SAFETY Razor Shave of the Day (SOTD)

[120inna55]

Barrister and Mann | Citricuyá
APShaveCo. Elegant Emerald | SynBad 24mm
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

Barrister's Reserve | Classic
Rubberset 200-4 | Omega Boar
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Gillette Sun Up

[120inna55]

Mickey Lee Soapworks | Pantie Dropper
Wolf Whiskers | Raptor | Black Wolf
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche Paris

[120inna55]

Mickey Lee Soapworks | Unforgiven
Rubberset 200-4 | Omega Boar
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE

[120inna55]

Talbot Shaving & Catie's Bubbles | Valley of Fire
DrivenLegend Red & Black | APShaveCo Tuxedo 30mm
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE
Jimmy Choo | Man

When I was extended the opportunity to sign-up for the latest Talbot Shaving, Catie's Bubbles, and Ruds Shaves collaboration pre-order, I went all in. Given my knowledge of modern mainstream fragrances is essentially nonexistent, the fact that the scent profile was based on Jimmy Choo Man EdT meant nothing to me.  However, the EdT is widely available and reasonably priced for a blind buy, so I took a chance and picked up a 100 mL bottle. I'd been wearing it periodically while I awaited the arrival of the "Valley of Fire" set.

The set was made to commemorate Ruds' 10th wedding anniversary. The Valley of Fire state park being the site of their wedding, and Jimmy Choo Man being a fragrance for which he and his wife share a mutual affinity. The documented notes are: lavender, honeydew melon, pink pepper, pineapple leaf, suede, and patchouli.

Given my occupation involves interaction and often close contact with the public, I typically limit my fragrance application to a single spray, reserving more liberal applications to less professional settings or social outings. (Who am I kidding? My social outings are limited to going to the movies with my wife and our close friend. If church counts as a social outing, my fragrance application is inconsequential given the dulled olfactories the ancient parishioners.) That said, I quickly realized that given the rather top note-heavy Jimmy Choo Man, at least two sprays are essential if I want to enjoy it in any case. It opens with a bright but soft and sweet melon nestled among fibrous greenery. These top notes last longer than expected, and after a couple hours the accord gains some momentum acquiring a rounded sweet creaminess and finally an understated herbaceous lavender which, in my subjective perspective, is the only element that tips the scales to the masculine side of the meter.  Projection is weak to fair, and sillage is fair. Longevity is about 5 hours according to my wife, but my nose loses it after about 3 hours.  Remember, this is an eau de toilette. The characteristics impart a light, fun, youthful vibe without being brash or immature.

After having time to develop a sense of the intended fragrance, my soap and splash arrived yesterday.  Upon lathering Valley of Fire, the melon notes pop rather convincingly, but they are accompanied by a surprising pineapple-ish note.  Jimmy Choo Man has pineapple leaf listed as a note, but the leaf doesn't smell like the fruit, so my nose probably combined the fibrous leaf with the woody lavender in the EdT.  I don't detect a pineapple fruit in the EdT, but I do detect something closely related to pineapple fruit in the Valley of Fire soap and splash.  This is not a criticism, however.  It's a creative turn that set my nose for an Aventus follow-through, but instead it stuck to the script for the Jimmy Choo Man EdT henceforth, taking on the creamy suede, sweet patchouli, and woody lavender.  Despite the relative light nature of the target fragrance, the scent strength of the soap was boosted quite a bit, such that I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout the shave. The splash unfolded in a similar fashion with the exception of the suede being the longest hold-out and longevity being three hours, tops.

Talbot Shaving's soap performance is beyond reproach.  This base lathers like a dream as long as you are liberal with the water from the very beginning.  Primary and residual slickness are matched by very few in the top-level artisan realm, and post-shave is flawless making any post-shave product completely unnecessary.  However, the refreshing topper from Catie's Bubbles splash is not to be missed particularly in this full-tilt set-up.

[120inna55]

Barrister's Reserve | Seville in Reserve
Kent V8
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Barrister and Mann | Seville

[120inna55]

Phoenix Shaving | Tombstone
Rubberset 200-4 | Omega Boar
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE

[120inna55]

Jeeves of Hudson Street | Black Tea
Kent V8
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE

[120inna55]

Chiseled Face Groomatorium | Civet
Ever-Ready 100T | Elite Razor Manchurian   
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Homemade Splash w/ Civet EdP
Zoologist Civet EdP

[120inna55]

West Coast Shaving | Oriental
RazoRock 400 | Noir Plissoft
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Phoenix Shaving | Speakeasy

Once again, West Coast Shaving dodged a bullet.  If you read my impressions of " Pear-Brrr Shoppe", you'll recall that despite my aversion to fruity fragrances, I rather enjoyed it, and can appreciate the artistry involve in its formulation.  That said, since I don't particularly want to smell like the fruity fragrance, Pear-Brrr Shoppe will not be one of the splashes I purchase.  The other soap that was coming my way was also unknown to me. Imagine my disbelief when "Oriental" arrived having "rose" listed as the first descriptor.  I've noted countess times that even though I find rose fragrances to be appealing, I often have to avoid them because, in most cases, if the rose is forward enough, it will elicit a wave of nausea and headache.  I simply have an intolerance to the fragrance, regardless of my affinity for it.  Out of the 5 launch scents that West Coast Shaving is releasing, how did they manage to send me the 2 with which I'm most likely to have a problem?

When I cracked open the tub, I was met with a bold, but pleasant rose.  Given that this was only a soap and the fragrance, if undesirable, wouldn't linger, I reluctantly elected to proceed.  Fortunately, soon after loading, the rose element quickly acquired a woodiness and musk that continued to descend to a resinous, more classic oriental as the lather was built.  Once the lather foundation was fully established, the dry fragrance hemmed in the rose to more of a labdanum characteristic.  Labdanum is one of my favorite notes, and despite its absence from the documented scent notes, it's the impression I get.  As the two-pass head-and-face shave progressed, the fragrance continued to darken and acquire even more resin and ancient dry wood notes.  In light of this being a head-and-face shave, it should be noted my exposure to the soap is roughly 15 to 20 minutes, and towards the end I began to note some smoky spiciness reminiscent of Madagascar vanilla bean.  This is truly a lovely fragrance, and I predict will be quite wearable for me.  I will certainly be picking up the paired splash.

The soap base paired with my test tub of Oriental was Oleo Soapworks' Canard (duck fat) formula.  This is a moderately firm soap that loads best with a fairly damp knot, but not saturated and dripping.  While Canard is not prone to easy break down, excessive water is not necessarily required.  A dense and slick low-profile lather is forthcoming, and this is precisely the sweet spot for this base.  More water can be added for a more voluminous lather, but its optimal slickness can be found prior to that.  First pass and residual slickness are high level, and post-shave is stellar as with all the top-shelf artisans.  Bufflehead is my only other experience with a duck fat soap, and Oleo's Canard has always out-performed it by a significant margin.

Once again, a post product is not needed with a soap of this level, but I don't feel like I've finished my shave until I apply a splash.  I opted to use Phoenix Shaving's "Speakeasy" splash which is about as far into rose I can safely tread, and even then, only in cool climates.  Since this was an evening shave, I had no qualms using it as I'll be indoors for the remainder of the day.  This was a good choice for a pairing, but any oriental would do.  A daring alternative could also have been old-school Leeming Pfizer's Black Belt. That is, until I can pick-up the true paired splash when these West Coast Shaving offerings go on sale later this week.

[120inna55]

Phoenix Shaving | Atomic Age Bay Rum
APShaveCo. Elegant Emerald | SynBad 24mm
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE

[120inna55]

Oleo Soapworks | Shiloh
PerFect Woodworks Infinity Brush | MAC Metalworks Synthetic 28mm
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE
Acqua di Parma | Colonia

The classic Acqua di Parma Colonia fragrance was the element that propelled me into this hobby.  For years, I used grocery store brand shave soaps, Colgate, and Williams before I discovered the boldly fragranced RazoRock's XXX.  My eyes and nose were suddenly opened to a seemingly endless realm of artisanal products and fragrances.  As is typically my (expensive) custom, I immediately sought the original product that influenced the affordable RazoRock soap. I purchased a huge bottle of the AdP Colonia EdC along with the Collezione Barbiere soap from AdP. It was later that I'd discovered the original AdP soap that had been scented to match the eponymous fragrance had been discontinued, and the lightly scented soap I'd just purchased, while an incredible performer was a reformulation hardly even resembling Colonia. Thankfully, the EdC has always delivered.  Over the years, my standards have matured, and I guess it's safe to say I've outgrown RazoRock. Taking nothing away from them, as they were quite the upgrade from Colgate.  My tastes have just been honed with regard to performance and luxury post-shaves.  So, in other words, I'm a soap snob. 

Certainly lots of artisans have a Colonia clone or homage in their respective arsenals, but after a failed attempt to acquire Catie's Bubbles' Inspirazione di Parma, I essentially lost interest. 

Recently, West Coast Shaving sent me a pre-release tub of "Oriental" which utilizes Oleo Soapworks' Canard soap base.  I realized I didn't have a single Canard soap in my den.  I'd used Canard previously when I participated in the Oleo test group.  The artisan's token of appreciation for the participation was a generous sample of the final product. I never used the sample, because (snob alert) I don't like samples. The only time I use sample sizes is when I'm testing a product by request.  Otherwise, I insist on the full package.

So why hadn't I picked up a retail-sized tub of this outstanding base? More snobbery incoming. I remember feeling a little vexed when "Smoke on the Water" was released as a Pasteur's exclusive, and then I just never looked that way again. With all the high-level offerings readily at my disposal, I'm afforded the luxury to be fickle, and I don't apologize for it. That said, it wasn't personal as Oleo's artisan is pure class.

Oriental reminded me of the stellar performance the Canard base offers.  The only other duck fat soap I have is Bufflehead, and it doesn't even approach the performance of Canard, so I really needed this in my den. I thought that gap would be filled with the free tub of Oriental, but since West Coast Shaving is stuttering a bit out of the gate releasing the paired splashes, I put it on the back burner.  Again, I'm a fickle consumer.  Don't flinch---I may never see you again.  Meanwhile a recent SOTD post from a fellow wet shaver featured "Shiloh" by Oleo.  Once he confirmed this was an accurate dupe of Colonia, I suddenly found myself fresh out of excuses and resolved to dive into Oleo's site to pick up a set.  Follow that up with blazing fast shipping, and we have today's shave!

Shiloh is indeed an accurate dupe of Acqua di Parma's Colonia projected with powerful scent strength that endures the 2-pass head and face shave.  For those that don't know, the scent profile is a rich lemon-forward citrus followed by subtle florals and faint barbershop-esque powder before deepening to gentle woodiness by way of herbaceous lavender and clean vetiver.  Colonia is romanticized Sicily in a bottle, and Oleo's Shiloh captures it perfectly.

I've recently commented on Oleo's Canard base performance, so the following will be a review: Canard is a duck fat base and is a moderately firm soap.  It loads intuitively with a fairly damp---not dripping---knot.  This is not a particularly thirsty soap, but it won't break down easily with higher volumes of water either.  Face latherers can stop working the lather when a dense and slick low-profile stratum materializes.  This is right where Canard shines.  You can keep adding water and working it if you like thick gobs of lather, but for me, it just gets in the way and is completely unnecessary. Initial and residual slickness are high-level as is the luxurious post-shave.

The soap base itself precludes any real need for a post-product, but the alcohol-based splash is very basic and essentially serves as the typical astringency many of us want as a shave topper.  The splash can be ordered with a menthol option, but I skipped it.  As is, the splash remains true to the Colonia fragrance, and unless you're intimately familiar with the real thing, Shiloh could pass for it.  The step-wise unfolding is a bit more distinct in the splash vs. Colonia, but it is essentially comparing to lemons to verbena.

I am so happy there's a high-performance AdP Colonia-style set readily available, now.  Shiloh hits all the marks!  I'm also excited to have re-discovered Oleo Soapworks.

[120inna55]

Phoenix Shaving | High Jump 47
Ever-Ready 100T | Elite Razor Manchurian
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Schick Plus Platinum PTFE

[120inna55]

Martin de Candre
Zenith XXL Manchurian
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE
Chatillon Lux | Champs de Lavande
Chatillon Lux | Lavande Poivre

[120inna55]

Phoenix Shaving | Black Bot
RazoRock 400 | Noir Plissoft
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74*
Leeming Pfizer | Black Belt Cologne (1968)