Scent like a classy shampoo/hand soap?

[rhgg2]

Hi all,

I've had bad luck with soap scents and wondered if any one had any thoughts. What I am really looking for is a smell something like a classy hand soap you'd find in the toilets at an upscale modern art gallery, or maybe in a shampoo that comes in a big white box with just the name of the product in tiny letters on the front and you buy from a shop fitted out in marine ply, polished brass and rose gold. So I guess a bit herbal/fresh, maybe citrusy but not flowery/powdery or classic and with no notes of Cologne or aftershave. (I don't use aftershave as it gives me a headache.) There are a few threads about this but many of them suggest things I did not like at all so wanted to ask anew. I know I can get scentless but I do like nice things!

To give you some idea, things I tried (not limited to soap but I'm looking for soap):

• TOBS avocado cream - I think I quite liked this but it was 15 years ago so can't be totally sure
• TOBS Sandalwood cream - okay, but a bit powdery, like a Victorian boudoir
• SV Stella Alpina - I hated this, overwhelmingly strong aftershave/cologne with a synthetic sweet edge
• Geo F Trumper Skin Food Sandalwood - Okay, but an unpleasant soapy/greasy overtone
• Speick face cream - okay, going in the right direction, but a bit synthetic and cheap smelling
• La Toja shave stick - overpowering and very old fashioned. I couldn't even bring myself to shave with this. I put it in the attic to air out for a few months but the smell still makes me feel a bit unwell.
• MWF - the only soap I tried I actually like the smell of. I find the smell strong and very enjoyable, crisp and not at all flowery/powdery. But it is obviously a soapy smell rather than anything more than that.

Don't particularly care about other properties of the soap than smell - most things seem to work fine for me.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[GlazedBoker]

Buy samples & hope for the best. If all else fails, there's always this....

Good luck. You REALLY are going to need it....

 

[Wgg2017]

Definitely try samples. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe Acqua di Parma or any dupe of that scent. It's older but I don't think of it as an old fashioned scent. It seems bright and fresh to me with a little bit of herbs. Might try a sample of Martin de Candre Original as well. Good luck in your search.

 

[ksblazer]

Ach Brito Mogno might be worth checking out

It won’t break the bank to try. It even looks like a bar of soap and the scent comes off as classy to me.

 

[rhgg2]

Oh nice thanks! I was thinking about MdC as a possibility. Will try to procure done samples. Maybe Le Pere Lucien as well. And will look into Ach Brito too

 

[NorthernSoul]

From your writing style I'm guessing you're in the UK?

I'd suggest a classic German shaving soap. Golddachs or Klar Seifen.

Another you might like is Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme if you can get it.

 

[sarimento1]

Indeed, can you tell us more about Victorian boudoirs?!

 

[Big Jim]

If you care for a wonderful Lavender scent, try Taylor of Old Bond Street. If you don't mind using a shaving cream, try Cremo. Two scents I like are Bourbon Vanilla and Bourbon Oak.

If you don't mind making it yourself, find a bath gel that you like the scent of, and use it to create the scent for your own shaving soap. Use SFIC shaving melt and pour base and add two or three tablespoons of the chosen bath gel. Most any bath gel works well and the resulting shaving soap smells great and performs well.

 

[Wgg2017]

Oh nice thanks! I was thinking about MdC as a possibility. Will try to procure done samples. Maybe Le Pere Lucien as well. And will look into Ach Brito too

If scent is the most important aspect of your soap you can't go wrong with French soaps. They are consistently the best in that regard, imho.

 

[rhgg2]

Thanks all, sorry for slow reply - on vacation currently! I'm in Australia so not always super easy to source stuff. Pre de Provence looks like it might be just what I'm looking for but impossible to get right now... am on the list in case the Australian stockist gets any new in. German soaps mentioned are new to me, thanks for the suggestions. Will seek them out!

 

[NorthernSoul]

Thanks all, sorry for slow reply - on vacation currently! I'm in Australia so not always super easy to source stuff. Pre de Provence looks like it might be just what I'm looking for but impossible to get right now... am on the list in case the Australian stockist gets any new in. German soaps mentioned are new to me, thanks for the suggestions. Will seek them out!

Just a reminder: there are two Pre de Provence scents for the same shaving soap. The Bergamot & Thyme soap scent suggested is the herbal one. Based on your posts above, you probably wouldn't care for the #63 soap scent. #63 has a sweet and spicy men's cologne type scent.

There are several scents for Klar Seifen. I'd suggest the Classic scent for you. You might like the Lemongrass. Avoid the Charcoal soap, it is unscented and the formula is not as good.

 

[RayClem]

Fragrances are generally divided into four overall categories: Fresh, Floral, Spicy and Woody. Then there are two classes of fragrances that do not seem to fit these categories; they are Fougere (fern) and Chypre (cyprus). From your comments, it seems you have ruled about just about everything other than the Fresh category.

Fresh scents are subdivided into Green scents, Aquatic scents, and Citrus scents. An example of a green scent is Creed Green Irish Tweed. An example of an aquatic scent is Creed Silver Mountain Water. There are many citrus based scents with Acqua di Parma Colonia being one of the favorites.

 

[Doc Dan]

Razorock Irish Countryside (fresh, green), Geo F. Trumper GFT shaving cream (all citrus top notes, but has other things, too), and just for fun, try some Vi-John Icy Mint shaving cream.

 

[rhgg2]

From your writing style I'm guessing you're in the UK?

I'd suggest a classic German shaving soap. Golddachs or Klar Seifen.

Another you might like is Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme if you can get it.

Pre de Provence Bergamot and Thyme was finally back in stock here in Oz. But first I had to get through the puck of MWF that wouldn't die (... it put in a solid 2 year effort). Finally put it to rest yesterday and had a first shave with the PdP. The smell is very nice, thanks for the recommendation!

What also surprised me is how well it stood up to The Fat lather-wise even as a brand new dry puck. I had at it with the Marco method and got a dense, wet lather that gave a very close shave.

 

[lasta]

De Vergulde Hand, exactly how good soap should smell.

GFT cream get s a mention too, but it's more dewy cologny citrus than classic citrus, dead ringer for Les Nuits d'Hadrien by Annick Goutal.

 

[AlphaFrank75]

"What I am really looking for is a smell something like a classy hand soap"

LOL, forget all those previously mentioned soaps and just get either one of these two from Grooming Dept. Both smell like classy hand soap. My personal favorite is the red labeled edition, but the purple is just as great.


Here's what I think about these two --> GD Soap

 

[coops]

I was going to recommend Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme… you have already found how excellent it is - note the PdeP 63 is wonderful too … tends to overshadow the clean fresh B&T - but these 2 are excellent.