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Ariana and Evans Kaisen 2e (with Emu oil)

I had my first shave with the new K2e soap yesterday evening and am at about 20 hours now. Granted I did use the aftershave, but my face feels exactly the same as it did 10 minutes after the shave. The scent I chose is definitely on the lighter end for A&E being primarily essential oil. I am planning to stash it until spring, but will pull it out occasionally before then.

On deck for today is a much stronger scented K2 soap to compare with. This will be my primary A&E for the next six months, meaning it will get approximately 18 uses.

There are two new K2e scents that just got released days ago making for a total of 6 now. I am really resisting buying another one that is fruit scented, but not supposed to be a gourmand or sweet. It sounds really good for fall, but then what do I do with the K2 that I just got? I think K2 plus hyaluronic face cream is just as good.
 
The variety of formulas and fragrances that are wonderful, I stopped looking for my favorite fragrance, be it kaizen formulas or kaizen 2 kaizen 2 plus kaizen 2e. With Ariana Evans, I stopped thinking about it, soaps smell perfect, foam, slippery with a combination of aftershave smell, they smell after a few hours. The skin is perfectly moisturized, but not greasy - the feeling is wonderful. The sheer pleasure of shaving every day
 
The variety of formulas and fragrances that are wonderful, I stopped looking for my favorite fragrance, be it kaizen formulas or kaizen 2 kaizen 2 plus kaizen 2e. With Ariana Evans, I stopped thinking about it, soaps smell perfect, foam, slippery with a combination of aftershave smell, they smell after a few hours. The skin is perfectly moisturized, but not greasy - the feeling is wonderful. The sheer pleasure of shaving every day

Even the older A&E soaps are excellent, ever since Peter started making soaps in-house rather than farming them out. I do not particularly like the Tertius scent (too strong) and there are some I passed on due to the smell of weed, etc.
 
I recently purchased a tub of Kaisen 2e shaving soap from The Shaving Shop Club which is the membership club arm of Ariana and Evans. This soap is currently exclusive to members. I have not yet seen any detailed reviews of this soap, so I thought I would provide my thoughts on the product.

Kaisen 2e is Peter’s latest tweak of his already superb Kaisen 2 soap base. It is reported to contain emu oil, which is an expensive ingredient used in cosmetics. Emus are birds native to Australia where they live their lives under the hot Australian sun. However, emus can be farmed in many places around the world. The oil comes from a patch of fat on their backs that protects them from the scorching heat in their native habitat. The oil is said to have many beneficial properties for skin.

Although the “e” in Kaisen 2e presumably refers to the emu oil, the letter could easily represent other words such as: excellence, elegance, and elite.

Having previous experience with Kaisen 2, I lathered the soap using my normal procedure. I “bloomed” the soap for 10 seconds with 1 Tablespoon of hot water and then dumped the bloom water into my shave bowl. The soap is fairly dark in color, so I elected to use my 26mm Simpson Trafalgar T3 synthetic for the session. I wet the brush with a quick dip in warm water. I shook out excess water leaving the brush slightly damp. I consider the soap to be semi-firm. It is not soft, but it is not particularly hard either. Ten seconds of swirling on the surface of the tub were more than sufficient to load the brush. Next time I will probably limit loading to 7-8 seconds. Thus, I consider the soap to be easy to load.

I dipped the loaded brush into the bloom water already in the shave bowl. After 30 seconds of agitation, I had a low structure lather ready to apply to my face. Thus, this soap is easy to lather.

The soap has plenty of slickness for a great shave. I did my typical three-pass shave, applying lather before each pass. However, the residual slickness of the soap was so good that I decided to do a full clean-up pass, including buffing, without reapplying lather. I will only attempt that with the very best soaps in my collection.

After my clean-up pass, I applied a bonus lather and rubbed it into my face to maximize the post-shave feel. The lather remained on my face while I cleaned my shaving gear. Then I removed the lather with a wet microfiber cloth.

I consider cushion to be the ability of the lather to protect my sensitive skin from irritation during the shave. When I applied witch hazel after the shave, I got zero feedback. I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave with zero irritation. That is my goal. All is well.

Finally, I evaluate the post-shave conditioning. The soap left my skin feeling great immediately after the shave. That feeling persisted well beyond the 24 hour mark. It has now been 50 hours since my shave and my skin still feels great. I have never had any soap keep my face feeling like that for so many hours. The remarkable thing is that the soap did not leave my face feeling heavy or greasy like some soaps,. Thus, Kaisen 2e has been able to do something that no other soap has been able to achieve. That was accomplished without use of any post shave product other than Dickenson's witch hazel.

Since I have used Kaisen 2 on many occasions, I expected the performance of Kaisen 2e to be wonderful. However, I was blown away by the way my face still feels two days after the shave. I hope Peter is able to offer the formulation to the general public. If you like soaps with world class performance, consider purchasing a 6-month membership to The Shaving Shop Club.

Kaisen 2e is currently being offered in the Grecian Horse scent. Peter describes the scent as: Grecian Horse features an unexpected almond note, slightly sweet, yet somewhat bitter and warm. Vanilla steals the show in the base of this superb scent, while bergamot, sandalwood and amber tame the sweetness, rendering it refined and inviting. One smell and you'll be swept away in its sophistication and majesty transporting you back to the XVIII century. I do not believe it is identical to the Grecian Horse scent offered earlier in the "goat milk" base, but it is very similar. It is one of my favorite scents.

Please note that I paid the normal price for my soap. No one asked me to evaluate the product and all thoughts and opinions are strictly my own. I am just a highly satisfied user of the product.
After your 30 second mix you apply that to the face and shave or work it more while on the face?
 
After your 30 second mix you apply that to the face and shave or work it more while on the face?

My lathering is done in the bowl. I have very sensitive skin and try to minimize the time the brush is in contact with my face. I spend less than 10 seconds painting the lather onto my face, so I am not trying to work the lather. If the lather needs more work to get rid of air bubbles, I do that in the bowl.

Some soaps do require more than 30 seconds lathering time. If a soap take more than 60 seconds, it gets dropped from my rotation, but I do have a number of soaps that take 40-45 seconds lathering time. My very best soaps, however, rarely take more than 30-35 seconds to lather. Since Kaizen 2e is a super-elite soap, it lathers quite easily.

For folks with less sensitive skin, there is nothing wrong with face lathering or creating a proto lather in the bowl and then finishing the lather on the face. I only follow my method due to my skin sensitivity.
 
My lathering is done in the bowl. I have very sensitive skin and try to minimize the time the brush is in contact with my face. I spend less than 10 seconds painting the lather onto my face, so I am not trying to work the lather. If the lather needs more work to get rid of air bubbles, I do that in the bowl.

Some soaps do require more than 30 seconds lathering time. If a soap take more than 60 seconds, it gets dropped from my rotation, but I do have a number of soaps that take 40-45 seconds lathering time. My very best soaps, however, rarely take more than 30-35 seconds to lather. Since Kaizen 2e is a super-elite soap, it lathers quite easily.

For folks with less sensitive skin, there is nothing wrong with face lathering or creating a proto lather in the bowl and then finishing the lather on the face. I only follow my method due to my skin sensitivity.
You should make a lathering video about that, I'd watch.
 
I'm having trouble finding Grecian Horse. Is it out of stock?
It appears to be only available to members of The Club which requires a membership fee--see shavingshopclub.com. I could not find it on the A&E site. The label reflects this ("Exclusive to Club Members"):
proxy.php
 
It appears to be only available to members of The Club which requires a membership fee--see shavingshopclub.com. I could not find it on the A&E site. The label reflects this ("Exclusive to Club Members"):
proxy.php
Do you need to be a member of The Club to see it on the shavingshoponline website? I'm not a member, and I couldn't find it. It also didn't show up from the search bar.
 
I don't see it on the A&E website. I suppose Grecian Horse is a members only soap. Has peter released any K2 soap to the public?
 
There are a dozen K2 soaps, but no K2e yet. There are now about 8 K2e available to The Club.

As I mentioned in another thread the trick to finding things is thus:
Go to the shaving shop club website
Click The Club brand
Sort based on price, High
Most of the K2 available will be on the first page except the Pin Up series or ones that have the aftershave and soap on the same page confusingly.
 
There are a dozen K2 soaps, but no K2e yet. There are now about 8 K2e available to The Club.

As I mentioned in another thread the trick to finding things is thus:
Go to the shaving shop club website
Click The Club brand
Sort based on price, High
Most of the K2 available will be on the first page except the Pin Up series or ones that have the aftershave and soap on the same page confusingly.
Thanks, just tried this out. Looks like Grecian Horse has been delisted unfortunately.
 
Thanks, just tried this out. Looks like Grecian Horse has been delisted unfortunately.
It is Club only, there are no K2e for sale outside The Club
As I mentioned before, I paid right at 100 for two sets including shipping and including the cost of joining. 50/set is par for the coarse with premium offerings like Zingari Man. Even if you don't renew the membership, it's paid for itself.
 
Kaisen 2e is Peter’s latest tweak of his already superb Kaisen 2 soap base. It is reported to contain emu oil, which is an expensive ingredient used in cosmetics. Emus are birds native to Australia where they live their lives under the hot Australian sun. However, emus can be farmed in many places around the world. The oil comes from a patch of fat on their backs that protects them from the scorching heat in their native habitat. The oil is said to have many beneficial properties for skin.

Although the “e” in Kaisen 2e presumably refers to the emu oil, the letter could easily represent other words such as: excellence, elegance, and elite.
Ray you mentioned it's "reported" to contain emu oil; is it a part of the ingredients list?
 
It is Club only, there are no K2e for sale outside The Club
As I mentioned before, I paid right at 100 for two sets including shipping and including the cost of joining. 50/set is par for the coarse with premium offerings like Zingari Man. Even if you don't renew the membership, it's paid for itself.
Right, I looked under the listings of The Club. Since it's not showing up after I clicked on The Club and looked through all the pages, I'm assuming it's either delisted or out of stock. Either that or for some reason non-club members aren't even allowed to view Grecian Horse.
 
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