L&L Grooming - TSM Fougère
Island Bladeworks "Bullwinkle" | TGN Finest
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE (1)
Chatillon Lux - TSM Fougère
This one's been around a while, so there's probably nothing new to be said about TSM Fougère. Since Darkfall, I've been a fan of L&L Grooming and more recently of Chatillon Lux. Therefore when these two artisans pair up, wallet violation ensues.
I've commented before about the somewhat unique nature of L&L's loading. By accident, I discovered that using a barely damp brush, and dry-loading, there are virtually no bubbles. Instead, the result is a thick, stringy, sticky goop that I have a hard time calling protolather. You don't want to keep loading like this such that you get clumps, but it does have a different characteristic than that of other soaps. In my case, since I'm loading for a 3-pass head and face shave, I continue until the distal third of the knot is loaded. Then I literally dunk---completely submerge---the entire knot into my reserve water. The water penetrates proximally while the goop in the tips acts as a cap. Then I face-lather as usual. The result is a very quick creamy lather that has slickness and density reminding you that it contains clay. L&L's base is just an excellent performer.
Loading in this fashion doesn't push out the fragrance like a wetter method would, but once it's hydrated, TSM Fougère gave me a rather abrupt first impression of a green bell pepper. Just about the time I'd covered my whole face, that somewhat singular fragrance filled out with damp woodiness but a sustained bright green note. With subsequent passes, the accord stabilizes with oak, cedar, and faint citrus all underneath the bright green umbrella.
I finished with Chatillon Lux's splash which I believe was the forerunner for the fragrance. I can't say for sure, but I get the impression the team-up came about after the splash was in the wild. The first impression with the splash was much sharper as one would expect. It was more like the green pepper leave as opposed to the fruit. The rest of the transformation was the same. About 2 hours later, I still detect it fairly well with green notes and intermittent cedar, vetiver, and citrus that may be bergamot. All the while, the fragrance remains bright. I would love to see this make it to Chatillon Lux's EdT line.