Just an easy simple work day shave going with one of my favorite fresh aquatic scented shave soaps, Vision.
Along with the Nodachi + TSOA combo, its an easy no fuss, no irritation true glass BBS shave.
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Scent notes from the website :
Birch. Leather. Musk. Nutmeg. Oak moss. Precious Woods. Sandalwood. Tonka Bean. Vanilla. Bergamot. Lemon. Jasmine. Rose. Ylang-Ylang. Agarwood. (Oud). Ambrette
Again the soap itself has a mid-light scent strength so while you do get the scent, its not going to fill your bathroom. Lather itself is again upper mid tier, good but just not quite like from my top favorites Artisans.
Scent itself while noting florals and vanilla is slanted a little more towards Agarwood (Oud), Woods, a touch of spice and oakmoss. Not sweet, nor animalic and is a good blended Oud scent,
Of the three I bought from Pinnacle, I’d rank this as my least favorite.
That is not to say that I don’t like it, just that the other two gelled more with me, and scents are very YMMV.
Went with the CATA-DOC and TSOA, a combo of the best buffing razor and my favorite blade, made getting that “I keep touching myself” BBS shave all to easy.
Glass smooth, even on my trouble spots, zero irritation, I really can’t ask for more.
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Another wonderful shave with Pinnacle Grooming, this time with Ottoman.
And this time I was able to dial it in and get the kind of lather we all love!
So yeah, it was user error with yesterday’s first shave, the second shave (wasn’t posted) was much better and I thought that the soap acted quite a bit like Van Yulay’s Croaps.
So I this time, I lathered as if I was lathering up a Van Yulay Croap and …
Resulting lather porn would be right at home with other Artisanal soaps and perform just as well. (give or take a bit considering the new bases the top tier artisans come up with)
Lather went on thick, had great cushioning, good slickness, good residual for buffing and good post shave.
So, what does it smell like?
Officially, its a reproduction of Penhaligon’s Halfeti and the notes listed on Pinnacle’s we web site are:
Top Notes Grapefruit, Bergamot, Green Notes, Armoise
Heart Notes Lavender, Cardamom, Cumin, Nutmeg, Saffron, Violet, Cinnamon, Rose, Jasmine, Cypress, Muguet
Base notes Leather, Oud, Amber, Resins, Cedarwood
“So what does it really smell like to you?”
You take Guerlain’s Santal Royal and mix in a little Coppalli and you’ll have something very close.
Yups.
AWESOME!
Went with the CATA-DOC with the USTA, not the best of pairings as I’d prefer a sharper blade in to buff less, take off growth with minimal effort.
As is, the USTA did a fine job and while not as good as a Feather or Bic, buffed a perfect, glass smooth “I touch myself” BBS shave.
And yes, the Aftershave was a good as yesterday’s Once Upon a Time.
Went on easy, absorbed fast and settled the skin and smells fantastic.
The problem with being in too many rabbit holes, is that you are often broke.
*puts Penhaligon’s Halfeti on the “to buy when you have the cash” list*
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TLDR : Mail Drop from Pinnacle Grooming. How to make your own lathering monster of a bowl, Shave of the day was freaking EPIC! Buy their Aftershaves even if you don’t buy the soap!
Mail Call
So I got home and found two boxes waiting for me, one which was “lost in transit” for while (I wasn’t worried as it was a “Signed off Hand to Hand” shipping) and the other ordered about a week and a half later.
All were from the UK, by the good people at Pinnacle Grooming. From top to right and bottom;
Once Upon A Time (CoStume National Scent Intense), Ottoman (Penhaligon Halfeti) and The One (Limited Edition Original scent)
Cheap Lathering Bowl that cost less than 10 Feather Blades
(based on Amazon prices as of today)
Start with a cheap stainless steel mixing bowl that you can buy from a bargain store for about $2-$4
It’s usually shiny on both sides, however, just use a fine grade sandpaper and work the inside layer doing small ecliptic circles till the entire bowl is now “not so shiny”.
Or put in in a vice and use a sanding attachment on a drill or whatever. What you want is to create micro ridges.
Wash out well.
Use.
Enjoy! You don’t have to spend a lot of money for a “Bling Bowl” that many of us do buy and use.
Morning Shave Of The Day
First time purchase from Pinnacle Grooming.
I had no idea of the quality of the soaps, aftershaves or how well their scent mix or reproductions were.
I bought the soaps based purely on scent description and label art.
And the honors for first use goes to “Once Upon A Time”.
Based on CoStume National Scent Intense
Scent notes are :
Apple, Bergamot, cinnamon, Tea, Jasmine, Hibiscus, Davana, Patchouli, Sandlewood, Crystal Amber, Amber, Olibanum, Leather
What caught my eye was the inclusion of Davana which is a herb that is commonly used in Ayurvedic healing incense here in Singapore, especially if you wander around little India, you’ll more than likely smell its herbal dark tea and kind of floral fruit like scent wafting from shops as you pass them by.
Now for the soap itself, lather is about mid tier artisan. Its not as good as PAA / Stirling, more in line with Van Yulay or some commercial creams like Proraso Single Edge line.
Though since this is my first time using the soap, it may be that I didn’t lather as well or it might do better with a face lather.
Scent strength of the soap is light-mid light.
Scent is very sweet, floral with a bit of spice and fougere notes mixed in. I do not detect any leather at all.
Initial slickness is good, though lather is a little on the “cream froth” side, preferring slightly more water which differs from the more recent trend of thick heavy cream lather we see with the US Artisans, but it more than does the job.
Having said that, I found that the cushioning is not quite the same as the heavy cream lather you get from PAA CK-6, Stirling and other top end artisans.
But that might be my prejudices since I have been using those soaps more and loved that thick, heavy bodied, rich lather.
Residual slickness and post shave feel is rather good.
The Variant paired with the USTA is a good choice.
Very efficiently took off all growth and easily with a 2 pass and cleanup pass.
Resulting in a “I keep touching myself” BBS shave.
And this is where Pinnacle Grooming blew me away.
The Aftershave.
Its a non alcoholic skin food type.
But scent strength and longevity is off the scale!
Its been more than 2 two hours since I have shaved, and washed my hands with soap, but I can STILL smell that wonderful sweet amber, apple, cinnamon and floral scent on my hands.
I need to say though, that this is a skin scent. I don’t think it projects as the wife did not smell it if she’s more than two meters or so away.
But then again, she’s a little nose blind and doesn’t even smell the garlic, that I can even in another room, when I am cooking pasta, I’ll need to ask my daughter when she gets home from school.
The scent on my face wafts its aroma now and then and I really do enjoy this particular scent.
So much so that I might actually go look for the actual Perfume to buy and use.
To say that the aftershave’s scent performance in comparison to the soap are miles apart is kind of an understatement.
And oh yeah, the face felt great with that skin food.
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Well the monsoons have arrived and its been a wet week, either raining the whole day or overcast.
Thems the tropics for you.
Along with weather getting cooler I couldn’t be help but think of that line “Winter is coming!” (too bad they botched that last season)
Unlike the show though, Don’s soap is fantastic. Smells great, lathers up great and is just the thing to get my work day started. Well, work night …but you know what I mean.
Used the standard Nodachi configuration with the USTA, as I thought that blade works just a tad better with the added blade exposure. I am still at time amazed at just how little of the blade I feel, even though I know its there. Fantastic engineering.
Easy, clean, true glass BBS shave.
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Simple overnight shift shave.
Easy no fuss shave with the Rockwell.
Another no stress off day shave and today it’s Himitsu day! Love this beautiful sweet lemon, rose and spice scent. It is definitely one of my favorites from WTF.
Along with the fantastic scent, I went with the most laid back, lazy comfort SE I have the Oren. I get asked often if I prefer this or the Vector and to be honest, while similar they are very different girls. The Vector shaves are precision personified, while this is your easy cuddle shaves.
One pass lather, WTG, XTG and ATG with a cleanup lather pass for the usual trouble spots.
Easy, laid back, comfortable BBS shave.
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Morning shave was an easy affair, face lathered with Soap Commander’s Gratitude which smells fantastic BTW, its seasonal so if you have the chance to get it, give it a try.
Went with the Vector and it definitely one of my top 5 Razors, probably one of the holy trinity as well.
Easy precise true glass BBS shave.
Did a little arranging in the bathroom, stacking and making room for a shipment that should come in sometime this week, month, next 3 months?! (goddamn package held up by customs most likely)
Decided to grate the MWF into the tub so that it fills her up and sits right for a tub lather. I like to do that for the soaps that doesn’t come with its own tub / container. Cheap, reusable, with locking lids that allow for stacking is great for soap puck / refill purchases.
Went with the vector again since I still have the blade in, and I just wanted a fuss free, precision shave.
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Had to go for another Old Spice shave. This time with Soap Commander. YMMV on which artisan has it spot on of the Old Shulton but for me it’s Soap Commander’s Endurance.
I actually had a morning shave of the same but I bowl lathered vs this evening’s face lather.
I think for this brush and soap combo, face lathering was gave me better results with less soap used for that thick, creamy lather that is the holy grail.
Went with the gentler Nodachi and I honestly don’t know which I prefer, this or the Masamune-Nodachi combo. I guess they both fits in the mood of what kind of shave I want.
Easy relaxing true BBS shave.
Smelling great, feeling wonderful.
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Finishing my “Old School Scents shaves” with the original Shulton’s Old Spice.
Yeah, I am still salty that P&G’s lobotomized the Original Shulton into the current day artificial cheap smelling shadow of itself that it tries to pass off as “Old Spice”.
Luckily the scent lives on with artisan soap makers and PAA’s Cold Spices does a fantastic job reproducing it. Just a bid tad light on that almost bitter orange and anise but, it is one of the best reproductions and and a way better than whatever P&G markets as “Old Spice”.
And oh yeah, it has menthol. Well a touch of menthol.
I just added more.
Love the Tatara Masamune-Nodachi and Bic combo as this, for me, is as comfortable as it gets while still being extremely efficient.
Easy, comfortable, true glass BBS shave.
Smelling and feeling fantastic.
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Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 