# Old Spice Cologne--What IS it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397 "2007-10-11T22:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/1 "2007-10-11T22:51:09Z")
I bought a bottle of Old Spice brand cologne. What is it made from? What gives it that sweet/spicy smell? I checked the company website, but no go. Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/2 "2007-10-11T23:34:27Z")
Old Spice is made from sailor’s sweat and widow’s tears, with a hint of a spice islands’ breeze. I don’t think you’ll find a recipe anywhere, since the manufacturer is best served by keeping it private. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/3 "2007-10-11T23:58:08Z")
It’s a mixture of spit and old mice. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/4 "2007-10-12T00:03:16Z")
It’s that “dad” smell. That’s what my sister said, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/5 "2007-10-12T00:04:04Z")
To this day, thanks to the Eddie Murphy skit about putting Old Spice on his privates, I cannot whistle that tune. I’ll get about 4 notes in and start laughing. What’s it made of? Rum, sodomy, and the lash. ---
**Author:** ![Fozzie\_Bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Fozzie\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fozzie_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/6 "2007-10-12T00:20:38Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] To this day, thanks to the Eddie Murphy skit about putting Old Spice on his privates, I cannot whistle that tune. I’ll get about 4 notes in and start laughing. [/QUOTE] “Baby, whatcha doin’ with your dick in the sink?” Old Spice probably has some musk as a base, since that’s pretty common for both men’s cologne and women’s perfume. Unless you can find a scent expert, though, I don’t think you’ll ever find out exactly what goes into it. Trivia: Matthew Perry’s dad John was the Old Spice man in the late 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/7 "2007-10-12T00:23:22Z")
I dunno what it is, but the smell makes me sick. I _used_ to like it, even used it myself from time to time. But, I had a co-worker who must have bathed in the stuff, because he’d come in positively reeking of it. This was years ago, and I still can’t stand it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/8 "2007-10-12T00:26:41Z")
PEOPLE! Old Spice is made of PEOPLE! ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/9 "2007-10-12T00:32:56Z")
Given much bpal experience, [here’s a quickie hit](http://www.basenotes.net/ID26121214.html) on the scent notes in Old Spice. Looking at it, you’ve got a bunch of sweet and spicy notes. The base notes stick around longest, the top notes evaporate the quickest. PS – :smack: This isn’t an actual ingredient list, just to clarify. I’m not sure if they _are_ an accord (chemicals or something else that, which mixed up, smell ‘like’ the real thing) or not. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/10 "2007-10-12T03:30:52Z")
[QUOTE=Fozzie Bear] Old Spice probably has some musk as a base… [/QUOTE] Okay, now what the heck is “musk”? I always thought that musk was simply an adjective to describe the smell of something. I am asking because you seem to be using “musk” as a noun, as in it is an actual plant or herb or something. **Bonus question** : Is my question as dumb as asking what the color orange looks like? ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/11 "2007-10-12T03:38:55Z")
\*\*Musk \*\* [Musk - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk) ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/12 "2007-10-12T03:39:45Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] Okay, now what the heck is “musk”? I always thought that musk was simply an adjective to describe the smell of something. I am asking because you seem to be using “musk” as a noun, as in it is an actual plant or herb or something. **Bonus question** : Is my question as dumb as asking what the color orange looks like? [/QUOTE] Musk was originally an organic substance per \wikipedia\ but nowadays it’s pretty much synthetic since getting it from the musk deer involves slaughtering it. There _are_ plant alternatives that smell a lot like the real deal, in addition to the synthetic compounds. And no, it’s not a dumb question. There’re tons of scent notes that I have yet to really learn about, and I’ve been dabbling in bpal for a while. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/13 "2007-10-12T03:41:32Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] \*\*Musk \*\* [Musk - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk) [/QUOTE] Drat you for being faster on the post button! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/14 "2007-10-12T05:12:27Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] \*\*Musk \*\* [Musk - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk) [/QUOTE] I find this bit strangely amusing: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The plant sources include musk flower (Mimulus moschatus), the muskwood (Olearia argophylla) of the Guianas and West Indies, and in the seeds of Abelmoschus moschatus (musk seeds). However, the plant Mimulus is today largely scentless, **all specimens having almost simultaneously lost their distinctive odor for no apparent reason in the mid-twentieth century**. (emphasis mine) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/15 "2007-10-12T05:16:40Z")
> [@](#): > > all specimens having almost simultaneously lost their distinctive odor for no apparent reason in the mid-twentieth century. That’s because Parliament got the funk. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/16 "2007-10-12T06:29:51Z")
It’s made from old spices. What else would they do with all those expired bottles of nutmeg and cinnamon? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/17 "2007-10-12T12:15:55Z")
What, no Geri Halliwell jokes? You’re slipping, people. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/18 "2007-10-12T12:52:19Z")
“That scent you’re wearing, John, it comes in a bottle with a ship on it, doesn’t it? Something a child would buy…” – Hannibal Lektor in _Manhunter_. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/19 "2007-10-12T12:58:30Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] PEOPLE! Old Spice is made of PEOPLE! [/QUOTE] Well if I were wearing Old Spice right now I’d be wearing the coffee-scented version. Just…thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397/20 "2007-10-12T14:34:44Z")
It’s actually a pleasing combination of 2 parts Jovan Musk for men, 1 part Hi Karate with a dash of British Sterling. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-spice-cologne-what-is-it/422397.md?page=2)