I don't like most shave soap fragrances: too flowery, too girly, too strong, too much like Grandma's potpourri.
What to do? Discard? Suffer the olfactory insult?
No! There is a better solution, and it lies in the fact that most fragrances are volatile. They won't explode, but they will dissipate over time if left in the open air.
A great example of a good and inexpensive shave soap is Arko, which is often disliked because of its overpowering fragrance.
The solution is simple. Unwrap it, and leave it exposed to circulating air. Over days the fragrance will start to diminish. Over weeks it becomes mild and pleasant.
I am doing this with a large tub of shave soap that I won as a door prize in a shaving meet up. I hated the fragrance, but the lather was good. So this morning I opened the container and left it to air on my bathroom counter.
Not surprisingly, my bathroom soon acquired the subtle scent of this shave soap. That's an indication that the fragrance is leaving the soap and going into the air. Over time, the soap will have a weak enough fragrance that it's unlikely to bother me.
The reverse is true of a soap with a smell that you like. My sad story is that I ordered a menthol soap that I like a lot, but which is no longer available. I put the puck of soap in an open yogurt container, where it has been for many months. I went to use it the other day, and there was little menthol to be felt or smelled.
Oops, I should have put that puck in a sealed container to preserve the fragrance and feeling. But I didn't think about it at the time.
Don't make my mistakes. Air out the soaps with strong or offensive fragrance. Seal the soaps you like to preserve the fragrance.
Happy shaving!
