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Gents,
Forgive me for being naive (again) but what is the point in buying shaving soap with the difference fragrances? Is it to enhance the experience of the shave as it happens?
I understand different types of soaps give out difference types of lathers however we wash the lather off and put aftershave lotion/balm on afterwards thus getting rid of the scent of the soap and covering it with another?
Thanks,
Ross
Yea, that would be my thought, just to enhance the shaving experience and nothing more concrete.
Bob
Sometimes the scent sticks around for a bit or is enhanced by the AS you use. Yesterday I used W.M. Neumanns 1911. The scent lingers after you wash it away. Adding their AS bolsters the scent further as you'd expect. Proraso Red hangs around a bit as well. But you're right, most of the time you simply wash it away. I WILL say this though. Some scents actually ruin the lather. The same W. M. Neumann soap I used yesterday is a terrible soap in the bay rum scent. Whatever is in the fragrance for their bay rum causes the soap to lather terribly. Same producer, same soap. But with different fragrance and performance. Then again that has little to do with your original question.
Do not take this too seriously but since man, out of societal necessities must try to remain as monogamous as possible for marital peace, must satisfy his need to procreate with as many women as possible, has subsumed that primal need into the addiction of as many soaps/creams, ASs, balms and what have you with as many different scents as available. Something in our collective subconscious has diverted that need into satisfying it with aromas that might suggest sexual conquest to the user. Pure hypothesis on my part. But you never know. What I do know is that having advanced another year into my octogenarian decade I find the need for aromas and scents diminishing, having already fulfilled my procreative needs many years ago and I could care less for various scents, etc. That is, except for Lime. That I need as it reminds me that a good silver tequila on the rocks, splash of tonic water and a healthy squeeze of lime is a delight in the evening hours.
Still giggling after that one many thanks for the smile :D
Glen, you're welcome. Any time I feel myself getting too serious I look in the mirror and see the joke nature played on mankind and have to laugh at myself.
Will contact soon, have an interesting job for you.
For me, scent is a really big factor in choosing a soap. Of course it needs to lather well. But, the scent is one of the things that distinguishes a soap. Perhaps it is because I have such a large nose!
The whole wet shaving experience is just that. If you look at it as a pleasurable act then anything to enhance it adds to it. That's why we do hot towels and scented soaps for instance.
Aromatherapy mostly. Lavender is classic but many scents simply enhance the moment by moment experience with you and your blade. This morning I used Mike's Orange cedarwood and pepper and the standout orange zest smell in the bathroom made me forget about the snow falling outside and gave me a bit of a tropical environment. I even went for a swim later in the morning.
Speaking for myself only, I will steal a line from American Splendor and call it a reliable disappointment. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Razorfeld
To borrow the Olympia beer slogan from 40 years ago, "it's the lather... and a lot more!"
There's probably some CDO* behavior in there, as well; I like my shaving soap/cream to match the EDC/EDT/EDP I'll be using at the end (or at least not fight with it, which is why I recently bought a tin of unscented Simpsons shaving cream -- I can't imagine a scented one that would fit with Caron's Yatagan).
* It's like OCD, but the letters are in proper alphabetical order.
Gentlemen, it is really simple:
Scent does not enhance the soap or the cream's performance. For some shavers, however, the scent enhances the shaving ritual. For some it does not.
I in the main agree with the posts already here, at first all you want is a lather that will help to offset poor technique, but eventualy you just want to try different things, I try to not replecate a scent.if I am buying different brands of soap/ cream, that way I can try 2 new things in one, I have some products that smell fantastic but are not impressive latherwise and vice versa, though taking into account ocdshavers point maybe I have judged products unfairly.
My goal though is to only have one soap and one cream.
But as they are so cheap comparatively, it is hard not to pick up something new when you see it.
All the best
Ed