Phoenix Shaving | La Tierra Mojada
APShaveCo. Elegant Emerald | SynBad 24mm
The New Improved Injector Razor | Personna 74 La Tierra Mojada opens with a bold herbaceous floral akin to freshly rained on yellow honeysuckle and neroli. As the lather builds, the fresh rain aspect surfaces and sustains, but the neroli intensifies. I must be fairly sensitive to this because LTM isn't marketed as a neroli-centric fragrance. Approaching the end of the shave, the lather's fragrance becomes a little darker with hints of damp earth, but it never gets muddy.
The splash is quite enjoyable, conveying a more vibrant floral opening, again reminding me of wet yellow honeysuckle blossoms and neroli. The petrichor middle is much more distinct than that of the soap. In fact, it reminds me of the times when my wife was a curator of a fish hatchery. On a few occasions, I would accompany her as she did routine checks. There was a large room that contained ozone generators. I don't claim to understand the process, but a lot of electricity was required by the humming generators, and there were invariably leaks. As a result, you didn't hang around this room very long, but it was quite an intense, metallic fragrance that was somehow calming at the same time. The middle of the splash captures this rainy, metallic/industrial vibe before moving on to my favorite part---the dry down. It is indeed the most gratifying part of this splash/cologne. The wet herbaceous aspect gathers a bit of dankness and is perhaps suggestive of hashish. The patchouli is a little more prominent than I'd anticipated, but it works very well. This unique fragrance is still detectable six hours later.
Phoenix Shaving | Mega Flora
Phoenix Shaving - The Green Ray | Tribble Synthetic
Durham-Enders | Enders Speed Shaver | Schick Proline B-20 As its name would suggest, Mega Flora is a natural, herbaceous, green fragrance. While it's clearly in the classic aromatic fougère league, this doesn't begin to tell the whole story. Mega Flora is a complex and tranquil scent that's familiar but otherworldly at the same time. It opens with a controlled spicy sweet floral that immediately dives into a crisp cool crushed conifer essence. This phase approaches camphor, eucalyptus, or even minty characteristics without ever truly settling in and is devoid of any chemical or medicinal traits. Building upon this hyper-green, cool stage, the fragrance acquires a more familiar woody lavender that becomes more ligneous as damp green pine and then finally traditional earthy oakmoss. The matching splash indeed matches the soap, but with the expected increased depth of fragrance. The dry down grassy nuance is more apparent and the tonka bean seems to reemerge towards the end.
Mega Flora is artfully blended such that no single note particularly stands out, nor does it stay in its corner. The synthesis of alien and familiar is akin to a completely organic intergalactic vessel having taken up residence in a evergreen forest. This one must be experienced to be believed.