Dapper Dragon Soaps' Summer 2015 Ltd. Edition "Festival" Head & face shave. 2 days growth.
Technique: WTG / XTG / ATG/clean-up.
Prep: Shower. RazoRock Artisan Bar Soap "XXX" in Soap Commander's Soap Net
Soap: Dapper Dragon Soaps - "Festival - Summer 2015 Ltd. Edition"
Brush: Ever-Ready 100T restored by Thomas Burgess with TGN Finest Badger knot
Razor: RazoRock Stealth Slant v4
Blade: Treet Platinum Super Stainless(2)
Post: Cold tap water rinse. Dapper Dragon Soaps - "Festival" Scale Polish
This is my second time using the RRSS. It wasn't a fluke. This razor is definetly a keeper. In other razors, I get 2 passes maximum out of the Treet blades. (Remember that's covering head and face, 3 passes each.) This second day on the Treet, towards the end, was stretching its lifespan a bit, so next time it will be one and done. That's the beauty of the inexpensive blades.
I love Dapper Dragon Soap. Until now, the only scent I have by them is "Black Dragon" which is truly an intoxicating scent. I find myself opening the container and taking a whiff even when I'm not shaving. I recently noticed Dapper Dragon was offering their aftershave product, "Scale Polish". It sounded intriguing. While I was in their Etsy store, I noticed "Green Dragon" that had an interesting scent profile, and then "Festival" that's available until the Fall Equinox. I'm a sucker for "Limited Edition", so I had to pick that up, too. I thought I might as well pair both the Green Dragon and Festival with their Scale Polish counterparts. But what about my pre-existing Black Dragon? I need a paired Scale Polish for it as well! So, I fell down the Dapper Dragon rabbit hole and purchased all of them. The only real risk there was the Scale Polish. I already know I love their soaps' performance.
The scent profile for Festival according to Dapper Dragon is, "…summer blooming honeysuckle, watermelons, strawberries, and an intriguing base of smoke and gunpowder to evoke the feeling of summer festivals around the world." Who couldn't pass that up? Clearly, I need to go to some of the summer festivals that Eric Honaker attends, because there are a few other aromas associated with summer festivals I won't soon forget...sweat, cheap beer, marijuana, and do you remember Zima? But I digress…
I don't like to be tainted by a manufacturer's scent profile, so fortunately, I'd forgotten it as I was using it. Straight off the puck I immediately was struck with a single-faceted cucumber aroma. It wasn't offensive, but frankly, it reminded me of cosmetic facial creams. I've been doing this long enough to know that the scent off the puck is often quite different from what it blooms into after lathering it. As I loaded with a moderate amount of water in the TGN knot, the scent quickly evolved to watermelon. This is not a contrived "chemical" watermelon scent like that of candies and chewing gum. It genuinely smelled like someone had just split open a warm watermelon. As I transferred over to a bowl-lather, hints of honeydew crept in. A truly delightful aroma filled the shower. Festival maintained this scent into the second pass, and towards the end, a heavier floral muskiness came through which quite accurately reproduced honeysuckle---specifically, the blooms that are turning a deep yellow. Despite the scent profile, I detect no strawberries, smoke, or gunpowder, but it's an incredible scent without those elements.
For those that aren't familiar with Dapper Dragon Soaps, they are a soft soap. They're not quite as firm as Soap Commander and not quite as soft as RazoRock. Dapper Dragon soaps also holds up well to shipping in warm climates. My only experience with Dapper Dragon is with their tallow formulations, but they do have vegan as well. As far as the tallow goes, it has a very flexible range maintaining durability from both light and fluffy to thin, dense, and slick. I tend to like it on the thinner side. There's enough residual slickness that clean-up passes on my scalp are often accomplished with just a wet hand.
Scale Polish is a very interesting product. The consistency reminds me of a homemade concoction I made long ago that was an aloe gel base with witch hazel and tea tree oil added. I used it as a rescue product. It worked, but it didn't smell great, and it left a tacky feel to my scalp that I typically would feel the need to rinse off a couple hours later. Scale Polish is much more refined than my little concoction. It's an aloe gel thinned down with witch hazel, jojoba oil, dimethicone, and menthol. While this was a comfortable shave, I can imagine it would be very soothing to a bad one. It's thin and slick---much thinner than most balms I've used. I see why it's sold in a small 2 oz. container. There would be far too much waste with a pump or tube. To cover my entire scalp and face, I needed only touch my index finger to the product such that enough adhered, and then I swiped the product across my scalp and spread it with my palms. The initial wetness dissipated about as quickly as most alcohol-based splashes, but the coolness lingered for much longer. The only exception, in my experience, would be the high-menthol splashes like Fine's Snake Bite, but without the harshness. It was comfortably cool, but not numbingly so. The scent of the Scale Polish matched the soap perfectly. About 2 hours out, I still detect hints of honeydew and honeysuckle, and my skin feels moisturized and soft with no tackiness. I could see myself applying this product just as a cool-down refresher regardless of whether or not I'd just shaved.
I'm still feeling the excitement that comes from using a razor that lives up to its hype. This community is just bursting with talent from artisans churning out hardware and shaving products. Thanks Dapper Dragon and RazoRock for being a part of it.