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CaYuen Dark Nebula Large Bowl - An SWCT Review! (Pictures!)

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
CaYuen Dark Nebula Large Bowl
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INTRO:

I started wet shaving 6-months ago. At first, I tried to whip up a lather within a Tabac puk bowl, suffice to say, that didn't work out well for me. Thankfully, I came to my senses, and graduated to hand made pottery, from none other then, Captains Choice. I've been enjoying making lathers with Scott's ceramic bowls, but gosh are they small! And if I make one mistake, and manage to drop it, its gonna shatter into a bunch of pieces, all to go in my drawer of broken dreams. As if I wasn't deep enough into this rabbit hole fueled acquisition disorder, I went on a search for a plastic based bowl, but not just any run of the mill bowl, something truly amazing!

SYNOPSIS:

The material makeup of this lather bowl consists of, Mica Powders, and Urethane Resin. There is a folded upper lip at the top, and the bowl contains a unique pattern of ridges inside, to aid in lather whipping, and the artists logo can be seen in the middle. The bottom of the bowl contains a hand hold ridge to aid in holding the bowl, while your whipping up a lather, and the bottom base is plenty stable to stand on a counter top surface.

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First Impressions:

This Dark Nebula lather bowl, is truly nothing short of spectacular, the shear beauty alone, will have Astro nerds lining up to become new wet shavers, just so they can have the privilege of using one of these. I love everything outer space, Star Trek, Star Wars, you name it. So this bowl speaks to me on so many levels. The design of the ridges inside, remind me of a fan, hopefully one that brings the pretty star nebula's right to you hehe. The artist coin logo in the center is a nice touch. And the folded upper lip is quite unique for sure. I really appreciate how the artist captured the look of a stellar nursery.

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I don't know about you, but I think its truly mesmerizing, I could stair at this bowl forever! I am not sure if the camera picks up on this or not, but if you look closely, you might be able to get a sense of 3D from the pattern. Unless I am mistaken, it appears that this bowl is made up of more then 1 layer. It appears to have the mica powdered patterns on the inside, with the Urethane resin on the outside. I am certainly no expert on how these bowls are made, but thats how it appears to me. Another thing I notice, is just how thick this bowl is, it feels really strong in the hand, and it weighs more then you'd expect.

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Here you can see the bottom of the bowl. You can see both the bowl's surface ridge that it rests on a counter top, as well as the larger ridge further up, that you actually hold with your hand. You can also notice, that the bowl's patterns, go all the way to the very bottom. I can't state enough just how truly amazing the beauty of this bowl is. This is the kind of bowl, that if brought to a party, people are gonna ask you a lot of questions about it.

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It almost looks like a UFO doesn't it? You can also get another sense of the thickness from the pictures above.

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Earlier I mentioned that this lather bowl, weighs more then one would expect, from a plastic based bowl. I decided to weigh the bowl on my shipping scale, and it teeters between 11.4 to 11.5 ounces. It still weighs much less then a ceramic bowl for sure, but that 11.4 ounces just means, the bowl is filled with goodness.

SWCT Experience Report!
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USING THE BOWL:

I used Stirling's Glacial Lemon Chill shave soap today, I prefer to scoop soap out of the puk, using my bullion spoon. I placed the soap in the bottom of the bowl, and then I smooshed it down flat with my finger. I placed 2-teaspoons worth of water in the bowl, and then I began whipping up the lather. I began swirling the brush around, once the soap activated, it began to form a lather. Now I did notice that I had to work a bit, to get the soap buried in the ridges, only moderate pressure is required from the brush to do so, just keep swirling.

Lather will begin forming around the sides of the bowl, but i did find that the folded upper ridge, kept the lather inside, so that really is a nice design! Once the soap started getting pasty, I put two more teaspoons of water in the bowl, and began whipping it up some more. I always try to aim for a yogurt consistency, this I find offers the supreme slickness that I am looking for, and this bowl was able to deliver no problem! It took a couple of minutes, but I was able to get all the large air bubbles out, and get the lather nice and creamy.

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CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, I felt that this Dark Nebula Bowl, from The CaYuen Workshop, to work really well for me. Its stunningly beautiful, absolutely gorgeous! Its ergonomic to hold in the hand, easy to whip up a lather, and I don't have to worry about breaking it, if I should happen to drop it. This was an expensive purchase for sure, but this hand made bowl was worth the money, in my opinion. The quality of this bowl is top notch, I absolutely love it, and I highly recommend it! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟!
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Boo Hiss.... I can't see most of the photos...

Oh, Wait.... here they come... whew.

I was going to have CaYuen make me a custom color bowl months ago. I ended up putting it on hold and bought brushes instead. I'm color blind so I was going to have him make me a brighter bowl... lots of bright yellow then the blues in your bowl and brush. He said... no problem. I think his products are absolutely beautiful.... both his bowls and brush handles.

Thanks, Chris, for posting both here on B&B. More people should add them to their collections.
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
Boo Hiss.... I can't see most of the photos...

Oh, Wait.... here they come... whew.

I was going to have CaYuen make me a custom color bowl months ago. I ended up putting it on hold and bought brushes instead. I'm color blind so I was going to have him make me a brighter bowl... lots of bright yellow then the blues in your bowl and brush. He said... no problem. I think his products are absolutely beautiful.... both his bowls and brush handles.

Thanks, Chris, for posting both here on B&B. More people should add them to their collections.

Sorry about that, I have problems with pictures sometimes because IMGBB just isn't very reliable. However, it is a FREE service, and I can upload full sized high resolution images, and as long as the hosting doesn't malfunction, host them on B&B. I can upload my pictures directly to B&B, but B&B downsizes my photo's resolution, making the photo's look less crisp, thats why I don't like uploading directly. But in cases like this, as I've discovered, hours have gone by now, and some of the pictures never showed up, which is very irritating. So I will be uploading them directly bellow.

Unless I am mistaken, I think CaYuen has made a yellowish looking bowl, check his shop, and see what he's got. I won't post direct links, because I don't want to spam. These are really worth the money IMO, it makes those plastic dog bowls look like child's play lol. I really am surprised about how think these bowls are, serious quality for the money IMO. Thanks for the kind words!

Great review!! Enjoy!

Thanks Big J! I hope you are doing well, hope you like the bowl, and thanks for the comment! Pictures to follow, due to image hosting malfunctions.

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That bowl is awesome and beyond beautiful!
I wish I would've never seen it because now I have to put one of his bowls on my wish list, LOL!!
Out of everything I've bought, I haven't bought myself a really nice bowl. I'm still using the same bowl
I've been using since I started bowl lathering: A Ceramic Captains Choice clone that I got on Amazon for like $12!
It works but it's heavy & makes an annoying noise every time my brush handle hits the edge. And I know one day it will fly out of my hand and land on my tile floor. Upon impact, a ceramic bowl that's Made in China, equates to a million pieces + a billion micro pieces all over the place!
I think it's time for me to consider buying one before that happens!🤣
 
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Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
That bowl is awesome and beyond beautiful!
I wish I would've never seen it because now I have to put one of his bowls on my wish list, LOL!!
Out of everything I've bought, I haven't bought a really nice bowl. I'm still using the same bowl
I've been using since I started bowl lathering: A Ceramic Captains Choice clone that I got on Amazon for like $12!
It works but it's heavy & makes an annoying noise every time my brush handle hits the edge. And I know one day it will fly out of my hand and land on my tile floor. Upon impact, a ceramic bowl that's Made in China, equates to a million pieces + a billion micro pieces all over the place!
I think it's time for me to consider buying one before that happens!🤣
My ceramic bowl decided to take flying lessons the other day. No problem with the flight but the landing was problematic. <eg>
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
You know what might be kind'a fun is some kind of light box that can be placed under the bowl, might add to the ambiance during your shave. Almost like a space ship docked with the engines lit ready for takeoff!

Thats a neat idea, then when its powered on, I get to hear a voice that says, "Prepare Ship For Ludicrous Speed." 😁

That bowl is awesome and beyond beautiful!
I wish I would've never seen it because now I have to put one of his bowls on my wish list, LOL!!
Out of everything I've bought, I haven't bought myself a really nice bowl. I'm still using the same bowl
I've been using since I started bowl lathering: A Ceramic Captains Choice clone that I got on Amazon for like $12!
It works but it's heavy & makes an annoying noise every time my brush handle hits the edge. And I know one day it will fly out of my hand and land on my tile floor. Upon impact, a ceramic bowl that's Made in China, equates to a million pieces + a billion micro pieces all over the place!
I think it's time for me to consider buying one before that happens!🤣

Thank you so very much!!! :blush:

I am actually glad you saw it, I don't mind enabling you to bring a little extra color to your shave den, that will make you happy. And plus, you just gave me an excellent very good reason, for wanting the bowl other then aesthetics. You mentioned the very important need, for a bowl in which doesn't make clanging noises, and that won't break into a billion pieces, if it were to hit the ground. Very good reasons in my opinion.

I got another good reason too, I am wearing a name tag that says, Chris The Enabler, and yes, thats always a reason. So, consider yourself positively enabled. Now I am going to be super happy for you, once you receive your Cayuen lather bowl!

My ceramic bowl decided to take flying lessons the other day. No problem with the flight but the landing was problematic. <eg>


The pilot of the bowl, hit the ground so hard, that he shattered the landing gear right off the bowl, and skeeted down the runway causing sparks to fly. He went on the PA system, and he said, sorry about that folks, I promise you that it wasn't my fault, it wasn't your fault, and it wasn't even the flight attendance fault................. It was the asphalt!

Kim, be careful of those crosswinds, they will get ya every time buddy.
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
This bowl is very beautiful.
"Shaving with a universe in hand" definitely makes our shaving process feel like the master of the cosmos.

Thank you so much, I am so glad that you love it! :blush:

Whats really going to bake your noodle is, you realize were moving through the universe right now right? A lot of people think our solar system is staintionary, but actually, were moving through the universe as we speak, cool ha? But yes, I like the idea of having the cosmos in my hand, and as I gaze upon it, take in all its beauty, through the windows of my soul. Thanks for the comment!

And maybe you will think about getting one of these bowls too perhaps? Every good shave den needs a Cayuen lather bowl in it. If you check out the artisan's page, you will see they have different varieties of bowls for you to chose from. ;)
 
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