SAFETY Razor Shave of the Day (SOTD)

[120inna55]

Crown King | Pinaud Deadman
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Copper Matrix | AP Shave Co. SynBad 30mm
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

The Club | Amber Rose
Wolf Whiskers | Raptor | Black Wolf
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

Lakewood Soap Co. | Sweet Orange Chili Pepper
RazoRock 400 | Noir Plissoft
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE

A few weeks back, someone featured Lakewood Soap Company's "Sweet Orange Chili Pepper" in their SOTD pic, and I was intrigued by the potential of the fragrance.  Given I'd not heard much about Lakewood---good or bad---I was anticipating an average performer at best. 

Frankly, I'm surprised by the lack of hype for this base.  Granted, this was my first use of Lakewood, and I straight cold used it for a 48-hour growth, head and face shave.  There was no customary test lather, but rather straight to the shower shave.  To my surprise, this is a very nice performing soap.  My hard water provided the usual challenge with loading which simply means I have to load bit longer than if I were using distilled or soft water.  This first go yielded a density that does not quite stand up to the creamy luxury strata of the current highest-end bases, but I'll trade density for glide any day.  Fortunately, Lakewood has both primary and residual slickness in spades.  I was able to comfortably take long sweeping against-the-grain passes on my scalp from the residual slickness alone.  The post-shave is quite nice as well, such that in future uses I may very well consider skipping a post-product to test its longevity. 

Sweet Orange Chili Pepper delivers precisely what you'd expect: an initial sweet, but natural, orange with hints of chili towards the end of the shave.  I would like to have experienced a bit more of the chili aspect, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.  The scent strength is just a step above light, and this may be a characteristic of the accord alone. 

The balm is very thick, bordering on paste, but easily distributable on my towel dried scalp and face.  So far it seems to be doing its job leaving a soft, well-hydrated, silky feel completely devoid of any residual greasiness.  The balm is quite similar in consistency to that of Lather Bros., but I think Lakewood's performs a bit better.  I used the balm a few times last week just as a post-shower moisturizer and can affirm the scent longevity is roughly 3 hours.  The scent is the same except for the addition of something faintly green in the dry down. Perhaps the chili comes through a skosh better as well.

I hadn't intended to drop a review tonight, but I was so impressed with this lesser known artisan that I felt compelled to share my initial impressions.  I'm going to explore more of their offerings, because given tonight's outcome, I intend to wedge Lakewood into my rotation somehow.

[120inna55]

Catie's Bubbles | 322   
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone 322 | AP Shave Co. SilkSmoke 28mm
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

The Holy Black | Jeckyll & Hyde
APShaveCo. Elegant Emerald | SynBad 24mm
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74

My only prior experience with The Holy Black's products is with The Club exclusive "Decadence".  It's a really nice set, but I seldom use it because gourmands aren't my first choice.  However, I will admit that each time I use it I'm surprised by its performance.  Honestly, when a brand touts this much moxie and bravado, I find myself suspecting they're compensating for a glaring inadequacy.  In my experience this deficiency is usually in execution.  In reality their artisan tallow base is the real deal, loading easily and quickly yielding a thick, dense lather.  First swipe and residual slickness are still above average (in a world where "average" continues to be bumped up).  Post-shave is good, but I wouldn't skip a post-product.

Jeckyll & Hyde is as advertised, replete with unabashed gimmicky packaging containing a few pearls. From the box's exterior to deep within, The Holy Black managed to capture the Robert Louis Stevenson gothic along with childhood Halloween frivolity all without compromising the gritty tenacity of the brand.  That said, unless the product is really special, I often skip releases such as these out of interest of storage space alone.  Fortunately, the Jeckyll & Hyde products don't require a special stand à la The Tell-Tale Heart Box Set, and can stand on their own with a modest footprint.  My only criticism of the packaging is with the wax seals.  I know it looks cool and is certainly in line with the motif, but personally I don't like how my first use of the product forever removes the original presentation.  Additionally, while the wax cleanly peeled away from one bottle, the other proved to be quite messy and wax still remains.  Interestingly, the bottle that caused all the trouble was the "Mr. Hyde" splash.  I could have scored along the top of the cap thereby preserving much of the wax, but to me that still betrays the original aesthetic. The highlight for me, in terms of packaging, is the beautifully detailed rendering of silhouettes and bloody skull on the ceramic soap dish lid.  It is just striking artwork and a suitable centerpiece.

As to the fragrance, I will never use the Hyde EdT again.  It exhibits a nauseatingly overused patchouli slammed up against a very artificial sandalwood with a sickly saccharine sweet undertone.  How this could ever be described as dark, I'll never know. I did my best to wash it off, so I can make no further comments vis-à-vis dry down and longevity. Dr. Jeckyll, on the other hand, is more my style, although it doesn't particularly stand out as original.  It's a pleasant clean, green, woody fragrance with gentle nondescript citrus highlights.  The dry down is pleasant, but again nothing outstanding, with rather linear dry earthy vetiver and sandalwood.

Of course the "experiment" is to mix these individual fragrances in order to tailor them to one's chemistry and taste.  I did add a touch of Hyde to my Jeckyll splash and I will concede it indeed contributed to the complexity across all aspects of the fragrance.  The folks at The Holy Black compound did the customer right in this respect by providing ample product with which to experiment. Each splash bottle contains 8.5 oz. of product.  The EdTs are 50 mL each.

As previously mentioned, there are a couple pearls immediately evident upon cracking open the crate, but I won't spoil it for those who are delaying the grand unboxing until Halloween.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with this acquisition. This was especially unique in that I was able to involve my wife with the unboxing and noted that her interest was piqued along with a little laughter due to one of the hidden gems.  After that unique experience, I'm left with a nice product that looks and performs great.

[120inna55]

Phoenix Shaving | Doppelgänger | Ox Blood Label
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Copper Matrix | AP Shave Co. SynBad 30mm
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74
Penhaligon's | Sartorial

[120inna55]

West Coast Shaving | Chypre (Jojoba Cream)
Kent V8 | Vintage Badger
Gem Damaskeene (1914-1915) | Gem Jr. Elite "Ivory" Handle (ca. 1906)
Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

Southern Witchcrafts | Autumn Ash
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Copper Matrix | AP Shave Co. SynBad 30mm
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE

Once again, I'm trying out a product from an artisan who's new to me.  This would seem to be the right season to break this one out, too.  Southern Witchcrafts, hailing from Tucker, Georgia, have some peculiar scent notes for the products in their catalog. It's my understanding their packaging has recently undergone a revamp, and unless I'm mistaken, the soap base has also experienced an upgrade.  Honestly, several of the offerings were enticing, but I settled on "Autumn Ash" and "Alchemist" as my introduction to this artisan.

No complaints on the packaging from me.  The labels appear to be vinyl and arrived (from Maggard) without blemish or bubble.  The soap tubs are your standard all-black PET, and the splashes are  plastic as well and resemble those used by Storybook Soapworks.  I've not seen these EdP bottles before, but they fit the motif and look cool.

Upon cracking open the tub of Autumn Ash, I was immediately met with a powerful sweet maple syrup note that overwhelmed anything else that may have accompanied it.  Needless to say, it needed to air out as is often the case with a new tub.  After giving it a few minutes, I revisited it, and as expected, the maple settled down and musky damp earth with a suggestion of mushroom was faintly detected.  Despite their sharing very few common notes (smoke and cedar), off the puck, Autumn Ash reminded me of Chiseled Face's "Ghost Town Barber". Upon lathering, this drastically changed, and was actually closer to Barrister and Mann's "Fougère Gothique".  Autumn Ash is it's own thing, mind you, but if you like fragrances in the vein of Fougère Gothique, you'll likely enjoy this.

Upon lathering, Autumn Ash opens with a warm syrupy and smoky maple that's immediately mitigated by damp earth. Again, I feel like there's a faint mushroom note, but it may well be my brain filling in for the expected, given the convincing damp earth note.  Specifically, the image of damp earth is that of rich, black spongy soil rife with ancient tree litter remains.  As the shave progresses, the fragrance continues to descend to a muskier and thicker fragrance that stops just short of becoming murky. I can not pick up the documented ash note in the lather, but the overall fragrance does lift up towards the end with a slightly edgier resin and spice.

The soap in the puck is of medium firmness such that pressing a finger in the middle causes very little crumbling followed by a smooth dent. This vegan base doesn't seem to have any quirks in terms of loading and lather building.  A 45-second load in my damp 30mm synthetic knot provided more than adequate yield for a 2+ pass head and face shave.  It did require a fair amount of water to optimize which, as always, is an observation and not a detraction.  Test lathers the night before proved it can be drowned if you try, but there's plenty of room before you reach that point.  In practice, the lather-building is intuitive and results in a hyper-white, voluminous and moderately dense substrate with a bright even sheen.  You cannot brush away the lather when it's optimized, thereby making this quite the paintable lather.  First-swipe slickness is very good, and residual slickness is such that hasty sweeping passes can safely be pulled-off in the absence of visible lather.  Post-shave is on-par with today's medium to upper-grade soaps, but not yet select status. I will note, 18 months ago, this post-shave would have been considered elite.

In terms of fragrance, the splash unfolds in similar fashion to the soap, but the maple is much more forward and longer lasting.  I would prefer this be toned down a bit, but that's just my personal aversion to sweet fragrances.  Ultimately, after about 30 minutes, the sweet aspect does indeed burn off, relenting to the rich damp earthy heart and base. Unlike the soap, the ash does make a presence that is surprisingly pleasant and well-blended among the ensemble. Just a touch more smoke or birch tar would have stifled this fragrance, but instead a fair bit of artisanal skill is exhibited in taking Autumn Ash to the edge without stepping into the offensive.

The paired splash is water-based and contains witch hazel, aloe gel, vitamin E, Polysorbate 20, and glycerin.  It is water-thin and has a pale milky amber color. It distributes easily. It's soothing, and I detected no tackiness or greasiness. I can't say if it's particularly moisturizing or not, because the soap wasn't drying to begin with.

This fragrance is so nice, I'm happy I picked up the EdP.  After priming the bottle, I applied a single pump to the solar plexus.  The EdP never completely abandons the maple, but the sweetness does abate after about an hour or so. Six hours out, I continue to enjoy the full complement of Autumn Ash's dark but pleasant earthy, resinous accord.

Ultimately, I'm quite pleased with this base's performance.  After just one use, I feel like the only aspect that could improve more than incrementally would be the post-shave. That's not to say it lacks, but rather the current upper-tier artisan soaps' post-shaves have recently attained ridiculous heights.  As of this writing, I've taken a whiff of my "Alchemist" tub along with extensively reviewing the fragrances offered by Southern Witchcrafts.  It would seem this brand will make its mark by way of thoughtful, complex, edgy, and daring fragrances while still offering the crowd-pleasers like lavender, sandalwood, and cedar. I anticipate continued and long-term success from this artisan.

Alternate SOTD Pics

[120inna55]

Barrister and Mann | Fougère Gothique
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Copper Matrix | AP Shave Co. SynBad 30mm
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

Barrister and Mann | Hallows
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Hallows | AP Shave Co. SilkSmoke 28mm
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

Phoenix & Beau | Baskerville
DrivenLegend Red & Black | APShaveCo Tuxedo 30mm
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE
Barrister and Mann | Le Grand Chypre
L&L Grooming Darkfall EdP

[120inna55]

Catie's Bubbles | A Midnight Dreary
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone 322 | AP Shave Co. SilkSmoke 28mm
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE

[120inna55]

Tallow + Steel | Merchandise 7X
Ever-Ready 100T | Elite Razor Manchurian
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74

[120inna55]

The Club | Signature
Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Copper Matrix | AP Shave Co. SynBad 30mm
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74

It would appear "The Club" brand has hit its stride as evidenced by settling down to an in-house tallow and goat milk base that's easily competitive on the highest level along with a diverse offering of unapologetically bold fragrances. Previously, El Gaucho had been my favorite fragrance from The Club, but aptly named Signature has taken the mantle. This is likely to be the flagship, signature fragrance of the The Club.  With a relatively common and simple profile including bourbon, tobacco, and sandalwood, Signature is anything but mundane.  The bourbon is front-row and accurate, while the tobacco is equally present. The blend offers up a liquor-sweet but natural, non-sugary accord that's mitigated by a weighty and creamy sandalwood. This is all highlighted by a faint suggestion of smoke.  The splash allows the tobacco to shine a bit more than that of the soap, but both notes remain solid for a good two to three hours before relenting to the sandalwood dry down.  A hint of nondescript spice trails off around the five hour mark. Despite all its bravado, Signature manages to stay in check sort of like a slightly matured (or medicated) Andrew Dice Clay. You can probably get away with wearing this in formal or reserved settings, but to be safe, you might consider wearing a simple sandalwood fragrance to push this into the elegant realm.  Signature does a fine job wrapping up the model of The Club, representing a brazen yet gentlemanly presence and having a good time doing it.

[120inna55]

Phoenix & Beau | Prototype
Cadman-Beau | Synthetic
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74
Catie's Bubbles | Custom Unscented Before and After Splash