Our Cool Velvet Aftershave Is Here – And How It Came To Be

Have you ever walked into a room full of people, or had someone walk by you, and the smell of cologne and/or perfume was so overwhelming it made you choke? I recently had a not so pleasant experience along this line while traveling. Not only did I have to spend a few weeks away from home, away from my family and business, but I was also inundated with exposures to products that I’m certain were not good for my health.

Things started off with the TSA confiscating my laundry soap, though this was my fault. I had packed my own laundry soap, but I failed to label the container because I was running behind schedule and almost missed my flight. So TSA confiscated my all natural laundry soap as it was an unidentified liquid. So you’re all safe now because the liquefied castille soap mixed with baking soda, glycerin, and essential oils, found in my checked luggage, is no longer a threat on an airplane.

So I had to make due with laundry soap found at the store – and it took going to three stores before I found one that didn’t have synthetic fragrances or phenoxyethanol.

Anyway, that was just day one. Day two I had the worst experience of all that I mentioned earlier. Everyone attending a class I was in felt the need to douse themselves with all kinds of chemicals in an effort to smell wonderful to the rest of us. This was a grueling experience of nothing but migraines, lack of concentration, and worst, the realization that I’m surrounded by phalates. Short of leaving the class that I really needed, I couldn’t do much of anything about it.

After a couple weeks of this nonsense, the person sitting next to me finally asked me what was wrong. He said I was not asking questions like usual (I had better days when people wore less offensive stuff, and worse days where I couldn’t concentrate at all). I finally confessed to my neighbor stuck sitting next to me that indeed, something was wrong. All the perfume, cologne and aftershave, was getting to me. I didn’t know if I could manage finishing the course.

The person sitting next to me seemed very understanding, and even asked if his aftershave was contributing. I said probably, but he wasn’t alone, even though he was sitting closest to me. I explained there wasn’t ventilation in the room, and that was the worst part. In addition, my assigned seat was at the opposite side of the room from the door, so I didn’t even have an easy egress to take at least a quick breath of non-phalate/petrochemical air.

I thought our conversation would make a difference, even if just with him, the person sitting closest to me. But alas, the talk was useless. Day after day he came in thinking he smelled good with his aftershave, when instead, it was a migraine by the early afternoon for me.

The truth was, he was so used to using his aftershave, and so concerned with his body odor, that in his mind he had no choice but to keep wearing it. He didn’t realize that the products he was using were likely harming his health. Nor did he realize that they were produced by unscrupulous companies that you shouldn’t trust to do business with, because they don’t care about your health, they just care about your wallet. He also didn’t realize that he had alternative options. And… he wasn’t alone. His after shave was not the only guilty party for my migraines; a good portion of the students in class were also responsible.

For those who are not affected by perfumes, colognes, or aftershaves, (AKA phalates), they do not realize the adverse affect those products have on other people. So they use a combination of products from dryer sheets, scented soaps, lotions, after shaves, perfumes, and a combination of hair products, plus many more, that all add up to the chemical soup that is so debilitating to some of us.

If I had created an aftershave at the time, I would have donated a gallon of it to the guy sitting next to me, just so I could focus through that class.

So a few months too late, but better late than never, we finally completed an aftershave formula that is scented with all natural essential oils, not synthetic perfumes. Essential oils of lavender, organic peppermint, cypress, and my favorite, vanilla. The essential oils are just for scent, but the silky smooth formula of witch hazel, aloe, and vegetable glycerin are designed for treating your skin the way it should be treated. And while we like the smell of citrus essential oils in an aftershave, we’re not fond of putting citrus on cuts. Our aftershave is designed to provide only the smoothest experience for your aftershave needs.

Introducing our Cool Velvet aftershave.

I plan to carry a couple bottles with me every time I travel now, so I can offer a peace making “please don’t give me a migraine” gesture, and not miss out on important events I want to attend, just because someone next to me wants to smell good for the public.

Now let’s hope the TSA doesn’t confiscate my aftershave too. I’ll label it of course, but they might be suspicious of why a female is traveling with so many bottles of aftershave. I’ll just have to tell them I shave my legs daily or something.

For Health,

Tober