Paste & Cut Travelling Box No. 5

Shave 3: Barrister and Mann Petrichor Soap and ADP Colonia Aftershave (SOTD pic is here)
First off, I really liked the scent of the Petrichor soap. I had not planned to use this soap today but given the storms and rain moving through Sydney this evening, it seemed the logical choice.

Spooned a small amount of product into the lather bowl and gradually added water slowly working up a very nice lather which felt and smelt wonderful pasted onto my face.

The Karve F plate mowed down my whiskers with ease with the soap doing its part nicely providing a slick protective lather for the first pass. The second pass was just as smooth followed by a little touch up for an excellent BBS result.

The ADP Colonia was splashed on liberally, I am very partial to this scent having used the Stirling clone in the past. No irritation and a really excellent post shave feel – no need for balm to soothe my skin after this shave.

Verdict: Very impressed with the B&M base and this has been duly added to my wish list. This soap lives up to the hype, a top performer!
 
Shave 4: Wickhams 1912 Russian Leather soap with Barrister and Mann Cologne Russe aftershave (SOTD pic is here)

This soap lathered like a champ from the first swirl of a damp brush. I wasn’t expecting great things from this soap due in part to my tallow base bias and also that my perception of the brand not being premium (not sure where this perception came from).

Needless to say, I enjoyed being proven wrong and this soap impressed from initial lathering through to post shave. Two super-smooth and slick passes left me with a BBS, no irritation or nicks and grinning ear to ear. Top notch stuff.

But it didn’t stop there, on went the splash – Cologne Russe. Lovely! So nice in fact, it went on twice more. I would have added more but thought I had better leave some for the other pass around participants.

All in all, a splendid Sunday shave. The post shave from this combo is the best I have experienced yet from the travelling box.

Verdict: The Wickhams 1912 base would make another worthy addition to my den although I would chose an alternative scent (perhaps Scottish Heather or Irish Fern). The Cologne Russe is fabulous and combined with my experience of the B&M glissant base from my previous shave places this vendor on top of my wish list.
 
Shave 5: Mickey Lee Soapworks Cape Verde soap with Blackship Grooming Davy Jones aftershave (SOTD is here, sorry no pic)

No problems lathering this soap, the lather was thick and creamy and slick – all good. The scent of this soap is a little strong for me but that doesn’t take away from the soap performance.

After doing two passes with a little touch-up, I applied the remaining lather to my face while cleaning up my shave gear. I did get a slight stinging sensation at this point, probably due to the presence of fragrance oils in the soap or just that the soap is strongly perfumed. It wasn’t major but the sensation was there. To be fair to the soap, this could be down to shaving so soon after my last shave. Usually with the F plate, I go at least 36 hours between shaves. There simply isn't enough regrowth to justify shaving every day.

After rinsing off, on went the Blackship Grooming Davy Jones splash. Medium to strong cologne type scent from this, a bit of initial sting on application followed by a pleasant menthol hit. I like this aftershave, I felt my face was in need of nourishment after the shave and this provided just that, a rescue remedy for the face. Great post shave feel.

Verdict: I’m not sure if all the Mickey Lee Soapworks options contain fragrance oils but I found this one a little irritating to my skin so this would not be high up on my list of potential soap buys. Apart from that it performed well with a nice BBS outcome. The Blackship Grooming Davy Jones splash is excellent in terms of post shave feel. I did not like this scent so much (found it a bit sweet) but my SO liked it very much. If I ever get the chance to sniff some of their other aftershave options, I'm sure I would buy one.
 
Hey @Rami, my SAD has been cured for a while now and thankfully I never went too crazy with the SAD. I have 3 soaps (MWF, MW Bay Rum and Speick) in rotation at the moment and a few samples that I am working my way through. I have a puck of Tabac too but that's put away until the weather cools down a bit. When I finish one puck then I'll replace it with a new one and that's where the box comes in because it means I know in advance what a product is like. I'm not too interested in the scents, more finding a base that lathers easily, provides slick protective lather and great post shave. I'm much more into splashes than soaps so having a few soaps with pretty neutral scents would work for me so I can use whatever splash I want. If I was to have SAD it would be splash acquisition disorder :)
 
ShaveOn said:
Hey @Rami, my SAD has been cured for a while now and thankfully I never went too crazy with the SAD. I have 3 soaps (MWF, MW Bay Rum and Speick) in rotation at the moment and a few samples that I am working my way through. I have a puck of Tabac too but that's put away until the weather cools down a bit. When I finish one puck then I'll replace it with a new one and that's where the box comes in because it means I know in advance what a product is like. I'm not too interested in the scents, more finding a base that lathers easily, provides slick protective lather and great post shave. I'm much more into splashes than soaps so having a few soaps with pretty neutral scents would work for me so I can use whatever splash I want. If I was to have SAD it would be splash acquisition disorder :)
Click to expand...
Would be interested if you found something head and shoulders above the rest. I haven’t really.
 
Rami said:
Would be interested if you found something head and shoulders above the rest. I haven’t really.
Click to expand...
I'd agree with you there, I haven't either so far. I think the artisan soaps excel in the complex scents they offer and that differentiates them. They also include quality ingredients for the skin. Performance wise though I don't think there's much difference based on my experience so far. The post shave feel seems to be the other area where these higher end soaps stand out. As I've been using aftershave in addition to the soap though, I can't say how much of the excellent post shave I have experienced is from the soap versus the aftershave.

I recently got SV Fern soap but haven't started using it yet. The true test will be having a soap like that in my regular rotation and see how it compares to my usual suspects.
 
Shave 6: Wholly Kaw Man from Mayfair soap and aftershave (SOTD is here)

This is a soap I had heard so much good things about I was really looking forward to trying it out. It turned out the best was saved till last in this instance.

This soap ticked every box and then some – it lathered easily, the lather was luxuriously thick and creamy, the nicest lather I have encountered. It felt great on my face and during the shave. It was extremely slick and protective – no nicks or even a hint of irritation after 2 passes and some clean-up for an outrageously close BBS. The post shave superb. This was up there with the best shaves I have ever had, likely the best. What more can I say about this soap? No negatives except maybe the price ($50 in Mensbiz) is a bit steep for a soap, it doesn't appear to be stocked at The Stray Whisker any more.

I would be interested to know if the sample is from the tallow or vegan version - @Mark1966 do you recall?

The matching aftershave didn’t blow me away like the soap did, pretty average in fact. It had quite a strong menthol kick which was nice but I didn’t feel it added to the post shave, if anything it detracted. When I looked up the ingredients on the website, it looks like it is pretty much just alcohol, menthol and essential/fragrance oils although it does have d-Panthenol which should moisturise. No witch hazel though.

Verdict: So the soap is a clear winner for me out of the products I have tried out of the box. If I was buying it I’d likely go for the Bare Naked version so I could use it every day and apply any splash with it.
 
ShaveOn said:
Shave 6: Wholly Kaw Man from Mayfair soap and aftershave ...

I would be interested to know if the sample is from the tallow or vegan version - @Mark1966 do you recall?

...
Click to expand...

Nope - but I can check on the weekend :)
 
ShaveOn said:
Shave 6: Wholly Kaw Man from Mayfair soap and aftershave (SOTD is here)

This is a soap I had heard so much good things about I was really looking forward to trying it out. It turned out the best was saved till last in this instance.

This soap ticked every box and then some – it lathered easily, the lather was luxuriously thick and creamy, the nicest lather I have encountered. It felt great on my face and during the shave. It was extremely slick and protective – no nicks or even a hint of irritation after 2 passes and some clean-up for an outrageously close BBS. The post shave superb. This was up there with the best shaves I have ever had, likely the best. What more can I say about this soap? No negatives except maybe the price ($50 in Mensbiz) is a bit steep for a soap, it doesn't appear to be stocked at The Stray Whisker any more.

I would be interested to know if the sample is from the tallow or vegan version - @Mark1966 do you recall?

The matching aftershave didn’t blow me away like the soap did, pretty average in fact. It had quite a strong menthol kick which was nice but I didn’t feel it added to the post shave, if anything it detracted. When I looked up the ingredients on the website, it looks like it is pretty much just alcohol, menthol and essential/fragrance oils although it does have d-Panthenol which should moisturise. No witch hazel though.

Verdict: So the soap is a clear winner for me out of the products I have tried out of the box. If I was buying it I’d likely go for the Bare Naked version so I could use it every day and apply any splash with it.
Click to expand...
Great reviews mate! Really been enjoying reading them. Totally agree on the WK soaps. I grabbed a few different post shave products of theirs to try, and wasn't as blown away tbh. The aftershave was nice and refreshing, but not huge amounts of skin food, toner was a little drying on my for some reason, but the balms are great (though don't carry scents well, and smell like cream mostly). If used in combination (which is probably what Sri intends) they would probably be great, I'm simple though and prefer something like Dan's a/s or even just a nice very light balm (lea really stood out, as does Eufros).
 
Had my first crack at the box this afternoon. Had a bit of a shitty weekend so once home I showered and got straight into it.

The first off the rank was the Noberu Sandalwood cream. I'm yet to try anying just Sandalwood. I'm not sure if this is what it should smell like but I digged it none the less. Very clean and fresh. Not really woody or creamy though. I have also been stinging to try a cream (only used a Poraso twice).

This just did not work for me, but I'm pretty sure I did not use enough cream and overwatered it. It was thin and bubbly. I think I'll play around with the Poraso for a bit before trying another cream.

For the aftershave, I went straight for the ADP Colonia. The aftershave felt great. It I did use some TSW After Balm before it due to the shave. The scent.....Wow! Loving it. I can see why everyone does a version of this.

Also I used one of the Dorco Prime blades. These were great despite the bad lather. Used it in the Karve with a C plate. I think I'll have to look at getting some of these. Definitely up there with Kai, Perma Sharps and Polsilvers (my 3 go tops).

Thanks P&C!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top