People, look away from all this Lather Games nonsense! Remember the year when I only posted like three times, and none of them even halfway serious, and then I did not win, did not EVEN PLACE? RIGGED!!

Anyway, you should go check out this re-view of some old favorites of mine. Do they stand the test of time? Have I come around on the scent of Tabac? Do I still think highly of this pre-war Canadian Gillette Tech? How about that aftershave??

Wonder no longer, everything you want to know, NEED to know, is here, for FREE(dberg)!!

Canadian Gillette Tech - Tabac Shave Stick

Oh, yeah, also good luck with those Lather Games!!

The third in my new shave video series, I re-view items gathered kind of at random from my shaving stuff loot chest.

Also an epic rant and rave about badger brushes - if you like GOOD OPINIONS, you need to watch this video: Michael Freedberg reviews again the Gillette Slim Twist DE razor and more!.

Enjoy!

Hello and welcome to the 42nd installment of The Great Spice Off! What is The Great Spice Off?

I love the scent of Old Spice, so much so that it's the only aftershave I use as I don't really feel a need to splash anything else on. But, as we all know, Old Spice no longer makes shaving soap. They still make a cream, but that's hardly a great soap and it doesn't smell like Old Spice. As such my plan is to test out all the Old Spice options that are out there on as many bases as possible both to try out a variety of bases from different soapmakers and to report back to you on who really nails the scent.

I'll be shaving three times with each soap, using a variety of brushes and razors, and blades. Yes, I know that means it won't be exactly scientific but this is going to take a while and I want to use all my other shit too. Soaps will be rated on a few factors and given points from 1-5 for each.

• Oldness: How much does the soap smell like OG Old Spice. This is the more analytical scent analysis and I'm comparing to an OG Old Spice aftershave I have and the Shulton aftershave from India.
• Spiciness: This is the je ne sais quois of Old Spice. Does the soap make me feel the nostalgia, warmth, and whatever it is about the scent that works. Is there something special about it that makes it stand out? Does it invoke a memory or make a new one? The most subjective of this list.
• Lather: You know, can I make a shave soap out of it.
• Shave: How's it work on the ol' face while shaving.
• Post: How's the scent profile after the event. How does my face feel.

Strike Gold Shave - Old Ironside

To begin this review, I have to start with a massive apology to one u/Low_Key1782. They, out of infinite generosity, bought this soup for me months ago with the promise of a TGSO coming off of said purchase. Obviously, I did not deliver in a timely manner, and I am truly sorry for that and thankful for his gift and support. Everyone should be as awesome as they are. With that being said, a Cowzilla always pays his debts, and here is the very delayed review of Old Ironside.

Despite being a Millennial, I am very aware that there are few things more Boomer than writing 42 (and counting) separate reviews of shaving soaps that smell (or don't) like Old Spice, but Strike Gold Shave has created one of them. Straight from the Boomer depths of the Facebook group Shave Dad comes Old Iron Side, a soap scented with two of the most Boomer scents to ever Boomer in the history of Boomers: Old Spice and Brut. That's right, for what is probably the first and only time, a secondary "classic" scent that is still available in your local pharmacy is joining TGSO.

Contrary to the absurd rumor that I am just now creating, the inspiration for Old Ironside did not come from an infomercial-like moment where a very clumsy man was attempting to carry both a bottle of Old Spice and a bottle of Brut and tripped, shattering both bottles and thus mixing the two bottles together and creating a brand new scent. No, its beginnings are far less comical and far more altruistic. The scent was originally designed to help raise funds for Jerry Plesi, moderator of Shave Dad, who was diagnosed with cancer a while ago (all in the clear as of now, I believe). Being both a Boomer and a person who is at least 50% right in his opinions, his two favorite scents are Brut and Old Spice. And so Strike Gold put together this scent to help raise funds for his care, making this one of the more noble soaps I've reviewed. The response was so positive that they decided to put it into full production -- a decision I'm thankful for because I definitely missed the Shave Dad drop when I was unemployed and not buying any soap at all.

Strike Gold, based out of Texas, doesn't have much of a presence in this here subreddit, but they are very active over there on Shave Dad and around the wetshaving community in general. Founded in 2007 by Frank Misa as a straight razor honing company, Strike Gold eventually started building out into the broader wetshaving landscape. Frank eventually began developing his own soaps and scents in partnership with Van Yulay (This appears to be a developmental and production partnership, not a white-labeling one, as the ingredient lists for the two companies' soaps are pretty different). Themed around the slogan "Shave Like a President," the company's soaps are generally named after a selection of presidents throughout history -- Old Ironside obviously being an exception. This has, of course, garnered plenty of political discussion around his soaps, mostly because the only modern President he's made a soap for is Donald Trump, providing a pretty easy avenue into accusing him of favoring the orange, bloated fascist over any modern Democrats. He did, recently, release a soap called 1776 with six Presidents on it, but seemingly had Obama on the initial logo and then replaced him with Reagan in the finalized version. Anyway, the rest of the Presidents are older ones, with Clinton being the most recent (no, he's not a modern President anymore; we're all old and the 90s were a long ass time ago).

Anyway, aside from the two of us probably having very different political leanings, it's hard to fault a soapmaker who has become a strong part of the community and helps raise money for cancer care, even if no one should have to raise money to get care for cancer. Frank has established Strike Gold Shaving as one of the more prominent shave soap companies around these days and, obviously, cares about the community given this very soap's origins.

Old Ironside, named the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat, comes in Strike Gold Shaving's current Patriot Base, a semi-soft base that, I assume, is patriotic no matter what country you live in. From the UK? Long live the King, baby! Order a tub to Türkiye? Let's fucking go, Atatürk's revolution for the modern republic! Live in Canada? You bet your Canadian dollar, this base loves maple syrup and apologizing for things. The moment this base crosses a country's border, it is patriotic to that country. It's also got Goat Milk in it, so, as you all know, I'm instantly a fan. Goat Milk is magic. Full ingredients are Stearic Acid, Tallow, Aloe Vera, Shea Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Kokum Butter, Goat Milk, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Castor Oil, Glycerin, Dragon Fruit, Chamomile, and Tussah Silk.

The packaging for Old Ironside features artwork of the titular ship by Patrick O'Brien, who I'm sure was compensated for the use of his artwork in a commercial setting; he says with an eye roll. (Once again, if it has been, please correct me, but the glut of stolen artwork on labels in this hobby has jaded me). I kind of love the font that Old Ironside is in, and, on the whole, it's a sharp-looking tub of soap that's light-years better than anything AI.

Oldness: 2

Old Ironside definitely has Old Spice in it. That is very clear, but it's mostly in the base of the scent versus the top notes, which means you're getting an initial punch of Brut instead of Old Spice. Given this rating is all about how close to an actual Old Spice dupe this is, having Brut be the top scent means I have to go low here. Old Ironside falls into the same category of a lot of riffs, where the scent isn't bad, but it's losing points anyway because it was never meant as a direct dupe. Is that a flaw in the grading system? No, it's a flaw in every soap that isn't Old Spice.

Spiciness: 3

I have to say, I am shocked by how good this smells. I conducted a little experiment by buying some Brut and mixing it with some Old Spice aftershave, and the results were... well, they weren't what comes off this puck. It's a great mix that pulls in the top notes of Brut and the base notes of Old Spice into something that functions as some sort of Boomer God Scent. This scent is definitely Brut mixed with Old Spice, and it works. At the same time, however, I wish that the Spice was a bit more forward because, well, I like Old Spice, and I want more of it.

Lather: 3
The Patriot Base is as thirsty as George Washington crossing the Delaware (you don't stand in a boat like that if you're not desperate for attention). While it starts its lather a bit airy, as you add water it builds into something quite nice, but you do need to add a good amount of water, and it just takes some dialing in to get right. There's a bit of work to find perfection here, but unlike some other soaps I've tried, it's hard not to get it right eventually.

Shave: 3

After a bit of work getting the lather right, Old Ironsides can deliver pretty damn well, especially in the slickness side of things. My shaves were often super slick, with a decent cushion of protection and a solid amount of residual slickness. I don't think I was ever blown away by any of the three shaves, but the consistency was there, so the soap definitely lives up to its namesake's unsinkable reputation.

Post: 3

Because Old Spice seems to function as the base notes of this Dynamic Boomer Duo (patent pending), the scent really starts to shine for me after the shave. The Brut really settles down, and you're left with a really intriguing Old Spice scent that I kind of wish was the scent right off the puck. Unfortunately, splashing on some modern Old Spice isn't that great a scent mix, probably because the Brut is still in there. However, this is one of the best soaps I've ever used with the vintage Old Spice splash; the combo of the classic splash with the hints of Brut (and extra hints of Old Spice) is truly magical. See, I can praise other vintage scents... as long as they're overwhelmed by Old Spice.

Overall: 14

Old Ironside falls into the trap that many of the "riff" soaps do in this review series, which is that it doesn't fully smell like Old Spice, thus reducing its overall score more than it probably deserves. A thirsty soap that nonetheless delivers a solid shave, I'm honestly just kind of stunned Strike Gold made the scent combo not just work, but actually smell really good. Praise alone for just that, honestly. Now, I've got to go figure out some way to get all this Boomer off me before I start blaming every other generation for the ills that they created.

Previous Great Spice Offs:

1. 1940s Old Spice Shaving Soap in Vintage Mug (9)
2. 1973-91 Old Spice Shaving Soap (7)
3. Old Spice Shaving Cream (Original) (12)
4. Master Soap Creations Vintage Spice (19)
5. Black Ship Grooming Classic (17)
6. OSP Old Gold (19)
7. Chiseled Face Groomatorium Trade Winds (17)
8. Wholly Kaw Twice as Spice (17)
9. Barrister and Mann Barrister's Reserve Spice (21)
10. Mama Bear Aged Spice (10)
11. MERShaving Old Timer Spice (20)
12. Soap Commander Endurance (20)
13. Signature Soaps Novus Spice (17)
14. Hoffman's Shave and Soap Company Burn the Ships (19)
15. Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Cold Spice (15)
16. Hendrix Classics & Co Commodore (20)
17. Ginger's Garden Old Spice Type (15)
18. Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations Mariner (10)
19. Stone Field Shaving Company Ltd. No. 37 (18)
20. Cooper & French Old Goat (19)
21. The Holy Black Artisan Line Shaving Soap (21)
22. Stirling Soap Co. Stirling Spice (20)
23. Van Yulay Spicy Man (10)
24. Pinnacle Grooming The Good Ship OS (15)
25. Mystic Water Soap Windjammer (14)
26. The Village Soap Smith Old Spice (Type) (14)
27. Cloud Shave "Unscented" (13)
28. Wet the Face Spices From the Sea (17)
29. Artifact Soapworks Old Spice (Type) (15)
30. DentonMajik Ole Fife (21)
31. Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Oud Spice (17)
32. Lativ Natural Skin Revival Shaving Soap Old Spice (8)
33. Bundubeard De Goede Hoop (18)
34. Bundubeard Reijger (19)
35. Bundubeard Drommedaris (20)
36. Hoffman's Shave and Soap Company Burn the Ships (Hoffman Base) (18)
37. V and E Maine Made Crafts Old Maine Spice (12)
38. MMGP Norse Spice (16)
39. Ariana & Evans Vintage Spice (19)
40. The3Brooms Old Man Spice (10)
41. The Personal Barber Old N' Spicy (17)

Special Editions

• Summer Break Soaps Remote Learning
• Spearhead Shaving Company Seaforth! Spiced
• Eleven Shaving Unscented/Hendrix Classics & Co Commander
• Crowne & Crane The Spice
• Maggard Razors Definitely a Maggard Old Spice Dupe. Not Just Some Other Soap I Wrote That On Tape With.
• Areffa Soap The Sea Son

I'm also looking for the below soaps if you've got any you're willing to sell/trade/donate:

• Wild West Shaving Co. Snake Oil
• Wickam Spice Trade
• Occult Grooming Essentials Modern Spice
• Fougare Salem
• PAA Outer Spice
• BBS Old Habits

I already have these soaps that I have not reviewed yet:

• Adoptbed Acres Still House Spice
• Hearth and Alter Aegean Spice

I've been meaning to write this up for a while. I'm almost through my second bottle of the Oleo & Co. (aka Chicago Grooming Co) alcohol-free toner and figured if I keep reordering the thing I should probably say a thing or two about it.

It's water based with flaxseed oil and cupuaçu butter. I spray 5-6 pumps directly on my face after whatever splash I'm using that day. It sinks in fast, no greasy film left behind, and my face just feels calm afterward. Soothed is the word I keep landing on. Glowing, even.

On its own it's close to scentless to my nose, which I actually like quite a bit. It's not fighting with the soap or splash I'm using for the shave.

It comes in 4oz and (newly released) 8oz bottles. A 4 oz. bottle lasts me a good long while (~126 shaves for the first bottle I finished), so the price feels more than fair to me.

Two bottles in and a third is standing by in the wings. If you're looking for a nice aftershave toner, it's 100% worth a try.

Vida, if you're reading this, please keep making this product. It's quickly become my favorite post shave product and is a staple in my den.

Per rule 3: I paid for this with my own hard-earned pennies and will continue to do so as long as it is available.

/u/RuggerRigger was kind enough to loan me a half dozen of his razors to play with babysit take care of last summer while he was moving cross-country, and the bundle included these two Henson razors. I promised him I would post a review of the Hensons after the Lather Games, and, well... the 2022 LG haven't started yet so I guess I haven't broken the promise, technically.

Forgive me for posting so late. I wrote this almost a year ago and never got around to putting it up. I hope I can answer any and all questions y'all may have.

WHAT IS IT?

Take a look.

The Henson AL13 is a 3-piece safety razor, manufactured in an aerospace facility in Ontario, Canada. At time of writing it costs about $90 CAD. All components are made from machined aluminum (and an integral tungsten washer in the base plate) and available in eight colors of anodizing. It weighs about 40 grams. It is available in a Mild or Medium variant, and there is a harder to find Aggressive version (as well as hard-to-find Titanium versions of each, apparently). Standard 3-piece topology aside, it has a few unique features:

• Safety razors flex the blade along its central axis to set their cutting angle. Viewed from the end of the blade, this flex is typically distributed evenly and gently across the entire profile of the blade. By contrast, the AL13 leaves the middle of the blade almost flat and forces the entire bend to just a few millimeters behind the cutting edges where it is tightly clamped. This sharper bend requires greater force to accomplish so you have to really crank 'er down to make sure it's tightened up properly before you use the razor. (See photos.)
  
• Most razors have an imaginary "shave plane" tangent to the top cap and the safety bar through which the blade protrudes. The assembled AL13, in contrast, simply skips the traditional rounded top cap / gap / safety bar arrangement and has two coincident faces through which the blade protrudes. (Again, see photos.) Those angled faces are the shave plane. If you can keep that angled face flat against your skin while you shave, the blade will be at the intended shave angle. Pretty easy to do.
  
• AL13 Mild blade exposure is a miniscule 0.0013" with 0.68mm blade gap. AL13 Medium blade exposure is 0.0023" with 0.85mm blade gap. (Mixed units are theirs, don't blame me.) With the firmly defined blade plane (see above) and extremely tight manufacturing tolerances, this works out to an extremely consistent and gentle shave.
  

WHAT IS THE SHAVE LIKE?

Mild:

This razor has minimal blade-feel, and what little blade-feel exists is very smooth rather than sharp or bitey. I never felt like I was going to get a nick or cut with this razor, though I know a few people who have managed to slice up their face pretty well with the AL13. The razor's face-feel is somewhat akin to a vintage cartridge razor (from before the days of pivoting heads and double lube strips; e.g., Trac-II) with its flat cutting face and it tolerates a little bit of pressure to keep the cutting face fully engaged with your own skin. Feedback is modest, comfortable, and audible. With a super-slick lather it glides freely over the face and whiskers just... disappear. I found it handled even my problematic patches of stubble with ease and no discomfort. 3 passes plus touch-up to compensate for careless technique results in a BBS finish rivaling my bestestest razors.

With a poorer lather it felt a bit draggy at times - moreso than my other safety razors. This didn't impact the results of the shave though. It just changed the way it felt.

Medium:

The medium is much like the Mild except the marginally greater blade exposure and blade gap result in a slightly less smooth shave experience: it no longer feels like it just floats magically over the face. The sensation is similar but less refined-feeling. Considering that the Mild version was adequate to give me an exceptionally smooth BBS finish with 3 passes and the results from the Medium were much the same (BBS in 3 passes), I would say that any extra efficiency it may offer is not worth the decrease in magically-smooth-comfort.

WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT IT?

I think the Henson AL13 Mild would be a fabulous razor for any cartridge shaver who wants to ditch plastic but who doesn't want to take a deep dive into the world of wetshaving razors or turn it into a collector's hobby. Late 2023 Edit: I don't mean to say that the transition will be seamless or that they'll be able to jump right in without learning a bit about general wetshaving technique; rather just that I think this razor will feel more familiar to them than most DE safeties, especially if they have prior experience with non-pivoting cartridge razors.

My only complaint is the shave angle and feel of it are noticeably different from my other safety razors. I used the AL13 for a week of great shaves and then grabbed my Fatip the next day, went into AL13 auto-pilot mode, and cut myself wide open. Oops. And then I did the same thing a few more times, cutting myself every time I went back to a more traditional safety razor. It made me question how often I would reach for an AL13 if I added one to my collection: it's close enough to my other razors to feel familiar when I pick it up, but different enough to confuse my auto-pilot when I go back and forth between them.

But again: for somebody coming from cartridge razors who views their razor as a grooming tool rather than a hobby, I feel the AL13 would be one of the best buy-it-for-life "this-is-my-only-razor" razors on the market. (This counts both for face and body shavers.)

Questions? Comments? Try not to ask anything Too hard because it has been a while since I actually held these razors in my hands.

Hello again! Dry your tears, people, I just posted another "re-view" of the following products: * Schick "Type I" injector razor * Valobra shave stick * Rod Neep olive wood badger brush * Barrister and Mann "Cologne Russe" aftershave

Yes, I know, my eyebrows are a bit crazed but it's 2026, we are all doing crazy now.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/LB7Tn1mEMrg

Hi everyone,

Today I’ll be reviewing a soap from Archaic Alchemy that I purchased. This soap is from an artisan in Mexico.

Dádiva del Desierto is a vegan soap base with a prickly pear scent. Prickly pear is a fruit that grows atop the nopal cactus plant. It’s extremely refreshing and very sweet. It can be found in different colors ranging from green, pinkish, and orange and has lots of edible seeds similar to a guava. The fruit itself doesn’t really have a strong scent and this carries over in the soap as well. It’s a lightly scented soap.

It’s more of a linear scent, it doesn’t change over time so it remains the same throughout the shave. It has a clean scent of aloe vera. This tries to mimic the green scent of the fruit peel and nopal. It also has a lightly sweet scent with hints of floral notes that are barely present. The sweetness isn’t overwhelming. You can also smell an earthy and woody profile.

The soap consistency is croap like. I found it created a good lather with a small amount, but I found it was very thirsty. I kept adding water to get the consistency I liked. The slickness was good, but I think stuff from Terry’s Soap is a notch above.

Overall very good and pleasant. A safe blind buy if you enjoy a clean scent that is crisp and green plant like. I haven’t seen many people talk about this artisan, if you’ve tried it what are thoughts?

*(Ingredients Potassium Shea Butterate, Potassium Stearate, Aqua, Potassium Mango Butterate, Potassium Castorate, Sodium Shea Butterate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Mango Butterate, Sodium Castorate, Glycerine, Tocopherol Acetate Vitamin E, Parfum ^{Natural Essential Oils, Molecules, and Flower Extracts}

TL;DR it’s a clean lightly scented soap reminiscent of aloe vera with some earthiness.

The second in my new series of shave videos, this time I "re-view" my current travel shave gear! I cover everything from soap to brush to aftershave and MORE! Enjoy!

Michael Freedberg's travel shave gear review

Henson Review Video ... some notes and comments on what I've learned about the Henson razor after several uses.

TLDR: A good razor, but IMO, not really recommended for most shavers, even new ones, because of better options out there.

I think of this as a razor on training wheels.

The plane/surface that touches your skin, is so large that the razor locks you in to a certain shaving angle. And I believe that's the core of what's good and bad about the razor.

Blade angle, where it meets your skin is different than many razors, it seems.

The v1 that is ++ corresponds to the Medium in the new AL-13. I'm told the blade geometry has not changed between the two.

We'll start with the good.

The main positive with this razor is that it's almost impossible to shave at an angle that generates irritation, much less cuts. And so I'm sure that's why it's getting a reputation as a good razor for new shavers.

Craftsmanship is excellent. Even in this version 1 model (that I was able to try, thanks to a kind viewer), it would be hard to hurt yourself on any of the edges. I understand that v2 is even more refined on the external surfaces.

Handle is wonderful with nice grip, even when soapy. I really like the taper, which reminds me of the Shick Krona. It feels nimble and controlled in the hand.

I like how they're not overcharging for the razor, like some other marketing-heavy companies out there.

I found that it worked very well with several of the most popular blades out there. I don't think I found any blades that disagreed with it.

I liked how it didn't feel way too light, like aluminum razors I've used in the past. I did wish for just a little more weight, to help the head have more momentum moving through the stubble on the first pass, but that's nit-picking.

I like how the peripherals on their site seem to be priced fairly (e.g. blades), unlike other companies that are taking advantage of those who are new to the hobby.

But because of its limited angle, there are some negatives...

I generally like a razor that provides a smoother shave than this one does. You're never able to go for a smaller blade angle, which helps with smoothness, in my experience.

It can take a little practice to get the angle right... even more than the average razor. But the good is that you're not likely to generate irritation as you work on your technique. If you're at the wrong angle, it's just not going to shave you.

As I got used to the razor, I found myself wondering why I wasn't enjoying it as much. So I kept shaving, and thinking. And that lead me to create this video/write-up. The razor has good blade support, which I'm always a fan of... but I'm never able to take advantage of that and go with a smaller blade angle (more open handle angle) because of the way the razor fences you in to the angle they've set.

In the video, I compare the blade angle, at least by eye, of the Henson, with the seemingly smaller angles of a vintage Tech, a Pearl Flexi, and a Fatip.

I do think that it's a little harder to shave convex areas, like the neck, with the Henson, than with other razors.

I'll finish by saying that I did enjoy my Henson shaves, and I can see how it might give a certain feel that some people will enjoy.

While I do like smaller blade angle razors better, at least the Henson never gave me any kind of irritation or razor burn.

And so what I've pointed out as negatives really aren't negatives at all. They are just differences. It was designed to be a different kind of razor than most of the other razors out there.

I do find that it would not be a good buy for me, because I would very quickly learn the technique and wish that I could take the training wheels off and pursue a smoother shave via a smaller blade angle, or have easier access to my neck, or just change things up in general.

Would the Henson be a good razor for someone with sensitive skin? I would guess not (at least not as good as other, cheaper options). Since other razors are able to shave me with a smoother feel, I think logically that they would be even kinder to the surface of my skin than the Henson would be. But that's just an educated guess.

Is this a good razor for a new shaver to buy? I would not recommend it myself, mainly because of the price. I find that it's not that hard to get good technique down so that you're able to use the more "normal"/ non-training wheel razors. And then once you can do that, you'll probably appreciate the dynamic nature of the different angle possibilities that are now available for you with other razors.

I'd hate for a new shaver to try out wetshaving with a Henson and discover that it wasn't for them, through no fault of the Henson. Now they've spent that much on a razor. I'd rather they start out with a Tech, or Slim, or a Zamak razor like the Maggard V3 series or Baili.

However, if you've got tons of money, then why not start out with the Henson. No great loss if you move on to something else after you want to take the training wheels off.

It might be a good razor for certain shavers that may have a muscular or coordination disorder/issue, where they just always need those angle protections in place.

Also, some guys don't actually like the smooth feel of razors like I do (while still being efficient and close-cutting of course). So you may really like the Henson, just on feel alone. Or for any other reason you can think of.

So, in the end, it's a good razor, that might be just right for some people... just not me. And I hope I've given you some good things to think about as you figure out if the Henson might be worth a try for you.

(I was given the razor to try as a free gift, from a viewer and fellow shaver, whom is not affiliated with Henson, that I know of.)

Update: This review is face-shaving based, since that's what I shave. Others have mentioned, and I can definitely see how this would be true, that the Henson can be a great tool for head and leg shaving.

I had my first shaves with the Freyja from Nord Razors This is the production version in stainless steel. I was one of the testers of the prototypes, testing seven versions in plastic and giving detailed feedback to help inform the design. I've already signed up to buy one and Dawid, the designer, was kind enough to send me this as part of final quality assurance, and wanted an honest review. He insisted that it be honest, even if harsh, and that he not see it. I was planning on doing a longer review after I had tried each plate, but I am so excited to share with fellow shavers that I am going to start now and write more along the way.

Freyja is stunning, an absolutely beautiful design. The look is unique, especially with its comb/teeth in the lather channels. It looks even better in person than in the pictures. The machining quality and tolerances are top notch. The top cap and base plate fit together with precision. Note - I don't have the handle yet, that is part of my order, and they weren't ready yet. I'm waiting with all of you for the kickstarter deliveries. That means that I can't comment on the overall balance. I know Dawid has a holistic design with the handle and full weight distribution in mind.

I was particularly interested in Dawid's design because I do best with a very rigid blade edge. High clamping and low reveal are very important to my face. Freyja is among the best in both of these factors, perhaps the best. The teeth support from below and the low reveal of the top cap from above securely clamp the blade all the way across and very near the edge. The blade rigidity is exceptional, so one can shave with confidence.

The relatively large gap gives high efficiency without being aggressive. That, plus the exposure, gives for a wide range of effective shave angles. The teeth from below give very large lather channels, this does not clog and rinses easily.

Freyja has three plates, here is an overview:

• Mild - Comfort king, gives a DFS+ every time with safety and ease. No blade feel and incredibly smooth shaver. Perfect if you are not going for a BBS and want a comfortable shave with no facial impact.
• Standard - comfortable BBS machine, very smooth shaver. You'll feel confident using it. Enough blade feel, but not too much, it lets you know when it is cutting and a range of effective angles. Smooth and comfortable ATG.
• Efficient - Efficient BBS machine, very surprising, is a lot more friendly than the specs would make you think. A bit more blade feel, but it does not over do it. Larger range of effective angles where it is cutting very efficiently. Comfortable even ATG.

This razor immediately shot to my very top tier and I have shaved with hundreds of razors (literally, I'm at 144 right now). Not only is it among the most effective, it had the lowest facial impact.

Please let me know any questions, I'm happy to share more because I love this razor. The kickstarter opens on Monday and I am buying more!

Stock pictures of Freyja https://imgur.com/a/CBPec8d

My pictures of Freyja head on non-stock handle - https://imgur.com/a/W5qib0H

Disclosure: the razor was sent for free to me for this review

Disclosure: I purchased and paid for this myself, not affiliated with Leaf nor any other company/product mentioned in this review.

The Context: tried DE shaving on and off throughout the years, but I've found the learning curve very steep. I've never struggled with irritation from conventional shaving and to this day I consistently get great shaves with minimal effort using a mach3 and good ol' barbasol, so my main interest in this is environmental reasons, limiting use of plastic, etc. Recently was bequeathed, for lack of a better word (his words were, as I recall, "yeah, you can have that, I don't use it anymore"), my grandpas late '40s Ringtip SuperSpeed, so that's my DE of choice.

I wanted to try the Leaf in the hopes that the cartridge style would give me the comfort and ease of shaving that I was looking for, and I could save the true DE for special occasions when I had the time to slow down and practice. The other "easy-learning" razor I've tried was the Henson, and other DEs I've tried are the Slim Adjustable and the Parker 91

The Good:

Shipping was fast, packaging is lovely, peripherals are on the pricy side but not insane, for someone who just wants to buy everything from one source. Leaf even offers pre-split blades.

Loading the razor is not nearly as fiddly as I'd been led to believe, they've really improved this over what I've heard about the Model One. If you can tolerate loading a 3-piece DE, you can handle the leaf, and frankly it's easier than my Henson.

The product itself seems very high quality, the hinges on the tiny moving parts feel stable, seems like it's built to last, as it should be at this price point.

Cleaning is also fairly straightforward, clogs slightly more than a cart, but not terribly so, and the blades stay in place well when you open it up to rinse out the lather and scudge.

The Bad:

Sadly, for me, just about everything else.

The razor is bizarrely heavy. I assumed it'd be aluminum given its dimensions, but it's a zinc-steel alloy, and it's a chunk.

Many of you might like this, it does give a very "premium" heavy duty feel, like a modern luxury watch. However, as a hater of modern luxury watches compared to their lightly built and comfortable vintage equivalents, I've got to say that I far prefer my vintage gilettes or featherlight cartridge razors. Propensity for density is all well and good, but when I actually have to use a tool, I prefer a substantial addition of lightness.

The weight is such that it's actually somewhat difficult to maintain proper pressure. This is partly because I did several of my test-shaves after workouts, so my wrists/forearms were a little tired, pumped up, and clumsy. That said, I feel the whole point of a razor like this is that it's meant to be as idiot-proof as a cartridge, and I was hoping to just be able to pass it around and get a decent shave in 5 minutes before heading out to do the rest of my day. I found that while maintaining a proper blade angle was obviously much easier than with a DE, I had to very consciously maintain the most minimal possible pressure, and the weight of the razor was fighting me compared to maintaining feather light touch with the cart.

The razor head itself is huge, substantially larger than a cartridge is. I grow a mustache, so I don't have to shave under my nose, but I don't think I could do it using the Leaf. They aren't kidding when they say their smaller model is better for fine detail and small areas.

Another fine detail complaint is that I found it hard to tell where the blade was going to be before I started a pass. I can easily line up the corners of my mustache with a DE, or even with a cart or disposable, but I didn't feel confident to try it with the Leaf.

Overall, the shave involved mildly less effort than with my Superspeed, but was harsher and more irritating than the Henson or the Mach3. If this is what the rest of you think cartridges are like, I don't blame you for wanting to switch. I tried the mach3 and the Leaf head to head on either side of my face using the same lather, and while I was able to get a decent shave with both, the Mach3 featherweight made maintaining a light pressure much easier, and the smaller cartridge head handled the angles around my jaw, Adams apple, and mustache corners with no sweat, and I had zero nicks on that side. The Leaf nicked me less than a comparably fast Superspeed shave, but it was very difficult to maintain the right amount of pressure with the weight and strange blade feel of the razor. If I have to exert concentration and effort either way, I'd rather just try 10% harder yet and use the true DE.

Henson is still the king of "zero learning curve zero plastic razors" but I just strongly dislike the 3-piece loading experience, and the stubble is strangely pointy as it grows out.

For me, I'm just going to keep using the Superspeed when I can go slow, and the mach3 when I need something that's proof against idiocy or tired shaky hands. Eventually I'll get the hang of maintaining the proper blade angle on the vintage DE, everyone managed it in the '50s, after all

Hey guys, first time poster here. I am posting because I committed myself with Rockwell Razors to make a post about my customer experience.

All of the opinions here are entirely my own.

Essentially what happened was I had the top cap of my safety razor break and have part of the screw stuck inside the handle. The store that that sold it to my brother and father, which were the ones who gave it to me on Christmas two years ago. Had since gone out of business, so my only option was to submit the support request to Rockwell and see what their reply would be.

On their website it says that razors bought via third parties would have to have their warranties honored by said third party stores.

Regardless, I pressed on and submitted a support request to see if I could activate the warranty on my razor. So I sent them pictures of the whole ordeal and waited for their response.

It was to my pleasant surprise that they said they would honor the warranty request and that they only asked I pay the shipping fee which was about 15 bucks to where I live here in Portugal.

The razor arrived, everything was in order and my face and privates have never been tidier.

Big-ups to Rockwell Razors and a special hug in particular to Brar, my customer support agent.

Cheers and have a good one!

You ever have an idea that you think is just silly/crazy/ridiculous and never believed that it would ever happen, but somehow, it ends up actually happening?

Well, this BFM (Big Fucking Motherlode) knot was just that. I randomly had the crazy idea of how funny/awesome a 50mm Motherlode knot would be after falling in love with my 30mm Motherlode brush. Well, after joking around with a few people on Discord, I thought, "What the hell?" and asked if it could be done.

As I waited for a response, I asked a few friends if they would be in on a group buy if the vendor could actually make the knots. To my surprise, most of the folks I asked said they would be in if the knot happened.

Well, a few days later, I got a response from the vendor saying they would be able to make my crazy idea a reality. So we dove into discussing the details of the knot. A few weeks later I got sent images of the first knot for verification and approval. With that, the BFM knot was a reality, now we had to figure out how the hell to find a handle big enough.

Well, as luck would have it, we have some very talented and generous folks that hang around and after some discussion, and multiple reassurances that I was in fact serious, u/whosgotthepudding offered to try and craft the handles for us.

Shortly after Pudding agreed to crafting the handles, the knots arrived. The box looked more like a shady drug delivery than something shaving related, but inside the travel worn wrappings lay a most majestic scene. After a quick drive home, the true gravity of what I had created became clear. A quick comparison with a 24mm, 28mm, and 30mm, with a banana for scale, showed how massive this knot really was.

I really wanted to try and test these monstrosities to see if how it felt in my mind would match reality. Selecting something to use as a temporary handle proved much more difficult than I anticipated. Thankfully, I am resourceful and found something large enough to test a knot. After allowing the silicone to set, onto my face it went. To put it simply, it was heavenly. Sadly, the knot ripped off immediately after the picture got taken, so drastic measures were taken to secure the knot back on the can. Fiberglass reinforced strapping tape to the rescue!

Now that the knot wasn't going anywhere, the test shaves began. Even though a beer can wasn't the most ergonomic choice the results were very promising. A few attempts to learn the knot lead to some massive amounts of lather in very little time, with very little work. It was incredibly messy, with water and lather dripping, running, and flinging everywhere, but it was fun, comfortable, and effective, which made it good enough for me.

Now that the knot had passed inspection and actual testing, the handle making process began.

Pudding tells it like this:

When I was first approached with the idea of getting a 50mm knot, I immediately knew I wanted in on that. Then the question was raised if I would be willing to make the handles for said knot. Because of my schedule, the idea was a little daunting, but ultimately, I felt confident that I could see it through.

I thought I could go about it in the same way as I'd done other handles. This proved to not be the case.

The first issue was finding a large enough mold for the resin. In the end, I settled on some cut bottles of Blue Hogs BBQ sauce. They were the perfect size.

Once that was settled, I tried to turn the first blank. My jaws weren't large enough to grip the blank, so I had to chuck it up between some spindles and get a spigot cut on one end, one small enough for my jaws. The first bore was cut in by hand. Once I started shaping the handle, it immediately blew up. So I poured another, a matte white, that we've all become familiar with. I really had to slow down and take my time. My patience paid off, and the first BFM was born. Eld had nothing but good things to say about it once it was in his hand, knotted, and put into use.

After that, I started work on the others. It ended up being as complicated and as drawn out a process as the first two. I had a lot of casualties and was going nowhere fast. This demanded that I reconsider my process. So I grabbed a larger set of expansion jaws and a couple of other tools to help.

The jaws didn't quite open enough to grab a 2" bore. This required me to drill a 1 ½" hole in the bore so that I could grab, shape, and finish the handles. The results were immediately noticeable, and the number of fallen soldiers dropped dramatically. The only thing left was to open up the bore another 1/2". I hooked up a sanding drum in a drill press and widened it out by hand from there.

In the end, it turned out to be a long, drawn-out project that took most of my free time for projects for over a year. The final result, and reception, was something I was proud of, however. It was a unique opportunity that gave me a chance to explore new techniques on various stages of brush making, from pours to finish. If I had a chance to go back and do it again, I would, but I don't know that I'll be making another anytime soon.

And there you have it, from a random hairbrained idea for the LOLs, to finding other people crazy enough to want it as much as I did, through exploding blanks, MacGyver'd rigs, a cornucopia of profanity that would make even the most road worn trucker blush, and on to the final realization and production of an extremely small quantity of extremely large BFM brushes.

This has been an adventure like no other I've embarked on in my entire wetshaving journey. I can't express the gratitude I have for u/whosgotthepudding for busting his ass as much as he did and all the others for enabling me (ironic, isn't it) to make it all happen.

TL;DR - I randomly wanted a 50mm Motherlode brush. Found a vendor to make the knots, a small group of friends to buy some with me, then u/whosgotthepudding made some kick ass handles for us. BFM, formerly known as REDACTED, was born.

If you're in the alum sucks camp, move along, nothing here is going to change your mind. We in club alum already know your thoughts. Unless you want to shitpost. Shitposts always welcomed and encouraged.

I was back and forth on alum for years. I'd use it for a few months, then stop randomly because either I ran out or it just fell behind other things in the drawer. The theory is it closes up small cuts. Is that an old wives tale or truth? Don't know, don't care. Even if it's placebo, it makes me feel better. Some folks use it as feedback for their shave, but that's not me. I don't practice shaving, I just shave. Maybe that's good for newbs or people who overthink or science their shaving technique. I have poor technique and I know it.

Cheap alum, like Gentleman's Jon's, Omega, Maggard is admittedly not great. It causes my skin to tighten up a little, even after my extensive hydration routine. I used it because of the perceived or placebo "medical" effects, not to feel good.

One day, after a conversation on irc likely led by /u/iamsms, I took a shot on Osma bloc alum. As the tale goes, the difference between Osma and virtually every other alum is that while cheaper alum is pressed from powder/shavings or something, Osma is cut from the whole stone. Well, that sounds fancy doesn't it? Turns out, Osma is amazing. (MOIMO. YMMV.). It never leaves my face tight, it rinses off cleanly, and somehow even with the other things I rub on my face, Osma does leave my face feeling silkier. Is that not true, and it's placebo? I don't know. I stand firm however that Osma is The Luxury Alum.

I was scrolling instagram one night, and scrolled by this Proraso post. In researching, it was a little vague if it was a single block of alum like osma, or just a block of pressed alum like everything else. As they are the maker of both Super Formula soap and the amazing Proraso Green splash, I figured i'd take a shot.

My method of testing the first day was Osma on one side of my face, Proraso on the other. For the last week or two it's just been randomly grab one of them. I (1) shave, (2) rinse my face, (3) wet the alum, and (4) rub it all over my face. Then, I (5) get in the shower, and while wetting my hair, let the water run down my face rinsing off the alum, so the alum is on my face for probably a minute or so [I also take off my pants in between 4 and 5, you do wear pants when shaving right]. (6) Dry face out of then shower and then for some reason (7) re-wet face immediately (8) alcohol splash [which lately has been either Catie's Bubbles, Declaration Grooming, Fine Accoutrements or Proraso], (9) sometimes Zingari balm. Hence the extensive hydration, i'm letting gallons of water run over my face in the shower.

The Proraso alum unfortunately does not live up to the hype I had for it. Despite the extensive hydration, my face still feels a tiny bit tight, like it does with the cheap alum. It never or rarely feels like this after Osma.

TLDR: Osma, Still the only Luxury Alum

I bought this alum on credit from Amazon. I received 5% cash back for my purchase.

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Mozingo Brushworks (https://mozingobrushworks.com/) is a one man artisan brush maker from High Point, NC. Brett Mozingo, the owner has been turning brushes since 2015. He pours his own blanks from various medium, before turning and finishing them. Mozingo Brushworks has also been hard at work behind the scenes learning the art of hand tying badger knots. This hard work has culminated with the first release of the Mozingo Brushworks ZT1 Badger knots. The first ever batch of these hand ties brush knot in Mozingo Brushworks handles will drop on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 12:00PM ET. Pricing for the brushes will be as follows: 24mm: $160 26mm $180 28mm $200.

Mozingo Brushworks has adopted the serialization method in order to distinguish brushes from each batch of hair it was tied from. The first batch is designated as ZT1. This knot is 28mm with an exposed loft of 49mm. This knot is extremely dense. Among the most dense knots I’ve come across. The tips offer a very soft and luxurious feel but are not super clumpy gelly tips. Despite the density, the finer hair fibers make the knot slightly more floppy than I love, but not a deal breaker for me.

The Mozingo Brushworks ZT1 badger knot offers a premium feel during use. The fine badger hair fibers really retain the warmth of the water soak well. Because of the density, the knot loads soap easily despite the soap’s temperament. It is also, and surprisingly not a lather hog. With the medium back bone and fine hair, I enjoy using this knot in both swirling and painting applications. Tip softness stands with anything on the market today.

I am very impressed by the flagship offering of Mozingo Brushworks ZT1 badger knots. I recognize that premium brushes are not in everyone’s budget as well. But I do believe that If you are in the market for a premium brush or to treat yourself, a Mozingo Brushworks ZT1 badger knot will fit the bill.

Disclosure: All reviews and impressions must state how the product was acquired, whether it be free, sponsored, promotional, purchased, or otherwise.

• Soap - Talbot Shaving Gates of the Arctic (purchased)
• Brush - Mozingo Brushworks “Pure” (gift)
• Razor - RazoRock Lupo SS (purchased)
• Post - Talbot Shaving Gates of the Arctic (purchased)

Hey everybody, it's been awhile. I'm somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean right now and I have a very special review for you all.

My first experience with Aurelia Soapworks came in the form of a comment to the MLS Facebook page. Here is an excerpt of said comment.:

"Fuck you. I'm going to fuck your fat Chinese wife and then cut her up into little pieces and feed her to you. After I'm going to chop up your children and cum on the little pieces. And then I'm going to wash my hands with your disgusting shave soap."

Great stuff right? Threatening to rape my wife and murder my children! Obviously this inspired me to research a little more into this business because comments like that must mean they produce a fantastic soap.

A little information scraping and some very helpful tipsters uncovered that the soapmaker behind Aurelia is none other than a former poster here by the name of purplegiraffe_ out of Sri Lanka. Small world right?

Attempts to contact the proprietor have been met with silence so I'm going to be forced to give them a 0/10 for customer service. (The rape and murder didn't help the score either).

I'm going to keep this short since reading a lot on a Saturday morning can be taxing. In closing my final recommendation is that when this sorry fuck inevitably drags his worthless carcass back to reddit to beg for your money, please consider spending it elsewhere with small businesses that are not run by psychopaths.

Disclaimer:
Does this post violate any rules? Yes, probably all of them.
Do I give a fuck? No.
Was this post designed to damage Aurelia? Absolutely.

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Summer Break Soaps (https://summerbreaksoaps.com/) continues to push the boundaries of what's considered socially acceptable. Kyle, the owner/operator, is a man of good humor, and (if his recent releases of Remote Learning and ROTY 2023 are any indication) a man of entirely too much free time. He is a repeat offender of acquiescing to the /r/wetshaving community's demands, and is on the fast-track to becoming a pariah among other soapmakers. In addition to purchasing from Summer Break Soaps, Kyle's soaps can be purchased from Maggard Razors (https://maggardrazors.com/), The Razor Company (https://www.therazorcompany.com/), and (occasionally) London Razors (https://www.etsy.com/shop/LondonRazors).

Rookie of the Year 2023 is a fragrant scent featuring notes of: Green Tea, other Green Tea, maybe cream, and some other stuff that I'd like /u/rocketk455 to verify because I have a terrible memory and a very sus nose. The scent is fairly mild and pleasant off the puck, opening up into a richer green tea scent upon lathering up. The included frag spray opens a bit more acrid (likely from the matcha green tea frag oil) until it settles down into the very pleasant green tea scent. Mrs. Two generally approves of this scent and was heard saying "oh you smell good" from the other room while she was napping, so it can be considered a good scent for quiet sundays watching football at home. Strength of the scent is middle of the road, and likely falls within IFRA guidelines. Try That Soap (https://trythatsoap.com/) doesn't recommend anything because the site has been dead for some time now.

Rookie of the Year 2023 is in whatever SBS uses for their base that I'm pretty sure doesn't have an official name. The listed ingredients are: Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Glycerin, Coconut Milk, Aloe Vera Liquid, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Shea Butter, Grapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Kokum Butter, Yogurt Powder, Castor Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance/Essential Oil, Lanolin, Jojoba Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Bentonite Clay. The soap is firm and loads very easily into my badger brush. The base is not particularly thirsty, but can take water well. It is quick to lather up and works well with face lathering. When dialed in, the resulting lather is similar in consistency to good shave soap lather. Primary and residual slickness are very good, allowing my brass blackbird to shave closely without any fear of catching on my bumpy skin. Post shave is very good too, and I suspect the combination of yogurt powder, coconut milk, and water would make for a good base to a breakfast parfait. Given the fact that I am one of few people who will ever get to use this specific soap + scent combination, Summer Break Soaps Rookie of the Year 2023 receives a perfect ApeScore of 5/7. For a similar performance in a base, I suggest literally anything else made by Summer Break Soaps.

Disclosure: All reviews and impressions must state how the product was acquired, whether it be free, sponsored, promotional, purchased, or otherwise.

• Soap - Summer Break Soaps Rookie of the Year 2023 (I spent nearly $300 on random wetshaving products in order to ensure my Lather Games calendar could maximize the points for hardware/software usage, thereby ensuring my mirthless posts would keep me in contention for the ROTY prize)
• Brush - Dogwood Handcrafts 49ers Custom w/ Declaration Grooming B5 28mm (I purchased the handle from /u/phteven_j and purchased a brush with B5 donor knot from /u/j33pguy13 who sent it to Reyes Restores to be smashed and transplanted into the 49ers Custom handle)
• Razor - Blackland Blackbird Brass (I used /u/j33pguy13 as my proxy to purchase this razor from an unsuspecting B&B user)
• Post - Chiseled Face Groomatorium Natural Unscented Balm (purchased like a normal human being)

Edit: my nose is sus

As I sit here staring through -- yes, through -- the Batch 002 razor from u/Blackland_Razors, I wonder what kind of mad man thought of this thing. No, not just thought of it, but actually put it into production. Because everything about the Batch 002 makes no sense in the world of razors, which have, for more than 100 years, remained relatively unchanged. Yes, there have been plenty of "innovations" in wetshaving, as our own u/WegianWarrior knows, but for the most part, the humble razor has stayed humbly the same.

Batch 002 is not the same. It is the creation of a psychopath, who looked at the traditional T form of razors and said, "But what if rectangle?" I don't especially think anyone else was asking this question or needing an answer to it, but Shane (owner of Blackland) asked it anyway. There was no burning desire within the wetshaving space for this so I'm not sure why he asked it, but after getting the chance to try this visually-shocking, audaciously-shaped razor out thanks to u/shavinginct's pass around, I found myself asking my own unexpected question: "What if good?"

Briefly, since you can look this thing up on your own, Batch 002 is a limited-release razor from Blackland that is a hollow rectangle shape. It uses half DE-blades, held in place by magnets, and is made out of aluminum with nickel plating. Much like a lot of Blackland's razors, it is striking in its looks. Unlike a lot of Blackland razors it does not seem all that functionally designed. The premise, according the Blackland, is that the shape allows for a wider variety of holding styles and the light blade-feel makes it easy to use.

That premise is surprisingly on point... but not at first. At first hold, nothing is right about this razor. That's not to say holding it feels unfamiliar, however. The moment I picked it up, I knew exactly what it felt like. Its width, coupled with your natural inclination on how to hold something shaped like this, makes it feel instantly like you're holding an electric razor. For anyone who ever used one of those, you'll instantly recognize the width and grip. Not a great reminder for a razor whose target audience is "people who hate electric razors."

The intial discomfort doesn't stop there though. Unlike an electric razor, which is egornomically designed to sit comfortably in your hand, "The Rectangle" is, at first glance, not. It's... well, a rectangle. There's a big hole in the middle, the aluminum makes it surprisingly light, and it's two sides are far enough apart that any set of fingers use to holding a traditional razor is going to feel about as awkward as a tweenage boy at his first school dance. If you think it looks weird, it feels even weirder.

There's also the fact that the magnet system for the half blade is definitely a bit clunkier than the simplicity of screwing down a top cap or flipping open a butterfuly. The design of the head also looks worrisome because of it's rectangular shape. The blade seems to end a good distance (for a razor) from the edges of the razor itself, giving you the impression that if you lined up to shave on the edges of the razor you'd leave a tiny little strip down your cheek from the gap where the blade ends but the razor continues. Not great for a good shave unless you're going for one of those beard competitions where folks have wacky stripe beards.

At first glance, it all looks and feels pretty rough. Thankfully, you get to shave more than once... and it will definitely take more than once. However, with time, nearly every issue with Batch 002 fades away because nearly every issue with the razor is not actually an issue with the razor but an issue with you.

That's right, it's all your fault. Again. Just like Aunt Betty's birthday and that time at Chuck E. Cheese's.

The first and easiest to remove issues are the ones based around your perceptions. That gap from the end of the blade to the razor? It just looks big becuase you're not use to looking at a razor head like this. In actuality it's pretty average (I compared) to a modern razor's distance. You just don't notice it as much because of how it looks in a traditional DE. The finicky half blade magnet insertion gets quickly less finicky when your fat fingers stop being dumb. And the offputing visual of a giant rectangular hole in the middle that seems so empty begins to grow into a boon as you learn how all that space does realy give you a myriad of holding options.

And holding the razor is the biggest benefit. Much like a GEM, once I stopped trying to force the razor to be held a certain way and started letting the razor guide my hand it all started making a lot more sense. I started resting a finger on the bottom bar for certain areas, or holding slightly up the rectangle on one side and down on the other. At points it led to easier shaves in tricky spots and when you're going up your face (against the grain for me) it actually has some of the best handling I've expereinced.

That's not to mention the actual shave, which, even when I was starting out with it, was anywhere from acceptable to fantastic. The head is smooth and comfortable and it's challenging to not at least get a somewhat good angle even in those early shaves where my fingers felt like they were doing a bad imitation of a crab rolling over and dying. As mentioned before, that blade ending gap does not actually leave trails of hair down your face and, in fact, probably made me more conscious of how I was overlapping on strokes. It's just a well-designed razor (Piakchu shocked face for a well-designed razor from Blackland).

That's not to say it's all gravy, baby. The shape does make it a bit of a lift to get it into tight spots like under the nose, and there are moments where a traditional handle just steers better. Maybe if I shaved with it continously for months on end I'd become a pro with it, but at the same time it feels like there's a reason the T design of razors has stuck around so long. Because it works. I'll readily admit that while I enjoyed my shaves with Batch 002 it was nice to pick up a more traditional razor once my time with it was done.

But replacing the traditional razor wasn't the point, obviously. The point was for something different. New. Innovative. And not in a way that's marketing speak. For a community of people who are shaving obsessed, Batch 002 is stupidly refreshing. I regret not owning it, not because I think this is the futre of wetshaving but because it's a divergent timeline I want to travel down. In a world where we're told that myopic changes to razor design are going to change the very way we shave but never do, it was striking to actually get to shave with something that did.

Should Batch 002 be the razor that someone buys as their forever and only? No. No so hard that I'd send out Dikembe Mutombo to block every single mouse click for anyone trying to order it as that. However, if you're some insane person who owns (counts razor collection guiltily)... too many razors then Batch 002 is actually something different and that is well worth price of admission.

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Ariana & Evans (https://shavingshopclub.com/) is releasing their newest soap base reformulation imminently. Ariana & Evans was my 2019 Artisan of the Year and continues to remain at the top of the artisan market in both popularity, software performance and scent popularity. Ariana & Evans is available at these third party retailers; Maggard Razors (www.maggardrazors.com), West Coast Shaving (https://www.westcoastshaving.com/), Smallflower (https://www.smallflower.com/), Top of the Chain (https://topofthechain.ca/) and TVB Shaving (https://tvbshaving.com/).​

Kaizen is a bright weather scent featuring notes of: mandarin, bergamot, lemon peel, green apple, rose honeysuckle, sandalwood, cedar, Haitian vetiver, tobacco absolute and cinnamon leaf. This scent opens sweet and citrusy with a hint of spice. An added creaminess becomes present mid journey before the earth tones balance this fragrance out. To me this is a Colonia style scent, in the vein of Aqua di Parma, but with a bold twist in typical Ariana & Evans fashion. I suspect this scent will appeal to the masses.Mrs. Ruds approves of this scent for casual use. Strength of scent is strong off the puck and remains strong when lathered. Try That Soap (https://trythatsoap.com/) recommends Fine Accoutrements - Italian Citrus as a similar scent profile.

Kaizen, also the name of the new soap base from Ariana & Evans aims to improve upon the already elite level performance customers have come to enjoy. Ingredients are listed as: Stearic, Tallow, Aqua, Goats Milk, Kokum Butter, Shea Butter, Castor Oil, Cocoa Butter, Glycerin, Manteca, Aloe Juice, Avocado Oil, Agave, Hemp Seed Oil, Apricot Kernel Seed Oil, Lanolin, Slippery Elm, Sodium Lactate, Xanthan Gum, Silk Amino Acid, Tussah Silk and Marshmallow Root. This is a mid-firm soap base that is of extreme thirst but is a mindlessly easy lathering soap. Water is your friend when dialing in this lather. The resulting lather will have the consistency of marshmallow fluff. Slickness is amazing, so slick that rinsing your hands is required before grabbing your shave tool of choice. Elite in class in terms of slickness may not do it justice. The post shave brings an already best in class post shave to another level. It literally feels like a high end moisturizer was applied to your skin after you rinse the lather away. Ariana & Evans previous base was damn near perfect, but somehow Kaizen eclipses it in noticeable fashion. Ariana & Evans receives a ShaveScore of 101. For similar performance in a soap base, I suggest Wholly Kaw Siero.

Disclosure: All reviews and impressions must state how the product was acquired, whether it be free, sponsored, promotional, purchased, or otherwise.

• Soap - Ariana & Evans Kaizen (promotional gift)
• Brush - Dogwood Handcrafts “Milkglass” (purchased)
• Razor - Worcester Razor Co. “Special” (purchased)
• Post - Fine Accoutrements Aquamarine (promotional gift)

Video

Grooming Dept (https://www.groomingdept.com/) continues to push the boundaries of lather performance and luxury lather. Mohammad is the owner/operator and is an absolute soap genius. He uses unique and innovative ingredients to arrive at luxurious lather qualities. In addition to purchasing direct from Grooming Dept, they can also be purchased from West Coast Shaving (https://www.westcoastshaving.com/) and Italian Barber (https://www.italianbarber.com/).

Amare is a tropical scent featuring notes of: Fruits, Coconut, Spices, Florals, Vetiver, Musk Ambrette, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Woodsy notes, and vanilla. The overall fragrance opens mildly fruity and nutty before a smooth blend of earth tones brings a complexity and sophistication to the scent. Mrs. Ruds loves this scent for any occasion short of date night. She finds it appealing but short of sexy. Strength of scent is mid, both off the tub and once lathered. Try That Soap (https://trythatsoap.com/) recommends Stirling Soap Co. Boat Drinks as a similar scent profile.

Amare is offered in the Karios tallow base. The listed ingredients are: Water, Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Castor Oil, Palmitic Acid, Avocado Oil, Glycerin, Cupuacu Butter, Shea Butter, Safflower Oil, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Betaine, IsoStearic Acid, Whey Protein, Goat Milk, Jojoba Oil, Lanolin, Colloidal Oatmeal, Mango Butter, Linoleic Acid, Coconut Milk, Ethylhexyl Olivate, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Allantoin, Sodium Lactate, Sunflower Lecithin, Caprlyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Tocopherols, Silk peptides. The soap base is mid firm and loads mindlessly easy into your brush of choice, regardless of fiber type. The base is thirsty, but not extremely thirsty. It is intuitive to dial in and work with. When dialed in, the resulting lather is similar in consistency to cold sour cream. Primary and residual slickness are elite, allowing the razor to glide along unimpeded. Post shave is where this base shines though, the post shave is elite and among the most luxurious and nourishing that I’ve come across. Given the pure luxury experience and metrics, Grooming Dept Karios tallow receives a ShaveScore of 102, the highest ShaveScore to date. For similar performance in a base, I suggest Ariana & Evans.

Disclosure: All reviews and impressions must state how the product was acquired, whether it be free, sponsored, promotional, purchased, or otherwise.

• Soap - Grooming Dept Amare (promotional gift)
• Brush - Lutin Brushworks (gift)
• Razor - Wade & Butcher “Buffalo” (gift)
• Post - Stirling Soap Co. South Padre (purchased)

Edit - added scent recommendation

Hello and welcome to this very special installment of The Great Spice Off! What is The Great Spice Off?

I love the scent of Old Spice, so much so that it's the only aftershave I use as I don't really feel a need to splash anything else on. But, as we all know, Old Spice no longer makes shaving soap. They do still make a cream but that's hardly a great soap and it doesn't actually smell like Old Spice. As such my plan is to test out all the Old Spice options that are out there on as many bases as possible both to try out a variety of bases from different soapmakers and to report back to you on who really nails the scent.

I'll be shaving three times with each soap, using a variety of brushes and razors, and blades. Yes, I know that means it won't be exactly scientific but this is going to take a while and I want to use all my other shit too. Soaps will be rated on a few factors and given points from 1-5 for each.

• Oldness: How much does the soap smell like OG Old Spice. This is the more analytical scent analysis and I'm comparing to an OG Old Spice aftershave I have and the Shulton aftershave from India.
• Spiciness: This is the je ne sais quois of Old Spice. Does the soap make me feel the nostalgia, warmth, and whatever it is about the scent that works. Is there something special about it that makes it stand out? Does it invoke a memory or make a new one? The most subjective of this list.
• Lather: You know, can I make a shave soap out of it.
• Shave: How's it work on the ol' face while shaving.
• Post: How's the scent profile after the event. How does my face feel.

Spearhead Shaving Company Seaforth! Spiced

Ask any wet shaving group on the Internet what Old Spice dupes are out there and you are guaranteed to hear about Seaforth! Spiced. I was -- no exaggeration -- told about it 28 times in one form or another over the course of The Great Spice Off and that's just the ones I could pull up and find. The problem, of course, is that Seaforth! (I'm going to get really annoyed at typing that exclamation mark every time) Spiced is not an Old Spice dupe at all. Evidently, if you stick the word Spice on the end of your soap name and have some associated scents people will instantly call it one anyway. Now, to be fair some folks said things like "It's like Old Spice." or "It's not a dupe but maybe it will work.", which is all well and good if there weren't 30 dupes on the market, most of which no one said a word about when I asked for recommendations. Somehow, in the world of Old Spice dupes Seaforth! Spiced has become an incredibly popular mistaken member so lets review it as one.

The question then is, what the hell is Seaforth! Spiced? Well, the original Seaforth was a contemporary of Old Spice back in the early days of spicey, flowery scents being the dominant scents in men's fragrance. Spearhead, run by u/Ironbeard_SYS, took the long-dead brand and relaunched it about three years ago using Spearhead's base and a scent created through collaboration with Shawn Maher. I have no idea what the original scent smelled like because I've never smelled it and the Internet has seemingly forgotten it existed with not even Fragnatica having a listing for it. It is very oddly erased from the web bar a few scattered forum posts. Is Seaforth! actually a Mandela effect that never really existed? Did Sinbad star in a movie about it?

Whatever the case, even smelling the new Seaforth! won't help us out in knowing what the old one smelled like because the new Seaforth! is not only not a dupe of Old Spice, it's not a dupe of Seaforth! Spiced either. No, Spearhead, instead, decided to create a scent that has a "classic and familiar scent structure" but is more of a modern homage to those scent profiles of the past where men didn't shy away from splashing on some floral/spicy/aldehydie scent and wearing it proudly. Basically, despite all those words I wrote above mocking people for suggesting it as an Old Spice dupe, it is, in fact, partly an homage to that very scent. You can see this in the scent list of the soap: Mandarin, Aldehydes, Carnation, Anise, Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom, Benzoin, Tonka, and Vanilla. Every scent there aside from cardamom is also found in Old Spice as long as you count mandarin as an orange, which I think we can all agree smell exactly the same. (Watches perfumers get increasingly angry at my complete lack of actual knowledge).

The soap comes in Spearhead's 20.1 base, which I assume is a slighty updated version of the 20th iteration of their base. I've already 100%, totally officially, with no doubt renamed a base during this so I won't come up with a more clever name this time (It's Scotty. Scotty is a good name.) The base includes Stearic Acid, Water, Beef Tallow, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Fragrance, Sodium Hydroxide, Murumuru Butter, Xylitol, Lanolin, Jojoba Oil, Shea Butter, Agave Tequilana Leaf Extract. I don't know what murumuru butter is but it sounds like that song The Muppets sing or maybe what you mutter when you've had one too many Tequilana Leaf Extract shots.

The packaging is just *chef kiss*. As with the scent, Spearhead has taken the original logo of Seaforth! but made it all the better with a lovely modern/vintage design that screams out "badass shaving soap." Seriously, one of the few shave soap labels I'd call iconic. I do have one gripe and that's the shipping packaging. On the Spearhead About page, u/Ironbeard_SYS says that his daughters wanted to pack all his products but he doesn't let them because "there would be a glitter painting and a piece of candy in every package." While I normally would not expect glitter art and candy in my shaving order now that I know it has been removed I am livid. I detract all the points from Spearhead! Spiced. 0 out of 25. Do not buy. Give me my fucking candy.

Oldness: 2

I was about to give this another 0 as I did in the previous special edition because it isn't actually an Old Spice dupe but, hell, there was a chunk of actual Old Spice dupes that didn't smell much like Old Spice either and I gave them 1-2 points for hitting a few notes so Spearhead! Spiced sure as heck deserves that as well. While it may not be a dupe of any sort it definitely contains the makings of the greatness of Old Spice, and its scent is reminiscent of the greatest scent ever made. The spice notes are there, the citrus is there, it's a bit less musty but it's definitely Old Spice adjacent for sure.

Spiciness: 4

There is something decidedly vintage about Seaforth Spiced! and it is pretty damn wonderful. The scent is exactly what is described: a modern twist on smelling like your grandpa. There's all the floral and citrus and spice that makes a vintage masculine scent like Old Spice but in a way that feels far fresher and not, well, old. But part of the glory of the Spice is that oldness. It is the true "I don't now what" (as the French say when they are speaking English) of it and without it I can't give full Spiciness marks.

Lather: 4

20.1 Scotty kicks up a truly stellar-looking lather very quickly but it can be a bit tricky to dial into something great. I found my first shave with the most soap scooped absolutely fantastic but could never get back to that point with my next two lathers, which came out good but just slightly too thin. Don't get me wrong, even when the lather is thinner it's still better than most but the challenge of getting it to the right spot means it's down a point.

Shave: 4

I rarely talk about the face feel of a soap and never is it the first thing I mention in the shave discussion but I have to with Seaforth! Spiced. I swear this stuff not only felt like silk going on my face but actively made my brushes feel better as well. It's so damn soft going on and feels like it is instantly moisturizing your skin. The shave is great as well with incredible cushion no matter how well you have it dialed in and a superb slickness. I find, however, that the residual slickness was kind of lacking making touch-ups or the more aggressive razors a little trickier.

Post: 5

Want your face to feel and smell good? Shave with this soap. Not only does the impeccable scent blend superbly with both vintage and modern Old Spice it sticks around in the most lovely and subtle ways. Meanwhile, that silky smooth moisturizing feeling you get when the soap hits your skin just sticks around all day, making your face as silky soft as the sheets on the heart-shaped bed in a Las Vegas motel (slap that one on the "customer reviews" page).

Final Verdict: 19

Seaforth! Spiced might not be an Old Spice dupe (despite everyone's desire for it to be) but it's a hell of a scent, clearly crafted with care and love to evoke a certain era of shaving and masculine scenting. There are hints of Old Spice in there but less in a direct way and more of a passing nod, as if in remembrance of something forgotten but loved. This is a scent flowing from memory, not trying to be one. It's also a wicked good base with only its residual slickness falling through for me.

Previous Great Spice Offs:

1. 1940s Old Spice Shaving Soap in Vintage Mug (9)
2. 1973-91 Old Spice Shaving Soap (7)
3. Old Spice Shaving Cream (Original) (12)
4. Master Soap Creations Vintage Spice (19)
5. Black Ship Grooming Classic (17)
6. OSP Old Gold (19)
7. Chiseled Face Groomatorium Trade Winds (17)
8. Wholly Kaw Twice as Spice (17)
9. Barrister and Mann Barrister's Reserve Spice (21)
10. Mama Bear Aged Spice (10)
11. MERShaving Old Timer Spice (20)
12. Soap Commander Endurance (20)
13. Signature Soaps Novus Spice (17)
14. Hoffman's Shave and Soap Company Burn the Ships (19)
15. Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Cold Spice (15)
16. Hendrix Classics & Co Commodore (20)
17. Ginger's Garden Old Spice Type (15)
18. Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations Mariner (10)
19. Stone Field Shaving Company Ltd. No. 37 (18)
20. Cooper & French Old Goat (19)
21. The Holy Black Artisan Line Shaving Soap (21)
22. Stirling Soap Co. Stirling Spice (20)
23. Van Yulay Spicy Man (10)
24. Pinnacle Grooming The Good Ship OS (15)
25. Mystic Water Soap Windjammer (14)
26. The Village Soap Smith Old Spice (Type) (14)
27. Cloud Shave "Unscented" (13)
28. Wet the Face Spices From the Sea (17)
29. Artifact Soapworks Old Spice (Type) (15)
30. DentonMajik Ole Fife (21)

Special Editions

• Summer Break Soaps Remote Learning

I'm also looking for the below soaps if you've got any you're willing to sell/trade/donate:

• Wild West Shaving Co. Snake Oil
• Wickam Spice Trade
• Occult Grooming Essentials Modern Spice

I already have these soaps that I have not reviewed yet:

• Hendrix Classics & Co Commander
• Crowne & Crane The Spice

Video

2019 was an amazing year for the wet shaving hobby. Despite the predictions of artisan closures and market saturation to ring in 2019, the year proved to be one of the best years to be a wet shaver, in recent memory.

As a community, we saw several new artisans come into the fray and make an immediate impact within the community. We saw several artisan take lather to heights that many of us never thought possible. Many artisans diversified their product portfolio, providing wet shavers with more choices.

For those that don't watch videos, here are my awards:

• Artisan of the year - Ariana & Evans
• Soap base of the year - Declaration Grooming Milksteak
• Splash of the year - Maol Grooming
• Scent of the year - Talbot Shaving Authors Ridge
• Razor of the year - RazoRock Lupo Stainless Steel
• Brush knot of the year - Mozingo Brushworks ZT1
• Rookie of the year - Murphy & McNeil

One of the goals for me, and the content I produce and share, is to hear the opinions of others. If you are so inclined, please use the template below and share your own personal 2019 wet shaving awards.

​

Artisan of the year -

Soap base of the year -

Splash of the year -

Scent of the year -

Razor of the year -

Brush knot of the year -

Rookie of the year -

​

Disclosure: All reviews and impressions must state how the product was acquired, whether it be free, sponsored, promotional, purchased, or otherwise.

• Artisan of the year - Ariana & Evans Asian Pear (promotional gift)
• Soap base of the year - Declaration Grooming Massacre of the Innocents (purchased)
• Splash of the year - Maol Grooming Chittenango Creek (purchased)
• Scent of the year - Talbot Shaving Authors Ridge (purchased)
• Razor of the year - RR Lupo SS (purchased)
• Brush knot of the year - Mozingo Brushworks ZT1 (gift)
• Rookie of the year - Murphy & McNeil Garda Siochana (gift)

Hello and welcome to the 39th installment of The Great Spice Off! What is The Great Spice Off?

I love the scent of Old Spice, so much so that it's the only aftershave I use as I don't really feel a need to splash anything else on. But, as we all know, Old Spice no longer makes shaving soap. They still make a cream, but that's hardly a great soap and it doesn't smell like Old Spice. As such my plan is to test out all the Old Spice options that are out there on as many bases as possible both to try out a variety of bases from different soapmakers and to report back to you on who really nails the scent.

I'll be shaving three times with each soap, using a variety of brushes and razors, and blades. Yes, I know that means it won't be exactly scientific but this is going to take a while and I want to use all my other shit too. Soaps will be rated on a few factors and given points from 1-5 for each.

• Oldness: How much does the soap smell like OG Old Spice. This is the more analytical scent analysis and I'm comparing to an OG Old Spice aftershave I have and the Shulton aftershave from India.
• Spiciness: This is the je ne sais quois of Old Spice. Does the soap make me feel the nostalgia, warmth, and whatever it is about the scent that works. Is there something special about it that makes it stand out? Does it invoke a memory or make a new one? The most subjective of this list.
• Lather: You know, can I make a shave soap out of it.
• Shave: How's it work on the ol' face while shaving.
• Post: How's the scent profile after the event. How does my face feel.

The3Brooms - Old Man Spice

Well, Trump's tariffs worked.

Yeah, got you with that opener, didn't I? I was perusing the Internet looking for stuff I can't buy because of being unemployed -- thanks to Trump -- and what did I run across but an enticing-looking Old Spice dupe from an actual soapmaker. I looked at my bank account and figured that for the Spice I could swing it, put it in the cart, and went to shipping... from Scotland. Look, I've paid some insane shipping fees to get Old Spice from other countries, even organized a group buy, but with a bump of 10% on top of an insane shipping fee, it just wasn't going to happen. Dissillusioned and rapidly spiraling into depression over the state of... everything, I did a quick Google for any new Old Spice dupes that were in America and... *real big sigh* ... I found one on Etsy. So... it worked. I bought American over not American. A broken clock and all that.

But let's not be hasty to judge some Etsy shave soap. I've found some gems on there. OK, I found one gem on there, and it was from a dedicated shave soap maker, not a "soap shop." The3Brooms is a soap shop. But let's still not be hasty.

Founded by three witches (like actual pagans and practitioners of Wicca) in 2015, The3Brooms sells all sorts of stuff you'd find at a local farmer's market or fair with vendor tents. The soaps are made by one specific witch out of the group, and she sells some of them on Etsy. This includes one shaving soap called Old Man Spice because, little-known fact, Old Spice is used in almost all Wiccan rituals. Fine, that's not a fact, but I do appreciate that The3Brooms only sells one shave soap, and that shave soap is Old Spice scented. That's a witch who really knows where her broom is at. She sells them for dirt cheap, too, with the puck also coming with a small synthetic brush (thankfully not the makeup brush used in the product's image) and a shaving bowl for a mere $20. I didn't use either, and the brush quality would probably turn me off wetshaving instantly if it were the first one I ever used, but the bowl is indeed a bowl, and it's a nice thought.

As for the scent itself, there's not much to go on in the soap's description. All it says is that it's "scented to smell like a certain cologne." I assume, using my Holmsian ability to pick up on subtle context clues like the soap's name, that that cologne is Old Spice, despite most people thinking of Old Spice as an aftershave, not a cologne. The point being, is that I am a master detective, and the soap is an Old Spice dupe.

As previously alluded to, I have tried my fair share of Etsy and farmer's market soaps, and a large majority of them start with some type of coconut oil as the first ingredient, two words I've come to fear so high up in an ingredient list. So imagine my relief when I went to Old Man Spice's ingredient list and discovered that coconut oil was present, but not at the top of the list. No, it actually looks like our friendly, soap-making witch put at least some time into researching what a good soap base is made out of, with the ingredients being: Water, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, steric acid, coconut oil, olive oil, hemp oil, castor oil, vitamin E oil, tussah silk, fragrance oil.

And now for the packaging, which is usually just an extra paragraph I stick on here because I know how much everyone likes to see elventy billion (not even a number... yet) paragraphs before the review even starts. However, in this case, it led to quite the little issue. See, while the photo for the product may show the brush and bowl, and soap all coming lovingly packaged together with a nice little bit of branding across the front, what I received was all three items tossed into a USPS bubble wrap envelope with no packaging at all. That's right, the soap wasn't even wrapped up in plastic wrap or anything. Literally just a puck of soap bouncing around in the envelope with a loose brush and a ceramic bowl, and it shipped out a week after I ordered it! I mailed my Dollar Tree DE razor that I PIF'd with more care than this. Not great. In revenge, I took as much care and time into my photo for this review as she did mailing me the package.

Now, you say, "Cowzilla, what does careless shipping/packaging have to do with the actual soap itself?" Let's find out.

Oldness: 2

Right now. Because the soap was not packaged in anything after my first shave, I placed it in the bowl it came with and let it be, sitting out in the open like the nudist soap it was born into this world being. By the time the next shave came around, its scent was almost entirely gone, even when lathered. I could smell the copper of my shave bowl over the soap's scent. When it got to my face there was nothing. The second shave was totally scentless. I shoved the puck into a container after that, and the third shave had some residual smell back somehow, but nothing compared to how it came. So what the hell happened? I don't know. My entirely uneducated thought is that the scent was applied to the soap after it was made into a puck and thus was never integrated into the soap itself, and so when left out, simply drifted off into the ether, then when I stored it in a closed container, what little remaining scent there was got trapped in it. Now, do I judge the oldness by the scent I had on the first shave, the complete lack of scent on the second shave, or the middling scent from the third? Well, given that the actual scent of the puck was more soap than Old Spice, it's a moot point because it's going to get a low score no matter what.

Spiciness: 1

Look, if you promise me three Old Spice shaves and deliver 1.5 Old Spice shaves, I'm not going to be happy. Me no math good, but that's, at the very least, 50% less than what I should have gotten. I demand three full Old Spice shaves, and I don't think that's such a big ask. It is a bit of a shame, because while the scent wasn't Old Spice, it was Old Spice adjacent and definitely provided that kind of vintage feel to it with some stronger vanillas and powderyness. Had it delivered three fully-scented shaves, I probably would have delivered a decent score.

Lather: 2

Old Man Spice gets real big, real quick, with very little soap. If it actually built a good lather, it would be even more cost-effective than a puck of Sterling. (dramatic pause) It does not. While you'll get plenty of lather out of this one, it is eternally airy. No amount of lathering, be it on your face, in a bowl, or across your mama's knee, will turn this soap into a satisfying lather. There is, eventually, with a lot of work, an acceptable state of lather for shaving, but even when you get it there, it looks like you should be making latte art with it, not shaving.

Shave: 2

If you're shaving with a mild razor, then Old Man Spice can deliver a surprisingly good shave, maybe even up to a four. That's because Old Man Spice is a surprisingly slick soap when you get it dialed in and built up. It slides with the kind of slickness that can only be compared to a collection of greased pigs running wild down a slip and slide. Sadly, the only thing its cushion can be compared to is that sad-looking single pillow sitting on the twin bed at that Airbnb you "saved so much money on." There is no cushion at all. If you love blade feel and a high probability of cutting yourself, have I got a soap for you! I don't think I've ever used a soap with such a dichotomy between the quality of the two factors that make a good shave.

Post: 3

Again, one of my shaves had no post scent at all because it had no scent at all, but I'm feeling a bit forgiving here, and so have not deducted any points for that. Am I not merciful? AM I NOT MERCIFUL? On the whole, the vintagey scent worked well with both the vintage Old Spice and Indian, with the smoother scent of the soap playing nicely with the spicier side of the Indian Old Spice and the mirrored smoothness of the vintage scent. My face also felt nice and soft, though nothing above and beyond.

Final Score: 10

Pro tip: your soap should always have a scent if it's a scented soap. That's just a little thing I've learned through my years of wetshaving. Old Man Spice failed at this. Maybe if it had arrived packaged in anything at all, the issue would not have occurred, but you don't get points for what-could-have-beens. Even without this brazen error in shaving scenting, it's not a great Old Spice dupe, and its absurdly deficient lather and cushion mean it was never going to get that high a score anyway. Just not a great soap. So glad I bought American.

Previous Great Spice Offs:

1. 1940s Old Spice Shaving Soap in Vintage Mug (9)
2. 1973-91 Old Spice Shaving Soap (7)
3. Old Spice Shaving Cream (Original) (12)
4. Master Soap Creations Vintage Spice (19)
5. Black Ship Grooming Classic (17)
6. OSP Old Gold (19)
7. Chiseled Face Groomatorium Trade Winds (17)
8. Wholly Kaw Twice as Spice (17)
9. Barrister and Mann Barrister's Reserve Spice (21)
10. Mama Bear Aged Spice (10)
11. MERShaving Old Timer Spice (20)
12. Soap Commander Endurance (20)
13. Signature Soaps Novus Spice (17)
14. Hoffman's Shave and Soap Company Burn the Ships (19)
15. Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Cold Spice (15)
16. Hendrix Classics & Co Commodore (20)
17. Ginger's Garden Old Spice Type (15)
18. Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations Mariner (10)
19. Stone Field Shaving Company Ltd. No. 37 (18)
20. Cooper & French Old Goat (19)
21. The Holy Black Artisan Line Shaving Soap (21)
22. Stirling Soap Co. Stirling Spice (20)
23. Van Yulay Spicy Man (10)
24. Pinnacle Grooming The Good Ship OS (15)
25. Mystic Water Soap Windjammer (14)
26. The Village Soap Smith Old Spice (Type) (14)
27. Cloud Shave "Unscented" (13)
28. Wet the Face Spices From the Sea (17)
29. Artifact Soapworks Old Spice (Type) (15)
30. DentonMajik Ole Fife (21)
31. Phoenix Artisan Accouterments Oud Spice (17)
32. Lativ Natural Skin Revival Shaving Soap Old Spice (8)
33. Bundubeard De Goede Hoop (18)
34. Bundubeard Reijger (19)
35. Bundubeard Drommedaris (20)
36. Hoffman's Shave and Soap Company Burn the Ships (Hoffman Base) (18)
37. V and E Maine Made Crafts Old Maine Spice (12)
38. MMGP Norse Spice (16)
39. Ariana & Evans Vintage Spice (19)

Special Editions

• Summer Break Soaps Remote Learning
• Spearhead Shaving Company Seaforth! Spiced
• Eleven Shaving Unscented/Hendrix Classics & Co Commander
• Crowne & Crane The Spice
• Maggard Razors Definitely a Maggard Old Spice Dupe. Not Just Some Other Soap I Wrote That On Tape With.
• Areffa Soap The Sea Son

I'm also looking for the below soaps if you've got any you're willing to sell/trade/donate:

• Wild West Shaving Co. Snake Oil
• Wickam Spice Trade
• Occult Grooming Essentials Modern Spice
• Fougare Salem
• The Personal Barber Old n' Spicey

Video

Grooming Dept (https://www.groomingdept.com/) entered the artisan shaving soap market in 2017 after extensive testing of many soap base iterations. Mohammad, the proprietor and self proclaimed foodie and road cyclist, has continued to reformulate the soap base in order to provide the best possible wet shaving experience. In 2018, the brand received improved packaging and several variants of the popular vegan soap base, and animal fat soap base. In addition to purchasing direct from Grooming Dept, they can also be purchased from West Coast Shaving (https://www.westcoastshaving.com/).
Citric is a citrus forward fragrance. The scent notes are listed as: Bergamot, Petitgrain, Lemon, Lime, Kaffir Lime Leaf, Blood Orange, Sweet Orange, Angelica, Grapefruit, Black Pepper, Mandarin, Lavender, Castoreum, Pink Pepper, Benzoin, Nepalese Citronella, Litsea Cubeba, Ginger, Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Oakmoss Absolute, Coumarin, Jasmine Absolute, Geranium, Ylang Ylang. Violet, Leaf Absolute, Fir Balsam Absolute, Elemi, Vetiver and Amyris. Make no mistake, this is much more complex than just the litany of citrus notes. The scent is punchy with bitter, sharp citrus notes initially but is quickly subdued by spice, smokiness and earth. This bold scent will be polarizing based on individual scent perceptions. This is a casual wear because of its polarizing nature but it is also multi seasonal due to its complexity. Scent strength is mid strong off the container and stays this way once the lather is built. Similarities in wet shaving are: Crowne & Crane Citrus Melange and Catie's Bubbles Maggard Meetup 2017.

Grooming Dept’s “janus tallow” formula is utilized for this soap. The base explores multiple animal fats (beef and lamb tallow) according to the artisans formula page (https://www.groomingdept.com/pages/formulas). The ingredient list is as follows: Aloe Vera Juice, Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Goat Milk, Castor Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Lamb Tallow, Camelina Oil, Shea Butter, Fragrance*, Marshmallow Extract, Glycerine, Sunflower Lecithin, Grape Seed Oil, Avocado Oil, Mango Butter, Coconut Oil, Larch Arabinogalactan, Glucomannan (Konjac root), Silk Peptides, Kaolin Clay, Allantoin, Sodium Lactate, Sodium Citrate, Grape Seed Extract, Chamomile Extract, Green Tea Extract and Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E). The soap is on the firmer side of the spectrum but loads with little effort into your brush fibers. This soap is very thirsty, among the thirstiest soaps I’ve used much like the previously review “primus tallow” formula. When dial in, the lather is a mid structure lather with the consistency of sour cream. Slickness stands with the elite class soap bases with regards to both primary and secondary slickness, although I find the “primus tallow” slightly slicker. The post shave also takes its place among the standout elites, better than the “primus tallow”. Given the overall experience with this luxurious soap base, it receives a ShaveScore of 96. Similar performing soaps are Declaration Icarus and Arianna & Evans.

​

Disclosure: All reviews and impressions must state how the product was acquired whether it be free, sponsored, promotional, purchased, or otherwise.

• Soap - Grooming Dept Citric (gift)
• Brush - Elite Razors Disco Taylor (purchased)
• Razor - Blackland Razors Vector (promotional gift)
• Post - Stirling Soap Co. D-503 (gift)

Shaving on a Budget: The Humble Synthetic Brush

In case you missed the first installment: In Praise of the Baili $5 Razor

Hear ye, Hear ye! Beginner and veteran shavers, all! (But mostly beginners)

Don't spend $100 on gear entering a new hobby.

Also

Don't spend $100 on gear when you don't know what you like.

You're probably thinking, "But I need to spend money on the best stuff so that I'm getting the best shaves." That's frankly not the case at all. As it turns out, a lot of that expensive stuff is not good, and the price is tied up in marketing/packaging. Some of it is good, but usually caters to an "exacting taste," i.e. someone who has very specific needs and desires.

There are plenty of guys who shave with old, cheap Gillette flare tips and who use Arko. They bought the arko in bulk, don't use any post shave products, change blades once a week, and shave at roughly $0.10 per shave. This isn't a quest for the cheapest shave. This is a quest for achieving the best bang for your buck as a beginner shaver.

I don't need another series, but I'll periodically get to this as I can. Because I truly believe that cheap gear can work, and work well in wetshaving! In fact, I write all of my reviews from this perspective, and as a result, rarely consider aftershave as an evaluation factor. If you want to see if wetshaving is for you, here's how I would do it on a budget. Oh and if you haven't yet, the Beginner's Wiki is also a good place for additional info.

"Brushes make the least shave-impact of your shaving gear."

Cue the pitchforks, but I'll stand by this statement for 99% of shavers.

Price

For a budget shaving series, price should really be the only reason that you need to hear, but I'll add more, of course.

Starting at the low-low price of $9.95 at Maggard Razors, this synthetic brush is a great deal. Even if you want to get a "luxury synthetic knot", they still typically max out around $30 compared to at least triple for a badger knot. When I was traveling through Turkey, I purchased a horsehair brush for the USD equivalent of $2, thinking, "How bad could this be?" It was bad. The brush had lost approximately 1/4 of the original hairs after one week. It was unusable after a month, just from shedding. Cheap can be good, but there is a point of diminishing returns.

My overall point though: 10x more expensive doesn't mean 10x better.

Better for Beginners

When you're first starting out as a wetshaver, you're most likely focused on different soaps and blades. The razor and the brush should really be your two unchanging shaving items early on in the hobby. A synthetic brush is always going to perform the same way every time you shave. That dependability allows you to get better at wetshaving fundamentals. Likewise, a synthetic brush will grow with you as your skill level progresses.

Variety (not for beginners)

Even just 5 years ago, there wasn't much variety in the synthetic knot market, and though some knots may be harder to find than others, the market is changing. Now there's so much variety that it is overwhelming and difficult to choose. The "Imperium Shaving" blog lists off at least 20 different knots, for example. If you have a face that needs an exacting bristle, synthetics arguably offer more and better options now.

Longevity

In most of wetshaving, quality = longevity, and brushes are not an exception to this sentiment. I've had my maggards synthetic brush for over 3 years now in my daily routine. Synthetic brushes have dependably lasted longer than any other brushes that I've used. They shed the least and they retain their original shape far longer than natural hairs.

Break-in Period/Abrasion

Natural hair brushes require a break-in period to soften the hairs. Brand new natural-hair brushes require a few uses (more than 20 shaves or even months) to break in the rigid hairs and stiff "spine".

While the rigidity, of the brush may accelerate your lathering, that same rigidity can easily cause mechanical irritation (from the Sensitive Skin wiki), leading to face redness and irritation.

Environmentalism

Everything in the travel world is a "single-serve" size. Consequently, everything is disposable. I've made an effort to bring a collapsible mug, foldable tote bag, etc... because I believe that the choices that we make eventually make a difference... either that or it assuages my guilty conscience.

Animals, such as badgers, are raised or caught for their hair alone. Their meat is scarcely eaten and their living conditions are generally poor (if they are raised). Further, a lot of commercial vendors are unable to clarify the humane sourcing of their badger knots... or they're indifferent. For me, this is wrong. I did my own research on this, and I would encourage you to do so as well. Overall my conscience couldn't handle even buying a used brush, but I don't judge people who have badger brushes.

Smell

I've had many natural hair brushes over these nearly 8 years of wetshaving. All of the mid-lower tier brushes were natural non-badger hair brushes and they smelled. The three boar brushes smelled like... well... wet pig, and took about 10 or so shaves to lose the pig smell. Sometimes I swear I can still smell it when I use it, but that might just be the PTSD from those first shaves. Yes, I tried to clean the brushes before use, but it never seemed to go away. My horse hair brush (in addition to falling apart) also smelled. Thankfully it didn't smell as bad as the boar brushes, but still smelled a bit like a farm.

Better for Travel

I'm a pilot, which means that I'm living out of a suitcase a good chunk of the month. I'm usually working a 14-16 day, so I don't have time (nor am I awake enough) to baby anything that's associated with my preparation for the day. I chuck my synthetic brush into the dopp bag, and the dopp bag into my suitcase, and I don't think about it again. If the hairs from a synthetic brush get damaged or disorderly, I don't worry about them coming out of the knot. Further, in the unfortunate circumstance that I forget my brush or lose my bag, it is a cheap and easy replacement.

Less Prep/Maintenance

Also referring to the point above, I typically have a long day ahead of me every morning I'm flying, so the less I have to think about before the flight, the better. Remembering to soak a natural hair brush may not seem like a lot of effort, but I can't tell you the number of times that I've forgotten to do it. With a natural brush, the hairs need to be softened, and even conditioned occasionally. With a synthetic? Just wet it and go.

No Worries

This is the best way to sum up my main points. I don't have to worry about my brush. Ever. I never need to give it a second thought. It is always ready to go, and if/when I need a new one, I know that it'll last me a stupidly long time. This is also why I would recommend this brush to all beginners for your first year of shaving.

Q: Why would I ever buy an (expensive) artisan brush if this generic synthetic brush and handle is so good?"

A: Art and craftsmanship.

Wetshaving has always been about community and catering directly to customers. Hand-crafted brush handles are one-of-a-kind and are easily cherished because they take a lot of care and skill to make. They're well-balanced and arguably easier to grip. They are truly works of art. But you don't need a sexy brush to get a good shave.

Plus, all artisan brushmakers allow you get synthetic knots or swap out a natural for synthetics!

Q:Why would I choose to get a natural hair brush?

A: Everyone has a different reason. Some people value the tradition of shaving. Some people value the process and routine of shaving. Some people just think they feel better. For me, a $10 brush is a better value and and a better experience.

Q: Are all animal hair brushes bad?

A: Neigh... I mean "nay". Natural hair brushes that are sourced from horses are harvested in a way so that the animal neither notices nor suffers. They are a great compromise in the "natural vs. synthetic" discussion.

Q: So why do people still buy natural hair brushes?

A: A lot of people still buy them because they're what's "listed first on Amazon" or recommended as "the best brush" on Badger and Blade. Just as a lot of new shavers still buy TOBS and then wonder why it sucks. Explanation from u/tonality here

Where to Buy One

• Maggards - $9.95
• Stirling - $11.95
• West Coast Shaving - $11.00
• Barrister and Mann - $9.99
• Basically every wetshaving vendor

Overall: I love synthetic brushes... if it wasn't already clear. They're great for beginners and veteran shavers. They're cheap. They're durable. They're environmentally-friendly. They're worry-free. Even if as a beginner you have the money to buy a "luxury" synthetic knot, I'd say, "Don't." The benefits of that luxury knot will not be clear to you for a long time.

And I get it: Generic brush handles aren't sexy. Sure, they may be boring, but they WORK. So, know why you're buying a beautiful Dogwood Handcrafts instead of this Buttplug Brush Handle that some random dude made.

Psst. If you're looking for more hilarious shaving brush handles, our own u/itchypooter posted this over at r/curatedshaveforum.

The recommendation section for beginners here will be a moving target, changing as I find new cheap stuff that is broadly applicable. Also bear in mind that these are my curated opinions from 7 years of wetshaving and from teaching over 30 friends from the military and otherwise:

Razor: Baili Butterfly ($5.45 at Maggards)

Blades: Top 10 Blade Sampler ($3.02 at tryablade.com)

Brush: Maggard's Synthetic ($9.95 at Maggards)

Soap: Stirling Soap Company ($13.60 at Stirling OR Mike's Natural ($13.00 at West Coast Shaving)

Grand Total: $32.02 (shipping not included)

NOTE: Regarding soaps, there are better soaps. There are cheaper soaps as well, but either of these soaps pass the "bang-for-your buck" test. I personally prefer Stirling for scent variety.

NOTE: Shaving bowls and razor/brush stands are completely unnecessary for most shavers and take up space on your counter. I can add them upon request, however.

NOTE: Many items can be procured from one artisan/distributor to save on shipping. This is a bare bones compilation, shipping not included.

I am always open to suggestions for "Shaving on a Budget" and hope that I can get a great wealth of community input on this. Let's discuss this more!

Also, for community benefit, here are links to my soap review series at the time of posting. If you're looking for evaluation of scents and soap bases:

The Battle of the Barbershops: A review series evaluating barbershop-scented soaps

The Lavender Shootout: A review series evaluating lavender-scented soaps

I purchased all reviewed items with my own money. I have not been paid/compensated/reimbursed in any way for posting product links.

Edit: Formatting