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The best 'soap' fragrance for a man

post #1 of 42
3/26/08 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
I know the soap/clean genre isn't exactly the most beloved around here but as I get older I'm losing my tastes for orientals and sweet scents in general, much to my girlfriends chagrin. I spend most of my day in a professional environment, and it makes sense to me to center my wardrobe around that, not musky or sweet scents that I used to wear when I went out all the time.

I'm knee deep in vetivers right now, and while I appreciate the smell of all the niche scents I've explored, I think I like Guerlain's the best for it's versatility. I think I've temporarily exhausted that genre, so I'm going to tackle another one I have zero experience in.

Soap.

If Fight Club taught me nothing else, it's that soap is important. That being said, what do you think is the best 'soapy/clean' fragrance for a man, that isn't a second skin scent? I'd like a little sillage on with my soap if possible. I've never owned a soapy type scent, the closest I'd imagine would be Bvglari Soir, and that's a stretch at best. Thoughts and recomendations please!
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post #2 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:06pm
open by roger and gallet smells exactly and i mean exactly like dial gold soap...it is quite strong too. It is definitely not second skin.

i think that bulgari pour homme is soapy and musky at the same time, but starts strong but fades to whisper quiet at the end of the day.

Body shop white musk has a clean lather "white" soap smell sort of like ivory soap

Hope this helps
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post #3 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:06pm
My favorite is Czech & Speake #88. Every time I wear it my Wife comments how much she likes it. To her, it smells like expensive French hand milled soap.
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post #4 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:10pm
Iceberg Twice is pretty soapy in it's dry down. It's pretty tame though, I prefer something a lot more daring.
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post #5 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:12pm
  • KMF
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Creed Original Vetiver
Gendarme (and all of its follow up's)
Clean Men
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post #6 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:21pm
Chemistry by Clinique
Clean Men
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post #7 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:24pm
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In addition to what's already been said I'll add Mugler Cologne.
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post #8 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:31pm
Many of the fragrances by Roger Gallet are used in their soaps. So it's not the fragrance that smells like the soap, but the soap that smells like the fragrance.


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post #9 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:43pm
CK Be has a soapy/clean vibe to it and is pretty decent.
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post #10 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:52pm
My personal favorite scent in the "soapy" category is Prada Amber. Just the right amout of "soapy" ... without smelling like bar soap itself.
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post #11 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:53pm
Creed Original Vetiver
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post #12 of 42
3/26/08 at 1:56pm
Clean Men

From Sephora - "There's no way to duplicate the way a man smells when he has just showered, but Clean Men comes very close! This blend of ruby red grapefruit, English lavender, wild raspberry, clove, lime, olibanum, patchouli, and musk will leave him smelling fresh and Clean!"
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post #13 of 42
3/26/08 at 2:07pm
For me, Corinto Rouge has that quality - floral and soapy.
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post #14 of 42
3/26/08 at 2:12pm
My favorite soapy frags:

Chemistry by Clinique (amber & soap)
Léonard pour Homme by Léonard (smoke & soap)
Jockey Club by Caswell Massey (carnation & soap)
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post #15 of 42
3/26/08 at 2:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuciusVorenus View Post

Many of the fragrances by Roger Gallet are used in their soaps. So it's not the fragrance that smells like the soap, but the soap that smells like the fragrance. .

I wish their Fougère soap was to be had as a cologne. I love the soap and imagine that the legendary Fougère Royal by Houbigant may have been similar.
"In 1882, Parquet introduced Fougère Royal, a fragrance that would define a type of perfume — the "fougère" (or fern-like) fragrance family. But even more important, Fougère Royal was build around an accord of oakmoss, geranium, bergamot ... and synthetic coumarin." - ( from Lightyears Collection )

France still has an unbelievable variety of naturally smelling no-name soaps for little money. My favorite is a 200g piece of Jasmine. It lasts forever and smells almost as fresh as when I bought it 8 months ago /:-) ! Next time I will get some olive soap. I can choose between 5 different ones, which confused me last time.
Spanish Myrurgia soaps are also strongly scented. But then - I love perfume...
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post #16 of 42
3/26/08 at 2:20pm
Many from L'Occitane have that quality.

Also, Paco Rabbane PH (the original)
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post #17 of 42
3/26/08 at 3:26pm
You said "for a man" so I'm going with Creed Royal English Leather since it smells like pure saddlesoap, and Creed Vintage Tabarome which smells like those cowboy soap on a rope things. Unconventional, yet fits your description nonetheless.
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post #18 of 42
3/26/08 at 3:37pm
Another vote here for Creed's Original Vetiver. Smells like expensive soap.
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post #19 of 42
3/26/08 at 3:44pm
In addition to the ones mention, why not ADP colonia?
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post #20 of 42
3/26/08 at 4:05pm
There was a similar thread on this board on a couple of months ago...

My top two would be C&S 88 and Habit Rouge, although the latter smells more like shaving cream than soap. Does that count?
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post #21 of 42
3/26/08 at 5:26pm
Yep, Guerlain Vetiver definitely has that soapy drydown
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post #22 of 42
3/26/08 at 5:45pm
Monsieur Givenchy and Worth PH for me.
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post #23 of 42
3/26/08 at 6:00pm
Paco Rabanne pour homme

I wore this the other night to the grocery store and the cashier, a lovely mature lady, said I smelled "clean & soapy." She asked me what frag I was wearing so she could buy it for her grandson. I told her they actually sold it right there in the grocery store, and she was very pleased.
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post #24 of 42
3/26/08 at 7:15pm
Azzaro reminds me of Yardley's English Lavender; love it.
Jako, smells powdery/soapy, but is sweetish.
Kouros (finally got around to sniffing it) smells soapy to my nose.
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post #25 of 42
3/26/08 at 7:16pm
I agree that guerlain vetiver is soapy. it is also sweet.

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post #26 of 42
3/26/08 at 11:31pm
Another vote for Muglar Cologne. Very clean soapy drydown.
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post #27 of 42
3/26/08 at 11:34pm
Man guys your wood is wet! I can't understand why none listed this one!!! Nothing smells like old fashioned soap in my nose than Van Cleef and Arpels Pour Homme
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post #28 of 42
3/27/08 at 12:22am
Mugler Cologne and Gendarme! GO GET EM!
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post #29 of 42
3/27/08 at 12:30am
I second Prada Amber. More distinctive than Mugler, imo.
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post #30 of 42
3/27/08 at 12:53am
Moschino's Uomo? is ultra soapy, beware!

Of the ones I actually like, Trumper's Spanish Leather is fantastic soapy fragrance, way smoother and much more refined than Mugler Colognes and Gendarmes of the world. It's soapy without being fresh in banal way. I obviously third No. 88 and Original Vetiver.
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post #31 of 42
3/27/08 at 5:42am
I agree with Snafoo. Habit Rouge is powdery but soapy also.

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post #32 of 42
3/27/08 at 8:26am
CK one IMHO
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post #33 of 42
3/27/08 at 8:44am
I've nothing new to add, but wish to add my support for Creed Original Vetiver, Van Cleef and Arpels, and Paco Rabanne, all wonderful.
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post #34 of 42
3/27/08 at 8:50am
Prada Amber pour Homme by quite some considerable margin. Never thought of Habit Rouge as soapy, but I guess I can see that - depends on the soap you're comparing it with of course...
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post #35 of 42
3/27/08 at 9:40am
Soap=Tabac (as in get wet rub yourself in tallow based soap and do not rinse it off)
Clean= Rive Gauche (the smell of a face after a baby butt smooth shave)
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post #36 of 42
3/27/08 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny_Ludlow View Post

Of the ones I actually like, Trumper's Spanish Leather is fantastic soapy fragrance, way smoother and much more refined than Mugler Colognes and Gendarmes of the world.

I do not agree. I think Spanish Leather is extremely leather prominent and...resinous at that. Yes it's a soapy leather scent, but I would never suggest SL to someone who wants a 'soap' fragrance. Maybe someone who wants a soapy leather scent...but SL is much more than soap.
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post #37 of 42
3/27/08 at 1:51pm
I would suggest PHOTO by Karl Lagerfeld and BLV by Bvlgari.
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post #38 of 42
3/27/08 at 2:08pm
someone told me i smelled like soap, i was wearing l'eau d'issey.
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post #39 of 42
3/27/08 at 3:20pm
As it's been pointed out many times in this forum, Touch by Fred Hayman smells like Neutrogena's Rainbath Shower Gel. Quite soapy...and I love it!

I suppose if you have never used Rainbath, you may not find it soapy?
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post #40 of 42
3/27/08 at 3:32pm
I agree about Touch -- very soapy in a Rainbath kind of way. (As has been discussed before, it's identical to Rainbath, just bottled in edt form.)
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post #41 of 42
3/27/08 at 4:49pm
Below are the best i have..

These frags have great sillage on me apart from Ckbe..i have marked the ones i consider pure soap.. with the symbol #

Clean Men-Dlish #
Anucci
Kouros #
Trumpers Spanish Leather #
Alfred Sung Homme #
Tabac Original
Creed Original Vetiver #
Monsieur Musk
Quorum
Van Cleef & Arpels
Givenchy Gentlemen
Prada Amber #
Aramis 900
Ckbe #
Aqua Di Parma
Trussardi Uomo
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post #42 of 42
3/27/08 at 11:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdnba View Post

open by roger and gallet smells exactly and i mean exactly like dial gold soap...it is quite strong too. It is definitely not second skin.

You've got me very excited to try this. I love the smell of Dial Soap Gold so I'm going to go try this out tomorrow.

*EDIT*

So I ended up buying Open today. I have to say I'm a little disappointed. There is definitely some Dial Soap Gold in there, but for my nose the more predominant note is "burnt wood." It's like the smell you get when you walk outside of a restaurant that sells ribs (Tony Roma's is what comes to mind.) It also reminds me of how I would smell after sitting around a campfire.

I probably OVER prepared for this. I took a shower with a bar of Dial Soap Gold and also washed my hands with the liquid version before I left. So I knew *exactly* what the smell should be. So under that kind of scrutiny, it was going to have some big shoes to fill. Dial has more of a clean/citrus orange kind of smell, with no wood.

Touch by Fred Hayman is supposed to smell like Neutrogena Rainbath as suggested by comments here in the forums -- and it DOES. Totally. With Open, I'm not sure I would have picked up on the Dial Soap Gold smell if it wasn't pointed out to me first.

It's not bad at all...I do like the scent...it's just not as Dial Soap Gold smelling as I had hoped it would be. I don't regret buying it.
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