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Wild West Shaving Co.

So, while perusing the wilds of Instagram I stumbled upon a soap maker I had never heard of: Wild West Shaving Co. Well, given my nomme de guerre I was intrigued to say the least. Then I found the shop on Facebook.
Russ, the owner, is apparently a farmer who got into wet shaving and started making his own soaps. His base looks like a classic, with the following ingredients: Tallow, Stearic Acid, Water, Glycerin, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance. And his scent combinations looked equal parts classic and bold.
I decided to order a sample pack of eight soaps. Today I received:

The Outlaw ~ Leather, Gunpowder & Burnt Honey

Doc Holliday ~ Mulled Apple Cider

Black Bart ~ Black Licorice & Cedarwood

Laramie ~ Lavender & Bergamot

Annie Oakley ~ Oak Leaves, Acorns, Rustic Pine, Violets

Lewis & Clark ~ Sandalwood & Cedarwood

Pinkerton ~ Mahogany, Teakwood, Lavender, Geranium, Cedarwood, Oak

Aces & Eights ~ Bourbon, Vanilla, Lavender

There are other scents available on his site, and it seems he has created some new ones based on customer suggestions.

I am planning to start testing the soaps tomorrow. I can say that the scents are very pronounced, just the way I like them. The soap is also softer than many of the big names, more like Chiseled Face and Barrister & Mann.

Stat tuned for full reports once I have put this soap through its paces!

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Did a test lather with the Outlaw, no shave tonight. The strength of scent in the lather I would call 4 of 5. This soap was very similar to L&L in consistency, so I smeared a small amount in my bowl. Lathered with my Holy Black synthetic brush, added about a teaspoon of water, and the lather looks good. It takes air well but remains nice and thick, with some good body. Slickness seems good, but I will need a shave test to confirm its true performance. Lathered my face and let it sit for about 10 minutes, and it stayed pretty stable, more than enough for one of my passes. The shave test will be tomorrow, but I am encouraged.

The scent was very unique. I got the leather up front, then the burnt honey and gunpowder created a smokey base note. It was very pleasant.
 
Wow, a shootout in and of itself! :2guns:Some interesting scent profiles there. Will watch with interest, have not heard of this brand before. :cowboy:
 
There are other scents listed on his site that were not included in the samples:

Billy the Kid ~ Black Cherry, Bourbon, Vanilla

Buffalo Bill Cody ~ Unscented

Coffeyville, KS ~ Irish Coffee

Teddy ~ Lime, Coconut, Tequila

I have also been trying to convince Russell to create a Jim West & Artemus Gordon soap, with a scent perfectly suited to Steampunk Cowboy Spies.
 
One of my tendencies is to really like something before I have owned it or experienced it, simply because I like something about it like the name or the theme, or something intangible. That being said, when it comes to shaving soaps I strive to remain objective, because I know that not everyone will fall for the same aspects of a soap that I do. When it comes to describing scents and performance, I am lucky to have found some clearly elite soaps against which I can judge a new product.

The first soap from Wild West Shaving Co. that I have tested is The Outlaw. Normally my shave journal is kind of freeform, but in the interest of a fair review I will focus on the specifics of the soap. This is my initial reaction to my first shave with one of the soaps, so I may need to update my evaluation with future shaves.

Setup

Pre Shave: Dr. Carver’s Easy Shave Butter
Brush: The Holy Black True Black Synthetic
Razor: Delta Echo Steampunk Fat Handle Tech (Feather Blade)


Scent (4/5)
The Outlaw scent is one that some people will either love or hate. My high score is more for the strength of the scent itself. From the soap, the scent is very strong, like cologne. In the lather it remains prominent, especially as you brush it on the skin. The scent holds up through the entire shave. After the shave, it lingers on the skin for about 2 to 3 hours before it becomes just a whiff of skin scent. This cent profile itself is one that I enjoy. Anyone who knows me understands how much I love my leather and gunpowder scents like Ghost Town Barber or PAA Tombstone. But where those scents have something herbal or floral in the mix, The Outlaw has used burnt honey as its additional note. I actually found out from Russ that this note has a hidden meaning: burnt honey stands in for the scorned woman the Outlaw left behind. Even before I knew the symbolism, I loved this scent. The leather is not “saddle in your face” strong, but rather it is tempered by the notes of gunpowder and burnt honey. The burnt smell is subtle, without any touch of acridity, with a whisper of sweetness from the honey peeking through. Overall it is a “rugged” scent with a soft edge.

Lather (5/5)
I am using @dfoulk 's sample method of putting a small amount of soap in my bowl, working the lather with my brush as I slowly add in water until I get the lather I want. This particular soap seems softer than the other samples I received, and it is very similar to L&L when I scoop it out. It even has the same iridescence that you can see in L&L from the shimmering tallow. I used an amount about the size of my fingertip, and with my synthetic brush I whipped the lather and ended up adding about a teaspoon and a half of water. The resulting lather was just about my ideal lather. It took air well without leaving big bubbles, and it held the water without becoming soupy. This produced enough lather for more than four passes. I had moderately firm peaks that collapsed easily in the bowl, and when I lathered my face it went on in a consistent, creamy layer. I lathered up first, then soaked my face with a hot towel. Five minutes later the lather in the bowl looked exactly as I had left it, and lathered up the same way on my face again.

Performance (5/5)
I could split this category into Protection and Slickness (or Cushion and Glide), but the soap does both so well that there was no need to do so. I shaved with my Fat Handle Tech and a Feather blade. With this combination I am still prone to picking up patches of weepers on either side of my lower neck, in the hollows, if the soap is not protective. I did two full passes with fresh lather each time, N-S and S-N, and no weepers appeared. I then did some cleanup along the jawline and in the neck hollows, going purely ATG. For the cleanup, I only added water to my skin. The residual slickness of the soap was better than I expected, and on par with a soap like L&L, if not better. With just some water on top of the soap residue, I was able to make several true passes during cleanup, with no issues whatsoever. I did pick up a single nick going S-N under my goatee, but that was a careless move of the razor on my part. Places that are normally an issue for me saw no blood or irritation, and I ended up with a wonderful BBS.

Post Shave (5+/5)
This is going to sound like hyperbole, but the post shave feel of this soap is better than any single soap I have ever tried. I skipped any aftershave, and not once did I feel like I had lost anything. My skin stayed smooth and hydrated, without feeling greasy, and I felt no irritation or dryness at all. It was extremely soothing. And about 3 hours later, I tested out splashing some water on my face, and the enough slickness popped up that I could have done an additional cleanup pass, if I even needed it. After I woke up this morning, my skin was just as soft and smooth as when I had gone to sleep, and there was only the faintest essence of whisker along my jawline.

Overall I would want to use this some more before giving it my final evaluation, but something drastically bad would have to happen with the other scents to keep this soap out of the top tier:

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Just for comparison, the soaps I consider to be “elite” include L&L Champs de Lavande, B&M Fougere Gothique, and Long Rifle Soap Co. in any scent.

I am looking forward to my next shave, when I will be testing out the Pinkerton soap.
 
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Taking a look at the site, the one thing that really stands out is that the soaps are sold in 2oz containers. This is a size I wish more people would offer. Scents also seem pretty interesting.
 
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