Wholly Kaw - Mélange de Santal | Mongoose B3 | Feather ProGuard | Kent V8
If you've been collecting shave soaps for a while, you've no doubt come across a few sandalwoods and vetivers. Wholly Kaw's new release, " Mélange de Santal", should not be judged by its name. While it's brother, "Spice Route", released at the same time, quite prominently showcases sandalwood, Mélange de Santal is a bit more subtle.
Despite airing it out for at least 30 minutes, off the puck, MdS just smells soapy to me---I mean dish detergent soapy. I did not expect to like it. As soon as a the moist brush contacted it, the scent quickly transformed to a woody, grassy, yet unconventional sandalwood. Before I was even through lathering my head, spicy vetiver broke through with quite a presence. Subsequent passes maintained the vetiver, but with a powder overlay. Interestingly, the paired splash unfolded in the reverse order with vetiver being the initial impression followed by a very pleasant sandalwood with hints of cedar and other nonspecific woody notes. About an hour later, I'm enjoying very complex yet soothing spicy notes, and almost all of the earthiness is gone. It may just be my nose, but my brain is unable to process this vetiver and sandalwood at the same time. It's either/or, such that every few seconds I smell sandalwood and then vetiver, and so on. As time passes, Mélange de Santal splash is reminiscent of Fine's Fresh Vetiver, but a little spicier and warmer. I hope this splash has staying power because it would make a nice cologne.