Anything that can go wrong will happen while I'm shaving...

YAY !!!!

This evening I shaved with the whole Phoenix package... The spectral synth brush knot, the Cavendish soap, and the Star jelly.

I continue to be impressed with the star jelly. The sample came with enough that I'll definitely be able to try it for another few shaves. I should know for sure if it's better than my Stirling Balm (for me) .

The soap is out of this world. The scent of Cavendish is pretty much what I was looking for in a pipe tobacco scent ... Very reminiscent of the Black Paladin I remember from my father in law growing up.

Finally the brush. It is indeed a good. A bit more backbone than I had expected, but it wasn't scritchy at all, so it remains smooth and soft. I am a bit worried about the appearance. It came out of the bag flattened and remained that way through two lathers. Hopefully it'll gain the typical round shape. If not, ooh well, it was cheap enough. As long as it remains soft, that's the major point. I'll just have to make sure I position it on the shelf with its good side forward. Lol.

Edit: Shave 2 went fine with the sensor disposable. I miss my Overlander, though. I may just call it good enough after 4 shaves. We'll see.

Hey Doug,
Would love to connect up to learn a bit more about your experience. Your experience is obviously not what we want (or expect!) from our shaving cream. I'd love to learn more and see if what I can do to leave a better impression. I sent a message to connect. - Stan. Founder, PSC.

Hey Doug,
Would love to connect up to learn a bit more about your experience. Your experience is obviously not what we want (or expect!) from our shaving cream. I'd love to learn more and see if what I can do to leave a better impression. I sent a message to connect. - Stan. Founder, PSC.

Hey, it looks like you're too new to the forums to send PMs. It's ok, I can try to better explain here:

I initially used it without a brush, but also with the razor that isn't great. The shave was pretty bad. After the first three passes I lathered some up, to do a clean up pass. It wasn't much better. In the soaps defense, my face was rather irritated at this point.

So I had given it another shot, this time with my best razor. As expected the hand application was still bad. If my recollection is correct, I think there was some "base" irritation from the soap itself. With soaps that are made to lather, I imagine their ingredients are absolutely concentrated. My skin doesn't dig that too well, perhaps? The second and third passes were done with a brush. Same as before, it didn't provide the protection I'm used to, including a noticeable lack of residual sickness (again, I had a industry standard vegan soap on the other side to compare it to, albeit a lower cost "entry level" one, maybe?).

I'm sure some of this may have to do with my skin sensitivities. Still, it's not something that would work for me, especially in the context I was looking for: a soap I could use without a brush in a minimal setting. I'd just end up hurting myself to save a few inches of bag space (travel setup).

I initially gave it a shot as I had seen latherhog rate it well, at least compared to other grocery store available products. Perhaps it was the citrus? I know your caffeine version is mint, instead. Maybe that would have been better for me? I may try it one day. Currently, the stores around me (North East NY) don't carry your travel sizes and availability is an issue in general. In fact, if I recall, even Amazon sells the travel size for about the same price as the full tube. Kinda makes a bad first impression that the product inside is not worth as much... That plastic and shipping are the key factors. Unfortunately, Amazon is a juggernaut... Kinda hard to fight what they do. :⁠-⁠(

Nonetheless, I don't think it is a bad product, just a bad one for me. Almost everything in this hobby is very much YMMV.

I hope that helps a little.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Ok, I just realized the acronym for this is 'The Loo'... Like, "The toilet". No thanks!

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

I've been thinking about my shave with the Pacific Cream. I don't know, considering all of the details, if it gave it a fair shake. Add in the lack of response from Pacific, and I was feeling downright bad. So, I decided I would give it another run this evening.

I cut out the points that scream to me they skewed the odds: (1) No unlathered cream was used. I'm sure it was a sensitivity, so no first pass that way to set the shave up for failure. (2) I used my new preferred disposable, not a razor I didn't like nor my daily driver (Overlander). If I'm trying it out as a travel cream, I might as well use the exact setup. Fair is fair, right? Finally, (3) I used my exact travel setup... My small Razorock brush. I doubt that changed anything, but I might as well keep it to what it would be on the road.

So, how did it go? Well, better than last time! Still some sensitivity, I'd say. Not as bad, and I was able to finish the shave just shy of a DFS. I prefer a DFS to BBS, but the razor was on shave #4, and my wire-like beard really wears an edge fast. It wasn't going to happen, and I would have created irritation for no reason.

I will say, the residual slickness still isn't there. It rinses away without a fight, super fast. Also, I could feel a prickly tingle at the start, before I even took the blade to face... But it was quite mild and fleeting. That is definitely a sign something in the soap is reacting badly to my skin. Again, it was mild as long as the soap was diluted (ala lathered).

Nonetheless, I'm more likely to find something better. While I am going minimal, I still want a good experience. With my skin, and the sensitivities, I guess I just need more. Not at all a shot at Pacific, it's just me.

Thanks for reading folks... Anyone... Anyone?!... Bueller <chirp chirp>. Ahh well.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

That's really helpful feedback to hear. Thank you for taking the time to share it.
If you'd be up for a short phone call, I'd love to chat. Probably not a good idea to share my cell phone on this forum(!) but if you can DM me, perhaps I can share my info that way.  (Oh, and you are right, I'm new here, so if this message is breaking any forum rules, please let me know and I'll delete it immediately.)
Many thanks!

That's really helpful feedback to hear. Thank you for taking the time to share it.
If you'd be up for a short phone call, I'd love to chat. Probably not a good idea to share my cell phone on this forum(!) but if you can DM me, perhaps I can share my info that way.  (Oh, and you are right, I'm new here, so if this message is breaking any forum rules, please let me know and I'll delete it immediately.)
Many thanks!

Not breaking any rules and glad to have you here. You unfortunately won't be able to send and recieve messages though until you meet BOTH requirements of 14 days a member and at least 10 posts. Perhaps share an email address if you're comfortable with that or you'll need to post more and wait 2-3 more days

That's really helpful feedback to hear. Thank you for taking the time to share it.
If you'd be up for a short phone call, I'd love to chat. Probably not a good idea to share my cell phone on this forum(!) but if you can DM me, perhaps I can share my info that way.  (Oh, and you are right, I'm new here, so if this message is breaking any forum rules, please let me know and I'll delete it immediately.)
Many thanks!

Not breaking any rules and glad to have you here. You unfortunately won't be able to send and recieve messages though until you meet BOTH requirements of 14 days a member and at least 10 posts. Perhaps share an email address if you're comfortable with that or you'll need to post more and wait 2-3 more days

I was just looking for those details, thanks Dave!

That's what I meant by first response pacificshaving . I won't be able to send you a message. Nonetheless, I'm glad the elaboration and additional attempt provided you some useful details.

As I said, I saw latherhog's post on it, and I know him from Discord channels on shaving. I'm 100% sure his review is accurate. It's just not good for me. I definitely have skin sensitivities. That's ok, I've run into issues with many soaps, some quite expensive. It's part of the exploration. Lol.

Have a good evening!

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Definitely don't want to spam this list with unnecessary posts. 
If you're up for it, reach out to: whereits (at) pacificshaving (dot) com