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Brew's Foul Concoction

I haven't smoked a cigarette in I don't know how many years. Nonetheless, one of my absolute favorite notes in a fragrance is ash. Today I'm smothered in Dior's Leather Oud. This fragrance is famous for being a challenging anamalic stinker. It may be all of that, but what I love it for is the ash note that is hiding behind all of the fireworks. The note has me stretching out my tee shirt collar so that I can get my nose further down there to inhale it Mondays I usually use Tabac AS. It pairs perfectly with Leather Oud, almost as if the Tabac flower knows that the ash is its future.
 
You mean it smells like cigarette ash or do you mean tobacco ash? I find the two pretty different. No offense if it’s the former, but the latter is quite a bit more intoxicating than the former (which is kinda gross to me).
 
GearNoir said:
cigarette ash or do you mean tobacco ash?
Click to expand...
Hmmm, I've always thought of it as cigarette, but I'll have to reconsider, since you asked.

Bel'Antonio is another one of my favorites. This one smells like that initial whiff of fresh, new cigarettes, right after you tear the foil from the pack. I don't know how she does it, or why I need to smell like that, but . . . .
 
Ash scent, that's defo not for me, but we all have our tastes. I don't know what it is about tobacco anything, but I don't like it. Maybe it's living here in Europe as a non-smoker, I can't walk to the store without breathing someone's secondhand smoke.

This one's for you @Brew

 
I like the smell of cured tobacco, like what you typically smell in a cigar shop or from a humidor. I also like assorted pipe tobaccos but have learned liking one pipe tobacco doesn't mean you like them all, cured tobacco , pipe in particular, can get pretty strong. I imagine tobacco leaf is as potentially off-putting as hemp or cannabis is in mass quantities. As far as ash goes I have never considered cigarette ash pleasing, I don't think I would say the same about pipe or cigar ash but I can't say I made a point to take note of its odor. Funny though that the topic of cigarette odor came up today because I brought it up yesterday in that I thought it strange that I have found myself able to notice a difference between the odor (in the air and lingering) of bargain cigarettes smoked by the transients and "lower class" and those smoked by "working class" such as those on job sites or that drive work trucks. They could be the same people for all I know but the smell in the air or coming from the vehicles is entirely different to me. One is like old, wet cigarette butts the other reminds me of what cigarettes used to smell like when i was growing up. It's like they purposely sell cheap stinky cigarettes ...but in California even the cheapest cigarettes are legally mandated to have a minimum price of $7 a pack or something like that so you think they would smell like a $7 bouquet of tobacco roses.
 
Hey @CBLindsay , the samples arrived yesterday. Thank you very much! The Balsamic Oud is up first today, after my run, but I really can't wait to try the Tabacaveg. I'll share some feedback later.

I sure wouldn't want to smell like just ash. But in the right frag, a whiff of ash is oddly mesmerizing. You just don't expect it, or that it could work in a pleasant smelling fragrance (to some).
 
I didn't realize that the Balsamic Oud is one of Chris's tonsorials. What a great performing soap! It nearly achieved my benchmark performer, which is Speick, on this first try. I'm not sure how much more I can squeeze out of it, but I am sure gonna try. Regarding the fragrance, I got almost nothing. Chris's description on the website indicates it's a light scent, and it sure is that. But what it may not have in fragrance (for me), it had in performance spades. Aftershave was Clubman SR, followed by one of the new oud samples. These two made an awesome pair.
 
I have some catching up to do.

First and foremost, a big thank you to @CBLindsay. Two days ago I received a surprise package in the mail containing his Balsamic Oud and Tabacaveg. I have only used each of these once, so I'll hold off further comment until another shave or two, other than to say, "more great CBL soap performance, here." As I mentioned above, the BO (oy) is a very light fragrance that my nose may just be too busted up to appreciate. But I need to try it again. Tabacaveg, otoh, is a dynamite fragrance, if you like the Veg (which I do). I can't wait to shave with this one again.

At the opposite end of the Shave Goodness Spectrum is Clubman Pinaud Shaving Cream. Wow! THE WORST EVER!!! It would not make a lather. Each time my brush touched it, it just dissipated into the air. So I used more. GONE. Then I put some directly on my face with my hands and tried to lather it with the brush. GONE. Now the whole jar of junk is: GONE. Right into the waste bin, mid shave. I won't even dignify this stuff by offering to PIF it. I'm hard enough to tolerate. No need sending garbage out . . . .

Anyway, I washed my brush and face, broke out the SJoL Lavender and Geranium cream, and had an excellent shave with the Elephant razor. This one still has the former owner's really excellent jnat edge, which I have not yet had to touch up (a/k/a "mess up") yet. I used the AoS lemon asb, because today I used Habit Rouge for the first time. What an interesting frag. The "male Shalimar"? I don't know about that. I need to wear this a time or two before I say much about it, other than I am really liking it, but it will not replace Shalimar or Jicky in my fragrance rotation (such as it is).

Hope you've all been well. Thanks for taking a peek.
 
I had a similar experience and disappointment with the little tub of clubman hard soap, although it made lather that was ultimately shareable if I recall. My biggest let down was that it was not a tru clubman scent despite the inference. If I recall your recent tub was a cream? I ALMOST sent you the last remnants of one of my favorite projects...a soap made using real clubman as, but decided against it as I will probably do at least one more run of this someday. The soap works and actually smells like clubman much like the Tabacaveg smells like a marriage of tabac and Veg.
 
This was really disappointing, since I love Clubman aftershaves (once they're decanted in glass and sit for a month or so). I was expecting great, if not classic, performance at a reasonable price, just like the aftershaves. Instead, I got vanishing cream. Oh well.
 
These just arrived!

7172aff53de9484749e3020797fc3d73.jpg


The brush is soaking, and the soap is ready for tomorrow!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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