SAFETY Razor Shave of the Day (SOTD)

[120inna55]

L&L Grooming "Darkfall - Autumn 2016 Seasonal"
Kent V8
Gillette Pre-war Tech | Feather Hi-Stainless (1)

Darkfall was my introduction to L&L Grooming's products, and as far as I know, the first time I've ever used a bison tallow-based soap.  As per my M.O., I was attracted by the cool label, creative moniker, and of course, limited seasonal production.

The presentation is nice with truly water proof labels for both the soap and splash.  The text is crisp and legible, and the layout is professional.  My only critique is the inclusion of a blue-gray contrast instead of black.  I'm not sure if this is intentional or if the printer was unable to reproduce true black.  The result is a somewhat washed-out appearance, where a stark contrast would have been more appealing.  The stylized logo is sharp.

The soap is on the firmer end of the croap spectrum, similar in consistency to that of B&M's soaps.  Off the dry puck, I detected a fairly stout sharp, woody and benzoin fragrance.  The scent became more "realistic" as soon as the moisture hit it, evoking a legitimate sense of being in the middle of the woods teeming with dry fallen leaves.  As the shave progressed, this captivating fragrance only became more complex with bitter oud balanced by subtle amber and an charming, yet understated, smokiness.  While the scent notes suggests the presence of cinnamon and clove, I do not detect them in the traditional sense, but there is something in the middle that at least has that essence.

Either I got lucky, or this soap is one of the easiest to load and lather.  After soaking the  vintage Kent V8 badger knot, I shook most of the warm water out, and began to load with slow swirls.  The tan surface of the puck developed a white sticky proto-lather that the knot accommodated quite well.  This behavior reminded me that clay was an ingredient, thus I considered adding a little water right off, but I thought better of it.  After about a 45 second load for a 3-pass head and face shave, I dipped the tip of the maxed-out knot in the warm water in my bowl.  I proceeded to face lather by first painting on a dense layer of soap followed by adding a fair amount of water directly to the knot.  The usable lather came quickly, and with a little more water and agitation, a premium lather ensued.  I just love a tallow and clay combination as the clay seems to protect against drowning yet allowing you get the maximum slickness from the tallow.  Darkfall performed---on my first use, mind you---perfectly with optimal density, glide, and residual slickness, resulting in a flawless shave.

The quality of the shave was such that a post product could have been omitted, but I wanted the complete experience and to extend the enjoyment of this pleasant fragrance.  The non-alcohol splash shares the same scent notes, but the oud is much more prominent at least initially.  I've read about L&L's issue with their splash bottles' flow limiters, and I can confirm it's ridiculously useless. Even knowing this going in, I still managed to waste some, because I'd assumed it would restrict flow at least a little.  I was wrong. If you do get too much in your hand, you may as well let the excess go down the drain and refrain from applying.  Otherwise, since it's aloe-based, you'll have a tacky result.  It's also best to apply this to slightly damp skin to facilitate even distribution.  My skin feels soft and well hydrated as a result.

It's nice to discover an artisan once they've hit their stride.  While I understand L&L had at least one formula prior to this bison tallow base, this was my first exposure to them, and I find it difficult to find a mark against them with regard to the performance.  On paper, the scent profile of Darkfall is similar to several products in my den, but I don't have anything that smells quite like it.  It is a very pleasant, comforting, and seasonally appropriate fragrance that I intend to use frequently.  I look forward to trying out some of the this artisan's other varieties of this superb soap base.

Here's a bonus lather shot:

[120inna55]

Van Yulay Soap of the Gods - "Rack Em Up"
Zenith Manchurian
RazoRock Wunderbar | Triad 316 Stainless Rolling Hex | Feather Hi-Stainless (1)

"Rack Em Up" is such a heavenly soap!  It's the perfect marriage of patchouli and leather with just enough vetiver and lavender to keep it in check.   I chose Van Yulay specifically because tonight was the first time I used a Feather in the Wunderbar which has been fairly aggressive for me in the past if not slightly rough.  The reliable protective cushion from the dense, creamy lather is easy to quickly obtain despite my hard water.  As expected, I was allowed to concentrate on taking long, calculated and sweeping passes, without giving a second thought to the lather.  This was my best shave with the Wunderbar, yet.  Ultimately, I achieved BBS with essentially 2 passes and clean-up.

[Cobranet]

Gotta say, your pictures look like adverts! They make me want to shave! I have been using, and loving my Futur! I used it the other day for a face shave on setting 3...did a three pass shave and was so smooth I almost thought something was wrong as I was applying moisturizer ....no hair left at all and I was still smooth enough the next day to go to work without shaving.....24 hours later! I have shaved my head with it twice now on setting 2 and have been able to do it in 1 pass with touch ups to get pretty darn smooth. I used Proraso blue today with Witch Hazel followed by Nivea shave balm cream. Futur on setting 2 for head and 3 for face with Personna Lab Blue,Satin tip brush. Here are some updated pics of my shave den. The silver bowl with the lid is my blade dispenser and the money bag is my blade bank for old blades.

[120inna55]

Saponificio Varesino - 70th Anniversary SE
BSB-Ti | HMW (extra dense)
Gillette Pre-war Tech | Feather Hi-Stainless (2)

[SlyCatCrossing]

@ Cobranet: your collection is growing nicely my friend! I've heard a lot of people finding the futur to be a little tough to work with for headshaving so either your technique is ON POINT or you have found THE razor for you... Or maybe a little of A & B right?

@ 120inna55: your pics are always insane man, coolest gear and very artsy!

I know I haven't posted on this thread for awhile.  I seriously have not had time to do a full proper DE head shave in quite some time so I've been using my ATX 99% of the time because it's so quick.  I also really like headblade as a both a product and a company. I however have really tried to make time to get back into regular DE shaving and let me tell you... A couple month break from DE can really throw off your technique haha.  I went back to mainly using my dorco prime tto safety razor since it's so mild.  I LOVE my 37c slant as a face shaver, my favorite infact (when I'm not growing my beard of course), but I've always had some trouble maintaining proper angle on my head with it.  Everything else is pretty much my usual SOP though: shave in shower, la toja soap or proraso green cream, omega or maggard synthetic brush.  For blades I still rotate personna blue, GSB, 7o'clock black, feather, and dorco 301. Aftershave is still "season to taste" for me but usually proraso green splash.  One change I made is I don't that often use witch hazel anymore, I've almost entirely swapped it for clear head by headblade.  It's a little bit pricey ($11 for 5oz) but one bottle lasts about two months of daily use.

[Cobranet]

Yes, I love my Futur! I don't know where all the issues people have using one comes from. It's as easy as falling off a bike to shave your face with and the weight and size make it very simple to use for head shaving as well....at least for me. I use a VERY light touch with it.....literally letting the weight of the razor do all the work. I use setting 2 for my head and for the time being I am using setting 3 for my face...I may try it set higher but right now I don't see any reason to.  If it was my only razor I would not be looking for any others to go along with it. I have my small collection of razors (all Merkur) and no desire to get anything else except another Futur maybe , in the brushed aluminum . I just got some new soaps and will post some pictures when I get a chance to shave with them, it's nighttime here now and I just recieved them in the mail today....will use one tomorrow and then post a picture. 

[Cobranet]

Here's my newest soap! Well, I got two but here is the first. I used the Futur with Personna lab blue, Satin tip brush and followed it up with witch hazel and Nivea after shave balm. Didn't shave my head today just my face....setting 3 for another great shave.

[120inna55]

Here's my newest soap! Well, I got two but here is the first. I used the Futur with Personna lab blue, Satin tip brush and followed it up with witch hazel and Nivea after shave balm. Didn't shave my head today just my face....setting 3 for another great shave.

Did you like "Smolder"?  I've never used anything by The Blades Grimm, but I've been curious about it.

[Cobranet]

Did you like "Smolder"?  I've never used anything by The Blades Grimm, but I've been curious about it.


Yes, I do like it. Honestly I got it because every time I went to Amazon to look for shave soaps or whatever it was one of the first things to pop up and the logo just looked so bad assed! I like the scent, it's not too strong but nice...kind of vanilla and other stuff that I have no idea what they are. I face lathered it and it really lathered up well with not much product on my brush, which is also from Blades Grim...the Satin Tip Purest. I put it on a little too dry, but for the first use it worked great.  I would recommend it for sure!

[Cobranet]

I can see why this soap is so popular, very nice...and I love the scent!

[120inna55]

Barrister and Mann - Dickens (2015)
Zenith Manchurian XXL
Star 1912 | Gem PTFE (1)
Barrister's Reserve - Spice

[120inna55]

Dr. Jon's Shaving Soap Co. - Krampus (2016)
Rubberset 2004 | Omega Boar
Star 1912 | Gem PTFE (1)

*I couldn't decide on which pic I liked best.

[Cobranet]

My wife surprised me with this soap when I got home last night! I used it for a face shave this morning and am just about to go shave my head in a few minutes with it. Very nice , subtle scent...great lather with hardly any product. Nice!! Oh yeah, It came in a puck and I melted it down in one of my bowls.

[120inna55]

Catie's Bubbles - Quatre Cent Vingt
Kent V8 | Vintage Badger
Star 1912 | Gem PTFE (1)

Quatre Cent Vingt is my first experience with Catie's Bubbles.  I'm not sure how or why I've gone this long without trying something from this prominent and highly regarded artisan.  QCV seemed like a reasonable jumping off point.  I've read others' reviews, and it seems that generally the cannabis fragrance is understated.  As has been noted, the note is that of the cannabis flower as opposed to the leaf or stem.  It's not too far separated from the familiar marijuana fragrance, however.  That said, it's not dominant, and it makes for an interesting fougère.  Lathering it simply amplifies the fragrance from the puck, so this is one of the few soaps that you can get a real scent impression from the dry product.

Catie's Bubbles' reputation is well established as a high quality soap.  This being my first use, I will make adjustments next time.  Interestingly, it didn't seem to handle water as well as many of my other soaps, and as a result, slickness suffered a bit.  Being a head and face shaver, I handled this shave like two separate shaves.  After finishing my face, I wrung out the brush and reloaded.  The head lather was much better with nice density, but I would rate the slickness a 6 on a 1-10 scale (Stirling being a 7, B&M Glissant being a 9).  I don’t think this slight deficiency is solely due to the fact that it's vegan, because Dr. Jon's out-scores it as well.

This shouldn't be taken as a review of the soap but rather a first impression.  I'm of the opinion that to fairly evaluate a soap, it should be used several times and, if possible, with various knots.  I just counted 32 different brands of soap in my den, and the only time I recall having a less than stellar first impression that I later overturned was with Through The Fire Fine Craft. (If you're wondering how I could possibly keep track of that, I have an app.) Again, it should be noted, this is still a fairly slick soap.  I simply have several soaps that are slicker.  At either rate, using the 1912 SE made it a non-issue.

The real surprise came afterwards.  The post-shave with QCV is incredible.  My skin felt very well hydrated and exhibited a softness that approaches that of Nuàvia.

Despite the fairly robust fougère during the shave, it faded quickly after the final rinse.  I wanted to enjoy it a bit longer, so I did use the matching splash.  The result was a silky feel to my scalp and face.  The same notes were present if not a bit sharper, and within a few minutes a very subtle floral sweetness came through.  Overall, this is one of the lighter fragrances I've used.  Just an hour later, it's only faintly present.  I wouldn't mind it lasting longer, but at least one can be confident it won't draw suspicion in mixed company or conflict with a EdT.

I think, based on the post-shave alone, I will be trying more of Catie's Bubbles' offerings.

Happy Thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen!

[120inna55]

Stirling Soap Co. - Gatlinburg
Ever-Ready 100T | TGN Finest
Star 1912 | Gem PTFE (1)

Gatlinburg came out of nowhere for me.  This is instantly my favorite Stirling fragrance.  Despite cedarwood being listed as one of the top notes, it doesn't dominate this elegant fragrance.  It's rich and woody with competing sharp and sweet citrus against musk and earth.  This can easily be a year-round soap despite its being marketed as a Fall seasonal.

As expected from Stirling's base, the load and lather is easy, resulting in a creamy dense protective layer with excellent glide.  The post-shave is nice as I'd expect from the shea butter and lanolin.

I'm quite pleased the splash matches the soap pretty closely.  It is a bit more cedar-forward than the soap, but still not in an obtrusive way.  This pleasant fragrance is something I would enjoy as an EdT year round.