Memorial Day is approaching and that weekend we celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer. Queue backyard and rooftop barbecues, casual and summer Fridays and ice coffee-everything. And since summer and everything fun is all we begin thinking about, it’s when we start thinking about running away for the weekend.

I love hopping down to Philadelphia and exploring its burgeoning food scene and maybe, just maybe I’ll make it to Maine this year. One thing I’ve come to realize, however, is although you’re escaping for a few days, you can’t depend on your hotel to stock quality grooming essentials. Grab these essentials and take them along for the ride.

Kiehl’s
Since you can’t take everything with you, where will you cut a corner? Maybe a 2-in-1 product is what you need and why not look to Kiehl’s for the answer. Their Cross-Terrain All-In-One Refueling Wash is packed with goodies like Aloe Vera, vitamin E, and citrus oil and will keep you squeaky clean from head to toe.

Bulldog Natural Skincare
Since your routine will be thrown off in the name of fun, slash time of your morning shave sensibly. Bulldog Natural’s shave gel has 8 essential oils, aloe Vera and jojoba to moisturize, and protect your face, while quickly moving your razor along sans any irritation.

Baxter of California
While the look of Baxter of California’s Citrus deodorant can be deceivingly simple, it packs a subtle punch. It’s so light you won’t even notice you’re being protected all day long.

Ursa Major
Loaded with all natural and organic ingredients, here is another combo pack you don’t want to leave behind. Ursa Major’s Fortifying Face Balm fights ingrown and razor burns with its soothing antiseptic properties, and provides anti-aging benefits. The best part, all of that won’t leave your face feeling greasy as it quickly absorbs into you skin.

Thirdman
The beautiful thing about fresh, citrus scents is they can be worn anywhere. One of the things that has bothers me about them is many lack depth. Thirdman has created a collection of invigorating Eau de Cologne’s that are far from basic. Eau do Nomade’s Sicilian lemon, blood orange and cardamom are beautifully balanced and what you get is a zesty, slightly sweet and tantalizingly warm, scent that’s far from your average summer cologne.

A common theme that’s developed in my responses is what I call the 3 P’s of wetshaving: patience, preparation and practice. Many of the issues we suffer from while shaving can be prevented if we adhered to the 3 P’s. That’s not to dismiss severe cases of anything that plagues us. In those instances, a dermatologist should be consulted. But if you’re patient, and your preparation is thorough, with practice, your technique should result in irritation free shaving.

Another thing I stress is paying attention. There are no quick fixes and with that, we must keep an eye on what’s happening to our skin. Case in point – I realized that shaving everyday and shaving with the grain is key in my defense against ingrown hairs. That may or may not work for you but keeping a watchful eye while exhibiting some patience and with some practice, you’ll find your solution.

If you have a chance, pop over to awardwinnersplaybook.com and tap on the “ask an expert” tab and see if anything already answered will put you on your path to solving your grooming issues.

Many years ago, as a Christmas gift I received my first desktop humidor. After unwrapping it, I stared at it for a while and day dreamed about how it would look on my desk. After stocking it with cigars and desperately trying to maintain its humidity level, I’d open it just so I could smell freshly humidified tobacco and the cedar that contained it. This gave me the same ahhh feeling I’d get when I visit the walk in humidor at my favorite cigar shop, OK Cigars. After wearing Ormande Jayne’s Montabaco, my ahh ha moment revealed that this scent captures what no other tobacco scent I’ve come acrfreshly humidified tobacco and the moist air that surrounds it, and it’s fantastic.

Montabaco is a part of Ormande Jayne’s Four Corners of The Earth collection, which is made up of four scents. Collectively, they pay homage to the places that have inspired the brand’s founder and creative director Linda Pilkington. Montabaco’s inspiration comes from Latin America.

The scent opens very herbaceous with a slightly sweet edge. It’s zesty and aromatic. The scent has a lift to it as well. I imagine that’s the clary sage that’s present in the top notes. I can see where some may say it’s medicinal in its opening but it doesn’t bother me. There’s also something mysterious about the opening, it’s airy but in a way I’ve never quite experienced.

As Montabaco moves into it’s next phase, the scent turns and the star of the show, tobacco becomes more prominent. A well humidified cigar blooms revealing the beautiful scent of its tobacco leafs. Walk into a humidor and the humidity intensifies this scent. It’s like it lifts it from the leaf and floods the air with it. Montabaco’s tobacco leaf note captures this essence while the use of rose gives it a sweet mossy scent. Once I finally peaked at the scent’s notes, I realized there’s an air note and whatever that is, it’s likely imitating the humidity in the air that makes the scent of tobacco blossom. As the scent moves into its final phase, it becomes more sensual with its use of sandalwood and ambergris, which surrounds more tobacco.

You don’t have to be a tobacco lover to appreciate Montabaco. The way it’s layered with notes like orange absolute, rose, violet, tonka and sandalwood, to name a few, presents a very unique scent. Judging from a few of the reviews I’ve read, I suspect men will either love or hate it, but that’s the beauty scent. On one occasion I wore it, a woman picked up its rose note and complimented me on how I smelled.  If Montabaco is inspired by Latin America, I suspect it’s not the glamorized sexy that we’re often fed to the beat of drums. Its inspiration is the culture beneath the veil. And like the back roads where the really good food comes from fish shacks and rum shops, Montabaco isn’t for everyone but I’m digging it.

M. Micallef was established in 1996 by Martine Micallef and Geoffrey Nejman. The brand is based in Grasse and to date has over 750 retail locations across 39 countries.  That’s impressive.

To me everything about Royal Vintage is a throwback as its name conjures. Many men’s fragrance bottles today convey their masculinity through their angles, which are usually sharp and square-ish and via its weight. A men’s fragrance that feels substantial in your hand must be masculine, right? The design for Royal Vintage, however, took its inspiration from vintage cars and iconic cinema. As for the scent, it feels familiar, something I can see many men instantly liking. What we have in Royal Vintage is a masculine scent with enough panache to claim signature scent status.

Like a firm handshake, the slightly peppery opening of Royal Vintage gets your attention. But it’s also cool and confident and the juxtaposition of bergamot freshens it up while adding a touch of sweetness. As it dries down, its woody, leather and musk characteristics are where the scent blooms and it keeps on going. It has wonderful lasting power.

The men’s cologne of yesteryear exuded a bravado that led me to reject them when I was younger. Their masculine quotient was on overdrive. While Royal Vintage reads unequivocally masculine and traditional, it’s quite mellow and possesses a quiet elegance. It reads suits and ties but I can also see it giving a t-shirt and jeans weekend an entirely new life. It’s timeless and can be worn anywhere and I suspect many will add this to their scent wardrobe for years to come.

Royal Vintage – 100ml EDP goes for $185 at Lucky Scent.

A sample of Royal Vintage was sent to me but my opinions are my own.

Gents, what do you do when the day is hectic and you know a shower isn’t possible? You either wing it or hope no one notices you’re not your freshest. For occasions like these and many others, Niche For Men has developed deodorizing wipes made especially for men.

Individually packaged wipes, which are about the size of a hand towel (9×11), are infused with ginseng and aloe vera. What you’re left with is a very masculine scented wipe that’s good for one use but well equipped to get the job done. I recently tested Niche For Men after a night out at the cigar lounge and it easily washed away the odor of hanging out for a few hours in a smoked filled room. The best part, my wife couldn’t detect any cigar scent. My skin felt rejuvenated and moisturized.

Tis the season for increased activities. After work cocktails, which can lead to flirty dinners and late night shenanigans is just one of many possibilities that can occur now that the weather is breaking. Do yourself a favor and keep these in your bag or at your desk. You won’t be sorry.

A one pack of Niche For Men’s deodorizing wipes, which brings two individually wrapped wipes are $3.00

Niche For Men sent a sample of this product to me but my opinion is my own.

In August of 2012, while at the Elements Showcase, I discovered Olfactive Studio. If you attended the show, it would’ve been hard not to as they were the buzz of the show. Everyone I spoke with mentioned them as a must see and I’m glad I did.

Celine Verleure, the brand’s founder and creator greeted me with open arms. As she explained the concept behind the brand, I was in awe. The love affair continued as I sampled each of the scents in the collection. It was hard to pick a favorite and just when I thought I had one, I recently sampled the collection’s newest scent Flashback and I’ve found myself at odds all over again.

Celine was recently in New York and held an event at Art Opening to debut the U.S. launch of Olfactive Studio, which will be available at both Aedes de Venustas and Bergdorf. We met for a chat at the Standard Hotel and we talked about her journey to this point. For the first installment of “In Their Words,” Celine discusses the concept behind Olfactive Studio.

An eau de parfum of 3.4 oz will go for $195 at Aedes.

For the as long as I’ve been wet shaving, I wanted to do so in the shower. Warm air holds more moisture and since you’re already under the water, this setting is ideal for saturating your facial hair and thus obtaining the best possible shave. To make this happen, I needed to find a shower mirror that is easy to install, wouldn’t fog up and is reasonably priced. I recently purchased the Fog Free Shower Mirror by ShaveWell and I couldn’t be happier.

For starters, the Fog Free Shower Mirror is Apple-esque in its out of the box ready to use ease. The package includes minimal but easy to understand instructions, a plastic hook and the mirror. The hook is one of these super strong adhesives and it only requires cleaning with area of the wall you intend to hang it with some rubbing alcohol. Once you let it dry, the instructions indicate waiting 2 hours, your mirror is ready to be hung. (You can also use one of these Command Water-Resistant hooks, which I did.) Ease of installation – Check!

The mirror comes with a protective coating that you ultimately remove. Once this is done and when you’re ready to shave, you hold both the back and front of the mirror under the shower stream to warm it up. This one tactic is the brilliance of this mirror. When the mirror in your bathroom fogs up, what’s happening is the warm air from your shower, which is saturated with moisture, comes in contact with the cooler surface of the mirror. As a result, the moisture is sucked out of the air and falls onto the mirror. To reverse this action, you simply raise the temperature of the mirror to equal that of the air inside the shower. No fog – ehh!

Here’s the best part of this whole thing, the starting price for ShaveWell’s Fog Free Shower Mirror is $9.99 on Amazon. For $3 more, I ordered the Deluxe, which is bigger than their original mirror. The size is perfect as I can comfortably see enough of my face to guide myself through my shave. Reasonably priced – Check!

There really isn’t anything bad I can say about this mirror. For the price, you aren’t buying aesthetics. It’s a simple mirror that’s super easy to install. With respect to no fog, I truly expected that it would never fog up. Chalk that expectation up to its name but that hasn’t deterred from how satisfied I am with this product. When this happens it’s usually right before I’m about to shave. By that time, the mirror’s surface is still cooler than the temperature of the air inside my shower. That’s quickly remedied, however, by submerging both sides of the mirror under the shower stream for a few seconds to warm it up. Be sure to install your mirror in a place that’s not subjected to a draft as that will cool the mirror’s surface too. Using the Command Water-Resistant strips I mentioned will allow you to move the mirror around, if necessary, to find the ideal spot in your shower.

Bottom line, I cannot remember the last time I spent this little money on a product and was this thrilled. My shaving experience is better for it too.

I’ve been busy, writing more about men’s fragrances and grooming than I ever have. It’s been fun and challenging as there aren’t enough hours in the day. The good thing though is I have a bunch of stuff in the pipeline to publish here at Fragrant Moments.

A recent opportunity that came my way was the chance to assist the Style Director of ForbesLife magazine, Joseph DeAcetis, in producing a Spring/Summer scent story. With the excitement of a kid in a candy factory I jumped at the chance to put my editor hat on for print and let my fragrant passion fly. What lies within the April issue is a result of sniffing this and that, fighting for some and unfortunately passing on others. It was a lot of fun stepping behind the veil and seeing how the magic happens and I hope more opportunities like this come my way.

Grab a copy if you can and let me know what you think of the selected goodies.

Thank you JD.

When you feel a brand has done right by you, anticipation builds when you learn a new release is coming. If you’ve been following Fragrant Moments, you know I’m a fan of Eau d’Italie. Several of their fragrances are a part of my collection and I suspect Acqua Decima will be too.

With notes of lemon, mandarine, mint leaves, neroli, petitgrain white wood and vetiver to name a few, this sounds like it’s beautifully built for the dog days of summer. This is the tenth fragrance in Eau d’Italie’s collection (Acqua Decima means Tenth Water in Italian) and its inspiration comes from a stretch of land that links the Amalfi coast with the Bay of Sorrento called The Path of the Gods.

Acqua Decima launches in the U.S. in July 2013 and will retail for $140.

Have you ever come home, opened the refrigerator and stared into it like something would miraculously jump out at you that didn’t before? That’s the same thing that often happens when I troll the aisles of chain drug stores looking for deodorant. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t all bad but sometimes I look hard for something else; anything other than what’s already there but somehow I leave without buying anything.  As a result, I didn’t wear any deodorant for a long time. I don’t perspire a lot but the last time I left my pits bare, it was in the fall/winter so I could get away with it. With spring and summer on the horizon and perspiration due to increase, something had to change – enter Baxter of California’s Deodorant.

The first time I smelled Deodorant, I thought I forgot to take a protective layer or something off the roll on. The scent isn’t as loud as most men’s deodorants can be. It’s Citrus & Herbal-Musk scent is subtly present and it won’t compete with your fragrance choice of the day. The citrus notes are in the background giving the scent a slight fresh lift but its earthiness is what will rope you in. It’s all man without the usual “guy” scent. For those with sensitive noses, I think you’ll find this wearable. For those with sensitive pits, this is formulated with you in mind. And it’s aluminum and alcohol free to boot.

Deodorant 2.65 0z $18