SkinBracer

Skin Bracer has been out for nearly 100 years. This is the kind of stuff that your grandpa wore, it's very old school and I doubt that it would resonate well if your idea of a fragrance is something like a Paco Rabanne 1 Million, or Invictus, and those are the kinds of fragrances you gravitate towards. It's musky, it's a little bit powdery, it's a little bit spicy, and it's slightly sweet. There's even something about it to me that smells a bit medicinal, but I like that even. In the old advertisements, Mennen used to really play up the way that it feels on your face, the way that it heals your skin post shave, and the cooling effect, essentially relegating it's scent to playing backup. I think this was because Aqua Velva was the exact opposite, and it really focused on it's scent in advertisements, and to be fair I do think Aqua Velva has a much nicer and more handsome smell than Skin Bracer, so this isn't surprising. With that having been said, I do really enjoy the Skin Bracer scent, it's nice, and it hangs very close to the skin. Even in the vintage formula, it's not the strongest scent although it is considerably stronger than the current formula. Do I recommend this? Yeah, it's like $5 for a big 7 oz bottle, but it's for a very particular taste. You have to have that high level of love for the classics in order to fully enjoy this, and there are other fragrances that I'd recommend first if you're venturing into the more old school stuff. If you're only into stuff a recently as the 2010s, start by exploring the 2000s and the 90s, and then get into the 80s, maybe pick up some original Old Spice, some Aqua Velva, and this. If you like old school, you'll probably appreciate it.

My dad lost his sense of smell when he was a young man, and as a result, he was hyper vigilant about cleanliness. For over 50 years, I associated Mennen Skin Bracer with my dad. As a result, I find the fragrance of the aftershave comforting from the powder notes and very clean from the aromatics. I am obviously heavily biased, but I find the fragrance has aged very well and has a timeless aspect to it. My dad was notoriously hard to gift with anything, but Skin Bracer was always a part of his Christmas present. He passed away a few years ago. I took the bottle of Mennen he had been using and now keep it tucked safely away in a drawer and will periodically pull it out, remove the cap, and breathe in fond memories of my dad. I'm often drawn to clean, soapy and powdery scent profiles and no doubt part of that is due to Mennen Skin Bracer. A classic.

The State Department via British Airways gave tiny glass bottles of Skin Bracer away in the toiletries bags they handed out to UK - US travellers for a time in the 1990s. I am large and contain multitudes, so say without fear of contradiction that this generous act created an army of young British lads who had never owned a passport, and imagined that all Americans - the cast of Aliens, Harrison Ford, perhaps not Meat Loaf - smelled like this. Imagine the crushing disappointment when we actually went, and had our first meal in a Denny’s. Smells like optimism - fresh, green but not in the usual way, slight booze. Also a bit like dog shampoo, apparently, though I wouldn’t know, and fresh, unused sheep-dip, which I can verify, so potentially gets rid of parasites. Everyone should wear it.

Skin Bracer sometimes gets a "bad rap" as a "cheap aftershave", but actually it's a wonderful, inexpensive unisex fragrance, in the classic barbershop category. The mint adds a tad more freshness than some other barbershop colognes, which also makes Skin Bracer an excellent "first layer" for other scents (as another reviewer pointed out). To keep Skin Bracer from smelling "cheap", please apply to freshly washed skin. DO NOT use it as a "post-workout refresher" without bathing, as I have noticed that it reacts especially poorly on unwashed skin! I love Skin Bracer (I used to use it in very hot weather when all other scents were too much) and intend to purchase two bottles soon, one for myself and one for my love.

I freaking love this aftershave. That nice opening with a blast of menthol just feel incredible after a shave. After the menthol dies out (about 5 mins), you get a nice interplay of talcum powder, oakmoss and delicate florals. The drydown is somewhat sweet, but not in a vanilla or sugar sort of way. It's a softer sweetness that I think comes from the coumarin. Nothing else I've ever encountered smells like this. Given it comes at a reduce potency since its an aftershave, I would love for Mennen to make an EDT of this fragrance. It would be brilliant. But in its current form, skin bracer can easily be layered with something stronger since it only lasts about an hour on its own. Still love it though!