Silver Mountain Water oddly enough was my first Creed scent that I purchased back in the day during the 1990s, so it holds a special place in my heart.
But as I got older and realize that spending thousands of dollars on Creed just wasn’t sustainable for me due to my love of scents and wanting to “get them all” I looked for alternatives. Or just stop buying them altogether because they either didn’t smell as good being “inspired by” scents with their own and sometimes very different takes making them a different beast altogether or just smelt cheap.
So imagine my surprise when I first used WSP’s Matterhorn, the moment I opened the can and sniffed the soap, I was immediately reminded of the original SMW.
(WSP’s Matterhorn EDP is a damn fine clone too, but for today, I am show casing a cheaper alternative)
Shaving soap “clones” with the exception of a few are rarely “on the nose” but I will have to say that WSP’s reproduction of WSM is as close to the real thing that I have the pleasure to smell for a long time.
Enter the Middle Eastern scent houses.
They are often looked down on by the West, pegging them as cheap low quality scents but that’s far from the truth. (cheap yes, low quality, no)
I paired today’s shave with Al Haramain’s L’Aventure Blanche EDP which while is tagged by the maker as a female scent because of the rose and jasmine notes, is really a unisex scent.
Using rose and jasmine to play off the blackcurrant notes instead of Creed’s green tea, giving their version a more floral slant, it is in my opinion the better scent.
Really, really love it.
And that it only cost US$35+/-
Quality is at the time of writing (baring reformulation) the same as the others in the L’Aventure line with initial projection and sillage blast for the first two hours or so, personal zone projection and sillage for about 3-4 hours after, and as a skin scent for another 2 or so hours. Total scent longevity is about 8+/- hours depending on environment and your skin.
YMMV. Try to a tester at a store before buying if you aren’t sure.
Oh, and yes, gotta chase that BBS.
Glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave, feeling great, smelling fantastic and a great start to the day.
- Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
- Brush : Oumo SHD Silvertip Badger
- Pre-shave : Shower, PAA’s The Cube Mentholated
- Soap : WSP’s Rustic Matterhorn
- Post shave : WSP’s Matterhorn’s Aftershave Splash and Balm (mentholated)
- Razor : PAA’s Copper DOC w/Lord Platinum Blade (1)
- Ohers : Salt grinder with menthol crystals, Al Haramain’s L’Aventure Blanche (Silver Water Mountain Water clone)
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 