What you are paying for in the bottle

A designer bottle is glass, a cap, a box and a name. The scent is the small part. Bale puts a profile inspired by the original into a 6 oz jar of shea and cocoa butter for $25, and three jars are $58.08 with a free mystery gift.

Why it is still there at midnight

Spray cologne is mostly alcohol, and alcohol leaves. Butter stays on the skin. Put Bale on damp skin after the shower, on the neck, chest and wrists, and it lasts 12+ hours on most skin.

Is it greasy

No. A fingertip absorbs in about a minute with no shine, so the shirt goes on straight after. It is a shea and cocoa butter base, so it moisturizes and leaves skin soft while it carries the scent.

The jar

6 oz of whipped shea and cocoa butter. Absorbs in about a minute with no shine. Moisturizes and leaves skin soft. 12+ hours on most skin, longest on damp skin after a shower. Paraben-free and sulfate-free. Handmade in small batches.

The sack

Every order arrives wrapped in a real coffee sack, cut by hand and tied with twine, with a card that says where in the world it came from. It is upcycled, not new: the sack already carried coffee across an ocean, and instead of being thrown out it gets a second trip around your order, then it is yours to keep. No two are alike. The sack is the wrap, not the scent; none of the six scents smells of coffee.

The guarantee

30-day money-back guarantee: reply to your order email and we refund you. Free scent swap within 14 days. Ships from the US in 1 to 2 business days with tracking. No subscription unless you choose it.

Which scent

• Rogue 540: saffron, amber and cedar. Warm and sweet, one of the louder two, the one for nights out.
• Avant: pineapple, birch and musk. Fruit and birch.
• Bleu Hour: citrus, incense and woods. Fresh.
• Oud Timber: oud, sandalwood and vanilla. Warm, deep and woody, suits winter.
• Reverie: bergamot, ginger and black tea. Lighter, in between fresh and warm.
• Savanna: bergamot, pepper and ambroxan. Fresh.

Not sure? The Discovery Set, $19. Six 1 oz minis, one of each scent, with a $15 credit toward a full jar.