And yes, still on the theme of smelling good after your shave.
Today’s shave is the quintessential of all fougere scents, Creed’s Green Irish Tweed, and yes I am using another Al Haramain juice that does not cost an arm and a leg (US$35-ish – 100ml, Creed GIT is about US$250-$300+/- for 100ml) it freaking performs without smelling “cheap”, 1-1.5 hours of initial projection and sillage burst, 3-4 hours of personal space bubble projection and sillage, 2-3 more hours as a skin scent.
As for WSP, its shave performance is already god tier, adding to that, the scent is bang on and a very accurate reproduction of the GIT scent, layering this on just builds that foundation for a great smelling day.
Glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave. Feel great, smell great, rock the world!
Bowl : 6.25″ soup bowl
Brush : Oumo SHD Silver Tip Badgers
Pre-Shave : Hot Shower, PAA’s The Cube
Soap : WSP Gaelic Tweed (Green Irish Tweed)
Post Shave : WSP Gaelic Tweed Aftershave and Balm
Razor : Rockwell 6S-R4 w/Lord Platinum Blade
Others : Al Haramain L’Aventure Knight (Green Irish Tweed Clone. FYI, I do have WSP’s Gaelic Tweed EDP which is also a damn good GIT clone)
Everyone loves Aventus. But not everyone wants to spend US$350+/- a pop for a pop for a bottle of smell nice juice. One of these days, I’ll pick up PAA’s Doppelganger EDP to try but for the moment, I’ll stick with Al Haramain’s (yes, I have tried Armaf’s, prefer this one) very respectable clone. (still want to smack the guy to designed the bottle though) that for the fraction of the price is pretty close to the real thing and performs beyond expectations.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Pre-Shave, Hot Shower, PAA’s The Cube Mentholated
Soap : PAA’s Doppelganger Grey (Aventus)
Post Shave : PAA’s Doppelganger Grey (Aventus) Aftershave Cologne and Star Jelly Aftershave Balm
Start of a new work week. Time to look good, smell good and try not to be a zombie at work.
Also I remembered that someone asked me before, is this soap a clone of Dior Sauvage. No. Close enough but no. The notes of Nutmeg, Amber and especially the Sichuan Peppers aren’t quite right. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still good enough to set the table, and smells pretty good, just not an exact clone.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Pre-Shave : Hot Shower, PAA’s Cube Mentholated
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap : Van Yulay’s Gentle Sauvage
Post Shave : Cold Shower, Van Yulay’s Gentle Sauvage Aftershave and Balm
Razor : PAA’s Copper DOC w/Derby Extra Blade (1)
Ohers : Van Yulay Gentle Sauvage Deodorant, Dior’s Sauvage
MEAD! Wait, do pirates drink mead? Viking Pirates? Whatever … Bay Rum! Evening shave before having dinner with the wife and kids.
Brush : Oumo SHD Silvertip Badger (Face Lathered) Pre-shave : PAA’s The Cube Mentholated Soap : PAA’s Atomic Age Bay Rum Post Shave : PAA’s Atomic Age Bay Rum and Star Jelly Aftershave Balm Razor : PAA’s Copper Double Open Comb w/Derby Extra Blade (2) Others : Spiced Mead (no, not during the shave…drinking this as I am typing this)
Going back on rotation and picking out stuff that I haven’t used in a while. The problem with having way too many great soaps, you forget how wonderful some of these smell. Agharta is one of those.
“Talc, Ambergris, Amyris, French Vanilla Bean, Japanese Sandalwood, Cedar and Oak Moss.” Oh My!
And yes, it is as good as it looks on paper. Vanilla pushing the scent towards the gourmand during the opening, the wife commenting “Oh yeah, this the one that smells like cookies!” 😁, while the woods, moss and touch of amber brings it back towards a more mellow cologne, during the dry down with talc, leaving you with a powdery rich scent that you can (and I have) worn as a work scent. Not quite Gourmand but beautifully delicious.
Used the Mysterium Serum balm as it didn’t have a companion Star Jelly. Its a shame that these older offerings will fall by the wayside, given that Doug does churn out new scents like a rabbit in heat. Maybe if more people wanted it, Doug would make some but I know if there was a full line of deodorant, solid cologne and star jelly balm I’d complete this set.
It has also been a while since I have used my Vikings Blade Emperor Augustus and have forgotten how good this thing is. One of the unique features that it has that intrigued me into buying it, besides looking awesome, was that it has a very unique head.
Head with both a straight bar and scalloped bar. Watch the Overhang though. And yeah, the etchings are starting to fade due to wear.
And the way I use an adjustable is opposite of most other shavers. Instead of dialing it down as you go into the shave, I progressively dial it up. Going setting 4-Straight Bar WTG, setting 5-Scalloped Bar XTG, and Setting 6-Scalloped Bar ATG and staying at setting 6-Scalloped Bar for clean-ups.
I was using a Derby Extra Blade so this is higher then I’d normally set than for say a Feather which is more like 3-straight WTG, 4-Scalloped XTG, 4/5-Scalloped ATG + Clean-up.
The idea is growth reduction, not elimination during the passes. Setting 4-Straight Bar takes off growth while giving a very smooth non catching/tugging first pass. Then with the following higher aggression settings along with the scalloped bar, for taking of remaining growth closer to the skin.
Results : Glass “I keep touching myself” BBS shave that was assisted by a great soap, with no nicks, weepers or irritation.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin
Pre-Shave : PAA’s The Cube Mentholated
Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving
Soap : PAA’s Agharta
Post Shave : PAA’s Agharta Aftershave Cologne and Mysterium Serum
Razor : Vikings Blade The Emperor Augustus w/Derby Extra Blade (1)
This is a one of my favorite scents from Van Yulay. Deep, dark, aromatic and rich in imagery as you breath it in. It was only natural for me to pair it with Dior’s original Eau Sauvage EDP with its deep Myrrh and Vetiver.
Bowl : Van Yulay Resin Pre-Shave : Razorock Lime Shave Oil Brush : Friendship Shaving’s Macy G4 Synthetic by Frank Shaving Soap : Van Yulay’s Black Dragon Post Shave : Van Yulay Black Dragon Aftershave and Balm Razor : PAA’s Copper DOC w/Derby Extra Blade (2) Others : Doir’s Eau Sauvage EDP
Decided to just use up all my shave oils since I have quite a few, so using them liberally. Going forward its either PAA’s Cube (Mentholated) or Coconut Oil.
PAA’s DOC even with Derby Extras still mowed stubble like hot knife on butter. I did give the razor a quarter turn slack, and gave it a little more aggression. Results are glass BBS in a hurry.
I was expecting some irritation and had prep ready but it was clean and irritation free. Still used a little Prep just because. Prep is awesome. 😄
Nothing like a clean BBS shave for the evening. Wife likes a smooth face. Happy wife, happy life.
Scent notes as described by the artisan : Cedar, Fir, Herbs, Leather and a touch of Musk.
Heller Highwater comes as a five ounce offering so it’s packed right to the brim, its going to last you awhile. Soap performance is as expected, really good slickness, good residual and post shave.
Scent is very a resinous combination of cedar and fir with the leather and musk firmly anchoring the woods. I am not sure what herbs Irena used, I want to say balsam or maybe black tea but whatever it is, it blended with the other scents to create what I could have sworn is a hint of gunpowder that is thrown into the mix as well. There’s that smoky, almost burnt scent that you can just catch hovering at the edges.
“If you close your eyes as you build a lather, you will sure hear the rebel yell from Heller Highwater’s men charging as they take their last stand. “
No kidding. With that scent, I can imagine that. For myself, my own scent imagery is that of a whole bunch of young men awaiting their turn at the range in a forested area, firing off hundreds of rounds in training, cleaning their M16s. Good times.
Swapped out the R3 plate for the R4 plate and that did the trick for the Derby Extra blades and I got the BBS shave that I wanted. I have said this before but the Rockwell 6C/S series razors are worth every cent you spent on it and then some. Being able to swap plates changes the way it works and can compensate for different blades to suit how it behaves for different people.
Steve's Wet Shaving in Singapore 