Splash a liberal amount of Aqua Velva into the palm of your hand and apply over the shaved area to seal the pores with a cool & fresh sensation.. Recommended for Many believe that today’s Old Spice cologne isn’t the same as the original.Aficionados swear there was a subtle change made to the formula after Procter & Gamble acquired the brand. Even with the tweaking, this is still a solid, timeless, and manly fragrance. Good to have in your collection. Below are my thoughts and a bit of history on the six drugstore colognes and aftershaves I tested. Enjoy. Pinaud Clubman Aqua Velva was first trademarked in 1917 by the J.B. Williams Company [2] and later acquired by the Beecham Group in 1982, [3] SmithKline Beecham in 1989, [4] then by GlaxoSmithKline from 2000 until it was sold to Combe Incorporated in 2002. [5] As of 2016, it is marketed by Combe Incorporated and Unilever (formerly Sara Lee) in Europe. Aqua Velva products include Classic Ice Blue, Ice Sport, and Musk, as well as Original Sport (sold only in Canada). The Classic Ice Blue serves as the original version of Aqua Velva. [6] There is still usually a legacy selection of the old favorites varying by country in your local drug store, from Old Spice and Skin Bracer in the US, to Brut and Mandate in the UK, Proraso and Acqua di Selva in Italy, Sir Irisch Moos and Tabac in Germany, to the quirky Mandom by Gatsby in Japan (once endorsed by the late American action star Charles Bronson himself), and some small-volume revival brands to boot like Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements, so there is still plenty to explore for the man who wants to shave like it’s 1953 instead of 2023.

Stevens, Sharon Ritenour; Jones, James (July 1999). "The Thin Red Line". The Journal of Military History. 63 (3): 706. doi: 10.2307/120503. ISSN 0899-3718. JSTOR 120503. Make sure you put your aftershave and other potentially harmful products away again after using them. Don’t leave them out on a counter where they’re within your child’s reach. When the bottle is empty and you’re ready to discard it, be sure to rinse it thoroughly and throw it away safely. What it smells like: Stetson’s scent kinda catches you off guard. With all their rugged cowboy marketing, I expected Stetson to have a woodsy, leathery, or even musk scent. But to my surprise it was more of a light, flowery fragrance with notes of lavender, jasmine, and citrus. It’s not bad, just different from the typical male fragrances on the list. The aftershave of choice of my grandfather, William Hurst, and my own favorite drugstore classic. English Leather got its start in 1949, and it hasn’t changed much since then. Same formula; same rectangular bottle; same big ol’ wooden lid. English Leather gift boxes were a popular holiday gift for years. Maybe you got your dad a box for Christmas 1987. Most of the marketing for English Leather featured an attractive woman telling male viewers or readers that, “All her men wear English Leather.” Translation: If you want hot babes, slap on some English Leather, by golly. Example: Thomas Derdak, Tina Grant: International Directory of Company Histories, volume 46, 2002, p. 205 [1]After a week of testing these colognes and aftershaves, I’m happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised by my findings. I actually thought all of the drugstore colognes and aftershaves smelled great. If you’re looking to invigorate your freshly shaved face or want to dab on a bit of scent every day without breaking the bank, they make for agreeable alternatives to expensive fragrances. Pinaud Clubman is the oldest bargain aftershave on our list. Since 1810, Pinaud Clubman has been making the world smell manlier with their wide range of grooming products. Walk into any traditional barbershop and you’ll likely find Pinaud Clubman aftershave sitting on the shelves; it’s part of what gives classic barbershops their distinctive scent. Eventually, the smell and blue color we know Aqua Velva itself to have today was added post-Prohibition in the US to keep guys desperate for a swig of booze from chugging the stuff, although these days it isn’t even made with potable alcohol (nor are many toiletries anymore). That leather-meets-mint-and-lemon smell of Aqua Velva became so appealing at one point that Williams just recommended using their product as cologne too, adding a material they marketed as “Humectin” to extend the longevity of the smell. The popularity of Aqua Velva opened the door for other purpose-made aftershaves like Mennen’s Skin Bracer in 1932, itself a shameless rip off of Houbigant’s Fougère Royale with mint replacing much of the citrus top, and being a much simpler “fougère” structure overall. Aqua Velva was responsible for Pete Rose’s all-time MLB record for hits. If only Aqua Velva could have imbued Rose with the wisdom needed to understand that betting on your own team isn’t a good idea.

Dargis, Manohla (March 2, 2007). " "Zodiac": David Fincher's obsession with a serial killer's story". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017 . Retrieved 2009-11-07. an alarming- looking blue elixir called an Aqua Velva that is Graysmith's bar drink of choice As a shaver, who during COVID transformed from a Gillette multi blade user to a wet shaver with an expensive DE and have now discovered fragrances, I’ve gone from using aftershaves always to rarely. But that’s because I can do a very clean shave and I then use professional face care moisturizer. So the scent purpose of aftershave has been lost as has the face feel purpose. I have some unscented splashes for occasional use and a few balls, and I still love the DR Harris Arlington scent (aftershave , not so much cologne), but it’s no longer needed. An. interesting read, thank you. This is a timeless fragrance and works very well with my shaving routine. Makes my skin feel very clean. Been using this sine 1934 :-) My Dad (1920--1997) used this and I remember the blue bottle on his shelf above the sink with razor shaving brush etc.It's difficult to describe, but chances are if you're looking for that fresh aftershavy smell that your dad used to wear, this is probably it, or at the very least hits some of those notes. Some adventurous men in the middle classes (then working classes) took up learning the straight-razor themselves if they didn’t want a regular expenditure for visiting the barber, and alongside such self-shaving came a need for take-home grooming products, which included some sort of “after-shave” tonic, lotion, cream, or powder. It is also classic to use so-called"cooling agents" in these preparations. Menthol is the most classic, but substances derived from menthyl such as menthyl lactate are possible. From Fantastic post shave properties: the menthol cools everything down, the witch hazel heals and the lanolin conditions the skin. Always rinse your skin with lukewarm water after shaving and then a final cold rinse to start the process of closing the pores. Finally apply the aftershave to seal the pores and start the healing process.

Before they got into the body wash business, Old Spice made cologne and aftershave. Chances are your grandpa probably wore the stuff. If I were a bettin’ man, I’d even wager that the manly, charming scent of Old Spice played some kind of role in your eventual birth. Old Spice has been sold in its iconic buoy-shaped bottle since 1938. What it smells like:It’s a pretty simple fragrance. Starts off with a citrusy smell that slowly fades to a woodsy, leathery scent. As the day wore on, it started to smell more like baby powder. Nice and fresh. Hai Karate is no longer produced, but because it was perhaps one of the most famous bargain fragrances to come out of the 60s and 70s, I had to put it on the list. I’ve never smelled the stuff, but from what I’ve heard from Baby Boomers, its exotic blend of lavender, basil, geranium, bergamot, rose, and patchouli didn’t actually smell so great. So why did it sell so well? This is a great aftershave, and has a nice scent which lasts, worth buying, I also use this on my shaving channel on Youtube "PaulHFilms".

Aqua Velva is an American brand of grooming products targeted at men. Its best-known product is the Ice Blue aftershave introduced in 1917 by the J.B. Williams Company. [1] History [ edit ]