Fragrance Guide: Sandalwood, Spice, and Bays that are Nice

After a nearly two month hiatus, I am back! I have been extra busy this semester, and have had little time to blog. So today I will be changing up things a bit and giving my first ever product review on the blog. However, here are some posts to look forward to in the next coming weeks and months: Easter festivities, a trip to Providence, RI, beach bonfire on Assateague Island, Kentucky Derby Spring Formal, and hopefully, a week in Avon, NC with the boys.

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Cleanliness is key. Your collection of sweaters, oxford shirts, and chinos will do you no good without it. A well dressed but foul smelling man just might as well be wearing rags. However, if you are reading this blog, the chance you need to hear this very slim. You already know it. However, I will still point out that there is a difference between not smelling bad and smelling good. Today's post is about the latter. Most guys want to smell good, and have wanted to since they were tweens. Remember the days of Axe body spray after gym class or before your 8th grade dance? You wanted to smell good then too, and wanted to prove it by dousing yourself in cheap chemicals that are probably now burning a hole in the Ozone layer. Well, now that your body spray days are (hopefully) over, it is time to select a scent of moderation and maturity. I will be giving four reviews of products ranging from inexpensive to premium makers.

Old Spice Classic Cologne & Aftershave

Confession time: yours truly was of the body spray crowd too when he was in middle school. However, Axe was never my go-to. Old Spice put out their own collection of sprays as well, which I was enamored with. After doing my fair share of atmospheric damage with the numerous cans bought over the course of my middle school days, I one day decided that my spraying days were over, and switched over to designer cologne for a few months (Aramis & Drakkar Noir). However, my allegiances soon returned to Old Spice after discovering that they too had a cologne that was much more inexpensive.

Old Spice cologne comes with a spraying function. Meanwhile, aftershave (above) is to be dabbed or splashed on.

The great thing about Old Spice is its price and availability. While the cologne is harder to find (but not by much), the aftershave can be found in just about any drugstore, and for slightly over $10. Probably the most Ivy of my favorite fragrances. Combine with the scents Brylcreem and cigarette smoke for the smell of just about any 1960s college campus. Madison Avenue made this the scent of the alpha male back then, and continues to today (for other products).

Chesapeake Bay Spyce

We now shift to another spice, or rather "spyce". Chesapeake Bay Spyce is a local company based in Easton, MD (see my post). However, I have found the cologne in men stores as far South as Williamsburg, VA. I received a bottle as a Christmas gift, and it is now my go-to every day scent that doesn't clash at all with my Old Spice aftershave. Just like Brylcreem, a little dab 'll do ya. This stuff is strong! For all my Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia readers (on and off the Peninsula), I especially recommend this for you. Look in local men stores, pharmacies, and gift shops. I got my bottle from the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury. And if you happen to live somewhere else, such as the landlocked Midwest, and want the smell of the Bay, I won't accuse you of cultural appropriation. You can get Chesapeake Spyce on Amazon for the same price as in stores!

A 4 oz. bottle of CB Spyce sells for about $30 for those who are wondering.

Showcasing the Delmarva Peninsula on the back of the box.

It wouldn't be a Chesapeake Bay cologne without something involving the Blue Crab.

Caswell-Massey Sandalwood Cologne

The oldest American fragrance company (so old, it used to be British) puts out the next fragrance on our list. I bought a bottle three years ago before my summer class at William & Mary. While a haze of Axe hung over the rooms of many of my other dorm mates, the room I shared always had the smell of Sandalwood. For these reasons, I always associate this sweet smelling fragrance with the school and the wonderful people I met there. After a year of almost daily use of Sandalwood, I made the move back to Old Spice during my senior year of high school, only using the C-M for special occasions. 

With a thin layer covering the bottom of the bottle, my bottle of Sandalwood has lasted me nearly three years. Oddly enough, the price has gone up from the time I bought it. Being $35 in 2015 and now $45 in 2018.

St. Johns Bay Rum

Highest on the price spectrum of my recommended fragrances is this bad boy. Imported from the Virgin Islands and costing $50 for a bottle, Bay Rum can be found in local men stores and giants such as Brooks Brothers alike. I am always sure to take a sample spritz when shopping at the stores that carry it. After I finish my bottle of Chesapeake Bay Spyce, I will likely move on to Bay Rum before deciding which scent to actually stick with.

Ivy-Style.com coins Bay Rum as the "scent of Madison Avenue". Want to smell like Don Draper (minus the stench of cigarettes)? Then this is the cologne for you! (picture property of ivy-style.com)

Honorable and Dishonorable Mentions

The scents endorsed above are certainly not the only ones that will do. While I typically recommend against them, some clothing companies do produce a decent cologne for a decent price. Brooks Brothers and Polo are examples of this. Do not bother with Tommy Hilfiger or Nautica's lines of fragrances. The biggest NO I give is Fierce by A&F, and I'm not even going to explain why. Even colognes from high fashion houses such as Gucci, Armani, etc. I recommend against. Their specialty is clothes, so buy from someone whose specialty is fragrances. Then again, as I said before, exceptions can always be made. In the end, once you have found a scent you like, wear it proudly and stick with it.

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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Afternoon + Easton, MD

Hello readers! Due to final papers and exams, I have not had the time to compose a post for my second New York City trip. While that post will be coming soon, I have taken the time to put together this cumulative post from the events of this current and last weekend. Enjoy!

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Snowbound Vol. II

Salisbury typically gets its first major snow of winter in January or February. When I heard we would be in for snow two Fridays ago, I shrugged the forecast off and went about with my usual business. Salisbury's location on the Delmarva peninsula usually causes any snow to turn into rain once it comes our way. Little did I know of what was in store for my little town.

Aside from our Christmas lights, my house was completely obscured by the snow. We got a solid 8 inches!

The snow started around 2:00 pm, and began to stick after three hours, turning the roads into a nightmare. It snowed the following day as well, but not nearly as hard as Friday night. However, this didn't stop my house from losing power around 9 Saturday evening. The next day, most of the roads had been cleared, so I decided to venture out into the countryside.

A hidden creek in the woods on the outskirts of Salisbury. An equestrian dirt road once ran beside it, but it has now been forgotten.

The woods were also once frequented by Salisbury's defunct fox hunt club. My father, who grew up near these woods, remembers the foxhounds occasionally ending up on his property.

Town & Country
Wayfarer Sunglasses (RayBan) Italy
Bedale Waxed Jacket (Barbour) England
Blackwatch Scotch Flannel (L.L. Bean)
Cotton Crewneck (St. John's Bay)
Chinos (Brooks Brothers)
Bean Boots (L.L. Bean) USA

• RayBan Wayfarer Sunglasses- See earlier posts.
• Barbour Bedale Waxed Jacket- In need of a rewaxing due to heavy use this fall and past winter. For more, see other posts.
• L.L. Bean Blackwatch Flannel- Passed over from grandfather. Woolrich, Pendleton, and L.L. Bean reign supreme when it comes to where one should buy their flannel shirts. I currently own three flannel shirts including the one in the picture, one from Sears, and a brighter colored one from Vineyard Vines. My one from L.L. Bean by far trumps the other two. Bean offers a wide selection of certified tartan patterns, with my shirt being in blackwatch.
• St. John's Bay Cotton Crewneck Sweater- Passed over from grandfather. Due to its wear and large size, I have reserved this sweater for weekends or days at home. St. John's Bay is essentially J.C. Penney's attempt at coastal New England style. While I tend to steer away from most department store brands, I do not condemn St. John's Bay to where Alfani sits. It has been around since the 80's, and sweaters I own from them give a vibe similar to vintage L.L. Bean (but sadly aren't made in the USA). However, I would never seek one out. As with Stafford and Club Room, take it or leave it.
• Brooks Brothers Casual Chinos- See other posts.
• L.L. Bean Duck Boots- My most worn shoe of the season being put to real use in the snow. For more, see other posts. 

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Easton, MD

My family has the tradition of taking yearly day trip to the small town of Easton, MD around Christmastime. While we typically go closer to Thanksgiving, my schedule made us push our trip forward by several weeks. Easton is pretty much summarized by this excerpt from a 1984 Time Magazine article on the town's annual Waterfowl Festival:

“Catalog freaks would recognize Easton as an L.L. Bean kind of town. On second thought, that may be a little narrow. It is a Bean-Gokeys-Orvis-Eddie Bauer-Lands End kind of town; it spreads its trade around. Topsiders, penny loafers, khaki pants, monogrammed sweaters, oxford cloth shirts, lamb suede jackets and the ever present tweed, to say nothing of argyle socks, contribute heavily to the Easton uniform. Easton was preppie when preppie wasn’t cool. Ducks embellish its mailboxes; there are ducks on its welcome mats. It is a place of fine old houses hugging tidy streets. Well-fed cats walk its alleys with the air of taxpayers; they do not prowl.”

On the way to Easton, we drove through a small community known as Trappe. My late grandfather lived here for a time. I mentioned this area in my post on Oxford, MD as being home for a country gentleman, and I will hold to this statement. 

A patrician duck hunter's paradise, Talbot County has also attracted the attention of notable Washingtonians, including Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, both of whom have vacation homes in the nautical town of Saint Michaels. Ever wonder where Wedding Crashers was filmed/took place? Saint Michaels and Talbot County.

Prime land for a country estate. 

Our scenic route through Trappe led us directly into Easton. As it lies on US Route 50 many pass through a part of Easton on their way to Ocean City, MD. However, the few who venture in further are treated to one of the nicest (and also richest) small towns in Maryland.

One of Easton's most famous landmarks is the Tidewater Inn, a hotel and restaurant that has hosted Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Bing Crosby, JFK, and Robert Mitchum (another Trappe resident).

Easton has been host to a number of men's stores over the years. One of my favorites was a Celtic store that sold tartan ties from Scotland. Sadly, the store closed a few years ago, and has had its storefront replaced by Sailor, a boutique transplanted from Saint Michaels specializing in contemporary preppy brands such as Vineyard Vines, Patagonia, Southern Marsh, etc. While I usually make an effort to visit Sailor, today I decided to let another store be the focus of my visit: Berrier Ltd. Berrier is the family namesake of the father and son who own the store, and specializes in a clothing one may find on an English country gentleman. 

Berrier offers a large selection of tweed jackets and vests. It is also a retailer of Dubarry, a renowned Irish brand famous for its boots and waxed jackets.

Berrier's offers the classics of men's fragrances, including Royall Bayrhum, and a touch of the region, Chesapeake Bay Spyce.

After leaving Berrier's, I headed to Trumpeter Swan antiques, one of Easton's many antique emporiums.

Trumpeter Swan antiques is owned and managed by a man named Keith Davidson, who shares my affinity for herringbone sport coats and OCBDs. After getting into a conversation about his Dubarry waxed jacket during my visit last year, Mr. Davidson offered me a job helping post merchandise to eBay. While I wish I could have taken the job, my fuel expenses would have skyrocketed due to the hour long commute.

Mr. Davidson also specializes in the sale of decoys, one of the town's claims to fame due to the Waterfowl Festival.

I next headed across the street to Hill's Drugstore. This pharmacy is not your typical CVS or Walgreen's, as it still has the soda counter and diner of yesteryear's drugstores .

The past survives at Hill's Drugstore on Dover Street. Aside from being internally remodeled in 2007, little else has changed about the nearly 90 year old pharmacy and soda fountain.

You know you're in a Trad/Preppy/Ivy drugstore when the only reading glasses they sell are P3 style.
Tattersall OCBD (L.L. Bean) USA
Wool Cableknit Crewneck Sweater (Bass)
Bedale Waxed Jacket (Barbour) UK

• L.L. Bean Tattersall OCBD- Borrowed from my father. Visibly fraying at the collar and cuffs but still doing its job, this shirt is straight out of the L.L. Bean heyday, and is made in the USA.
• Bass Cableknit Crewneck- I can't recall from where I bought this sweater, as I have owned it for years. Wool sweaters are my go-to for sub-50 degree days, and this particular sweater provides extra warmth due to being a size larger than most of my sweaters. Due to this size issue, I rarely wear it without a jacket on top.

After leaving the drug store, I headed to Albright's Gun Shop which was right next door. Not to buy a gun, but to look for wax dressing for my Barbour jacket. The store is probably the closest Barbour retailer to Salisbury. While they were fully stocked with jackets, vests, and shirts, Albright's unfortunately was not carrying any dressing at that moment.

In addition to carrying Barbour , Albright's is also an Orvis retailer.  Easton's duck hunting culture really couldn't be farther from the rednecks of Duck Dynasty.

After my failed search for the Barbour dressing, I decided to go to a place I hadn't visited at all over the years I had been coming to Easton, and that was the *Easton Cigar and Smoke Shop. Years ago Salisbury once had a similar place called Watson's Smoke House. My grandfather remembers it as being a popular store to prank call when he was a boy due to it carrying Prince Albert (a tobacco) in a can ("don't you think you ought to let him out?"). In current times, our town would not be able to support such an establishment today (#VapeNation). However, Easton is the perfect location for those Orvis clad gentlemen to purchase and smoke their Montecristos in the shop's lounge.

Tucked aside from the main hustle of Washington and Dover Streets, Easton Cigar and Smoke Shop sits in one of Easton's historic neighborhoods in a building far different from the smoke shop I visited in North Carolina.

The smoke shop also offers a wide selection of pipes, and not the pot smoking kind.

In addition to traditional tobacco blends, ECSS also offers several inhouse blends named after rivers in Talbot County. They include Tred Avon, Choptank, and Miles.

After my visit to the smoke shop, I rejoined my family and returned home to Salisbury! Merry Christmas Easton! I'll see you next year!!!

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*Smoking tobacco is shown to cause cancer. While not as addictive or as harmful as cigarette smoking, these risks should be still known when pipe or cigar smoking.