Korean Spa Rankings, The All-Time Best Smelling Product, and a Jacked-Up Giveaway

Hey Blue Princes,

Last week I kept my intro short because I was doing taxes. This week it’s short because I have to draft up the Robb Report Grooming Awards, which I’m very excited to unveil in a few weeks’ time. So, here goes!

The Best Korean Spas + Best Spring Scents for Men

Speaking of Robb Report, I was happy to see my lived-in Korean Spa Guide article hit the web this week, as well as a refresh on the Best Spring Scents for Men.

It’s funny trying to prescribe “awards” or “distinctions” in a roundup like that spa guide, because all of those places were worthy of being called the best in their class. We settled on Conrad Seoul as the best overall because of its balance down the middle, in terms of a thoughtful menu, the treatment rooms, great wellness facilities, and even its location factored in.

Nevermind the fantastic location of Retreat Signiel, 100 stories in the air—complete heavenly bliss up there. Or the fact that Park Hyatt Busan rolled us out like pizza dough and Sulwhasoo welcomed us with the single best facial of our lives, and JW Marriott might be the coolest retreat to find oneself lost in (saying nothing of the forest bathing you can do across the island)…

That spring scents article is a refresh on last year’s piece, with a few picks from friend-of-Blue-Print Haydn Williams, who hosts the Man in the Mirror podcast and who will be the emcee of next month’s “Men Smell” panel at London’s Barnes Fragrance Fair. (I’ll be on said panel.) It’s on May 17; get your tickets, mates!

Anyway, new additions to that article include Les Eaux Primordiales, Eauso Vert, Arquiste, Costa Brazil, Dior, and Infiniment Coty. Congratulations you guys!!

New Products We’re Trying (Rather, What Aren’t We Trying atm?)

The number of products pouring into Portugal right now is at an all-time high. Yes, I have a bit of a backlog from the time we spent traveling, but half of the below products are new as of the last week or two—and that’s not accounting for the embargoed ones I can’t even write about yet.

We’re making a concerted effort to try as many things as possible. Our shower must have 8 shampoos, as many conditioners, 7 body washes and 3 bars of soap. In each rinse I’m trying a different combination, or using a different body cleanser for each limb.

You can click through these carousels on Instagram to learn more about each one. We plan to make these carousels a routine thing, once enough new/notable launches come through to populate a scrolling-thru.

I appreciate the re-shares from brands, too. We’ve seen some good traction/growth on social this week from these!

The Latest Blue Ribbon Winner: Baxter of California

Those of you who have been subscribed since the beginning (a whopping 4 months ago) know that we give out “Blue Ribbons” for what we deem the best men’s grooming products ever. We launched with 10, as outlined in the video below, and one objective in Q2 is to double that number and to announce new winners steadily.

You may recall that last week we gave the distinction to a pair of serums from Doctor Rogers, and this week we added Baxter of California’s exquisite Exfoliating Body Bar to the club.

My little video ode below called out the fact that this fougere scent was the single best smelling grooming product (outside of colognes, of course—though it certainly holds a candle to your fragrance favs, too). It paints the argument why we need a major resurgence of oakmossy barbershop scents—and why I’m optimistic about so many smaller brands getting in the scent game.

And Baxter buddies, I know you’re reading this: Can you consider making an EDP version of this one? It's so beloved that you’ve already deployed it into an exfoliating body wash and deodorant, so…

I should add that it’s a fantastic soap, which is of course why you’d consider buying it. The pumice and pulverized olive/jojoba seeds make for a terrific skin buffer, and the bar lasts a long time too. Every Baxter bar (not just this one) seems to last the two of us a month or more on multiple showers a day (that’s when we aren’t testing a dozen different cleansers at a time, too)…

Funny anecdote: When I was at Birchbox a decade ago, we used to pass one of these bars around the men’s editorial team, each taking a massive whiff out of it like we were eighth graders huffing glue in art class. It’s that good. So imagine what it smells like when you take a shower with this bar: A literal forest bath thanks to that cedar and oak moss.

I’m excited to roll out more Blue Ribbon winners soon! But in the meantime, check out all our previous winners… or at least buy this best-smeller, aye?

With that, I’m out. Oh! Something I’m excited about: We’re staring down a trip to Istanbul the first week of May. We’ll be shadowing a hair transplant (one of my lifelong best friends, in fact), for a 24-clip “series” that documents the trip as well as the progress over the next year, answers FAQs, etc. This will mark my fourth trip to Istanbul, 75% of them for hair transplant purposes, LOL. Can’t wait to get my hands on some lahmacun and kebab!