As promised, here is my review of Ariana & Evans Amber Rose Shaving Soap. This has the Kaizen 2e base. I ordered it and it finally arrived. The first thing I did after sniffing it was to take the top off and leave it overnight. It is odd, but the other A&E soaps I have benefitted greatly from this and the Amber Rose was no exception. It was pleasant enough on opening, but I knew the scent was better. After wetting it to see how it smelled when a little lather was raised, I let it sit open all night and then I got to business.
I poured water into the top of the soap and let it sit for the few minutes I was in the shower. This was probably not necessary with this soap. I poured out the water and wet my Shavemac butterscotch fiber 28mm knot brush. I shook out most of the water, but not all. The soap lathered up amazingly fast. I can’t remember another soap that lathers faster than the A&E K2e soaps. After loading my brush, I moved to my shaving bowl and the soap was very quickly ready to shave. Amazing. The smell that filled my nostrils was incense and Bulgarian Rose. The soap smells a lot like going into an Eastern Orthodox Church during the Divine Liturgy. The rose was prominent, as was the incense. However, there is spice in the scent that tones the other two down a bit.
I painted my face with the rich, thick lather, and got to work with my Thiers Issard straight razor. The blade simply glided across my face without dragging. I made my usual two passes, with the grain and against the grain. The residual slickness was so good I did touch ups without re-lathering, except in one spot just to be careful. I might not have needed to do that, but when using a straight razor, I believe in being careful. In the end and had an amazing shave. No irritation, no cuts, no weepers. It was a very fine shave and BBS in many places. I was not trying for that. The soap is really good a confidence inspiring.
I applied some mentholated (by me) Thayer’s Witch Hazel afterwards and there was still some slickness left. After the shave, my face was not left feeling oily, nor was it dry. It felt very nice afterwards and I did not use any balm. I did rub in some Rosken body lotion, but that is all, and I do that anyway.
Price wise, this soap is not too expensive. There are many artisan soaps that are far more expensive that don't do nearly as well. I wish it was as cheap as La Toja, but that ain’t gonna happen. Anyway, I liked this soap. I still like the Barbiere Sofisticato scent better, but I like barbershop scents anyway, but it is still really good. This is a good smelling and great performing soap that lives up to the hype.
My rating:
Smell 9/10
Lather 10/10
Slickness 10/10
Residual 10/10
Price 8/10
Overall: 9/10
I only have four of A&E/The Club soaps. Amber Rose is my close second favorite scent--love it. My favorite is Chasing the Dragon. The other two are both good, The Novelist and Undersea.
