After Shave

The liberated new man of the 70s was not afraid of scents. A whole new arm of the perfume industry opened up especially to pamper him.

Where his father's options had pretty much been Old Spice or Aqua Velva (which were still around and still maintained their popularity), the 70s man now had Brut, Hai Karate, Chaz (advertised by pre-Magnum Tom Selleck), Denim and hundreds of other whiffs and stenches to choose from.

Curiously, the scent of musk was very prevalent in the 70s aftershave market. Freshly squeezed from the glands of a . . . well anyway, this ingredient was alleged to exude a pheromone-like power from the chain-laden neck of the 70s man.

Unfortunately, it ponged like an old settee that had been left out in the rain . . . 

The majority of 70s aftershaves reeked of alcohol (the primary ingredient) anyway.

But it did seem incredibly important that the aftershaves accentuated a bloke's masculinity - cue Messrs Kevin Keegan and Henry Cooper advertising Brut by flicking towels at each other in the showers (er?). 

Barry Sheen splashed it all over too . . .