SOTD by u/worbx

Wednesday, the 5th of July, 2023

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm Gelousy SHD Badger #SHD
• Razor: Gillette triangle slot, fat handle Tech #REGUS
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (22)
• Lather: Cremo - Cremo Original
• Post shave: Old Spice - Original
• Fragrance: Coty - Gravity

While the Cremo, Old Spice, and Gravity all came from a department store, that's obviously not true for the hardware. Well, it's possible eighty years ago the razor was bought from a drugstore or similar, but that's not how I got it.

Cremo Original does not have a great scent. It's not terrible, but it's kind of a medicinal soapy scent. There's something I might characterize as a "fresh" element, but this would never be a favorite. At least, not after using much more interesting, varied, exploratory, and strongly perfumed shaving soaps.

That said, the shave itself was nice. I rejected the instructions on the tube and used a brush to lather it up. The lather is much, much better if you do this. And the Rubie in a Tech gave me two quite nice passes.

After the shave... ugh. There's no ingredient list on the bottle, but I bet this Old Spice is nothing but alcohol and fragrance oils. I hate it. And the scent is... not much to speak of. I'm not quite sure if there's a hint of citrus left, or if it's all gone and I'm just imagining it. The spice is muted, and it's still an OK scent, but there's good reasons this only comes out of the closet once a year, for the Lather Games department store day. Gravity is a little better, although it's not particularly interesting, it's not a bad scent at all.

On today's challenge: I don't think I have an inner perfumer. I know what I pick up on from many scents isn't the same as others, and I have a real tough time picking out most specific notes. If designing an ideal scent for now, I wouldn't try to build something around a sense of place, or a person, or to explore an aspect of an accord. I'd just try to build something I'd love to smell over and over and over again.

I'd probably start by building something centered around strong floral notes. Probably rose. Maybe backed up by a couple others... geranium, lavender, violet, I dunno. There's room for experimentation here, maybe with some top floral notes and some lasting longer in the middle of the fragrance. A woody (sandalwood, oud, cedar), slightly spicy (cardamom, black pepper) base would be good, maybe with a hint, just a hint, of vetiver. I'd probably try to work in a certain... I dunno how to describe this, but there's a "headiness" to some perfumes I like, that I think would work well here (Gravity does have a bit of this). I don't know if this is attributable to a certiain note, or ingredient, but if I were a professional, I'd probably have some experience with the fragrance oils to pinpoint where it comes from.

I'll admit this is already sounds quite similar to Chatillon Lux's Rose Santal, or Zingari Man/Byron No. 1. But depending on where it's at, I'd like to experiment with herbal or fruity notes to try to take it in a different direction.

Now after writing about it, I wish I had the chance to experiment a bit. I should look for a perfumery class or one of those kits with different fragance oils, maybe.

**[Wednesday, the 5th of July, 2023](https://i.imgur.com/hYlZlWP.jpeg)**

* **Brush**: AP Shave Co. 24mm Gelousy SHD Badger #SHD
* **Razor**: Gillette triangle slot, fat handle Tech #REGUS
* **Blade**: Gillette Rubie (22)
* **Lather**: Cremo - Cremo Original
* **Post shave**: Old Spice - Original
* **Fragrance**: Coty - Gravity

While the Cremo, Old Spice, and Gravity all came from a department store, that's obviously not true for the hardware. Well, it's possible eighty years ago the razor was bought from a drugstore or similar, but that's not how I got it.

Cremo Original does not have a great scent. It's not terrible, but it's kind of a medicinal soapy scent. There's something I might characterize as a "fresh" element, but this would never be a favorite. At least, not after using much more interesting, varied, exploratory, and strongly perfumed shaving soaps.

That said, the shave itself was nice. I rejected the instructions on the tube and used a brush to lather it up. The lather is much, much better if you do this. And the Rubie in a Tech gave me two quite nice passes.

After the shave... ugh. There's no ingredient list on the bottle, but I bet this Old Spice is nothing but alcohol and fragrance oils. I hate it. And the scent is... not much to speak of. I'm not quite sure if there's a hint of citrus left, or if it's all gone and I'm just imagining it. The spice is muted, and it's still an OK scent, but there's [good reasons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BykhiMqqNPI&t=14) this only comes out of the closet once a year, for the Lather Games department store day. Gravity is a little better, although it's not particularly interesting, it's not a bad scent at all.

On today's challenge: I don't think I have an inner perfumer. I know what I pick up on from many scents isn't the same as others, and I have a real tough time picking out most specific notes. If designing an ideal scent for now, I wouldn't try to build something around a sense of place, or a person, or to explore an aspect of an accord. I'd just try to build something I'd love to smell over and over and over again.

I'd probably start by building something centered around strong floral notes. Probably rose. Maybe backed up by a couple others... geranium, lavender, violet, I dunno. There's room for experimentation here, maybe with some top floral notes and some lasting longer in the middle of the fragrance. A woody (sandalwood, oud, cedar), slightly spicy (cardamom, black pepper) base would be good, maybe with a hint, just a hint, of vetiver. I'd probably try to work in a certain... I dunno how to describe this, but there's a "headiness" to some perfumes I like, that I think would work well here (Gravity does have a bit of this). I don't know if this is attributable to a certiain note, or ingredient, but if I were a professional, I'd probably have some experience with the fragrance oils to pinpoint where it comes from.

I'll admit this is already sounds quite similar to Chatillon Lux's Rose Santal, or Zingari Man/Byron No. 1. But depending on where it's at, I'd like to experiment with herbal or fruity notes to try to take it in a different direction.

Now after writing about it, I wish I had the chance to experiment a bit. I should look for a perfumery class or one of those kits with different fragance oils, maybe.