WEEKLY SHAVING SOAP REVIEW

STRIKE GOLD SHAVE / THE RAZOR COMPANY – GRANT​

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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.

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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
 
@Bladerunner7, great review, I’d not heard of them before but reading your review and their webpage About Us, I couldn’t help myself and ordered “honest” Abe shave soap and alcohol free a/shave splash. 👍 great review, as I’ve said before I keep my own score minus your cover art as it’s the product that counts for me!!
 
LesC said:
@Bladerunner7, great review, I’d not heard of them before but reading your review and their webpage About Us, I couldn’t help myself and ordered “honest” Abe shave soap and alcohol free a/shave splash. 👍 great review, as I’ve said before I keep my own score minus your cover art as it’s the product that counts for me!!
Click to expand...
Les, Thanks much Mate. You did well as I love Honest Abe too. Well selected.
 

DOVO – CITRUS LION SHAVING CREAM​

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First Look - Soap in butter paper, soap on a rope, soap in a plastic container, soap in a porcelain tub and now soap in a full-fledged lather bowl, what a joy, the first time I laid my eyes on the packaging of the Dovo Citrus Lion shaving cream. The label on the cover of the bowl is simple with company name, shaving cream title and the Ariana &Evans logo at the bottom, will get to that later. While there is no artwork to talk about, the reusable stoneware ceramic bowl made in Portugal with a thick cork cover makes the presentation of this package a total winner for me.

Side note – The "DOVO" Stahlwaren company was founded in Solingen, Germany, in 1906, by Carl Dorp and Carl Arthur Voos. Initially, it was a pure straight razor factory with forge and hollow grinding. Like Sheffield in the United Kingdom which is known for its Steel quality, Solingen in Germany is known as the Çity of Blades’ with Dovo being one of the brands that put it on the world map. Today Dovo produces not just staright razors but DE razors, shaving accessories and now shaving software too. Fun fact - Dovo in Belgium is an acronym for the Belgian military's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and in Veenendaal, Netherlands, the name of a football team where DOVO stands for ‘Door Ons Vrienden Opgericht’ (Founded by Our Friends).

First Whiff – On taking off the thick cork cover, a fresh citrus fragrance was projected out of the bowl, it was fairly light and pleasant. I took a strong whiff and was charmed with the citrus heavy and fresh cologne like fragrance. I caught a hint of basil, orange, lemongrass and rose resting behind a fresh tangerine like scent, there were a few woody notes present and they complemented the soap’s fragrance profile well. The notes present in the soap are described as Mandarin and Bergamot in the opening, Basil, Bitter Orange, Lemongrass and Bulgarian Rose in the middle with Himalayan Cedar, Amber, Haitian Vetiver and Australian Sandalwood taking up the base. This is a soap that could serve as a great pick me up in the mornings and one that can be used in all four seasons. The citrus notes are the most dominant but the herb, floral and woody elements make this mid strength fragrance a suave masculine scent.

First Lather – The label states shaving cream but the content inside is more like a firm croap. I was totally excited that I could bloom te product in its container which I did with a tablespoon of warm water for three minutes. Adding a tablespoon more of water, I started working the soap with my Semogue 1470 boar brush. I had a pasty lather with just a minute of brush rotations. I let the lather sit in the bowl for a minute before I resumed swirling the brush just clockwise for two minutes. I was impressed with the creamy and fairly dense lather the soap produced. This is a very easy soap to work with and the lather density can be dialed in according to preference with the amount of water added.

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First Performance – The first few strokes of the lather on my face and I knew that I was in for a good shave. Using the Alpha Shaving Outlaw razor and a Kai blade, my first WTG pass was super smooth. I paused to check if the blade was making contact with the skin as I barely felt it but the stubble was gone for sure. A second ATG pass was even easier with the razor gliding effortlessly over the neck and jawline areas. I finished with a two pass BBS on five days of growth and the shave was smooth as silk. I felt my cheeks post shave and the residual slickness was good enough to do a few touch ups without irritating the skin. Dovo's 'Citrus Lion' is a stellar performer and packs in some quality ingredients like Stearic Acid, Aqua, Kokum Butter, Shea Butter,(Vegetable) Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Rice Milk, Sodium Hydroxide, High Oleic Organic Sunflower Oil, Palm Oil, Avocado Oil, Cocoa Butter, Jojoba Oil, Coconut Milk, Sodium Lactate, Coconut Oil, Beer, Colloidal Oatmeal, Agave Leaf Extract, Aloe Barbedensis Leaf juice, Fragrance, Xanthan Gum, Hyaluronic Acid and Slippery Elm.

So how did Dovo come up with such an amazing shaving soap with a fine mix of ingredients ? Stupid me for missing out on the Ariana & Evans logo on the label. This soap is made by Peter Charkalis of A&E and performs like his VR 2base and the non tallow version of the Ultima 2 base, both of which can dance toe to toe with the best tallow offerings, well so did Citrus Lion.

First Opinion – Dovo Citrus Lion is presented as a shaving cream but it looks, feels and performs like any other top shelf shaving soap. To take this product as an effort by a razor company to add some random software to their catalogue would be a grave mistake. This is a top performer with a classy masculine fragrance that provides all the cushion, protection and residual slickness required for a super smooth shave. The packaging concept of using the container to bowl lather adds to the uniqueness of the product. This is a must have in every wet shavers den.

Cover Art Work & Presentation – 10 / 10

Lather Quality – 8 / 10

Fragrance – 7 / 10

Cushion & Protection – 9 / 10

Slickness – 9 / 10

Post Shave Feel – 8 / 10

Value – 10 / 10

Total Point Score – 61/ 70

Verdict – "Danke schön Dovo' but let's rename it to 'Shaving Soap'.

Availability – https://cutthroatclub.com.au , https://www.westcoastshaving.com , https://dovo.com and other online retailers.
 
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