Hector? That is where I'm from and where I get my sense of the very elusive "barbershop scent".

Freddy Canarsie. It doesn't get any more Italian than Canarsie. Rode that L train for a few years :-)

Freddy   Canarsie.  It doesn't get any more Italian than Canarsie.  Rode that L train for a few years :-)

I lived in Sheepshead Bay and there were a few barbers around.  Though my neighborhood was a mixture of Jewish, Italian, Irish, and others, the barbers were always Italian.

Freddy The feeling of that straight around my ears and neck and the splash of Clubman afterwards, glorious! :-)

Freddy   The feeling of that straight around my ears and neck and the splash of Clubman afterwards, glorious! :-)

You know what I remember about that straight on the neck and behind the ears (remember I was very young)?  It was the strop hanging from the barber's chair.  Frank did the stropping with such efficiency and it was so second nature that I used to look forward to watching him do it.  When he got done with that shave I knew we were near to the best part, the big brush with talc and the aftershave, which I believe was Clubman.  That always felt and smelled so good to me.  Today, though, all I want to do is get the haircut over with as soon as possible so I can be on my way.  While I go to a traditional barbershop, the feeling, on so many levels, is just not the same for me.