Aftershave : That nostalgic true masculine smell!

[The Reno Kid]

For after shave, I keep three in rotation:

1. Trumper's Extract of West Indian Limes - This is my daily driver. The scent is fresh and pleasant, but very subtle after about ten minutes. Even so, it lasts all day.

2. Dominica Bay Rum - When I'm in the mood for something a little spicy. It's by far my favorite bay rum. It reminds me of the way barber shops smelled when I was a kid.

3. Trumper's Astor - For going out. I have never found a cologne or after shave that I like as much.

For hair tonic, I use just a couple of drops of Vitalis in the morning. My hair is thick but very fine and limp. If I use nothing, it fills with static and is basically unmanageable. If I rub a tiny bit of Vitalis into it when I get out of the shower, it magically develops body and stays in place without getting oily. Outstanding stuff!

 

[PastimeSteve]

For hair tonic, I use just a couple of drops of Vitalis in the morning. My hair is thick but very fine and limp. If I use nothing, it fills with static and is basically unmanageable. If I rub a tiny bit of Vitalis into it when I get out of the shower, it magically develops body and stays in place without getting oily. Outstanding stuff!

Hi Reno -- I've never used Vitalis before out of fear it was greasy or oily. So, you don't use anything else in your hair? Do you wear a hat? If so, does the Vitalis help minimize hat hair?

Also, where do you buy your Dominica Bay and Trumper's Astor? I'm curious about these two products now that you've mentioned them.

Steve

 

[Diamondback]

Old Spice is pretty timeless.

That's reassuring to know, since it's what I use anyway--occasionally with a dash of burnt-gunpowder aroma for effect...lol

 

[Rafter]

I recently visited a tired little clip joint in my town of New London. In the shop, off to the side, are arranged an assortment of hair-care products: shampoos, cremes, rinses. And there, next to the Lucky Tiger hair tonic, is a bottle I haven’t seen in years. Sur-Lay, it reads. It looks the same, it smells the same. I have to buy it. It’s a bargain even at $5.15.

You see Sur-Lay was my father’s hair tonic, and by extension, my own, as a boy. Sur-Lay was pronounced almost like the woman’s name Shirley, by my father anyway. It was as if Shirley were French, and it came out Shur-Lay. It was a wonderful, exotic-sounding name for what was essentially colored, scented alchol water.

Sur-Lay was – and still is – reddish in color with a unique aroma. It smells like my father. It has a crisp, biting oder with notes of cherry. It is one of the oldest smells in my life, sniffed while riding on my father's shoulders.

My father kept it on the floor under the commode, in the back near the wall, and I can remember watching him reach for it in the morning after he’d finished shaving. He’d pour a thimbleful into his hand and then rub it through his hair till it glistened.

Sur-Lay lived up to its name; it gave his hair a sure lay. It would have taken a hurricane to move my father’s hair out of place. I know that because as soon as he had rubbed the tonic into his hair, he would pour another splat into his hand and rub it into my hair. Then he would lift me up and let me comb my hair in the mirror.

 

[rockyj]

Bayrum

Remember when you got a hair cut when you were a kid and they rubed that on your neck?
Still an old stand by.

 

[The Reno Kid]

Hi Reno -- I've never used Vitalis before out of fear it was greasy or oily. So, you don't use anything else in your hair? Do you wear a hat? If so, does the Vitalis help minimize hat hair?

Also, where do you buy your Dominica Bay and Trumper's Astor? I'm curious about these two products now that you've mentioned them.

Steve

Hi Steve,

I tend to get hat hair whether I use anything or not unless I keep my hair very short. I don't usually wear a hat anyway. I wear a 7-7/8, so it's a little hard to find hats that I like in my size. But to answer your question, I use a drop or two of Vitalis in my hair every morning and nothing else. It's like a little bit of magic. Of course, your mileage may vary.

As for Trumpers: I usually order my stuff by phone direct from their London shop or just pick it up when I'm over there. Oddly, they do not have an on-line shopping site. However, a number of other on-line vendor carry their products. A quick search should turn up several. I also use their shaving soaps (especially rose) and I really like them. By the way, if you can find it, Trumper sells a 500ml plastic refill bottle of their Limes after shave if you can find it. It's a huge savings over the smaller glass bottles and it will last a long time. I keep the glass bottle in the medicine cabinet and refill it.

I get my Dominica Bay Rum either at my local Orvis store or on-line from www.classicshaving.com. It's listed under "Shave Soaps and Creams."

 

[skbellis]

new scents for me...

So after all of the recent talk on here about different fragrances and scents I decided to purchase a few new colognes and after shaves to see how they worked out.

First of all I finally purchased some 4711 after shave and a few bars of their soap. No wonder this fragrance has been around so long. A really great combination of sandalwood and citrus oil. The soap is really nice first thing in the morning. Reminds me of Florida Water, but a bit more refined somehow.

I also took a chance with a scent called Quorum, based solely on its description. Quorum Cologne by Antonio Puig is woody, but also has a hint of tobacco and leather to it. It sort of reminds me of Polo Green. A very classic masculine scent. A good purchase.

I have been a bay rum fan for some time as well. I have tried the Dominica standard bay rum and their lime flavour. Really love the bottles with the real corks. This may sound odd, but whenever I use the Dominica Bay Rum I feel the need to put on my J. Peterman Hemingway hat and then I have a hankering for a mojito. And on lazy Sunday mornings after taking a long, pleasent shave, I use the Pinaud Bay Rum. Rather brisk on the face at first, but I love the way the smell sort of pleasently lingers all day long, espcecially after you wake up from a mid-day nap.


Cheers,

---Scott

 

[Chad Sanborn]

A NEW Great Scent To Try!

Cape Hatteras Spyce! I was at the beach in a little store just outside of town. I happened accross this bottle and sniffed it. I wasn't expecting it to be that good. But boy was I wrong! If you like Bay Rum, you will like this. It has a sweeter, more outdoorsy smell. You can almost smell the ocean in here! It brings back memories of the show Seinfeld, when Kramer had an idea to make a cologne that makes you smell like the beach. If ever their was a product like this, its in this bottle.

Chad

you can find it here!
http://www.angelsgardengifts.com/cart/index.html?1616.html&1

 

[DanielJones]

I've grown fond of two, Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene,
It is described as a luxurious, oriental, woody fragrance. This masculine scent possesses a blend of lemon, orange, violet, cinnamon and rose. Accompanied by woody notes of oak and sandalwood.

And the other is Trumpers Extract of Limes. A very refreshing scent.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Miss Brill]

Hmmm, I don't know that that's how I'd want my guy smellin. My dad owned a gas station/mechanic shop when I was little. Not a smell I remember fondly.

I love the smell when I go for an oil change. Valvoline is like an aphrodisiac.

 

[Duck]

I tried the Pinaud Bay Rum and found I really like it. I find myself using it more than the other scents.

 

[anselmo1]

Believe it or not, I still wear English Leather cologne just about everyday since 1962. For special occasions I wear Bobby Jones cologne.

 

[brylcreem boy]

In the US, Bath & Bodyworks carries a line of products called Eucalyptus Spearmint. and this is odd, but at a certain restaurant (chain) here in the states they have Yardley English Lavender liquid soap in the washrooms. I know of several people who go to this place just to go to the washroom to use it, yet I can't find it in stores anywhere.

I have some of the Eucalyptus Spearmint.... funny thing I bought it as a pillow spray (I think that's what it was called), very soothing, aromatic, calming. I was told it helps to relax you and clear your sinuses.

Was the restaurant chain you were speaking of "Outback Steakhouse"??
I have seen the Yardley's liquid soap there, it does really smell good!

 

[brylcreem boy]

Tommy Bahama has a new one out for summer that has Tequila, a hint of lime and tropical musk. It's really refreshing and clean, and I've had 3 young ladies now tell me how good it smells on me.... You guys should check it out, it came in a summer package with a soap on a rope. I'm going to probably buy a 2nd bottle, it's that good!

 

[panamag8or]

I haven't seen it specifically alluded to, but Old Spice is a bay rum type. I noticed it when I made some bay rum shaving cream and thought it smelled familiar. After some hunting and sniffing, I realized it smelled similar to the Old Spice.

My favorite shaving cream is something I concocted that I call "Florida Backyard". It is a combination of fresh cut grass, orange blossom and gardenia. Absolutely amazing.

My favorite cologne right now is the vetiver from Floris, but it sounds like I need to check out the Guerlain vetiver.

 

[Bebop]

I found an old gigantic bottle of Brut cologne in the basement a few weeks ago and have been feeling very nostalgic and masculine after every shave since then. I was surprised that it still had a scent after so many years of sitting in a basement.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Jean Paul Gaultier Homme is a very, very olde worlde masculine cologne. Very spicy with lots of musky hints. Don't be scared by the maker; no-one will think you're gay if you buy it. I think people here would like it.

bk

 

[vonwotan]

There are a few "classic" scents still out there but, to my nose, nothing says man's inner sanctum or masculine more than the smell of cigars/pipe, leather, cognac/brandy and the stables/kennels. To re-create this I have on occasion taken out an old saddle, some saddle soap and after cleaning and oiling the leather, had a cigar and a glass of cognac. I haven't gone so far as to dab my drink behind my ears... For a time, I had some tribal tobacco braids hung in my old apartment that were slowly used in the garden in place of insecticide.

For colognes, Creed makes some great scents and will blend them to your taste. There are also a few makers of "organic" colgnes or oils - one I found contains

 

[Technonut]

Not classic, but I have been an Aramis man since the early 80's.... I have had women correctly identify the fragrance on me quite a few times over the years.

Aramis Cologne by Aramis, Aramis designed aramis in 1965. It's fragrant nature explores essences of bergamot, cumin and jasmine. Blended with notes of patchouli,?¢ amber and musk, aramis is a formal fragrance.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Jean Paul Gaultier Homme

Is that the one called Le M?¢le?