What most men will never admit.

This commercial is very clever as are all the commercial featuring this actor, Isaiah Mustafa, who is both incredibly attractive and talented. Not so amusing are the new commercials not featuring him, one showing a returning sea captain shouldering an octopus releasing gold doubloons which look like they will suffocate the captain and his beautiful mate. But forget the commercials. Let's discuss the product, at leas the original classic Old Spice cologne. Cologne snobs, of which there are many, revile Old Spice. They see it as cheap, common, and unworthy. I think this is ignorant of them because it's one of the great cosmetic products of the 19th century and it's still popular because it's a unique and distinctive scent: fresh, clean and masculine. Since I don't really worry about status colognes, I have used Old Spice over the decades along with more costly colognes like Moustache and the products of Halston and Calvin Klein. Truth is I always got far more compliments on Old Spice than anything else. Women love it because it reminds them of dad or someone they else they loved. Or they hate it for the same reason. The same is true of men—along with the snob factor—who regard it—wrongly—as inferior. Apparently the company, Procter & Gamble who purchased the brand from Shulton in 1990, also has no confidence in its own product based on their humorous rather than sensuous commercials. I don't care what people say: I think Old Spice is the best smelling of all men's colognes (a comment sure to infuriate many) and if it had always been priced and bottled like Clive Christian No. 1, even the snobs would buy it—if they could afford it.


Note: Arguably the world's most expensive men's cologne, Clive Christian No. 1 for Men features top notes of bergamot, lime, Sicilian mandarin and cardamon; a heart of Lily of the Valley, rose, jasmine and ylang ylang; and a base of cedarwood, sandalwood, vetyver and ambery woods. The scarcity of these ingredients and the six months it takes for the spiciness to crystalize give the cologne its extraordinary price. A regular bottle of Clive Christian No. 1 can be had for as little as $650. Sadly, the limited Imperial Majesty edition bottle is no longer available. If you can locate one of these handmade lead crystal bottles sporting a brilliant cut white diamond in a gold collar, expect to pay $2,350. P.S. I also love the
classic Old Spice bottle.