Barrister and Mann

Will the Cologne Russe soap be available from your usual retailers?

Just ordered Cologne Russe  

I will be most surprised if you do not go back and buy a spare, or three, as I've done after trying it

Can't wait for try

Will the  Cologne Russe soap be available from your usual retailers?

From what I know, it is a limited edition in house soap, made for a specific group.
Once sold out, I believe it will not eventuate again.

Will the  Cologne Russe soap be available from your usual retailers?

From what I know, it is a limited edition in house soap, made for a specific group.
Once sold out, I believe it will not eventuate again.

This. I actually like it enough that I had considered making it a permanent thing, but the fragrance is very complicated to make, and making soap with it requires a LOT of it. It's different for aftershave. But if we find some way to speed up/simplify the process in the future, we might bring it back.

Will the  Cologne Russe soap be available from your usual retailers?

From what I know, it is a limited edition in house soap, made for a specific group.
Once sold out, I believe it will not eventuate again.

This. I actually like it enough that I had considered making it a permanent thing, but the fragrance is very complicated to make, and making soap with it requires a LOT of it. It's different for aftershave. But if we find some way to speed up/simplify the process in the future, we might bring it back.

Love the scent-makes the shave special. I have enough for now; but hope to see it return in the future.


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Will the  Cologne Russe soap be available from your usual retailers?

From what I know, it is a limited edition in house soap, made for a specific group.
Once sold out, I believe it will not eventuate again.

This. I actually like it enough that I had considered making it a permanent thing, but the fragrance is very complicated to make, and making soap with it requires a LOT of it. It's different for aftershave. But if we find some way to speed up/simplify the process in the future, we might bring it back.

I would be happy to see it as a seasonal/limited run every few years, as it is that good!
It encompasses a wonderfully complex traditional side, without the boring/aged nature a fair few tribute/reproductions tend to unwittingly achieve.

Hi Will, I'm curious abut a couple of things.  First, I've noticed that B&M's new aftershave development seems to be focused on the alcohol based splashes rather than your Kyovu non-alcohol formulations.  I enjoy the alcohol based splashes for sure but I also love the Kyovu for their soothing balm like application.  I love the Chesire, Bay Rum (yum) and original kyovus and I have a bottle and a half of the Roam left.  Is there a reason for the focus on the alcohol based splashes?  I hope you will continue producing the Kyovu as well.  

From a Canadian  perspective the cross border issues relating to the alcohol based splashes are somewhat alleviated by your expansion of Canadian distributors, however, it will continue to be a bit of an issue respecting products like the DFS exclusive aftershave.  I had to resort to using my wife's American relatives for trans-shipment of that one.

Second point of curiosity is related to how you come up with your scents and where you get your inspiration.  I'm fascinated with the creative process and I'm curious as to whether you start with a profile you're trying to replicate and how that comes about or whether you just go in and start experimenting to see what you come up with?  Do you ever take a classic profile and then improvise like a jazz musician doing a riff on it to take it to some different though related place?  I think you are very good at the process however you do it. Scent is so evocative and obviously triggers different things in different people.

Thanks,
Mark

Mark,

IIRC, Kyovu is undergoing a reformulation of the base, to reach an uniform scent profile from standardised ingredient.
Laymans terms, Will is seeking to ensure the base scent remains the same via use of one supplier and is testing out the different options first, as he does with everything before we even hear of it

If wrong, I'm more than open to correction from you Will

Hi Will, I'm curious abut a couple of things.  First, I've noticed that B&M's new aftershave development seems to be focused on the alcohol based splashes rather than your Kyovu non-alcohol formulations.  I enjoy the alcohol based splashes for sure but I also love the Kyovu for their soothing balm like application.  I love the Chesire, Bay Rum (yum) and original kyovus and I have a bottle and a half of the Roam left.  Is there a reason for the focus on the alcohol based splashes?  I hope you will continue producing the Kyovu as well.  

From a Canadian  perspective the cross border issues relating to the alcohol based splashes are somewhat alleviated by your expansion of Canadian distributors, however, it will continue to be a bit of an issue respecting products like the DFS exclusive aftershave.  I had to resort to using my wife's American relatives for trans-shipment of that one.

Second point of curiosity is related to how you come up with your scents and where you get your inspiration.  I'm fascinated with the creative process and I'm curious as to whether you start with a profile you're trying to replicate and how that comes about or whether you just go in and start experimenting to see what you come up with?  Do you ever take a classic profile and then improvise like a jazz musician doing a riff on it to take it to some different though related place?  I think you are very good at the process however you do it. Scent is so evocative and obviously triggers different things in different people.

Thanks,
Mark

Hiya Mark!

Well, alcohol splashes sell very, very well, and Kyovu is extremely labor-intensive to make. And, as tokenaccount noted, we're going to be suspending production soon (after the holidays) to strip down the product and work out some of the kinks that we've found since it's been on the market. We're going to turn it into the ultimate post-shave for sensitive skin and remove all additional fragrance in the process; it will instead derive its scent entirely from some of the hydrosols used to make it (neroli, rose, lavender, and cucumber, to be specific). This will also eliminate the stickiness problem and the weird "sour" smell that the emulsifiers give it, as well as making it gentler for freshly-shaven skin, especially for those who have exhibited reactions to it in the past. The Seville, Bay Rum, and Cheshire scents will eventually be moved over to our Tonique line, but this will take a bit of time, so I'm afraid the market will have to just bear with us in the meantime.

We're well-aware of the difficulties with getting limited edition aftershaves into Canada, which is why our next big LE scent after Hallows, Le Grand Chypre, will be offered to all of our American and Canadian retailers. We're making a certain quantity (about 500 jars and 350 bottles of splash) and that will be it. We're very excited to get it into Canada, though.

I've taught myself quite a lot about perfume theory and aroma chemistry since I founded the company and am very much a classicist at heart. Many of my scents are inspired by features of great masterpieces of perfume; for instance, Lavanille was designed as an attempt to recreate vintage Pour un Homme de Caron, which made use of the now-discontinued Mousse de Saxe perfume base. Rhapsody was based on the structure of Nicoläi New York, but I took it in a dramatically different direction by building the scent around a pear blossom accord that I devised, chosen because the pear blossom trees of Central Park bloom in Springtime. I had wanted to do a fragrance that represented Manhattan, so I chose New York as the inspiration; if you look closely at the label, you can see a blue outline that surrounds the entire graphic, which is meant to represent "Rhapsody in Blue," a musical piece that I have always felt represents New York City perfectly.

Other fragrances, like Roam and Hallows, were based on specific concepts (in the case of Roam, the American Old West; for Hallows, the Fens of Boston), while Dickens is based on a specific holiday cookie that my mother is fond of making around Christmastime. It really depends very much on what it is; there are some fragrances where I want to work with a specific ingredient (my interest in violet leaf absolute is what led to the creation of Adagio) or a specific accord/combination that occurs to me (such as the geranium/saffron/carnation accord upon which I based Solarion or the leather/coffee/sandalwood accord that comprises Leviathan). Occasionally, I attempt to recreate a real-world smell, such as the cognac model I used for Fireside (which contains real green cognac oil, by the way). Finally, I would say that my best works are those built upon the structures of specific perfume families; the two fougères, Le Grand Chypre, Cologne Russe, etc., are all designs meant to represent classical perfume families (even Rhapsody is technically an oriental, though I'd very much like to build a true oriental in the style of Emeraude or Shalimar; just haven't gotten to that one yet).

So I guess the short answer is: "Everywhere; whatever strikes my fancy." Some are born of accidents (Anise & Vetiver), some of classical tribute, some of nebulous concepts. Really depends on what catches my interest at the time.

Hope that sheds some light on it. I'm glad you like my work.

-Will

Will, that was a fascinating read.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  I have, and really like, Rhapsody.  However, being a native New Yorker just makes the soap that much better after reading what went into the making of it and the label for it.