Can't be smellin' like anything

Does anybody have a job where they're strict about you not smelling like anything? I'm going to be running into this in the Fall when I get my first clinical student work in the medical field. I shave at night mostly, but it still cramps my style a good bit. As of now it reduces my daytime shaves to my Nivea products, alum block, and maybe even Arko. What else should I look to keep handy?

I've always felt like unscented shave soaps are a waste of money, but perhaps it's time huh?

Anything. Since I never got used to wiping down the fogged mirror, or standing in front of the sink damp and sweating anew, I reverted to showering AFTER the shave, so whatever I use gets washed off. AS, if any, goes on after the shower. On the road I use a tube of Neutrogena, which is moisturizing but scent-neutral and would happen to work for a circumstance such as yours.

Try Mitchell's Wool Fat. Very neutral smell.

If we all had the same nose and the same olfactory glands and the same sense of smell how easy it would be. But basically we cannot avoid smelling of something even if it's only cheesy feet or B.O. Personally, if I don't want my shower gel and deodorant interfering with my Eau de Cologne I use Sanex sensitive shower gel and roll-on deodorant which has a scent but is subtle and subdued. Certain people have an aversion to certain scents and I suppose the best way of avoiding objections is to not wear any scent at all.

Strictly no scent in the College I work at, so I use my best and strongest!

Thayer's Witch Hazel would be a good choice. The scents dissipate almost immediately.

Stirling has unscented shave and bath soaps, and balm. Straight witch hazel after a shave is a great astringent, and its odd odor will fade away in seconds. Depending on how long you shave before work, Proraso Green AS fades rapidly into a clean laundry like, just soapy type of smell that's pretty neutral. I wear that to work often for that reason. Good luck to you.

I don't find many soaps with scents that linger. Most fully dissipate with rising. The lone strong lingerer is Tabac. Maybe it's because I don't really like the scent, but I seem to smell it for hours after shaving with it.

I think most aftershave scents also are gone within an hour or so.

I agree... most soaps won't linger, and shouldn't be a problem. You might have to be careful with creams, but you don't have to necessarily buy unscented products- sensitive skin creams tend to have less scent as well, while not being totally scentless. The real issue is that you'll have to find some other aftershave that has little or no scent. Proraso Sensitive balm is probably a good choice. It has a very faint scent. Sticking with balms and aftershaves for sensitive skin is probably a good idea, as most are just lightly scented and will not smell at all like cologne.

They just don't want you being one of those annoying people that took a bath in "something" when a lot more people will probably have allergies in a medical setting.

Kiss My Face Fragrance Free shaving cream is the only product I've found that has absolutely no odor. For an aftershave, Witch Hazel will dissipate quickly and leave no trace behind.

For deodorant, Trader Joe's makes a great unscented stick. It has cotton fibers embedded to provide some perspiration wicking as well. Tom's of Maine has an unscented stick that is more widely available, but it is much more expensive than the one at Trader Joe.

Don't forget about your clothing. You can find "Dermatologist Tested, Free of Perfumes and Dyes" detergent in most supermarkets. These do just as good a job, if not better, cleaning your clothes than anything that smells like "Mountain Breeze" or "Ocean Fresh" or "Lavender and Lillies."

Lucky Tiger Face Tonic is a great 'scentless' splash.

September 1 my workplace becomes "Fragrance Free." I'll still use lovely scented soaps, and scented witch hazel, however. They're very mild, and probably all gone by the time I get to work. As for the aftershave...well, I guess I'll have to go with an unscented balm, or forego it altogether on workdays.

I highly doubt any of your shave soaps will have a scents that will fill a large space with fragrance (Except Tabac). I can barely smell my shave soap 30 minutes after I finish shaving. The biggest impact will be on your aftershave but still, a pleasant yet gentle fragrance can only be smelled if you are being hugged. Something like Pinaud Clubman smells great but isn't a loud fragrance and within an hour is very faint. I bet most of the fragrance products that the policy is referring to is cologne, perfume, body spray and scented lotion (like bath and body works that fills up a room when you use it) I wouldn't sweat it too much and focus on using some softer scents and see who notices. If it becomes a problem then cross that bridge when you get to it.

Yeah. The neutral scent after shave treatment is probably more important. I like 444 ASB on the days that I can't have a detectable scent.

You can make you unscented shaving experience a little more exciting with a drop of EO, which shouldn't linger post shave. Try a drop of peppermint oil.

If you shave at night, I can't think of any AS that will still linger by morning. The longest lasting AS I've ever heard of runs 10 hours absolute tops and that's super rare. (Just avoid anything that says "cologne" on it.) Soaps tend to linger an hour or two tops and that's pretty rare. I find that almond scents tend to be light and short-staying. AOS products are lightly scented. Soap Commander Integrity AS Balm gets a lot of love too - menthol unscented. Nivea Sensitive PSB is good stuff with a light scent that lingers for maybe an hour or so. Save the good stuff for your days off!

I'll pick up some Thayer's and some MWF. I've been interested in trying them both anyhow. Maybe some Lucky Tiger face tonic as well.

For the most part I can get by with alum and Nivea PSB, but if I happen to shave like a dummy one morning it would suck to be forced to decide between scent/slight irritation. Alum doesn't quite solve the more intense irritation, so it's probably time to get to know Witch Hazel.

Yah i work in a fragrance-free work place but it wasn't caused by me but by my many over perfumed co-workers. So i tested my shaving soaps and after shaves on the weekends for awhile...what i found was no shaving soap scent lingered long enough to matter but some aftershave splashes did. I then divided my aftershaves for workdays and days off...most turned out to be for days off. I have to say using witch-hazel is pretty good for an un-scented way to go.

TheChariot said:

I've always felt like unscented shave soaps are a waste of money, but perhaps it's time huh?

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It's a sensible policy, since you never know how other people will react to a given fragrance. On a recent visit to some elderly family members, one of their living assistants showed up absolutely reeking of cheap perfume. It was so bad, I had to lock myself in the guest room until she left, and even then, the scent lingered. Since some people just don't know how to moderate when given permission to wear fragrance, the only reasonable alternative is to ban scents in certain environments.

That said, as many here have already pointed out, nothing says you have to go with absolutely unscented products. For one, usually it's the products you leave on (e.g., aftershaves, colognes, etc.) that are likely to be the biggest offenders. Most products you wash off (e.g., shaving creams or soaps) will usually fly under the radar. This is especially true of soaps and creams scented with essential oil, rather than fragrance (Castle Forbes, AOS lemon and lavender, T&H UC, etc.) When in doubt, do a back-of-the-hand test: apply a given product to the back of your hand, and smell it at regular intervals to see how it evolves. This will keep your nose from getting immune to it, and will give you a relatively objective idea of how it will smell to others.

My growing EDT collection will definitely begin collecting dust in the fall. That being said, I'm not really too afraid of most of my soaps now that I think about it. Only a couple of them manage to linger beyond a couple hours.

jez foster said:

Ha Ha!!!, scent free workplace!!!, only in the land of the "free"!!!!

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There's always two sides to an argument. One could say our nostrils should be free from attack by other people's bad taste in scents.