So for a while now I've been searching for my signature fragrance. It all started about four months ago when I started DE shaving and then got into scents, aftershaves, etc, etc...
I've always used traditional creams even before DE shaving and my go to cream was AOS Sandalwood. I had the cream and ASB so my first endeavor into finding a signature scent was purchasing the AOS Sandalwood EdT. I liked it but of course I got the itch to find something in the higher end category.
From then I starting the sampling frenzy and with it purchases of full sized bottles. At first, I was in search of only sandalwood so I tried Tam Dao, Creed Santal, MPG Santal, Guerain L'Instant, TOBS Sandalwood, and Serge Lutens Santal Blanc & Santal de Mysore. All of these were excellent in their own way and my favorite was Tam Doe but it was a bit too "sexy" for office wear so I purchased a full bottle of Guerlain L'Instant and I wore it daily for a while.... till my wife finally stated her opinion and said she does not really like it and preferred the bottle of Mont Blanc Legend that I had. Ok, I started wearing MBL again but in my effort to match cologne and ASB I went into a local Ulta and purchased the MBL ASB. Well, I used it for the first time and it killed my face... I'm not sensitive to alcohol or much at all but something in it caused a severe rash so I returned it and ditched my interest in Mont Blanc.
Then I started looking for options that are more citrus with only a hint of woodsy (like the Mont Blanc). At this point, I figured I could purchase a shaving cream that falls in that scent category and see if I like it so I bought a tub of TOBS Jermyn Street and I absolutely fell in love with the scent and so did SWMBO. So I bought the after shave spray (cologne) and the ASB but much to my disappointment the spray was way too oily and because it's alcohol free it really does not work for me as a cologne because it would easily stain my dress shirts if I accidentally over sprayed. The ASB was OK if I used just a dab otherwise it is way too heavy.
Then last week I was in Germany on business and had a bit of time to shop. I was pleasantly surprised that most EdT's also have the aftershave splash available. I could not believe that a simple store at the mall had all these high end choices... I was like a kid in a candy store and I tried a lot of them.... Paco Rabanne Million & Pour Homme, Dior Eue Sauvage, Dior Pour Homme, Terre D'Hermes, D&G The One, Floris Elite, some Lacoste, some LR, and a few others. I settled on buying the EdT and the AS splash of D&G The One and Terre D'Hermes and I thought I had hit a home run and my wife would love these two scents. I figured TDH would be for the summer and D&G The One is a nice winter scent.
Well, I returned home and started using TDH and my wife said nothing. Then this morning, she says I really hate that cologne you're wearing.... it smells like bug spray.... come here let me smell it.... yep, bug spray; I hate it!
So, I'm thinking that's pretty damn expensive bug spray! So I tell her I've got D&G The One and I'll start using it tomorrow and I'm sure you'll like that one better.
Then she says, why don't you just wear the cologne that I like? Her favorite is Dunhill Desire Blue and I have a bottle but it's discontinued and I'm not sure I'll be able to continue getting it. Then she adds, your shaving cream (TOBS Jermyn Street) smells just like Dunhill Desire Blue and if you want to keep it all the same scent then you should just use that cream and aftershave and then follow with Dunhill DB.... you can go on Amazon now and just buy a bunch of bottles and save them.
Now I'm feeling very stupid because in one simple solution, my wife solved what I've been trying to figure out for four months! The moral of the story is... if you just listen to SWMBO, you will save a lot of time, money, and headaches!
I've always used traditional creams even before DE shaving and my go to cream was AOS Sandalwood. I had the cream and ASB so my first endeavor into finding a signature scent was purchasing the AOS Sandalwood EdT. I liked it but of course I got the itch to find something in the higher end category.
From then I starting the sampling frenzy and with it purchases of full sized bottles. At first, I was in search of only sandalwood so I tried Tam Dao, Creed Santal, MPG Santal, Guerain L'Instant, TOBS Sandalwood, and Serge Lutens Santal Blanc & Santal de Mysore. All of these were excellent in their own way and my favorite was Tam Doe but it was a bit too "sexy" for office wear so I purchased a full bottle of Guerlain L'Instant and I wore it daily for a while.... till my wife finally stated her opinion and said she does not really like it and preferred the bottle of Mont Blanc Legend that I had. Ok, I started wearing MBL again but in my effort to match cologne and ASB I went into a local Ulta and purchased the MBL ASB. Well, I used it for the first time and it killed my face... I'm not sensitive to alcohol or much at all but something in it caused a severe rash so I returned it and ditched my interest in Mont Blanc.
Then I started looking for options that are more citrus with only a hint of woodsy (like the Mont Blanc). At this point, I figured I could purchase a shaving cream that falls in that scent category and see if I like it so I bought a tub of TOBS Jermyn Street and I absolutely fell in love with the scent and so did SWMBO. So I bought the after shave spray (cologne) and the ASB but much to my disappointment the spray was way too oily and because it's alcohol free it really does not work for me as a cologne because it would easily stain my dress shirts if I accidentally over sprayed. The ASB was OK if I used just a dab otherwise it is way too heavy.
Then last week I was in Germany on business and had a bit of time to shop. I was pleasantly surprised that most EdT's also have the aftershave splash available. I could not believe that a simple store at the mall had all these high end choices... I was like a kid in a candy store and I tried a lot of them.... Paco Rabanne Million & Pour Homme, Dior Eue Sauvage, Dior Pour Homme, Terre D'Hermes, D&G The One, Floris Elite, some Lacoste, some LR, and a few others. I settled on buying the EdT and the AS splash of D&G The One and Terre D'Hermes and I thought I had hit a home run and my wife would love these two scents. I figured TDH would be for the summer and D&G The One is a nice winter scent.
Well, I returned home and started using TDH and my wife said nothing. Then this morning, she says I really hate that cologne you're wearing.... it smells like bug spray.... come here let me smell it.... yep, bug spray; I hate it!
So, I'm thinking that's pretty damn expensive bug spray! So I tell her I've got D&G The One and I'll start using it tomorrow and I'm sure you'll like that one better.
Then she says, why don't you just wear the cologne that I like? Her favorite is Dunhill Desire Blue and I have a bottle but it's discontinued and I'm not sure I'll be able to continue getting it. Then she adds, your shaving cream (TOBS Jermyn Street) smells just like Dunhill Desire Blue and if you want to keep it all the same scent then you should just use that cream and aftershave and then follow with Dunhill DB.... you can go on Amazon now and just buy a bunch of bottles and save them.
Now I'm feeling very stupid because in one simple solution, my wife solved what I've been trying to figure out for four months! The moral of the story is... if you just listen to SWMBO, you will save a lot of time, money, and headaches!
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