Mystic Water Viola di Bosco

[Phog Allen]

Good evening gents. We were no more than speaking of this soap two days ago and it arrived to the gaff today. Two days from Maryland to cattle country. Outstanding service. As impressive as service was, the product is even more so. While I will not shave with it til tomorrow morning, I can at least share a bit of initial impressions of the scent. Michelle has another winner. This scent is SUPERB.

As many of you know I consider her Lily of the Valley to be the best shave soap I have ever used. And the scent plays a big part in that equation. Viola di Bosco is easily as nice. Again, this strikes me as being more of an Edwardian style scent combination rather than anything remotely resembling modern cookie cutter scents at mall. It is so refreshing to sniff a toiletry product that does not reek of sugar, cotton candy, ocean water, and shampoo. This is unmistakenly violet yet is much more complex without the cloying sweetness that many feminine floral scents tend toward. I have no idea where she sources this fragrance but it is top shelf. I get the sensation there is more afoot than just a violet scent. It seems deeper than a straight up floral. I really do not care what it is comprised of. It is excellent. The morrow will bring the shave and I cannot wait.

Cheers, Todd

PS I also purchased a bath soap in her Marrakesh scent. A nice, spicy affair, the patchouli and cinammon are the stars here. The juniper is safely iln the background. I like that since many times and cedar(and juniper is precisely what most American 'cedar' is) simply overpowers and dominates the scent. I will report back how it performs in the shower. I have never used a soap with cinammon leaf oil in it.

 

[Mbuckwash]

Thanks for the info! You've faded my indecision about which to buy; order being placed as we speak!

 

[f86sabjf]

I will add this one to my order this weekend

 

[Phog Allen]

The first shave is in and as expected it was superb. The scent also developed as I had hoped. It did not explode with scent to fill the bath but rather filled the nostrils with a rich but not overwhelming earthy violet that instantly became a favourite.

While the Lily of the Valley lathered like a dream the Wild Lavender was tricky at times. Viola di Bosco falls directly in the Lily of the Valley range. A solid loading on damp-ish brush and then building on the cake. This was folllowed by face lathering and addition of probably a teaspoon of water. Enough lather for multiple passes resulted and it was dense, well hydrated, and super protective. Razor glide was outstanding. As I supposed there was no need for an aftershave product of any sort.

This soap has quickly gone to the top of the rotation. I am really happy that Michelle's soaps work so well for me. If this keeps up I may be using artisan soaps exclusivey in the future. It's not that I would throw out my AOS or Tabac or Provence Sante. Perish the thought. Yet as time goes by I find fewer and fewer reasons to replace many of them. With the recent rise of Mikes, Jabonman, Barrister & Mann, and of course Mystic we are well flush with top shelf, small batch shave soaps. I think the 3Ts and some others should examine themselves and see these artisans are doing what their forebears did. Create superb male toiletries in a small batch, apothecary style setting.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Jefebadskin]

What'd I tell you? The scent and performance of Viola di Bosco has put everything else aside for now. I used to have a massive rotation too.

 

[Phog Allen]

Chaps, another update. My wife and I are on holiday here in Utah. I have been using Viola di Bosco exclusively and the dry mountain air is no match for Mystic Water's skin conditioning properties. I still use no a/s product whatsoever and have no drying or itching feel by day's end. This soap lathers like a dream and provides great shaves. Our hotel has very soft water and this soap works with it quite well. I wondered if it would since it works great in our calcified water back home. Versatility thy name is Mystic Water. I have been loading for about thirty seconds using a tip scrub with the Da Vinci and then working about two teaspoons of water into it. Enough for three passes easily. This one is just like Lily of the Valley to me. Easy lather, great shaves, and superb conditioning.

Cheers, Todd

BTW, I had a bit of a laugh Saturday when one of the locals who was helping us find things told me about the high humidity they had been experiencing this summer. It must have been 40% that day. I wish. no WISH our levels were that low in July in Kansas. It was a soggy 96F when we left last week and my sinuses were so blocked my head ached miserably. It disappeared about twenty-four hours after we arrived. I will be the only retiree who speaks like they have any sense when the day comes. I will be moving Northwest when the day comes and not to Florida. Love the west.

 

[coyotewhisper]

I enjoy Mystic Waters Marrakesh shave soap very much. This sounds like to be a good choice for the next one.

 

[5savages]

Nice!

Were were in Utah and Arizona a couple of weeks ago (visiting Bryce Canyon, Zion & Grand Canyon) and I too carried with me some MW soap, though Lavender in my case. It performed wonderfullly in every motel and cabin we stayed in!

When we were at Zion NP and Page, AZ we experienced temps as high as 108°, but it was so dry it was definitely more comfortable than our recent days that have reached 95°F, with dew points around 68°F!

 

[Antique Hoosier]

Todd.... I believe the 3 T's are as close to irrelevant as they have ever been. What a sea change.

 

[Burnside]

I have Green Fairy and Orange Vanilla. Awesome, shave soap!!! Performance and scent are top-of-the-line!

 

[shevek]

As I supposed there was no need for an aftershave product of any sort.

I completely concur on this. Using AS is pretty much automatic for me but this morning I forgot to put it on as I had to start working (from home). A little while later I noticed that I did not feel any irritation and my skin just felt *nice*. I'm not sure how else to explain the feeling since I don't know much about moisturizing, conditioning, etc. I do know irritation and there was certainly none of that. And Viola di Bosco's scent is very pleasant as well.