Thread: AV Aftershave user...

So I've been using Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue for a while now and I absolutely love it. As a fan of wet-shaving I think its important to smell traditional and manly afterwards. I've been thinking about trying some others like Pinaud Clubman Classic and Aqua Velva Musk but wanted to get some opinions on them from the folks on here first.

Anyone ever use them and if so what did yall think?

I'd recommend Alt-Innsbruck, Menthol and Tobacco flower, I just bought this 2 weeks ago, opened the bottle and sniffed. I thought awl-man this stuff smells like Brut, and was bummed out. BUT! after splashing some on....awesome stuff, totally dries down and smells completely different, in a good way. The other AS's I use are Nivea full effect, RazoRock original and 888, Old Spice. Pinaud is a thumbs down for me, wife evicted it from the house

I also use Aqua Velva from time to time.
While I've never used the AV Musk I do
use Pinaud Clubman and really enjoy it.

I'm not very good at describing scents but
would just describe it as old school.

Terry

See I like some of the old school type scents. To me those are "manly". Thats one of the reasons I like Aqua Velva as much as I do.

Just recently tried AV Ice Blue and yea it does sorta remind me of a barbershop when I was a kid. Sure hate the smell of Brut though. Might try Old Spice Traditional next.

Bob

For the most part I use av ice blue in the summer and av musk the rest of year. I have used a fair amount of other as's and seem to always come back to those two.

Haven't tried the AV yet (soon), clubman original and bay rum are great. Started using some Stetson too, the wife thinks that smells like baby powder though. I've got some Old Spice that I use occasionally and like. My new favorite is the Speick AS, very unique and manly smell!

Not sue about the others you mentioned but, I now they're under $10 so why not give them a go.

I've used AV Ice Blue in the past. I like the Ice Sport better. It smells pretty close to Davidoff Cool Water, which is a LOT more expensive. I like it better than Skin Bracer, too. I have not tried the musk, but I have never found a musk that I or anybody else ever liked on me. Somewhere in my youth I have tried Old Spice, Brut, English Leather and Hai Karate as well, and while I do like those types of strong vintage scents, I think the Ice Sport is one of the few that won't get me accused of smelling like somebody else's grandad.

As for what little I've tried so far from TOBS, Truefitt & Hill and Geo. F. Trumper, I'm finding that the AS balms and creams in particular have very understated scents that have completely dissipated within a couple of hours. I have some of Trumper's cologne samples, and I think the Spanish Leather appeals to me the most, going well with their excellent shaving cream. I'm just careful of how much of that I put on, however. Like most, I'm sure, I just want an appealing-on-me long-lasting scent that doesn't knock people down for the first two hours.

For colognes, I've tried Polo, Drakkar, Chanel Allure, Lagerfeld - and perhaps had the most success with Davidoff Cool Water and Gucci Nobile, but I've never really felt totally at ease with any of them.

I seem to do better with body sprays these days, and just about any of them will do the trick. Right now, I'm using MKmen, since it turns out that I'm married to a MK rep. She likes that it knocks out the wet dog smell that we all get after sweating, but the scent itself is somewhat unremarkable. Functionally, body sprays seem to do more directly what colognes and deodorant soaps have only had limited success with. Sprayed from the small of the back upwards, it activates with sweat, even much later in the day.

The thing for me about scents of AS or colognes is weird. I've worn alot of different types and brands of varying price ranges and I can pull them all off pretty well. I've only had a couple of scents that just seemed off on me, namely being the old school Gravity that I got in like the third grade and Joop. Those are the only two that I have really had any issues with. I've worn the cheap drug store carried colognes and AS like Stetson, AV, Aramis, etc., right on up to the more expensive stuff like Aqua Di Gio, Ed Hardy, and even Burberry. It seems that as long as I adjust my dress I can pull of pretty much any scent that I choose.

My biggest problem is that as I get older I seem to get more frugal about the things that are disposable. Things that are expendable and get used up relatively quick, I tend to want to spend less on. Dont get me wrong, I'll still shell out alot of money for something that will last a good long time (I guess why Im into straight razors), but considering things like after shaves and colognes dont seem to last me very long when I use them daily, I have a hard time spending alot of money on them. I also hate buying things that I have to wait to be shipped to me when there are other things I can go down to the store and pick up. Alot of the bay rum scented after shaves, which I do enjoy by the way, arent carried in the local to me stores, so those are things that have to be bought online and shipped.

Im just getting away from the "teenager" scents like Axe's and all of the new deodorants that are supposed to smell like a wild meadow on a spring day or whatever. I guess Im starting to like scents with a bit more 'sophistication' to them (if you could call Aqua Veva sophisticated), and things that to me make me smell like more or a man instead of a teenager if that makes any sense?

I have been using AV Ice Blue for many years and love it. Recently I picked up some Pinaud Clubman just to branch out, and it has really grown on me. Smells completely different from Ice Blue, but also super classic. IMO it doesn't get any more barbershop than Clubman. Ice Blue does cool a bit better but still two thumbs way up for Clubman.