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Thread: Ironies About Fragrance

  1. #11
    The Great & Powerful Oz onimaru55's Avatar
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    A possible factor . Natural essential oils may degrade faster than synthetic fragrance oils
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  3. #12
    Senior Member PaulKidd's Avatar
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    Right off the top of my head, I can think of 3 factors that have effected
    my choice of scent:

    First, tastes do change over time. I used to prefer bold, strong scents, like
    English Leather, which now seem over-powering and intrusive. These days,
    I tend towards lighter scents, especially varieties of bay rum. Otherwise,
    I never have cared for "floral" scents much.

    As Geezer says, one's sensorium changes, not only daily, but over time. One's
    sense of smell, or at least the sensitivity to certain scents, changes with age.

    Finally, there's scent memory. If, during a leisurely shave, I let my mind wander,
    I sometimes recall events which I associate with a certain scent. So naturally,
    I tend to prefer the scents that I associate with "good" memories. Old Spice
    always makes me think of my grandfather, for example.

    All this is quite apart from how a particular soap "works" for me: if I can't get it
    to lather properly, or if the lather is just plain lousy, the soap goes in the trash,
    regardless of the scent.

    IMHO, of course. Thanks for bringing up the topic, Obie.
    Last edited by PaulKidd; 05-22-2018 at 11:41 PM. Reason: typo
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    Senior Member blabbermouth celestino's Avatar
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    Fortunately for me, I have not tired of the scents from my main soap maker. I have been using her soaps for the past seven years and I still love the majority of the scents I have had for that same period of time. Actually, the majority of the scents are simply superb and that hasn't changed in all of these years.
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    Senior Member blabbermouth evnpar's Avatar
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    Obie, I don't think I'll ever tire of Irving Park as it's based on YSL Rive Gauche, a classic fougère cologne and one of my favorites. Castle Forbes 1445 is another green, modern fougère scent that I doubt I'll ever tire of. I do tend to prefer many classic scents and never tire of them, unless I use them too frequently. I enjoy most Penhaligon cream scents, as well as C&S, SMN, Alvarez Gomez, and DR Harris scents, and even Tabac. However, part of the fun of shaving for me is trying different products and scents. Newer artisan scents may not become permanent soaps in my rotation, but I still enjoy using them for awhile, although I'll always have the classics in my shave den.
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    Richard

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  9. #15
    The Assyrian Obie's Avatar
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    Richard,

    My shave soap and cream scent fatigue seems to cover only artisan made products rather than the traditional greats. The few quality artisan products I have used through the years have failed me only in one way: I have tired of their scent. In some cases bored.

    They remind of a home that stops being one.

    Castle Forbes, Martin de Candre, Provence Sante Verlane, Tabac, Mitchell's Wool Fat, D.R. Harris Arlington, Czech & Speake, Baum.Be, Klar Seifen, Alvarez Gomez cream, Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet cream and other traditional greats smell just as pleasing to me now as they did when I tried them years ago.

    I think someone pointed out earlier — and I paraphrase here — that the artisan soap and cream makers lack the skill and, to me, the touch the scent makers of the classic greats possess. Much like the honemeister who has that extra touch — the magic.
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  11. #16
    Senior Member GreenRipper's Avatar
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    I read this post last week and I've been ruminating on it since then. The fact is that I both agree and disagree with you, Obie.

    You brought up Oleo and I'm in complete agreement. I currently own both Fiera and Pucker and both are definitely waning in interest. In all fairness, I purchased the Fiera because my wife liked the smell of the sample that I had purchased and I found it pleasant but not something I would likely have invested in if not for her. The Pucker was another scent that I purchased as a sample that multiplied into a full-sized puck and aftershave on my birthday. My wife tried but I would have preferred to give Fourth & Pine a try from Chatillon Lux/Declaration Grooming. Neither of these fragrances are bad but they aren't exactly the first to come to hand on a given morning.

    Compare that to some other artisan soaps that I have loitering in my shave den. I have several that come to hand all too easily, or that I save for those days that I really want to savor that particular fragrance. Barrister & Mann's 42 and the Chatillon Lux/Sudsy Soapery collaboration on Delor de Treget are two that leap immediately to mind.

    I think the differences here really come down to specific producers, or even soaps. Chatillon Lux is a fragrance house (not my term) and Shawn only produces soaps in the context of collaborating with artisan soap makers. Every product, aftershaves and balm, that I have purchased from Chatillon Lux has been outstanding and I suspect that the Declaration Grooming collaboration soaps are just as good as the one Shawn produced with Sudsy (I keep talking myself out of buying Fourth and Pine, a battle I feel I am losing). The only B&M soap I've purchased so far is 42 but its scent is one of my favorites and I will be looking to buy another tub next May.

    So I wonder if the issue has less to do with artisan soap makers in general or that so many of them spend the majority of their time concentrating on producing scores of fragrances instead of perfecting the ones they have. Sadly, our fascination with the latest "limited run" of a particular scent has tended to make the artisans spend far too much time and effort trying to come up with their latest release. I can't say that I can blame them as there seem to be more than a few wetshavers who drop $15+ on every soap that certain artisans bring to market.

    Compare this to the established European producers. These companies have been producing soaps for generations and have had the time and resources to perfect their fragrances. Additionally, these companies generally are producing aftershaves, colognes and perfumes, usually as their primary product lines. These are established companies who have a stable, if rather stagnant, market base. Contrary to the artisans, these companies tend to offer fewer than a half dozen fragrance options with rare limited releases.

    To be completely fair here, I've only used a few of the soaps on Obie's First Tier list. The fact is that most of the traditional scents don't really excite me and some of the options are a bit cost prohibitive for something I don't know that I'll like. MdC may be the greatest soap on earth but I just can't bring myself to drop $40+ on 200g of the stuff (admittedly not a bad value) when I don't know if I'm really going to like the scent. That said, those that I've tried I tend to like but I can't say that they are really my favorites. Once again I lament the fact that far too few of these producers offer samples.
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  13. #17
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    In my case, none of the so-called “artisan” soaps passed the test of time.
    For a while I experimented with them but invariably put them aside after a few shaves and eventually got rid of them.

    The field of shaving soaps and creams is densely packed with established quality soap makers as it is and any newcomer will have to bring something new and unique to the table to survive.
    Many try that with scents, either newly combined or more powerful, but after a while the novelty wears off, the lather cannot compete with what I have already, and I revert to my (non-artisan) favourites.

    In a nutshell, as someone who once learned how to make soap, I believe that some of the “artisan” soaps don’t really deserve that label and should more appropriately be labelled “amateur”.



    B.
    Last edited by beluga; 06-07-2018 at 03:42 AM.

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