Scent is indelibly tied to memory. Perhaps, come autumn, a whiff of tobacco smoke reminds you of your granddad smoking his cigar pipe in his library, or the scent of sandalwood takes you back to crisp autumn hikes with friends during your youth. As the weather cools down and we try our best to get warm, we gravitate towards these familiar smells, and many of us switch our cologne from the light, zesty scents of spring and summer to something headier. It’s also possible to capture scent memories – while making your wet shaving ritual feel ever so seasonal – with a fall shaving cream.
The following six shaving creams feature fragrance accords of the darker, richer variety. Think smoky vetiver, earthy patchouli, and hints of leather and aromatic spices. Give them a try along with warm lather from a shaving scuttle for a comforting fall shave.
Simpsons Shaving Cream – Lavender and Vetivert
If fall conjures up scents of smoky firewood, look for vetiver or vertivert (the essential oil of the vetiver plant) in your shaving cream. Simpsons Shaving Cream in Lavender and Vetivert has an earthy base punctuated with woody, smoky top notes and floral, minty undertones.
The glycerin-based formula contains aloe for an irritation-free shave.
SHOP: Simpsons Shaving Cream – Lavender and Vetivert
—
Kent Luxury Shaving Soap
Kent Luxury Shave Soap features a beautiful fougère fragrance with a base of heady, rich patchouli lifted by extracts of pine, clove, and lavender. The soap’s fragrance finishes with lasting base notes of nutmeg, cedarwood, vanilla, musk, and sandalwood.
Made from natural lanolin sourced from English sheep wool, this shaving soap is decadently creamy, providing your skin with the extra cushion and moisture it needs as the temperatures and humidity dip.
SHOP: Kent Luxury Shaving Soap
—
Taylor of Old Bond Street Luxury Shaving Cream Bowl – Sandalwood
Reviewers have called Taylor of Old Bond Street Luxury Shaving Cream Bowl in Sandalwood a “hyper-masculine scent that’s highly addictive.” A year-round bestseller, this shaving cream is particularly beguiling in the fall, boasting a deep fougère fragrance with top notes of lavender, rosemary, liquid amber, and geranium, opening to a heart of fern and orange blossom.
SHOP: Taylor of Old Bond Street Luxury Shaving Cream Bowl – Sandalwood
—
Castle Forbes Essential Oil Shaving Cream – Cedarwood and Sandalwood
A sophisticated woody fragrance grounded in cedarwood and sandalwood essential oils, Castle Forbes Essential Oil Shaving Cream is distinctly masculine. Thankfully, the scent is quite light so it won’t conflict with any aftershave cologne you apply afterwards.
An ultra-moisturizing formulation of coconut oil and glycerin provides thick, creamy lather for maximum lubrication, and it’s gentle on all skin types.
SHOP: Castle Forbes Essential Oil Shaving Cream
—
Truefitt and Hill Shaving Cream – Grafton
The gold standard autumnal fragrance, Truefitt & Hill Grafton was formulated in 1983 at the suggestion of one of HMS Grafton’s officers, who while being attended to by a Truefitt’s barber took a liking to the aroma and suggested it be named after the gracious line of HMS battleships.
A classic masculine fougère with a green herbaceous opening, Grafton has a heart of dry, spicy floral resting on a base of rich, woody amber and leather.
Grafton Shaving Cream captures this warm, aromatic scent while soothing your skin with glycerin and coconut oil.
SHOP: Truefitt & Hill Grafton Shaving Cream
—
RazoRock Zi’ Peppino Shaving Soap
RazoRock Zi’ Peppino Shaving Soap is rife with the scent woody, fresh tobacco flower, topped with a hint of spice. A lightweight fall fragrance, this shaving soap is perfect for gentlemen who don’t like fall fragrances that are too heady. The soap’s consistency lies somewhere in between a shaving cream and shaving soap, so you’ll easy produce mountains of lather. A bonus? The formula is vegan friendly.
SHOP: RazoRock Zi’ Peppino Shaving Soap
