****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I bought the Gentleman’s Blend and Cigar Blend at the same time, and I think I will review them together, as I think they actually have a slightly similar aroma. Each package was a sturdy padded mailer with the bottle packed in an additional bubble packet. Seemed packed sufficient for shipment. Fun label art on all GBS products.I had my first experience with beard oil just recently, with my purchase here on Amazon of the Grave Before Shave 4-pack sampler. I was so happy/ impressed with those, for the most part, that I decided to explore other scents in the GBS line-up. As some background on me, and my hair-type, since I think this may be pertinent (we don’t all have the same type of hair, right?): I am a middle-aged Caucasian man with thick beard growth. It used to be brown, now it’s heading toward gray… I have grown a beard every winter for ages, but I’ve always kept it trimmed pretty tight. This year, I decided to let it grow out, just to see what it looked like a bit longer. I was worried about it being a frizz-bomb and I didn’t want to look like a vagrant, which is what led me to exploring grooming products for my beard.I have now tried 6 of GBS’ scents and can say that they all are pretty uniform in their ability to soften the beard. It’s a pretty noticeable change, in my opinion. Also, my beard is starting to get pretty “bushy” by now, and I can tell that the oils help tame it a bit, though certainly there is no hold like a wax would provide. Not that I was expecting that, though I did want to mention it specifically. I suspect that somebody with a finer facial hair may get more control with this product, though.Initial impressions of the Gentleman’s and Cigar blends:-Gentlemen’s Blend: I received this first, and when smelling it from the bottle, I mostly noticed a sweet vanilla aroma. Honestly, I was worried about ordering this one at first, because I wondered if I was going to smell like I spilled bourbon on myself. I don’t need to buy beard oils to achieve this particular scent. Well, fear not, as this doesn’t smell anything like a real bourbon (and as somebody that has been born and raised on bourbon, I am intimately familiar with the scent). After my first application, I am reminded of a sweet vanilla scent. Maybe something like a cream soda, or a vanilla Coke, or something like that. It’s a “sweet” vanilla, though not cloying. If there’s any liquor that it reminds me of, it may be a spiced rum.It’s pretty nice. I put some on this morning before I left for work at about 7am. As I’m writing this, it’s about 3pm, and if I stroke my beard or curl up my mustache, I can still catch a whiff of the scent, though it’s not at all overpowering, even when first applied.-Cigar Blend: This came the next day. And the reason I wanted to write this review paired w/ the Gentlemen’s Blend is because when I first opened and smelled it in the bottle, I thought it was the same. Like, I was thinking it was mislabeled. I actually went and got the other bottle and did a side-by-side sniff on them. Once I got them together I did notice a difference, but the first impression was very similar. One thing I’ve noticed among all of the different scents is that they really “open-up” when given some air.Anyways, back to the Cigar: I think that this has a very similar vanilla note to it upon first applying it, but as it warms up and diffuses a bit, you definitely get the tobacco notes. Although I would argue that it’s more of a pipe tobacco than a cigar, which is a good thing in my opinion. It’s a sophisticated scent for sure. I noticed that this scent stayed strong pretty much all day. I put some on in the morning, and could still plainly smell it when I took a shower that evening.I have only used these two scents a couple of times each at this point, but I wanted to jot down my initial impressions. I will follow-up after some time.My thoughts on all of the scents that I’ve tried, in order of favorite to least-favorite:-Currently, I think the Bay Rum is my favorite, with the Cigar maybe coming next. These are both very strong and sophisticated aromas that easily last all day. Perhaps these are more of a “special occasion” scent. Date night? Drinks with the boss? Buying a cheesecake at Costco? You know, fancy stuff.-The Viking and the Gentleman’s Blends are probably my favorite “workday” scents. The Viking blend is not totally scent-free, but it is very subtle. It’s the one I’ll probably run out of first. I’m liking the Gentleman Blend, and think it’s also subtle enough that it won’t be “too much” to wear everyday.-The Pine scent fades super quick, but starts out rugged and manly smelling. Complimentary of my pine tar soap. It’s my weekend scent, until I’m finished with my bottle. I haven’t decided if I’ll re-order this one, unless I get the 4-pack again.-The OG scent just reminds me too much of a household cleaner. It’s actually not an offensive (or even a bad) smell, I just don’t want to smell like lemon Pledge is all. I would not re-order this one, but I didn’t throw the bottle out. When the Pine bottle is gone, I’ll probably switch to this to use it up.
