You should have known it was coming! Anybody who I've talked to should know how much I love Wholly Kaw soap, so the reason I'm doing a review is because the synthetic menthol piqued my interest in this soap. I actually didn't own a tub of the standard tallow version but I did sniff it in a sample I ordered way back when. Side note, I actually plan on doing some reviews on some soaps I've been experimenting with recently, not oft talked about but certainly deserve the attention.
So here's the 'terms' of my review, I don't take scent into account what so ever, scent is as personal a thing as blades. I give some weight to lather as far as holding up, but I do not prefer 1 type of lather over another, meaning fluffy or dense or something in between. I give most of my weight to post shave feel numero uno and slickness second. Basically if the ends (post shave) justify the means (1 type of lather over another), I'm good.
To the review:
This was touted as a special release donkey milk version of the Fern Concerto, the kicker was it was made with synthetic menthol. You will still get the cooling effect of menthol but your eyes won't be watering, ok I've never even heard of synthetic menthol, I was interested. Could something possibly unseat my beloved Margaritas in the Arctic?
The prep:
Shower, soak brush, the usual
The gear:
WK Fern Concerto donkey milk soap with synthetic menthol. Matching splash. Timeless .68 SC with dimpled handle loaded with a Gillette Platinum blade (2), Shavemac 26mm x 50mm 2016 ATG brush. Truth be told this brush is new to me and I am not familiar with it just yet, it did affect things a bit but no biggie. Fine Accoutrements lather bowl.
It begins:
With a soaked brush I squeezed out the excess water, gave it 1 shake and began my customary 30-40 sec load. I am not a heavy loader I don't like wasting my favorite products, ymmv. I had a good amount of proto lather to work with and I began my lather. I add water slow to WK, it has a finer water window than most of the artisans these days imo. I did push the lather a touch too far which I think the new brush was a factor, it is an insanely dense knot and held alot more water than I am accustomed to. Nevertheless, the lather came out nice n' creamy. I am a night shaver so without the aid of daylight it's hard to get that creamy sheen on the lather but I did my best, it's there!
The shave:
This brush hold a ton of lather! Swirled and painted on the lather and it was falling off in gobs. When it went on I began to feel the cooling sensation, eyes burning? Nope....as advertised. I am very familiar with this soap and it performed as I expected, very very slick, nick free, weeper free shave. 2 passes, BBS, it's a wrap.
Post shave:
This is where Wholly Kaw shines, over an hour later, no balm, no splash, no witch hazel, no nothing - I have no tightness what so ever and my skin feels absolutely radiant. It's hard to even describe, ever felt quality silk sheets? Yeah something like that....
Final thoughts:
This was advertised as primarily a soap with synthetic menthol that won't burn your eyes out of your skull. It delivered fully on that promise. I would guesstimate the menthol intensity is on par with Margaritas in the Arctic from Stirling. It is also a donkey milk release and I described how my skin felt. To use a scale this is most definitely a Tier 1 soap for me. (for refrence I like, own and use Nuavia, Mike's, L & L, Valobra, Saponificio Varesino, B & M, Stirling, experimenting with some others, etc) Did it unseat MITA as my favorite menthol? TBD, I got strep from my kids and my nose isn't functioning properly lol. Performance absolutely, scent, I need a few days to clear up my schnoz.
Hope this was helpful!
So here's the 'terms' of my review, I don't take scent into account what so ever, scent is as personal a thing as blades. I give some weight to lather as far as holding up, but I do not prefer 1 type of lather over another, meaning fluffy or dense or something in between. I give most of my weight to post shave feel numero uno and slickness second. Basically if the ends (post shave) justify the means (1 type of lather over another), I'm good.
To the review:
This was touted as a special release donkey milk version of the Fern Concerto, the kicker was it was made with synthetic menthol. You will still get the cooling effect of menthol but your eyes won't be watering, ok I've never even heard of synthetic menthol, I was interested. Could something possibly unseat my beloved Margaritas in the Arctic?
The prep:
Shower, soak brush, the usual
The gear:
WK Fern Concerto donkey milk soap with synthetic menthol. Matching splash. Timeless .68 SC with dimpled handle loaded with a Gillette Platinum blade (2), Shavemac 26mm x 50mm 2016 ATG brush. Truth be told this brush is new to me and I am not familiar with it just yet, it did affect things a bit but no biggie. Fine Accoutrements lather bowl.
It begins:
With a soaked brush I squeezed out the excess water, gave it 1 shake and began my customary 30-40 sec load. I am not a heavy loader I don't like wasting my favorite products, ymmv. I had a good amount of proto lather to work with and I began my lather. I add water slow to WK, it has a finer water window than most of the artisans these days imo. I did push the lather a touch too far which I think the new brush was a factor, it is an insanely dense knot and held alot more water than I am accustomed to. Nevertheless, the lather came out nice n' creamy. I am a night shaver so without the aid of daylight it's hard to get that creamy sheen on the lather but I did my best, it's there!
The shave:
This brush hold a ton of lather! Swirled and painted on the lather and it was falling off in gobs. When it went on I began to feel the cooling sensation, eyes burning? Nope....as advertised. I am very familiar with this soap and it performed as I expected, very very slick, nick free, weeper free shave. 2 passes, BBS, it's a wrap.
Post shave:
This is where Wholly Kaw shines, over an hour later, no balm, no splash, no witch hazel, no nothing - I have no tightness what so ever and my skin feels absolutely radiant. It's hard to even describe, ever felt quality silk sheets? Yeah something like that....
Final thoughts:
This was advertised as primarily a soap with synthetic menthol that won't burn your eyes out of your skull. It delivered fully on that promise. I would guesstimate the menthol intensity is on par with Margaritas in the Arctic from Stirling. It is also a donkey milk release and I described how my skin felt. To use a scale this is most definitely a Tier 1 soap for me. (for refrence I like, own and use Nuavia, Mike's, L & L, Valobra, Saponificio Varesino, B & M, Stirling, experimenting with some others, etc) Did it unseat MITA as my favorite menthol? TBD, I got strep from my kids and my nose isn't functioning properly lol. Performance absolutely, scent, I need a few days to clear up my schnoz.
Hope this was helpful!
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