Tallow + Steel - "Himalaya"
Island Bladeworks "Stoya" | Elite Razor Manchurian
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE (1)
As if I needed another shave soap, I've been anticipating the release of Tallow + Steel's latest creation. There was a fair amount of hype, but honestly, the performance of my favorite artisans' products have reached a level that frankly has very little room for improvement. Of course, just recently, Barrister's Reserve has demonstrated to me the bar could still be raised, so I remained realistic with my expectations.
Presentation and packaging was never lacking in Tallow + Steel even as freshmen. That same attention to aesthetics has carried over to their latest rollout. The trademark logo impression in the soap itself is gone due to the much softer consistency. High-contrast labels featuring product-specific artwork while adhering to a minimalist theme adorn a product that's worthy of it.
Even though in most cases it's completely futile to attempt to derive an opinion of a soap's fragrance from the dry puck alone, we all still take a whiff. I'd ordered the whole 5-fragrance set, but I'd decided I would start with "Himalaya" due to its inclusion of labdanum, with which I apparently have a love affair. The documented scent notes are, "amber, cedarwood, benzoin, tobacco, labdanum, vanilla, jasmine, rhododendron, palmarosa, cardamom, beeswax, sugandha kokila." I don't even know what a couple of those are, but here's my take: Upon lathering, there was a blunted cedar fragrance that was initially soft and almost creamy. Benzoin and other resinous notes built up during the face lathering and sharpened it up a bit giving way to a more realistic cedar and tobacco. While labdanum was certainly detected, it didn't dominate but rather seemed to hold everything together. As the shave progressed, there was a suggestion of vanilla and caramelized honey.
Loading this new base was intuitive. I had good results by starting with a well-wrung out damp knot, but leaving some visible moisture on the tips. This small bit of water on the tips prevented the hair from digging out hunks of the soft soap and facilitated a generous load in a short amount of time. Face lathering was easy and yielded a dense creamy lather that looks like most of my other favorite soaps that contain clay. It wasn't particularly thirsty, but it did have a remarkable range, taking on more and more water without threatening to break down. The slickness was phenomenal, allowing me to take long sweeping passes on my dome. As I rinsed between passes, I noted an excellent residual slickness. The aforementioned characteristics notwithstanding, the post-shave is probably the most outstanding aspect of this soap. I was left with a luxurious soft, moisturized scalp and face.
The water-based splash is the usual yellow tinted liquid that's thicker than water and it only takes about 3 shakes to cover my entire scalp, face, and neck. Having experience with this sort of nutrient rich post-product, I applied it to damp skin and noted light tackiness for about 10 minutes. After which time, my skin felt silky smooth. The scent strength of Himalaya is about a 4 on a scale of 1-5. The spicy resinous fragrance is well-matched to the soap, but it seems to showcase the spiciness a little better. The drydown is that of cedarwood and the faint darkened honey notes I had detected in the soap. I still detect the fragrance slightly after 5 hours.
I was a fan of Tallow + Steel's prior base, so like others, I was perplexed by the abandoning the old fragrances and introducing a new base. Now, I can say, I get it. At least with regard to the base. This base is superior to the old one particularly in the post-shave arena, and I wouldn't change a thing. As to the fragrance, "Himalaya" is artfully crafted and unlike anything they'd offered in the past. I look forward to trying the others.