IMHO once you start second guessing/looking for validation on the 'value' of scent in shaving soaps it's a dangerous path to walk.
I guess the things I'd state as irrefutable truths upfront are:
- the scent of the shaving soap
generally only is present in concentrations enough to be noticed WHILST one is shaving (so 5-15 min window) - even the most potent ones will struggle to leave much of a presence after proper washing off and subsequent product applications which are often scented differently themselves.g ASB, moisturiser etc
- in any given makers range of soaps e.g Mike's, CRSW, B&M - the actual base soap formulation (which makes up ~98%+ of the product) will be the same between different soaps with ONLY the scent compounds being changed (sub-product lines might change base formulations from each other e.g tallow, vegan lines) - so you'll often be buying heaps of essentially the same product, just with a different scent.
- the scent provides zero
tangible improvement in the actual lather quality vs same product in unscented. That said I would expect possibly a significant PERCEPTION difference to occur as the right scent can impart a sense of many things - which though untrue will seem to improve the shaving experience e.g citrus might make you feel cleaner etc
- and it's also important to note that the vast majority of people place significant value on scents & feel that if manipulated well they improve the quality of almost ANY product.
So really if you try and look objectively how ACTUALLY important is scent in making a great shaving soap? On the face of things I'd say not that much - it's kind of a nice value add but it SHOULD be well down the list of what folks look for in a shaving soap.
HOWEVER, it's not and probably never well be - even for me, so we do tend to disproportionately overvalue it's place in things - and I think nearly everyone here is more than fine with that - but make no mistake that IS what it is.
Cost wise for the top shaving soap makers like B&M etc I'd say that despite using the hot process for their soap making (which uses a lot less scent compounds than cold processed soaps) they'd still be putting 30-40% plus of their overall unit costs into scent compounds (EO/FO). That is a LOT for a very small % of the product, that doesn't improve the actual lather quality and is active in the use of the product for only the few minutes it's being lathered.
I'd also guess that the vast majority of artisan soap makers spend most of their time spent on the actual product's R&D are blending scents and NOT trying to tweak the base soap formulation. Because it's the scent that really sells and separates them from others - plus it's the trickiest aspect to master.
And like I say I'M as guilty as anyone on this as the vast majority of my ~30 shaving soaps are from the same couple of handful of companies. It's an interesting area, completely illogical on many levels but irrefutably important to the vast majority of us.
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