alfredus
Auctioneer-in-Chief + organises many group buys
Staff member
Site Moderator
State Convenor - SA
Grand Society
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- Joined
- Nov 14, 2014
- Location
- Adelaide
Great review @SchoolForAnts 
Paste & Cut Travelling Box #4B - Reviews and Comments
- Thread starter Mark1966
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2015
- Location
- Adelaide
Todays pick out of the travelling box:
Soap: Henri et Victoria Cognac and Cigars
Post Shave: Barberry Coast Havana
As you can probably see, I've gone with a theme tonight - cigars.
I'm going to say up front, I don't read up about the products before I use them, as I genuinely want to just focus on performance of each one without bias. All I can say was the soap really surprised me, it produced a lovely creamy, supportive lather and I kept saying to my wife 'I think this one is a tallow base'... how wrong I was, stearic acid, coconut oil, glycerine and castor oil. The scent is also great, loved by both my wife and I. I did a two pass with a straight, then cleaned up with the final pass using a DE. I don't feel raw, and my skin wasn't agitated between applications of soap - which I can sometimes get from some artisan soaps.
Ultimately - I'll definetly buy this soap for my rotation, nice scent for cooler weather too.
The post shave: Barberry Coast Havana
Feels like an aftershave, I didn't feel any noticeable effects after using other than a gentle sting, and a very 'slight' coolness and then not much else after that. A slight 'tightness' to my skin, but I guess that's the astringent at play there. After reading the ingredients, I see some menthol so theres the cooling, but it must only be a very small amount.
Scent wise, it compliments the soap,very well - my wife keeps commenting on how good I smell, and how I MUST purchase the aftershave.
So there you go, day two and I've already got two products in my must purchase pile.
Until tomorrow..
Soap: Henri et Victoria Cognac and Cigars
Post Shave: Barberry Coast Havana
As you can probably see, I've gone with a theme tonight - cigars.
I'm going to say up front, I don't read up about the products before I use them, as I genuinely want to just focus on performance of each one without bias. All I can say was the soap really surprised me, it produced a lovely creamy, supportive lather and I kept saying to my wife 'I think this one is a tallow base'... how wrong I was, stearic acid, coconut oil, glycerine and castor oil. The scent is also great, loved by both my wife and I. I did a two pass with a straight, then cleaned up with the final pass using a DE. I don't feel raw, and my skin wasn't agitated between applications of soap - which I can sometimes get from some artisan soaps.
Ultimately - I'll definetly buy this soap for my rotation, nice scent for cooler weather too.
The post shave: Barberry Coast Havana
Feels like an aftershave, I didn't feel any noticeable effects after using other than a gentle sting, and a very 'slight' coolness and then not much else after that. A slight 'tightness' to my skin, but I guess that's the astringent at play there. After reading the ingredients, I see some menthol so theres the cooling, but it must only be a very small amount.
Scent wise, it compliments the soap,very well - my wife keeps commenting on how good I smell, and how I MUST purchase the aftershave.
So there you go, day two and I've already got two products in my must purchase pile.
Until tomorrow..
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2015
- Location
- Adelaide
and for today (well last night actually):
Soap - Valoubra Fougere
Underwhelmed by this one, I had to work really hard to get any kind of lather suitable for shaving from it regardless of how little or how much water I used. The lather that I did end up getting out of it was lifeless and didn't provide anywhere near enough protection during my shave. Ultimately I ended up feeling uncomfortable afterwards, and feeling a little raw. The only way I can describe this (and I think someone else may have used this analogy before recently) - it was like trying to shave with lather produced by one of those little tiny handsoaps you get in a cheap motel on the side of the highway.
Post Shave - Myrsol Antesol
Probably unfortunate for this one, my face was really raw from the shave so when I applied the Myrsol my face felt like it was on fire. Might give this one another go later.
Soap - Valoubra Fougere
Underwhelmed by this one, I had to work really hard to get any kind of lather suitable for shaving from it regardless of how little or how much water I used. The lather that I did end up getting out of it was lifeless and didn't provide anywhere near enough protection during my shave. Ultimately I ended up feeling uncomfortable afterwards, and feeling a little raw. The only way I can describe this (and I think someone else may have used this analogy before recently) - it was like trying to shave with lather produced by one of those little tiny handsoaps you get in a cheap motel on the side of the highway.
Post Shave - Myrsol Antesol
Probably unfortunate for this one, my face was really raw from the shave so when I applied the Myrsol my face felt like it was on fire. Might give this one another go later.
alfredus
Auctioneer-in-Chief + organises many group buys
Staff member
Site Moderator
State Convenor - SA
Grand Society
Group Buy Caporegime
Charity Auction Team
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2014
- Location
- Adelaide
Another great review @SchoolForAnts
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2015
- Location
- Adelaide
After taking a day off from shaving yesterday, due to the rough shave I had with the Valoubra Fougere the day prior – I decided to opt for another soap with a bay rum scent this morning.
Dr Jons ‘Anne Bonny’
I’ve never previously used any of the Dr Jons soaps, nor read their ingredients. After the beautiful scent, the second thing I noticed as I removed a small amount to transfer into my lathering bowl was how soft the soap was. I don’t see this as either a positive or negative – perhaps it’s a positive as it helps the brush take up more of the soap to create my later.
The difference between the Valoubra on Wednesday and the Dr Jons today was ‘chalk and cheese’ – the lather started up very quickly after only a few rotations around the bowl with my brush, and it continued to take water quite well to build up a nice creamy lather.
The shave was excellent, no nicks or cuts, or any resistance as I shaved – I was happy with the lather, nice and protective. The post shave feel, no noticeable softness or moisturising feel to my skin that I prefer in my soaps.
As I type this I look back on their website and read the ingredients, and am surprised to see it is a vegan formulation soap. Yes my preference is for animal fat based soaps (or at least those that have a decent proportion of it), but I’d honestly buy this one for my drawer. Bay rum as I’ve said before is a favourite of mine, and I really enjoyed this one. I really pick up the bay and lime notes in the fragrance on this one, it’s quite a ‘fresh’ scent rather than a deep ‘wintery’ one.
Post shave another Dr Jons product – the matching ‘Anne Bonny’
The scent is pretty much identical to the soap, I get a big hit of lime up front which tapers off to be quite balanced for a little while – it’s about 4.5hrs later and now that it’s well dried down I only get the bay with a slight lime, quite nice I think. My wife and daughters commented as I walked out the door that I smelt good, and they are usual brutally honest if a cologne or aftershave doesn’t smell good on me.
The feel of the aftershave on application is a mild ‘burn’ which I think has probably been tamed a bit by the witch hazel. I felt a slight coolness and thought it may have been menthol, and I was correct on checking the ingredients. It isn’t an overly drying formulation, although not a great deal of action in skin hydration if you like that sort of thing. I’m undecided on the splash, the scent is great but just don’t know how I feel about the skin feel afterwards, I think that’s one of the hard things for an artisan, developing products that work across so many different skin types. My skin feels smooth and adequately hydrated a few hours later with no irritation, just didn’t feel that way for about an hour or so after the shave… that’s why I’m undecided, immediate post-shave feel Vs all day post-shave feel… never really put this much thought into it
Overall happy with this combination today though.
Dr Jons ‘Anne Bonny’
I’ve never previously used any of the Dr Jons soaps, nor read their ingredients. After the beautiful scent, the second thing I noticed as I removed a small amount to transfer into my lathering bowl was how soft the soap was. I don’t see this as either a positive or negative – perhaps it’s a positive as it helps the brush take up more of the soap to create my later.
The difference between the Valoubra on Wednesday and the Dr Jons today was ‘chalk and cheese’ – the lather started up very quickly after only a few rotations around the bowl with my brush, and it continued to take water quite well to build up a nice creamy lather.
The shave was excellent, no nicks or cuts, or any resistance as I shaved – I was happy with the lather, nice and protective. The post shave feel, no noticeable softness or moisturising feel to my skin that I prefer in my soaps.
As I type this I look back on their website and read the ingredients, and am surprised to see it is a vegan formulation soap. Yes my preference is for animal fat based soaps (or at least those that have a decent proportion of it), but I’d honestly buy this one for my drawer. Bay rum as I’ve said before is a favourite of mine, and I really enjoyed this one. I really pick up the bay and lime notes in the fragrance on this one, it’s quite a ‘fresh’ scent rather than a deep ‘wintery’ one.
Post shave another Dr Jons product – the matching ‘Anne Bonny’
The scent is pretty much identical to the soap, I get a big hit of lime up front which tapers off to be quite balanced for a little while – it’s about 4.5hrs later and now that it’s well dried down I only get the bay with a slight lime, quite nice I think. My wife and daughters commented as I walked out the door that I smelt good, and they are usual brutally honest if a cologne or aftershave doesn’t smell good on me.
The feel of the aftershave on application is a mild ‘burn’ which I think has probably been tamed a bit by the witch hazel. I felt a slight coolness and thought it may have been menthol, and I was correct on checking the ingredients. It isn’t an overly drying formulation, although not a great deal of action in skin hydration if you like that sort of thing. I’m undecided on the splash, the scent is great but just don’t know how I feel about the skin feel afterwards, I think that’s one of the hard things for an artisan, developing products that work across so many different skin types. My skin feels smooth and adequately hydrated a few hours later with no irritation, just didn’t feel that way for about an hour or so after the shave… that’s why I’m undecided, immediate post-shave feel Vs all day post-shave feel… never really put this much thought into it
Overall happy with this combination today though.
Mark1966
Canberra dwelling Happy Clapping Bean Counter
Staff member
Site Moderator
Grand Society
2016 Sabbatical Fail
2018 Charity Auction Winner
2019 Charity Auction Winner
2020 Charity Auction Winner
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2011
- Location
- Canberra
To beat @alfredus to it - another great review @SchoolForAnts!
The package has been passed over, thanks @SchoolForAnts
Cris
Member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2016
- Location
- Meadow Springs WA 6210
Hey troops, I know this may be a pain but I have so many new items in the den and more on the way I would not be able to utilise the the items int he box to the potential required. Please remove me from the list and thanks for the opportunity.
Cris
Cris
A 3 pass shave with the Rockwell 6s(4,4,2) paired with a new feather blade made short work of the 3 day growth I had been sporting. The soap provided superb cushion and glide and there were no nicks, weepers or irritation.
The scent remained strong during the entire shave.
After a cold water rinse, I decided to go for the matching aftershave. There was a notable difference in scent between the soap and splash, and although similar, the citrus was not as prominent in the splash which seemed a lot more complex. The splash felt quite tacky on application but settled after about 10 minutes, leaving my skin feeling soothed and soft.
After a further 20 minutes I decided to go for the GL post shave balm, not because I felt my skin needed it, but because I could and am I glad I did. The small amount I used was quickly absorbed adding another layer of softness, and in all honesty my skin has never felt so good. My only gripe is that APR balms are not freely available.
Overall a superb BBS shave.
Today's shave courtesy of Squadron Soap was Ace! A complex scent with individual notes hard for me to distinguish, but reminding me of an expensive cologne, very appealing. This soap easily produced volumes of lather, that provided protection and slickness.
A 3 pass shave with the Rockwell 6s yielded a BBS, with no irritation or nicks.
If I was being particularly critical I would say that scent strength of the lather faded slightly, but hasten to add that this was likely due to loading from a sample. Only an observation that did not impact on the quality of the shave.
Post shave face feel was excellent, a fantastic locally produced soap, which I will be adding to my collection.
This was followed up with APR Suitably Attired Australian aftershave. Unlike the Mycroft sample from my previous shave there was no tackiness on application. The aftershave paired well with the soap both having what I describe as a cologne type scent.
I finished off with the Suitably Attired Australian Balm for an added touch of luxury.
A 3 pass shave with the Rockwell 6s yielded a BBS, with no irritation or nicks.
If I was being particularly critical I would say that scent strength of the lather faded slightly, but hasten to add that this was likely due to loading from a sample. Only an observation that did not impact on the quality of the shave.
Post shave face feel was excellent, a fantastic locally produced soap, which I will be adding to my collection.
This was followed up with APR Suitably Attired Australian aftershave. Unlike the Mycroft sample from my previous shave there was no tackiness on application. The aftershave paired well with the soap both having what I describe as a cologne type scent.
I finished off with the Suitably Attired Australian Balm for an added touch of luxury.
Mark1966
Canberra dwelling Happy Clapping Bean Counter
Staff member
Site Moderator
Grand Society
2016 Sabbatical Fail
2018 Charity Auction Winner
2019 Charity Auction Winner
2020 Charity Auction Winner
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2011
- Location
- Canberra
No worries at all Cris, and certainly not a pain! Thanks for letting us know - initial list updated.
If anybody else wants to jump on board this or the other box - just post in the applicable thread and we can extend the boxes trip around the countryside!
As a bay rum fan I was eager to try Dr Jon's Anne Bonny and I was not disappointed. A very pleasant bay rum scent with not a lot of clove, black tea (a scent I did not immediately recognize) and a hint of lime.
I had no trouble building a plentiful lather that provided protection and slickness for a BBS shave with the Rockwell 6s paired with a Personna lab blue.
The matching aftershave went on with a little burn followed by a nice warming sensation. Perfect for cold winters morning. The scent profile of the aftershave matched the soap and all the elements seemed evenly balanced. I didn't feel the need for a balm with the aftershave leaving my skin feeling soft and nourished.
A thoroughly enjoyable shave and splash.
I had no trouble building a plentiful lather that provided protection and slickness for a BBS shave with the Rockwell 6s paired with a Personna lab blue.
The matching aftershave went on with a little burn followed by a nice warming sensation. Perfect for cold winters morning. The scent profile of the aftershave matched the soap and all the elements seemed evenly balanced. I didn't feel the need for a balm with the aftershave leaving my skin feeling soft and nourished.
A thoroughly enjoyable shave and splash.
This mornings shave was with the intoxicating Henri et Victoria Cognac and Cuban Cigars. I am not normally a fan of soaps that contain cigar or tobacco scent but this soap smells incredible, a rich, sweet, leathery, smokey scent. The sweetness has a lovely caramel edge. In addition to the wonderful scent this soap was extremely easy to lather, the initial lather shot doesn't do it justice, upon face lathering the soap really exploded, providing slickness and cushion during the shave.
A three pass shave with the Rockwell 6s provided a BBS with no irritation, and a wonderful face feel after the cold water rinse.
I decided to follow up with the Clubman Special Reserve, a splash that I have been wanting to try for some time. An uncomplicated masculine leathery scent, with the tell tale Pinaud powdery dry down.
Another very enjoyable shave, with that wonderful soap scent outlasting the aftershave and lingering for several hours.
I will definitely be adding these 2 products to my den.
A three pass shave with the Rockwell 6s provided a BBS with no irritation, and a wonderful face feel after the cold water rinse.
I decided to follow up with the Clubman Special Reserve, a splash that I have been wanting to try for some time. An uncomplicated masculine leathery scent, with the tell tale Pinaud powdery dry down.
Another very enjoyable shave, with that wonderful soap scent outlasting the aftershave and lingering for several hours.
I will definitely be adding these 2 products to my den.