Mandom
Mandom (1970)

I have no idea what Mandom smells like, but the commercials - and the name are a hoot. Is it supposed to be 'man' + 'condom' = 'Mandom'? Only Mike Meyers as Austin Powers could top Bronson.

This is a fantastic old school aftershave. With the way male culture is going in America, with its touch of irony added to its love of old school classics, I think Mandom is perfect for a western relaunch. The old marketing would go far with men today!

Personally, I think this aftershave is perfect for layering with Aramis. It bears a similar scent profile. It is also close to Pinaud Clubman Special Reserve, but smells more subtle and approachable. I absolutely love it and I wish I had gotten it years ago!

Man oh man... that's Mandom (1970). This is the stuff of legend. This is the aftershave to wear for when you need to electrocute the thug who murdered your daughter, or reenact The Seven Samurai with cowboy tropes. When you need to send that 5000lb 27 foot-long Cadillac with a 500 cubic-inch V-8 engine down the freeway 80mph at 9mpg average fuel economy just to smoke your pipe at the end of a work day, you need to smell like MANDOM while doing it. What is Mandom? It's an aftershave made in Japan and based on the Western idea of masculinity at the time, with the late action star Charles Bronson as its most-prominent spokesperson. The company who makes Mandom started as The Kintsuru Perfume Corporation, founded in 1927 but changing it's name to Tancho Corporation after 1959 thanks to the success of its "Tancho Stick" pomade. The company focused on men's perfume and haircare thenceforth, introducing Mandom in 1969, then releasing it worldwide the following year thanks to successful marketing with Charles Bronson. Within weeks of the commerical starring Bronson, Mandom became the best-selling aftershave in Japan, instigating a name change yet again for the company to Mandom Corporation in 1971. In 1976, Mandom Co. tried to create a direct-selling flagship arm called Gatsby which almost tanked the company by 1980, and forced them to roll the Gatsby line into wholesale distribution like Mandom, which gained them enough success in 1988 to become publicly-traded in the Japanese stock market.

Mandom's success was cemented thanks to the late Mr. Bronson, and other Hollywood stars would jump on board to advertise both Mandom and Gatsby products (plus eventually the Lucido line of women's products too), but in the US where Charles Bronson was arguably most famous, the aftershave he became linked with elsewhere never registered more than a blip as a novelty import, probably due to the indomitable strength of brands like Revlon, Mennen, Avon, Shulton, MEM, and Williams in that segment at the time. Mandom itself is a rather conventional smell for the day, effectively being a near-academic citrus chypre like Monsieur de Givenchy (1959), Yves Saint Laurent Pour Homme (1971), or Douro Eau de Portugal/Lords (1985). Bergamot and a tiny peck of grapefruit make the opening of Mandom, followed by clary sage, sandalwood, and a slight puff of oakmoss on a powdery base. Vintage batches don't matter much with Mandom since it is to the chypre accord what Proraso (1908) is to the fougère accord: a light composition intended to be worn intermittently between shaving and application of actual fragrance or just temporarily. Wear time of Mandom is brief and won't go much past two hours, nor will go much past being skin scent unless you dump it on like Charles Bronson does in the commerical. In reality, such olfactive brevity is perfect for vintage masculine chypre lovers, as they can layer on their favorite bottle of Moustache by Rochas (1949) or Armani Eau Pour Homme (1984).

I'm not sure if Mandom was intentionally designed to be layered with another fragrance since Western perfume practices and Eastern grooming habits are not always in alignment even if Mandom was patterned in the Western style of the day, but it gives old "mossheads" and younger guys thirsty for nostalgia alike something to replace their tube of Nivea with during shave time. I'm honestly pretty impressed with what Mandom sets itself up to be versus what it actually is when you wear it, and was fully expecting some mega-musky aromatic bomb but instead got a gentleman's chypre in after shave form. Although I'd like to smell Mandom a little longer, I won't complain because using it just gives me an excuse to layer a vintage masterpiece on top. Mandom may also scratch that itch for a traditional aftershave that is enjoyable to use but doesn't overstay its welcome for the guy who don't necessarily want to wear a scent every day but happen to shave daily. All in all, you'll need to import Mandom or find an online seller through Amazon or eBay that ships internationally if you live in a country where Mandom isn't directly exported wholesale to retailers, and want in on the goofy kitsch fun. All the world indeed loves a lover, even if all the world doesn't necessarily love nor even know about MANDOM. Try not to toss too many shirts off or fire too many pistols after using Mandom, and if you wear as much as Charles Bronson does, you better get yourself registered as a weapon just in case.

Mandomization
May minimize mere macho
Midst more menschly math.

The Bronson commercials are remarkable.
The scent is pleasant, light, not problematic, not heavy or sweet.
Just a citrus - herbal - light wood scent. A bit powdery in the dry-down. Simple.

mandom after shave has a great fragrance of citrus and sage with macho appeal. you will feel like charles bronson who did the commercials in the 1970's.