Bladerunner7
Member
STRIKE GOLD SHAVE / THE RAZOR COMPANY – GRANT
First Look - A photograph of Ulsysses S Grant, the 18th President of the United states (1869 – 1877) stares back at me from the soap tub cover, the brand name, soap’s title, weight and ingredients take up the rest of the space. The proof of collaboration sits on the side label with The Razor Company’s logo. There is nothing extraordinary about the artwork and packaging of Strike Gold Shave ‘Grant’ but like all other products by the company, it is instantly recognizable with its unique identity. Works for me.
Side note – Lifelong shaving enthusiast Frank Misa immersed himself into the world of straight razors in 2005, spending a good two years joining forums, attending meet ups and learning from the Old School masters. In 2007 he started professionally honing razors. His deep love for fragrances led him on a shaving soap and after shave making journey soon after with a close connection to Van Yulay. Frank’s products scream American patriotism as a theme and there’s a good reason for that, him being a retired police officer, a firefighter and a proud American. There’s a noble side to this Artisan as well, the aim of his business was to provide the highest quality products at affordable prices to service veterans and new shavers as well while making himself available to all shavers seeking help for straight razor shaving.
First Whiff – On opening the container of Grant, the scent hits me in the nose like a perfume bomb, a strong smoky Pineapple note takes center stage arm ion arm with a fresh and invigorating Bergamot . A second whiff and I detect hints of Citrus, Apple, Blackcurrant, Jasmine, Saffron, Oakmoss and Rose which soon lead to a deeper musk, amber and woody background. The fragrance profile described by the Artisan are Bergamot, Blackcurrant, Apple, Pineapple, Lemon, Jasmine , Saffron and Pink Pepper at the top, Birch , Patchouli, Jasmine, Rose, Pineapple and Juniper Berries in the middle and Amberwood, Musk, Oakmoss, Ambergris, Vanilla, Cedarwood and Ambroxan at the base. Grant is supposed to be a hybrid scent of two iconic perfumes, Creed Aventus and Baccarat Rouge 540. Frank Misa has nailed a winner here by capturing the invigorating scent notes of Creed Aventus and the woody, soft floral and ambery notes of Baccarat Rouge 540 perfectly. This is one of the best smelling shaving soaps in my den and a winner like most other TRC collaborations with artisan soap makers.
First Lather – My tools for creating a lather were a new Frank Shaving honeycomb G7 synthetic brush and the HC & Co SS lather bowl. I added a heaped teaspoon of soap and two tablespoons of water before swirling the brush clockwise and anti-clockwise for 60 seconds. Adding another tablespoon of water, I left the pasty lather to hydrate for two minutes. Returning back to the bowl, I gently swirled the brush clockwise for two minutes and noticed that the result was rather thick, so another tablespoon of water followed. In retrospect, I probably used a tad bit more of product. Another 60 second of brush rotations and I had a creamy, extremely dense and rich lather in front of me, think Greek Yogurt with most of the whey removed. It was unreal.
First Performance – When painting the first few strokes of lather on the face I noticed that the fragrance strength remained strong without any change off the puck. I had five days of growth to cut through and using my Stirling Hyper Aggressive with a Wizamet blade, I had a smooth first pass. The post first pass residual slickness was top notch. A second pass with a BBS result followed and the soap made the razor glide effortlessly on my cheeks. I have used Strike Gold soaps before with average slickness but this soap was at another level by itself. The TRC / Strike Gold Shave version of Grant features the Patriot Base with minimal ingredients, namely Stearic Acid, Tallow, Goat Milk, Water, Shea Butter, Kokum Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Castor oil, Glycerin and Tusah Silk. The quality and amount of each ingredient used is so well balanced that this soap comes away as an Elite product in terms of performance.
First Opinion – The TRC/ Strike Gold Shave version of Grant which uses the older Patriot base blew me away with its fragrance, lather and performance. If I found another one of these, I would grab it in an instant and would recommend that you do the same.
Cover Art Work & Presentation – 7 / 10
Lather Quality – 10 / 10
Fragrance – 10 / 10
Cushion & Protection – 9 / 10
Slickness – 9 / 10
Post Shave Feel – 8 / 10
Value – 10 / 10
Total Point Score – 63 / 70
Verdict – Smell like a million bucks
Availability – New base available at www.strikegoldshave.com