DR Harris Sandalwood Aftershave

Drubbing

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Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Location
Perth, WA
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$50 (locally) for an Aftershave eh? It would need to be good. And a bit special. It is.

If you've tried Musgo Real Classic (tell us about it Glen), you’ve got the same deal going on here; this is pretty moisturising, has a very slight oily feel, so you use it more far more frugally than most aftershaves, as it will spread far. When I first tried this, it was from a generous Connaught sampler bottle and put on way too much, so it felt a bit tacky to begin with. When I used less, it was fine. If you put it on a damp face, you can avoid that and get even more from your 100ml.

As an AS it works very well. I’m used to cooling menthol splashes like Speick, Proraso and Floid, so Harris feels like it has more burn. But it definitely soothes, tones, and provides some moisturising, which is what I’d expect from any decent AS. Early days with my full bottle, but I think Proraso is still the soothingest moisturisingist AS around, but Harris' Sandalwood killer punch is the scent.

The scent has real staying power, so it double as a cologne. This is probably one reason Harris doesn't offer a cologne version, so $50 for one this good is fair value I think. In the bottle and going on, it smells strongly aniseedy, maybe a bit of cloves, with a bit of wood. When it dries, the scents are reversed. You're left with a wonderful, slightly sweet, woody musk that reeks of quality, like a bespoke furniture workshop, not that I've ever been in one, but I'm certain they all reek of Harris Sandalwood. It's potent but subtle, and stays quite close to the skin. This lasts til well after lunch on me before it tails off, but a decent whiff is always there.

The scent is what I’d imagine 'true' Sandalwood to be, but opinions differ on that so much it starts cologne wars. It’s far woodier than TOBS or Trumpers, which are distinctly vanilla over wood, and very nice in their own right. I find Harris Sandalwood strongly reminiscent of the laughably expensive Diptyque Tam Dao sandalwood ($165/100ml), which is exceptionally dry and super woody. Tam Dao might have more complexity, but the sandalwood notes appear similar to me.

If you like a more 'pure' sandalwood scent, you’ve got an excellent cologne, AS and moisturiser in one, which adds to the value for money. I did most of this review for Mensbiz and was going to get it from there for xmas, but Nathan says my hyperbole saw it all sell out, and it's still not back. So sorry Nathan, I had to get mine elsewhere. So I got the 150ml.
 
Sounds good. When I'm in the need for another AS, will definitely look into getting this one.
 
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$50 (locally) for an Aftershave eh? It would need to be good. And a bit special. It is.

If you've tried Musgo Real Classic (tell us about it Glen), .

OK I will. Very different from what I expected - The oily feel can be quite disconcerting at first but it is all a matter of adjusting quantity. The feel on the skin, once on and dried a little is very pleasant, but I found the aroma fairly mild. her indoors likes it and that is the main thing, but even she had to take a good sniff to detect the aroma (quite possibly the slowly declining olfactory ability of 60 year old noses). However I can definetly reccommend for its pleasant "after feel". My thanks to Drubbing for offering it.
 
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