Monsta_AU
...can I interest you in some vintage blades?
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Grand Society
The second review of my purchases in the recent Soap Commander Group Buy. Thanks to @MrT for organising and also to Darren at Soap Commander for giving us some serious discounts on his products.
This review is of the 'Courage' scent, previous review of 'Vision' is available here.
Initial thoughts
It's more of the same. A great double-walled polypropolene tub, quality labels and everything just says 'I am serious about my soap'. The tub was filled to a similar level as the Vision - you get LOTS of product for your moolah.
This tub seemed to have a harder soap in it, which usually bodes badly for the first couple of uses where the soap absorbs some moisture and softens. After that the loading of the brush is definitely much easier. This appeared to almost be over-cured to me.
Scent wise, this is a much warmer woods & spice driven scent. It's dubbed a 'Peppercorn, Citrus & Cedar' scent but surprisingly that did not really define the richly layered scent that greets my olfactory. Initially the notes remind me of something like Terre d'Hermès EdC without the metallic twang, so that is a great start.
As I smell down deeper into this concoction, the masterful blending of scent really starts to shine. The Frankincense is reeeeeeaaaaaally deep through this scent and it is a constant. There is cedar and pepper there but not the hamfisted effort like the Marc Jacobs screw-up called 'Bang!' - it works nicely with the Frankincense.
I would say that all the other notes are reasonably non-descript but if they were not in it then it would be a very two-dimensional scent. The citrus is overpowered and it probably needs a bit more in the mix, but with that under-citrus'd mix gives a flat, controlled smoothness. It definitely shows off Darren's scentcraft which is probably a step off working in the fragrance industry in my rather useless opinion. This scent is very good and the brilliance is the smells it evokes while not having any of the notes themselves in it - I 'sense' leather and 'tweedy' notes in it where there are none, and also get cinnamon and coriander notes in my head. And then it comes to me - it's evoking Opium pour Homme, Roberto Cavalli Black, and even D&G pour Homme.
Is it excellent? No. Is it a classic? No. It is missing that final polish and I have a feeling that there needs to be either an ingredient swap (take out marine notes & add either a larger hit Bergamot or maybe add Verbena??) or an additional ingredient. That said, too many EO's spoil the potion so just adding more may end up wrecking it. That said, I would love to have this as a sample-size EdC of the standard mix and test that. I am sure the soap base is making significant impact on the blend.
Initial Shave
Tools: Fatboy, Vintage Wilkinson Sword Blade (4), Plisson L'occitane Synthetic, Alum.
Normal preparation - shower with face scrub followed by L'Oreal Hydra Sensitive Cleanser. Added a few drops of hot water on top of the soap prior to shower.
Wet though the synth and squuezed the knot as per @JayDee's suggestion. The crema lifted off immediately and there was more than enough of it after 15 seconds of firm loading. Definitely loves the water this soap, and I needed to add a serious amount of Dihydrogen Monoxide to get that slickness. This time I had cushion along with slickness which evaded me with the Vision soap. Pasted it around my face and got to work.
The shave itself was great apart from nicking myself badly on a large blind zit. The alum took care of that afterwards. The blade seemed more eager than with the Vision, I just put that down to the ratio in the brush being nearly perfect. It was one of those shaves.
After washing off and hitting the zit with the Alum, I took a whiff of the brush before rinsing it out. More citrus there now, along with the jasmine and the previously unnoticed ginger. I got dressed and headed to work, and on sitting down on the train I could smell it on me - basically the complete basenote listing of patchouli, cedar, vetiver, labdanum (dominant), and frankincense but where the hell is that cinnamon & coriander note coming from again?
I must admit I was concerned about the 'Vegan' formulation as I am by no mean vegetarian and love me some tallow in my shaving products. I am very impressed by the Soap Commander performance which reminds me of something like the Spieck Stick - wave a brush in it's general direction and more lather than 24 horses at Flemington Racecourse at 3.15pm on the first Tuesday of November. However the bonus is a lack of clay which I do know can set my skin into unhappiness and irritation - a major reason why my preference is creams.
Conclusion
I am trying to come up with a nice concise conclusion to the first shave on this and I simply cannot. If you are looking a soap in a modern Woody Oriental style, this is what you want. And calling it a Woody Oriental does it a great disservice when it is more a Oriental Chypre. And there is supposedly no such thing according to those who came up with the 'Fragrance Wheel' concept. Just like TOBS Jermyn is a Gourmandic Fougére - I had a Jermyn moment this morning. And it put a smile on my face.
This review is of the 'Courage' scent, previous review of 'Vision' is available here.
Initial thoughts
It's more of the same. A great double-walled polypropolene tub, quality labels and everything just says 'I am serious about my soap'. The tub was filled to a similar level as the Vision - you get LOTS of product for your moolah.
This tub seemed to have a harder soap in it, which usually bodes badly for the first couple of uses where the soap absorbs some moisture and softens. After that the loading of the brush is definitely much easier. This appeared to almost be over-cured to me.
Scent wise, this is a much warmer woods & spice driven scent. It's dubbed a 'Peppercorn, Citrus & Cedar' scent but surprisingly that did not really define the richly layered scent that greets my olfactory. Initially the notes remind me of something like Terre d'Hermès EdC without the metallic twang, so that is a great start.
As I smell down deeper into this concoction, the masterful blending of scent really starts to shine. The Frankincense is reeeeeeaaaaaally deep through this scent and it is a constant. There is cedar and pepper there but not the hamfisted effort like the Marc Jacobs screw-up called 'Bang!' - it works nicely with the Frankincense.
I would say that all the other notes are reasonably non-descript but if they were not in it then it would be a very two-dimensional scent. The citrus is overpowered and it probably needs a bit more in the mix, but with that under-citrus'd mix gives a flat, controlled smoothness. It definitely shows off Darren's scentcraft which is probably a step off working in the fragrance industry in my rather useless opinion. This scent is very good and the brilliance is the smells it evokes while not having any of the notes themselves in it - I 'sense' leather and 'tweedy' notes in it where there are none, and also get cinnamon and coriander notes in my head. And then it comes to me - it's evoking Opium pour Homme, Roberto Cavalli Black, and even D&G pour Homme.
Is it excellent? No. Is it a classic? No. It is missing that final polish and I have a feeling that there needs to be either an ingredient swap (take out marine notes & add either a larger hit Bergamot or maybe add Verbena??) or an additional ingredient. That said, too many EO's spoil the potion so just adding more may end up wrecking it. That said, I would love to have this as a sample-size EdC of the standard mix and test that. I am sure the soap base is making significant impact on the blend.
Initial Shave
Tools: Fatboy, Vintage Wilkinson Sword Blade (4), Plisson L'occitane Synthetic, Alum.
Normal preparation - shower with face scrub followed by L'Oreal Hydra Sensitive Cleanser. Added a few drops of hot water on top of the soap prior to shower.
Wet though the synth and squuezed the knot as per @JayDee's suggestion. The crema lifted off immediately and there was more than enough of it after 15 seconds of firm loading. Definitely loves the water this soap, and I needed to add a serious amount of Dihydrogen Monoxide to get that slickness. This time I had cushion along with slickness which evaded me with the Vision soap. Pasted it around my face and got to work.
The shave itself was great apart from nicking myself badly on a large blind zit. The alum took care of that afterwards. The blade seemed more eager than with the Vision, I just put that down to the ratio in the brush being nearly perfect. It was one of those shaves.
After washing off and hitting the zit with the Alum, I took a whiff of the brush before rinsing it out. More citrus there now, along with the jasmine and the previously unnoticed ginger. I got dressed and headed to work, and on sitting down on the train I could smell it on me - basically the complete basenote listing of patchouli, cedar, vetiver, labdanum (dominant), and frankincense but where the hell is that cinnamon & coriander note coming from again?
I must admit I was concerned about the 'Vegan' formulation as I am by no mean vegetarian and love me some tallow in my shaving products. I am very impressed by the Soap Commander performance which reminds me of something like the Spieck Stick - wave a brush in it's general direction and more lather than 24 horses at Flemington Racecourse at 3.15pm on the first Tuesday of November. However the bonus is a lack of clay which I do know can set my skin into unhappiness and irritation - a major reason why my preference is creams.
Conclusion
I am trying to come up with a nice concise conclusion to the first shave on this and I simply cannot. If you are looking a soap in a modern Woody Oriental style, this is what you want. And calling it a Woody Oriental does it a great disservice when it is more a Oriental Chypre. And there is supposedly no such thing according to those who came up with the 'Fragrance Wheel' concept. Just like TOBS Jermyn is a Gourmandic Fougére - I had a Jermyn moment this morning. And it put a smile on my face.
