What Smells Go Into A "Barbershop" Scent?

[mantic59]

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 London (or Miami...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.

 

[Bezoar]

The thing to consider when making a scent, based on a "location" such as a barbershop, is that the location will smell differently depending upon time of year and whats in fashion at the moment.
A barber shop called Taylors out on old bond street, smelled far differently in 1890 then it does today. The soaps, colognes, after shaves, and such are all different.

In theory 10 grams of trumpers sandalwood cream and 4 grams of Trumpers Rose cream or violet cream should be about right scent wise.

 

[Bogeyman]

Even then it's impossible to determine as it's such a large generic group. As a result, I usually avoid them as such as they are so varied in their interpretation.