Mainstream aftershaves...

I notice that the mainstream aftershaves made by the major perfume houses such as Boss, CK, Lacoste, Aramis, Hugo Bos, etc, etc are not often discussed here.

Why not? Is it that they are just alcohol with a fragrance and actually do very little in the way of skin care?

Maybe because they are fairly expensive for what you get. Cheaper drugstore options like Aqua Velva or Old Spice smell nice too and work equally well but are far less expensive.

I'm no expert, but I believe what those companies produce are colognes and not aftershaves. Though Aramis does have an AS. I'm not big on colognes and therefore don't frequent that forum, but if you check over there some of these might get some talk time. And if not, you could start a thread or three.

Again no expert, but AS's generally have a lesser amount of a different kind of alcohol than colognes and most have glycerin, aloe or some other skin conditioning properties added. I love that moist feeling my face gets after a splash of AS; colognes don't offer this and in fact I don't think it's even recommended you splash them on your face.

These are my thoughts on the subject.

JulesE34 said:

Why not? Is it that they are just alcohol with a fragrance and actually do very little in the way of skin care?

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IMHO, you've hit the nail on the head. I sometimes use Davidoff's Cool Water AS or a Burberry postshave "emulsion" (it's a scented cream, but i'm sure it has alcohol in it), but pretty rarely. Although they smell nice, the skincare aspect of them is relatively nill. I'd rather stick with the Musgo or Proraso splashes, or something like Old Spice.

I used Davidoff's Cool Water A/S once (since it was a gift). The scent was accurate but provided no skin toning or beneficial properties whatsoever. Even though I only used a very small amount it burned for hours.

The next day it went into the trash.

Great, thanks for all the replies.

Silly question coming up, though.....

What is the difference between a cologne and an aftershave?

I see alot of 'aftershaves' in my local chemists made by the above mentioned manufacturers - are these in actual fact colognes masqurading as an 'aftershave'?

An aftershave is typically a splash with alcohol which, as the name implies, you use after your shave for scent or skin toning benefits, and to cleanse your skin and close your pores after the ordeal of shaving. They are typically dispensed from bottle to hands, then hands to face. Some do have atomisers, and some people choose to decant their aftershaves into bottles with atomisers because they don't like their hands to be scented and because it stops them using too much.

A cologne is purely for scent and does not necessarily have to be applied after shaving - it could be at night, midday, before bed... whenever. They typically are dispensed with an atomiser (spray pump bottle).


While some aftershaves can "double" as a cologne because of the strength of their scent - Old Spice springs immediately to mind for this - it's not recommended to use a cologne, EDT or perfume as a postshave treatment for the skin. It will do nothing for you other than make you smell very heavily scented and sting the hell out of your face.


I've said "typically" far too much.

Also it's important to know your skin type. There are 2 main types of aftershave: splash (bracing) and balm (soothing). Splash works best with combo/oily and balm works best with combo/dry. I have combo and so use both one after the other. Read Joel's article on drug store bargains. Then go to your chemist.

biomesh said:

I used Davidoff's Cool Water A/S once (since it was a gift). The scent was accurate but provided no skin toning or beneficial properties whatsoever. Even though I only used a very small amount it burned for hours.

The next day it went into the trash.

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If you like Cool Water, you really should check out the aftershave balm they have. It is actually a very good product. Great smell, alcohol free, and very inexpensive. I personally like the scent of the Cool Water Deep alot more than the original. If you look on ebay, they have tubes of both. Just be sure you get the tubes.

Rollsshaver said:

If you like Cool Water, you really should check out the aftershave balm they have. It is actually a very good product. Great smell, alcohol free, and very inexpensive. I personally like the scent of the Cool Water Deep alot more than the original. If you look on ebay, they have tubes of both. Just be sure you get the tubes.

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Well, YMMV because the balm is the product that I considered the worst A/S EVER(as referenced above). I used a tiny bit, and it made my face feel tacky, a bit greasy, and burned for a long time.

Speick, Nivea, Wesley & Scott balms and the QED ASSC are much much better.

JDE said:

While some aftershaves can "double" as a cologne because of the strength of their scent - Old Spice springs immediately to mind for this - it's not recommended to use a cologne, EDT or perfume as a postshave treatment for the skin. It will do nothing for you other than make you smell very heavily scented and sting the hell out of your face.

.

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I made this mistake once and never did it again. I grabbed my bottle of Old Spice cologne thinking it was the A/S bottle and splashed the cologne on my face after my shave. I thoguht my face was on fire. Very painful.

A lot of designer brands like Armani, Chanel and Hugo Boss do have aftershaves aswell as eau de toilettes / colognes.
Colognes are just sprays that are meant for fragrance.
Aftershaves are meant for after shaving. They usually just come out of a bottle that you pour the liquid onto your hands and splash onto your shaved area. They usually have some skin toning effect, close your pours and of course have scent.
I have only tried one mainstream aftershave - Armani Black Code.
It was very good, good skin toning, didnt dry out my skin to much and had a lovely scent. Did burn quite a bit going on though.

Rollsshaver said:

If you like Cool Water, you really should check out the aftershave balm they have. It is actually a very good product. Great smell, alcohol free, and very inexpensive. I personally like the scent of the Cool Water Deep alot more than the original. If you look on ebay, they have tubes of both. Just be sure you get the tubes.

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biomesh said:

Well, YMMV because the balm is the product that I considered the worst A/S EVER(as referenced above). I used a tiny bit, and it made my face feel tacky, a bit greasy, and burned for a long time.

Speick, Nivea, Wesley & Scott balms and the QED ASSC are much much better.

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I have to agree with Rollsshaver (though I have a glass bottle not a tube, so I don't know if it is the same consistency as that). I have the CW ASB, and also Nivea Extreme Comfort, Nuetragena Triple Protect SPF 20, Gillette Sensitive Skin Gel, Stetson Black ASB, Adidas Adrenaline ASB, British Sterling ASB, Proraso Pre/Post and samples of Floris Santal and Elite balms and T&H Ultimate Comfort balm.

I find the Cool Water balm has one of the thinner consistencies of the balms and goes on thin and absorbs well. It moisturizes well and smells true to the EDT. I actually find it much less greasy than something like the Nivea Extreme Comfort.

Mine was a gift though, so without knowing how much it costs now I can't give a price for performance review... Given that the Nivea can be had for around $5, it is probably much more bang for your buck, unless you can find it around $10 somewhere...

And besides, if we wanted to go mainstream, we'd all use disposable Bics or Gillette M3s! *grin*

Nothing wrong with Designer aftershaves except the price.

Some are great, some not so great.

I REALLY like:

The Red Lacoste AS Splash
Armani Mania AS Splash
Polo Blue Splash

They aren't really any use unless you want to layer a scent. I dont see why you would use them when AV has much more than just scent and sting!