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Soap Acquisition Thread

Since the AS is still out of stock on IB, I went with the soap to tide me over...

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I received my tub of Kaisen from Ariana and Evans. I had eagerly anticipated that soap as I had heard that it was the best soap Peter had produced. I have used various formulas from A&E since Peter started producing his own soaps. I have been impressed with his previous releases. Unfortunately, Kaisen did not live up to my high expectations. I prefer the previous formula represented by Asian Pear; I rate it as one of the top soaps in my extensive collection. I expected Kaisen would join that elite company, but it fell short.

Here are the objectives that Peter had for Kaisen and my evaluation of the product based on my experience with it.
  • Affordability- At $19.99, it is more affordable than many luxury soaps, but at $18.99, I consider Asian Pear to be an even better value.
  • Ease of use- The soap is soft. It is easy to overload the brush. A 10-second load with a slightly damp Boss synthetic knot loaded sufficient soap for a five pass shave plus lather left over.
    This was a very thirsty soap, a lot more water than typical was required for proper hydration. Thus, I do not consider it easy to use.
  • Creaminess- once properly hydrated, lather structure is excellent.
  • Density of lather- The lather is overly dense until you add a enough water to properly hydrate the lather. Then the density is fine.
  • Slickness- once properly hydrated, the soap has elite level slickness.
  • Residual slickness- once properly hydrated, the residual slickness is excellent, bordering on elite.
  • Cushion/ protection- Excellent, but not as good as I hoped. I did get slight irritation when I applied witch hazel after the shave. With my elite soaps, I get a very close shave with zero irritation.
  • Longevity of lather- once properly hydrated, the lather is quite stable.
  • Moisturizing- Great post shave (hours after the shave) I am combining these two objectives as they are closely related. I consider moisturizing/conditioning/post shave feel to be important parts of the shaving experience. I describe the post-shave feel as "heavy" or "plastic". When I asked my wife to feel my face, she commented that my face felt like the face of a doll from her childhood. The face feel reminded me of using a barrier cream such as Avon Silicone Glove or Desitin Diaper Cream. The feel lasts for many hours, but that is not necessarily a good thing as the feel is not what I expect from a quality shaving soap.

    Ariana & Evans Kaisen is an excellent soap, but it falls short of qualifying as an elite soap in my den. Since Kaisen implies the concept of continuous improvement, I am hoping that future releases of Kaisen will correct some of the issues with this release.

 
Some meissner Tremonia hard soap samples
I bought them because the creams shaved lousy but smelled glorious and lots of people tell the hard soaps shave great.
the good they shave very well not on level with fine or tabac but still good soap. And amount you use is low, samples are pregrated 10g
The bad they smell less than the soft ones.
So happy those are samples, will still finish them mostly. Lol
 
The UPS man brought some goodies, today...

RazoRock "What The Puck?!" Variety Value Pack:

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A big tube of Vitos Classic eucalyptus & lanolin cream:

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...and a jar of Santa Maria del Fiore:

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What do you think of the Green label scent? Well that and the Black while you’re at it. I have Blue and Gold and like em both but thought I’d ask about the others.
Thanks 👍.
 
What do you think of the Green label scent? Well that and the Black while you’re at it. I have Blue and Gold and like em both but thought I’d ask about the others.
Thanks 👍.
I also like the Blue and Gold. The Blue has a clean, simple scent that I find comforting. And the Gold has that big citrus hit at the start that slowly develops into a silky, lightly musky warmth. Both are very appealing.

Meanwhile, I've been sniffing the Green Label for most of the day, trying to figure it out. It has a sharp, peppery top-note, an almost lemony mid-note, and a warm woody base-note that reminds me of leather. I've smelled something like it before, but can't place it. Someone else on B&B mentioned that it reminded him of Pre de Provence No. 63. I haven't tried any PdP products, so I can't say. But, it's definitely an intriguing scent. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

The Black Label caught me a bit off guard. At first, I didn't like it because there's a double whammy of sweetness right off the bat. But, the more that I sniffed it, the more that I came to appreciate it. That convinced me to shave with it, today.

There's definitely a sweet top-note of citrus, a mid-note that's also sweet (lavender and maybe oakmoss?) and an earthy base-note (something woody; sandalwood and vetiver?). Interestingly, I've read that a classic fougère scent should remind one of the smell of fresh-cut grass.

However, it reminded me of something from the old days. Possibly Calvin Klein Eternity for Men. I had to look up the scent profile of Eternity to see if I was right, but found that Black Label is based on RR's own American Barber which has a scent that RR themselves say is inspired by YSL Rive Gauche pour Homme. The basic profile is bergamot, lavender, and vetiver... so, I guess it's Rive Gauche!

Whatever the case, the performance is very good. It lathered easily and didn't require extended loading. It felt fairly slick and provided good glide and cushioning. It washed off cleanly (from both the razor and my face), leaving my skin feeling refreshed.

The residual scent is pleasant. It develops into a subtle lavender and citrus with a bolder earthy base-note (vetiver again?). Oddly, it did remind me of walking through a field stacked with drying hay.

So, I'm quite happy with the Black Label. I think that it's worth a shot if anybody has been wondering about it.
 
Not quite the same level as everyone else but having never tried them and with all the talk of shave sticks going round, I've ordered and am waiting on....




....Arko and Derby sticks.
 
I also like the Blue and Gold. The Blue has a clean, simple scent that I find comforting. And the Gold has that big citrus hit at the start that slowly develops into a silky, lightly musky warmth. Both are very appealing.

Meanwhile, I've been sniffing the Green Label for most of the day, trying to figure it out. It has a sharp, peppery top-note, an almost lemony mid-note, and a warm woody base-note that reminds me of leather. I've smelled something like it before, but can't place it. Someone else on B&B mentioned that it reminded him of Pre de Provence No. 63. I haven't tried any PdP products, so I can't say. But, it's definitely an intriguing scent. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

The Black Label caught me a bit off guard. At first, I didn't like it because there's a double whammy of sweetness right off the bat. But, the more that I sniffed it, the more that I came to appreciate it. That convinced me to shave with it, today.

There's definitely a sweet top-note of citrus, a mid-note that's also sweet (lavender and maybe oakmoss?) and an earthy base-note (something woody; sandalwood and vetiver?). Interestingly, I've read that a classic fougère scent should remind one of the smell of fresh-cut grass.

However, it reminded me of something from the old days. Possibly Calvin Klein Eternity for Men. I had to look up the scent profile of Eternity to see if I was right, but found that Black Label is based on RR's own American Barber which has a scent that RR themselves say is inspired by YSL Rive Gauche pour Homme. The basic profile is bergamot, lavender, and vetiver... so, I guess it's Rive Gauche!

Whatever the case, the performance is very good. It lathered easily and didn't require extended loading. It felt fairly slick and provided good glide and cushioning. It washed off cleanly (from both the razor and my face), leaving my skin feeling refreshed.

The residual scent is pleasant. It develops into a subtle lavender and citrus with a bolder earthy base-note (vetiver again?). Oddly, it did remind me of walking through a field stacked with drying hay.

So, I'm quite happy with the Black Label. I think that it's worth a shot if anybody has been wondering about it.
Great. I was kinda surprised on how easy the stick was to use. I guess I’ll be ordering more soonish. The blue is pretty basic yet it has something there... a memory of something. Very enjoyable.
I’m super big on scents of soaps and aftershaves and these are so subtle with a classic feel.
Thanks for the reply. 😎
 
Great. I was kinda surprised on how easy the stick was to use. I guess I’ll be ordering more soonish. The blue is pretty basic yet it has something there... a memory of something. Very enjoyable.
I’m super big on scents of soaps and aftershaves and these are so subtle with a classic feel.
Thanks for the reply. 😎
I used the Green Label today and found that the scent when lathered is much like what I described above: peppery top-note, a lemony mid-note, and a woody base-note.

Performance is excellent. Like the Black Label, it lathers easily and the levels of slickness and cushioning are similar. Maybe that's not a surprise considering that they appear to share the same base (is this a Tcheon Fung Sing product?).

Also like the Black Label, this soap washes off cleanly and left my skin feeling refreshed and moisturized. I didn't have to use any ASB afterwards.

The residual scent is more complex than the initial profile suggests. There's a floral top-note that I didn't detect before and a smoky base-note that evokes tobacco. Overall, the scent is woodsy and masculine, as described by RazoRock.

In a nutshell, it's a great soap. I'll be putting this into the rotation, for sure.
 
Went onto Amazon to buy some screw top tins for refill pucks and some tube keys for balms, Proraso tubes etc.

Somehow a Tabac bowl of soap that happened to be keenly priced appeared in my basket and was purchased...:001_rolle:innocent: (never tried it before so looking forward to it).
 
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