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Individual Elements Of A "Barbershop" Scent?

mantic59

mantic59

Member
Famous Elsewhere
There is no doubt in my mind that one of the attractions of old school shaving is getting the “vibe” of a barbershop. Whether it’s based on an early childhood memory or even a romantic notion of what a barbershop should smell like is almost irrelevant. It’s like a racial memory.

But there must be a hundred variations of a “barbershop” scent in shaving creams & soaps. It seems like neither shavers nor artisans/brands can agree on just what individual smells make up a barbershop scent, other than it’s made up of several individual notes. So let’s try an experiment. Based on a number of conversations I’ve had with both other shavers and cream/soap artisans recently, I’ve created a list of individual scent elements that commonly come up when discussing barbershop scents.

Pick the top 3-5 scent notes you think belong to a barbershop at THIS GOOGLE FORMS LINK.

I understand responses may be dependent on region and/or culture so I’m hoping to get several different profiles and then look at products that meet those profiles. So a shaver in New York might go for product X while one in Canberra (or London...or Amsterdam) might go for product Y. Give me some time to analyze the data and I'll post my results here and on Sharpologist.
 
I saw this posted on Wicked_Edge and subsequently participated in the google forms link there.

It will be very interesting to see the results, for the most part culture and locale will shape the responses of the older participants while the younger participants should vote based on their experience and exposure to the market dominant or more well known barbershop soaps and balms.
 
Interesting survey @mantic59 . Thanks for the inclusion of us in the far south...

I note that "Barbicide" is very American and a lot of us wouldn't have smelt it before (or not known it was Barbicide).

I think that some of the categories are very broad (e.g. tobacco which could be floral, pipe or green; citrus which could vary from Bergamot to grapefruit to a bright lemon!), while some are very narrow (e.g. Ink!!!).
I say this because Bergamot is a popular scent in shaving soaps, and yet it may not come to mind when you give the category of "citrus". So I think you need to factor this into your survey.

Looking again at the list, I note that you haven't included "florals" of any kind...

Also, when you say "barbershop" are you meaning American or European Barbershop?! There is a distinction between the two. (Exactly like asking for the notes of "Bay Rum"!!! Which version?!? Island style? Cowboy style?! Modern-varieties using Bourbon or vanilla or...?!?)

Sorry to pick it apart, but I think these are all factors to consider... [emoji51]
 
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filobiblic said:
Interesting survey @mantic59 . Thanks for the inclusion of us in the far south...

I note that "Barbicide" is very American and a lot of us wouldn't have smelt it before (or not known it was Barbicide).

I think that some of the categories are very broad (e.g. tobacco which could be floral, pipe or green; citrus which could vary from Bergamot to grapefruit to a bright lemon!), while some are very narrow (e.g. Ink!!!).
I say this because Bergamot is a popular scent in shaving soaps, and yet it may not come to mind when you give the category of "citrus". So I think you need to factor this into your survey.

Looking again at the list, I note that you haven't included "florals" of any kind...

Also, when you say "barbershop" are you meaning American or European Barbershop?! There is a distinction between the two. (Exactly like asking for the notes of "Bay Rum"!!! Which version?!? Island style? Cowboy style?! Modern-varieties using Bourbon or vanilla or...?!?)

Sorry to pick it apart, but I think these are all factors to consider... [emoji51]
Click to expand...
All excellent points but I had to start somewhere :) and I used some major elements I got from some discussions with others prior to making the survey. American vs. European is also a valid observation. Remember there is an "other" option on the survey where another element(s) can be listed--and looking at the data so far it is indeed being used.

The bottom line is for me to find the most popular combinations then correlate those combinations with shaving soaps/creams that match the combinations....
 
First sentence of your last paragraph summarises my view succinctly.

Not only is it fluid regionally, yet also generationally.

I'm sure you've observed the oficatory transition into the aquatic scent profile from the late 80's.

This will likely result in a skewed result in your data mate.
 
mantic59 said:
The bottom line is for me to find the most popular combinations then correlate those combinations with shaving soaps/creams that match the combinations....
Click to expand...

It'll be interesting to see what you end up with. I'm guessing you'll hit on some that many would agree to be "barbershop", but some others that won't be in the ball-park...

In some ways, what you're aiming to do is to have your participants "translate" the barbershop scent and then you will "back-translate" it into real soaps.
 
In a follow up to this solicitation for survey participants, @mantic59 has posted this piece which is quite an interesting read and provides a summary of his findings based on the data.
 
I just thought I would add, for the benefit of @Mark1966 that there is a spreadsheet of ranked placings but try not to get too enthusiastic :coffee:
 
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