Southern Witchcrafts Tres Matres

[Avi]

I’m going to have to preface this by saying by performance I love this stuff, by scent - this one smells like 90 yr old grandma to me - or as the SO put it : you smell like ponds - floral accord to the floral accord power. I certainly agree that it is a tribute to a horror movie. Performance wise I like it better than most everything out there.

 

[Scaramouche]

Which petrichor do you think represented more accurately? In other words, does the petrichor notes in Tres Matres feels artificial?

I'm not sure what an "artificial" petrichor scent would be like - neither soap has a "chemical" or unnatural scent - both soaps represent natural fragrances of earth, rocks, green plants, flowers, and in the case of Tres Matres sort of musky undergrowth (like many of their fragrances). I like them both, but both are very different. B&M's Petrichor has no floral according - at all. I've heard it described as rain on hot rocks, and that's fairly close. Tres Matres smells of earth, flowers and musk, maybe equally. Fragrances are really very individual, and descriptors can only provide a general idea - it depends on your frame of reference and experience. That's why French perfumers pay their "noses" so well. Best option to see if you really like a fragrance is a sampler.

 

[Raymond Foo]

I'm not sure what an "artificial" petrichor scent would be like - neither soap has a "chemical" or unnatural scent - both soaps represent natural fragrances of earth, rocks, green plants, flowers, and in the case of Tres Matres sort of musky undergrowth (like many of their fragrances). I like them both, but both are very different. B&M's Petrichor has no floral according - at all. I've heard it described as rain on hot rocks, and that's fairly close. Tres Matres smells of earth, flowers and musk, maybe equally. Fragrances are really very individual, and descriptors can only provide a general idea - it depends on your frame of reference and experience. That's why French perfumers pay their "noses" so well. Best option to see if you really like a fragrance is a sampler.

Thanks for your time and help. But a sampler is not available in my country, it is already very fortunate that we have a dedicated seller (yes, one) importing all wet shaving hardware and software from around the world. And it is him that recommended me gears and got me into this hobby, dare I say a rabbit hole (like watches/any hobby)! Wet shaving is very new in Malaysia, but it is growing.

You know, I am not accustomed to cologne/perfume either (very few do here). So I am weak to identify individual scent notes, I can't identify individual scent notes from Proraso Green and Cologne Russe. And most of it because all those ingredients are new to me haha.

 

[Scaramouche]

Thanks for your time and help. But a sampler is not available in my country, it is already very fortunate that we have a dedicated seller (yes, one) importing all wet shaving hardware and software from around the world. And it is him that recommended me gears and got me into this hobby, dare I say a rabbit hole (like watches/any hobby)! Wet shaving is very new in Malaysia, but it is growing.

You know, I am not accustomed to cologne/perfume either (very few do here). So I am weak to identify individual scent notes, I can't identify individual scent notes from Proraso Green and Cologne Russe. And most of it because all those ingredients are new to me haha.

Understood! I lived in Europe for about 10 years total, so understand the difficulty sometimes of trade across the Atlantic (or Pacific) . A lot of artisan soaps and products tend to be very local - and as noted, fragrances can be very subjective and difficult to describe (telling someone what a ripe durian smells like can be challenging if they never smelled one! ). Southern Witchcrafts produces similar fragrances in all (or most of) their soaps, with a faint "moldy" (but not unpleasant) scent (again mostly earth, plant growth, musk) that emphasizes their origins (witchcraft? Georgia swamps?). They tend to be heavy, complex fragrances, and their performance has been uniformly excellent for me. Their fragrances aren't what I would describe as polarizing (very good/very bad to different people), but some might prefer the less "busy" and often brighter fragrances of B&M or Chiseled Face Groomatorium, for example, although they often produce "really like/really don't like" fragrances (Roam and Midnight Stag come to mind). It's all good!

 

[Raymond Foo]

Understood! I lived in Europe for about 10 years total, so understand the difficulty sometimes of trade across the Atlantic (or Pacific) . A lot of artisan soaps and products tend to be very local - and as noted, fragrances can be very subjective and difficult to describe (telling someone what a ripe durian smells like can be challenging if they never smelled one! ). Southern Witchcrafts produces similar fragrances in all (or most of) their soaps, with a faint "moldy" (but not unpleasant) scent (again mostly earth, plant growth, musk) that emphasizes their origins (witchcraft? Georgia swamps?). They tend to be heavy, complex fragrances, and their performance has been uniformly excellent for me. Their fragrances aren't what I would describe as polarizing (very good/very bad to different people), but some might prefer the less "busy" and often brighter fragrances of B&M or Chiseled Face Groomatorium, for example, although they often produce "really like/really don't like" fragrances (Roam and Midnight Stag come to mind). It's all good!

Haha, you mentioning durian brings my mind through an imaginary journey. Looks like Malaysia gotta produce a durian shaving soap.

 

[Crazy Chester]

I bought samples of everything SW made about a year ago and have been enjoying them all as weekend or special occasion shaves. There may be something of a regional quality to their scents. They remind me of something you would encounter walking through a musty southern woods on an early summer morning.