MdC scents?

Was really thinking about purchasing some Martin de Candre in the near future, but I wanted to figure out what the scents were like. The original is a lavender scent but how does it smell? Is it a floral lavender or a more pungent real lavender like KOTC lavender?

Also I heard unscented has a scent to it, is it a soapy scent or something else?

Herbal lavender....picked up some rosemary in it....

I also get some rosemary in the scented. The scent is a little medicinal to me. The unscented smells earthy to me. I can't really pick out any specific scents.

The scented smells like Noxzema to me. The unscented is just a really weak version of the regular. Then there's the fougere.

The classic is an overwhelming blast of Lavender with, as others have said, a bit of rosemary and, I think, mint in it as well. Many find it off putting, but not me. It's a very deep, pungent lavender which hits you in the face. The fougere comes off equally as strong, but sharper and greener. I like them both very much and haven't come across any soap anywhere that replicates their scent accurately.

The original was once described to me, and I think perfectly so, as standing in an herb garden beside someone who is sucking on a cough drop. Lavender is the primary scent but there's definitely other herbs in the background and something medicinal/camphorous. Its my favorite of the 3. The fougere is a very classy and understated take on fougere - probably my favorite fougere scent I've tried. The unscented smells earthy. Its just the scent if the ingredients. Its definitely not a soapy scent because its not the least bit bright or clean smelling. It just smells like clay or paper (sounds stupid but its the closest smell I can think of).

The original is so camphorous, resinous, and medicinal that for me it's hard to even pick out the lavender. What lavender is there is very herbaceous. I don't like it at all. YMMV, obviously.

The scent reminds me somewhat of the formalin that they use to preserve bodies for medical students to study anatomy. I don't want that on my face first thing in the morning, thank you very much.

jayc_07 said:

The original is a lavender scent but how does it smell? Is it a floral lavender or a more pungent real lavender like KOTC lavender?

Also I heard unscented has a scent to it, is it a soapy scent or something else?

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You can read all you want but it still won't be the same as experiencing it. Original is lavender & benzoin (the "medicinal/resinous" scent) but that probably won't help you unless you're familiar with the smell of benzoin. I think unscented has a bit of the benzoin but it has been a while since I've used the unscented.

Most actual lavender plants aren't all that floral and MDC is the same. Haven't used KOTC so I can't compare.

If you want to play it safe try the unscented first. If you can't stand its scent then you probably won't be able to stand the original.

I prefer the Fougere. The original is nice as well (as described by many already), but it's the best Fougere scent I've tried. Great soap all around, no matter what scent you go with you can't lose.

I prefer fougére to original. Both are good. The original smells like a soap shop in Provence.

oakeshott said:

The classic is an overwhelming blast of Lavender with, as others have said, a bit of rosemary and, I think, mint in it as well. Many find it off putting, but not me. It's a very deep, pungent lavender which hits you in the face. The fougere comes off equally as strong, but sharper and greener. I like them both very much and haven't come across any soap anywhere that replicates their scent accurately.

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+1

AABCDS said:

The scented smells like Noxzema to me. The unscented is just a really weak version of the regular. Then there's the fougere.

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+1

I too get Noxzema from MDC scented.

Fougere.

MdC are very "medicinal" smelling soaps. They are clean, sharp, crisp natural scents. The original is, as most have described, a lavender & rosemary mix. It pairs very well with Myrsol Agua Balsamica splash. The Fougere adds elements of Rose & Geranium to the lavender and is also my favorite "Fougere" scent.

The medicinal smell can be off-putting at first. After awhile, it becomes more enjoyable; in fact, it becomes intoxicating and you simply must have it! An analogy is tasting your first single malt scotch. Everyone likes the sweet stuff at first, but once you get used to a peaty scotch you'll be reaching for Laphroig rather than Glenfiddich.

MDC smells exactly like Aveda Men's Soap, but unless you came across that soap in the past it won't help you much as Aveda discontinued it some years ago. But if you live any where near an Aveda salon, go in and smell their men's products. If you like them, you will likely enjoy the original MdC. I haven't smelled fougere yet, but this is soon to change as my package from France gets closer by the day.


I didn't get the medical school associated formaldehyde smell mentioned above. That was not pleasant for sure lol. We went to a Waffle House at about 2am during exams once. The waitress walked up, sniffed, and said, "so I take ya'll are first years, huh?" Maybe some schools have more pleasant preservatives than we had.

If you're ordering, be sure to pick up some of the lemon scented post shave oil. It is a really good balance to the herbal scent of the soap. It is light and refreshing. But be sure to have dry fingers. Oil and water don't mix, and since I wasn't paying attention to this law of nature I ended up with some little rough textured 'balls' on the surface. Easy enough to get rid of, but it's such a nice product that I felt guilty wasting even that little bit I had to scrape off and discard. It lasts a long time, even with every day use.

I have the Fougere myself. It's the ultimate "rainy day" scent if that makes any sense.

I also have a SAMPLE of the Original Scent that another user here was so kind as to send my way.

Between the two, I prefer the Original scent by a bit. It comes across as having more character. It's got an herbal scent to it that is very interesting to me. I don't really know how to describe the smell but it's very unique to me and is good any time, any season.