Thread: Recommendations

Hi all,

So I've just arrived in the US for the first time in my straight-shaving life. Got down to my first shave yesterday, and realized... I didn't bring my aftershave with me. So I went down to the local shave shop, and was totally blown away by the amount of options. So, I'm looking to see if anyone has any recommendations. I think I'm interested in bay rum scents (based on a few I smelled there), not so interested in lime or citrus scents. Otherwise, I'm open to suggestions.
Some of the brands they were carrying were: Trumper, Taconic, Col. Conk, Captain's Choice

Thanks in advance! (also, if anyone has any recommendations on soaps to try, my ears are open)

Originally Posted by ffourteen

Hi all,

So I've just arrived in the US for the first time in my straight-shaving life. Got down to my first shave yesterday, and realized... I didn't bring my aftershave with me. So I went down to the local shave shop, and was totally blown away by the amount of options. So, I'm looking to see if anyone has any recommendations. I think I'm interested in bay rum scents (based on a few I smelled there), not so interested in lime or citrus scents. Otherwise, I'm open to suggestions.
Some of the brands they were carrying were: Trumper, Taconic, Col. Conk, Captain's Choice

Thanks in advance! (also, if anyone has any recommendations on soaps to try, my ears are open)

Check and see if you can order some samples of as many as you can. That way you can try a lot of different scents and choose from them.

I am a big fan of Trumper's Skin Foods which would fall under aftershave balms. They have them in rose, sandalwood, and lime scents. Captain's Choice is a nice Bay Rum aftershave lotion. It is the nicest smelling of the three or four brands I have tried.
My favorite soaps currently are D. R. Harris Arlington and Tabac.

If you like a "clove bomb" Ogallala Bay rum.
For a good face "Burn" Captains Choice Cat O' Nine Tails.
A nice soothing all natural no alcohol try Barberry Coast Bay Rum.

Pinaud Clubman, in original scent. Can't go wrong!!!

Bay Rum is a pretty standard scent and most of the ones I've tried are very similar. The ones that aren't are really not Bay Rum like the Pinaud which is really clove based. With the others it's a matter of the alcohol content. The better ones have less.

Harris is good as is Royall

As for bay rum, I like Taylor of ol bond street. Matches very well with SRD west indies bay soap, as well as captains choice, cat o nine tails. JMO

I like the woodsy scents. Stuff like vetiver and cedar wood. I use d to use a lot of frankincense and myrrh in my hair pomade

Captain's Choice and Ogallala are great Bay Rum's and Clubman can't be beat.

But one of my favorites that isn't Bay Rum is Ghost Yown Barber.

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Hi guys,

Thanks for the wealth of input. I just did my second shave today with no aftershave, just a dab or two of horse oil to try and moisturize. The one thing I'm noticing is that about a day or a day and a half after the shave, some razor burn will appear (I'm a bit prone to razor burn, and I think the fact that I just went from an extreme humid environment to a relatively dry one might be contributing; previously I was using a scentless aftershave and then a face lotion, both from Japan, which kept it more or less under control). So maybe that question will help to narrow the recommendations down? Which of the above mentioned (or others) is good for preventing/soothing razor burn? Is higher or lower alcohol content preferable for that? Thanks!