Barberry Coast Bay Rum
Best Bay Rum Aftershave
This is a traditional bay rum aftershave, made from all natural ingredients in the same way it was originally made centuries before.
Bay rum is a fragrance that originated in the Caribbean centuries ago. Pirates found that after months at a time on a ship they began to stink and needed a scent that could mask the smell . They discovered the rubbing bay leaves on themselves helped to hide this stench of a large group of pirates. Then, they began to mix the leaves with rum to extract the essential oils in the leaves, creating a liquid. Unsurprisingly, they preferred rubbing a liquid onto their skin rather than rough leaves.
Bay rum grew in popularity and quickly spread across the colonies, eventually making its way back to England. Many variants were created across Europe and the scent became an all-time favorite for men across the globe.
With so many different options there is a wide-range of ingredients used, making it slightly more difficult to choose which product to buy. Mixing alcohol with essential oils is a delicate balance, too much alcohol and it can be very drying and harsh on the skin, too much oil and it can leave a greasy feeling. Finding this perfect balance whilst retaining the traditional scent is hard to do and one of the reasons that the best bay rum aftershaves rarely change, very few new companies enter the market.
Barberry Coast Bay Rum Aftershave Splash
Barberry Coast is known primarily for their bay rum splashes. This aftershave is, in our opinion, the best bay rum aftershave on the market. It has an authentic scent that is true to the original fragrances that were created centuries prior.
They’ve been able to replicate the original bay rum scent so closely because they still use an authentic blend of spices and oils, extracted directly from bay leaves from the West Indian Islands. They refuse to use cheaper synthetic chemicals that don’t quite match the original fragrance.
It’s also completely free of GMO oils and is paraffin free too. With just organic spices and oils, it’s perfect for vegans.
As we mentioned in the introduction, the problem with cheaper rum splashes is they include excess alcohol which can dry out your skin. This Barberry Coast splash uses genuine rum instead of cheaper grain alcohol, they’ve developed a great formula that doesn’t dry your skin out. It also includes glycerin which helps to moisturize the skin, rather than leaving it oily as cheaper alternatives do.
When you first apply this aftershave you’ll get a nice, quick burn that will wake you up and let you know that you’re using a real rum splash. It fades relatively fast and doesn’t leave your skin feeling warm or tight.
This aftershave is authentic to the original formulas and brings back nostalgia to anyone to grew up smelling their fathers traditional bay rum aftershave. If you’re looking for an accurate and classic bay rum fragrance then this is a great choice. The scent lasts the entire day, cheaper aftershaves will often fade quickly and won’t be noticeable in just a few hours. In our opinion, this is the top choice.
Captain’s Choice Original Bay Rum
Captain’s Choice is one of the most highly recommended aftershaves by men who adore traditional bay rum scents. It does have a particularly strong cinnamon note and some noticeable clove notes.
It’s got a strong sting compared to similarly price aftershaves and a rich, silky texture. The aftershave contains witch hazel which is soothing and silky on the skin , leaving a soft but not oily feeling to the skin.
For a bay rum aftershave it has a weak constitution, fading quicker than we would have liked. So, how is it our number two? Well, the fragrance is ultra-authentic. It has a strong bay leaf fragrance with traditionally notable cinnamon and clove.
It does have a lot of spice to it, which will divide some men. You either love it or you hate it. It’s quite ‘exotic’ smelling and will make you think of traditional pirate islands. For a rum aftershave it hardly dries and skin, leaving it softer than you would expect.
Ogallala Bay Rum and Sandalwood
Let’s start by saying that this isn’t a pure bay rum scent. It’s combined with a traditional sandal wood and some purists will laugh, but this is a popular and highly recommended aftershave. Combining two of the most manly and popular scents, they’ve created an interesting mix that gives off a fascinating aroma.
With the sandalwood tones you’ll find that notes like the cinnamon in classic bay rum are slightly hidden, with a wood scent overpowering it.
It doesn’t have the same staying-power that the Barberry Coast aftershave has, wearing off a little quicker then we would have liked. This is likely to be because it’s not as concentrated or has greater amounts of alcohol in it.
As with many of these aftershaves you’ll want to shave the bottle heavily before applying, this will ensure that all the ingredients are mixed properly. We read some reviews of men that didn’t shave the bottle and they didn’t have as great a scent as those that did shake.
It’s generally much milder than most bay rum aftershaves and won’t give you then same burn or sting when applied, making it a perfect everyday aftershave for anyone with sensitive skin.
Pinaud Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum
The Pinaud Virgin Island aftershave has been very popular over the past few years, making it one of the most popular bay rum splashes.
It’s actually made from artificial ingredients and synthetic chemicals, this gives it a fragrance that is very close to the scent from genuine bay rum aftershaves. Despite it not being true to the original formula, it still has thousands of men using it everyday.
Unless you’re a history buff and want to be using a traditional aftershave, it doesn’t really make much of a difference. The large majority of people won’t have a developed nose that can actually tell the difference between an authentic and a synthetic bay rum scent.
This Pinaud aftershave is a available at a reasonable price and delivers a classic sting when applied. It’s actually the harshest on the face of all the aftershaves on this list.
It has extremely strong clove and spice notes, with less bay scent than we would have imagined. There are also some more complex notes like vanilla, pepper and wood. Whether you can notice these is dependent on how developed your nose is.
If you’re new to bay rum aftershaves then this would be a perfect choice for you. It isn’t as strong on the nose as some of the more traditional fragrances, it has a more modern scent whilst still retaining the traditional tones and is available at a reasonable price.
An Introduction to Bay Rum
While bay rum is traditionally just a mix of bay leaves and rum , there are hundreds of different recipes that involve more ingredients. The main difference in scent and feel of the aftershave is because of the additional ingredients which each company includes in their proprietary recipe. Even if they included the exact same ingredients, two fragrances could smell different because of where the ingredients originated from and how long it was left to mature before being bottled.
Therefore, it can be difficult to guess what the aftershave will smell like based on the ingredients. The reviews we’ve included above should go some way to helping you decide, but any aftershave will react with the oils on your own skin and produce a unique smell. So, one aftershave may smell slightly different on two different people.
What to Consider when Choosing the Best Bay Rum Aftershave
With all the different ingredient combinations, the most important thing you’ll want to keep an eye on is exactly what ingredients are in each aftershave. Some are created in the traditional way with actual bay leaves from the West Indian Islands , mixed with double filtered rum. However, cheaper products are often created using chemicals and additives to replicate the scent without having to pay for the expensive ingredients.
Some of them replica-style products can get close to the original scent, but none of them will ever be able to adequately replicate the clove, rum and cinnamon fragrance that come from a real bay rum aftershave.
Thirdly, you’ll find that some aftershave contains glycerin. This is a vegetable oil based product that helps to moisturize and care for the skin, leaving it feeling silky. If you have dry skin or just don’t like the harshness of most aftershaves, then you should try and find one that contains glycerin.
Similarly, many aftershaves replace the rum with cheaper grain alcohol. Unfortunately, this not only removes the scent but it is also much harsher on the skin and can leave it feeling sharp and tight.
The best way to find the right product for you is to try on of the aftershaves that we discussed above and see how it smells on your skin, see what your friends and family think, then decide whether to stick to it or try another. Price will obviously be an important factor, but most are around the same range.