Good morning all. This is my first soap review so feel free to ask any questions or make any suggestions to improve the quality and helpfulness of my reviews. Also, since we are a single income family with a special needs kiddo and a great uncle that we help take care of I have never used any premium soaps like WK, DG, A&E, etc... That being the case I will be comparing this against what I know which is Stirling, WSP Formula T, WCS Duck Fat, C.C., N.O. and other Black Ship Grooming. Okay, disclaimers out of the way so lets jump in.
TL
R - Great scent. Performance is good but not great.
Mornings at our house are always busy so I usually shave at night after a shower. Since last night was V-Day it was also date night with LOTH which was a perfect time to debut it. I saw that Black Ship had another run of Sacred Heart which made me happy because I set money aside last year after I missed it so that I could get it this year. (Yes, I have to plan that far ahead for non-essential shave purposes.) It arrived on Friday last and immediately got sniff approval from LOTH and both of my kiddos.
Shave prep:
Hot shower with Duke Cannon soap and an exfoliation mitt on my face. Soap sits on face until final end of shower rinse.
Stirling Boar Brush and New long comb loaded with Bic Platinum 2nd use soaking in hot water in C.C. lather bowl during shower.
Lather:
Scoop thumb nail amount and spread into bottom of lather bowl. Brush is shaken out and then water is slowly added and mixed in until a shinny lather a little past stiff peaks is achieved.
Shave pattern:
North to south, south to north, right to left, left to right. Lather applied between each direction change without rinsing face.
Aftershave process:
Comfort lather while rinsing razor, lather bowl and brush. Cold rinse followed by Duke Cannon Standard Issue Face Lotion and Black Ship Grooming Sacred Heart Aftershave.
Soap:
Definitely soft enough to easily scoop and spread into lather bowl. Container is deep enough to brush load and build lather however I enjoy using my warm stoneware C.C. bowl. Soap color is a rich brown with hints of pink that lathers into a nice white lather.
Scent:
Description from Black Ship Grooming: "Rich notes of redwood, cedar wood, black amber, patchouli all softened by our special blends of Vanilla." Scent out of the container is very intense, very vanilla and musk forward. Not in a bad way it's just not a subtle scent. When lathering it mellows quite a bit and the woods and patchouli start coming forward. Aftershave is the same. Very musk and vanilla forward with a nice mellow woodsy and somewhat spicy dry down. LOTH nailed when she described the scent as being, "Familiar, comforting and exciting."
Performance:
This is Black Ships Kaito Base. I also have a Black Ship Grooming Peg Leg Nichols in the original base that was a gift for Christmas 2020. I didn't notice a huge difference between the two bases as far as performance. I shaved with the Peg Leg Nichols on Friday evening to be able to more accurately compare the two. They both lather easy but don't have a large bandwidth between usable and runny if you add to much water. Residual slickness is good and I had no issues with either base when going over the same spot a couple of times. The lather is stable and didn't break or dry out in the bowl between applications and doesn't dry quickly on the face if I am interrupted during my shave (This is a really important factor for me. We only have 1 bathroom. With a 4 and 6 year old at home who often times need to use the bathroom when I'm shaving stability is key so I don't waste product.)
Post Shave:
After 4 comfortable passes I easily achieved 80% BBS and 20% DFS which for me is 100% what I shoot for. I had no redness, stinging, nicks or weepers. My face felt okay but not particularly outstanding. After letting the lotion settle in I applied the aftershave and had zero stinging or redness. Aftershave scent lasted all night and was noticeable this morning when my skin warmed up during my workout.
Overall:
Glad that I saved for the soap and aftershave after missing it last year because, for me, the scent is 100% a winner. When I compare it to the WSP Formula T, Stirling and WCS Duck Fat that I have it just misses being on the same level of performance with them due to post shave feel and lack of lather richness. It is right in line with C.C. for me and performs as expected based on other Black Ship products I have used.
TL
R - Great scent. Performance is good but not great.Mornings at our house are always busy so I usually shave at night after a shower. Since last night was V-Day it was also date night with LOTH which was a perfect time to debut it. I saw that Black Ship had another run of Sacred Heart which made me happy because I set money aside last year after I missed it so that I could get it this year. (Yes, I have to plan that far ahead for non-essential shave purposes.) It arrived on Friday last and immediately got sniff approval from LOTH and both of my kiddos.
Shave prep:
Hot shower with Duke Cannon soap and an exfoliation mitt on my face. Soap sits on face until final end of shower rinse.
Stirling Boar Brush and New long comb loaded with Bic Platinum 2nd use soaking in hot water in C.C. lather bowl during shower.
Lather:
Scoop thumb nail amount and spread into bottom of lather bowl. Brush is shaken out and then water is slowly added and mixed in until a shinny lather a little past stiff peaks is achieved.
Shave pattern:
North to south, south to north, right to left, left to right. Lather applied between each direction change without rinsing face.
Aftershave process:
Comfort lather while rinsing razor, lather bowl and brush. Cold rinse followed by Duke Cannon Standard Issue Face Lotion and Black Ship Grooming Sacred Heart Aftershave.
Soap:
Definitely soft enough to easily scoop and spread into lather bowl. Container is deep enough to brush load and build lather however I enjoy using my warm stoneware C.C. bowl. Soap color is a rich brown with hints of pink that lathers into a nice white lather.
Scent:
Description from Black Ship Grooming: "Rich notes of redwood, cedar wood, black amber, patchouli all softened by our special blends of Vanilla." Scent out of the container is very intense, very vanilla and musk forward. Not in a bad way it's just not a subtle scent. When lathering it mellows quite a bit and the woods and patchouli start coming forward. Aftershave is the same. Very musk and vanilla forward with a nice mellow woodsy and somewhat spicy dry down. LOTH nailed when she described the scent as being, "Familiar, comforting and exciting."
Performance:
This is Black Ships Kaito Base. I also have a Black Ship Grooming Peg Leg Nichols in the original base that was a gift for Christmas 2020. I didn't notice a huge difference between the two bases as far as performance. I shaved with the Peg Leg Nichols on Friday evening to be able to more accurately compare the two. They both lather easy but don't have a large bandwidth between usable and runny if you add to much water. Residual slickness is good and I had no issues with either base when going over the same spot a couple of times. The lather is stable and didn't break or dry out in the bowl between applications and doesn't dry quickly on the face if I am interrupted during my shave (This is a really important factor for me. We only have 1 bathroom. With a 4 and 6 year old at home who often times need to use the bathroom when I'm shaving stability is key so I don't waste product.)
Post Shave:
After 4 comfortable passes I easily achieved 80% BBS and 20% DFS which for me is 100% what I shoot for. I had no redness, stinging, nicks or weepers. My face felt okay but not particularly outstanding. After letting the lotion settle in I applied the aftershave and had zero stinging or redness. Aftershave scent lasted all night and was noticeable this morning when my skin warmed up during my workout.
Overall:
Glad that I saved for the soap and aftershave after missing it last year because, for me, the scent is 100% a winner. When I compare it to the WSP Formula T, Stirling and WCS Duck Fat that I have it just misses being on the same level of performance with them due to post shave feel and lack of lather richness. It is right in line with C.C. for me and performs as expected based on other Black Ship products I have used.
