When we started Fulton & Roark, we began with a clear mission: To identify the best and worst elements for a man of getting groomed and ready, and to create new products that kept all of the good while eliminating or at least minimizing the downsides. The first product we began with was cologne because, in our minds, it was the area of grooming that was in the most desperate need of improvement.
We live in an age of carry-on luggage and TSA security lines, of fitness-minded men who get ready every morning in their gyms' locker rooms, of tightly-scheduled professionals who go straight from the office to their evening outings without time to stop by their place to freshen up. This is no longer the era for big and fragile glass spray bottles full of flammable liquid.
We have also moved past the days of machismo that valued sharp-smelling fragrances that filled a room and possessed all the subtlety of a flashing neon sign screaming, " I AM WEARING COLOGNE." Between our research and our own personal beliefs, we found that men wanted to smell good for themselves and for those closest to them, both in the literal and figurative sense, but they were anything but excited about the idea of getting the attention of the people down the hall.
Since we started with the questions Who? and Why? as they related to fragrance, our next questions to consider were When? and Where?. For us, these questions were easy. We thought a man should be able to create a personal atmosphere that spoke to his sense of style whenever and wherever he liked. Consequently, we knew our design would need to reflect that principle.
Based on everything we had discovered, we were ready to answer the big question: How? We determined that for our solution to solve all of the problems with cologne while keeping the benefits, our product would be:
-
a solid composition: nothing to leak or spill
-
a sturdy metal container: nothing to crack or shatter
-
a clever design: to easily fit in a Dopp Kit or even the pocket of a pair of jeans
-
a collection of nuanced fragrances: to create a unique sense of personality and style
Click here to see our solid colognes, and shop the entire collection. If you'd like some help finding the perfect fragrance for you, take our quiz.
As for the question of What?, as in, "What's in this stuff?" check out our full list of ingredients below. Like all our products, we want you to know what ingredients we use and why.
-
Mineral Oil USP: A colorless and odorless food-grade oil that moisturizes and prevents evaporation of moisture from the skin. It provides a protective layer that blocks irritants, pathogens and pollutants from entering the body, in this case keeping fragrance components on top of the skin and smelling good.
-
Ceresin Wax: A substitute to beeswax, ceresin wax is a binder and viscosity-increasing agent that keeps oils and liquids of an emulsion from separating. It also reduces brittleness and adds strength and stability to the product. Unlike beeswax, ceresin has no smell or color, so there is no fragrance to interfere with the fragrances oils used in the cologne.
-
Coconut Oil: An agent derived from coconut to hydrate and protect the skin, the quick-absorbing agent creates a barrier on the skin that helps to retain moisture without clogging pores. This particular coconut oil is fractionated, making it odorless and colorless, so as not to interfere with the fragrance of the cologne.
-
Fragrance: It wouldn’t be cologne without it! A mix of naturally sourced essential oils and perfumers’ ingredients with the express purpose of smelling great. While we keep some of our cologne ingredients trade secrets to prevent the imitators from borrowing too heavily from us, each of these ingredients is sustainably-sourced and deemed safe for use in our products by the International Fragrance Association, one of the most demanding organizations in the grooming and cosmetics industry.
-
Perfumers Alcohol: A special 100% formulation of alcohol that blends essential oils and fragrances into a clear solution and increases the perceived strength of fragrance on the wearer.
-
Cetyl Alcohol: A naturally occurring ingredient that helps prevent mixtures of oils and liquids from separating. It allows a consistent and smooth texture and helps extend the lifespan of each cologne.
-
Petrolatum USP: A semisolid water-repellent agent commonly used to prevent moisture loss in skin and hair, petrolatum helps to soften our mixture slightly, making it easier to apply.