Barrister and Mann

My goodness, that last post was difficult to read with no capitalization.

All evidence has been buried, all tapes have been erased.

Speaking of LEs, when will you post more details about Le Grand Chypre? :-)

we dropped shopify a long time ago and switched to magento. FAR better all the way around imo. i know for a fact magento can do anything you want it to. my wife designs our sites in magento and it just works and has so many more capabilities. they do (or still should) offer a free version as well.

as well as i have to check with my wife but with shopify there are a ton of "workarounds" with custom code. im just not sure if they still allow this to be done. last we used shopify was a few years back. i know for a fact magento can do what you want and a ton more.

I'm afraid that to move systems again would cause serious damage at this point, ESPECIALLY this time of year. We're simply going to have to do it this way and work with it.

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Speaking of LEs, when will you post more details about Le Grand Chypre? :-)

Either tomorrow or Friday.

Hi Will, I'm not going to mention the H word soap here. I had a great shave this morning with the B&M Anise & Vetiver soap - I think its vegan and its smells and performs wonderfully. I was slightly indecisive on whether to use the Kyovu bay rum or original aftershave - I went with original. I really like the Kyovu so Of course I was thinking about what you'd said earlier about reformulating the kyovus and also that the toniques outsell the kyovus by a wide margin. Neither of these bits of information were taken as good news by me because reformulation usually means cheaper ingredients and if you like the original product then you may not like the reformulated one - based on experience with other reformulated products. I also compared the ingredients list of kyovu with tonique and kyovu has a ton more ingredients so I'm thinking if its costlier to make and its not selling as well as the tonique....it doesn't bode well for kyovu.

So here's another thought on the issue of comparing current sales volumes of tonique and kyovu. Kyovu is a mature product that you've made in a limited number of fragrances - original/bay rum/chesire/roam/seville. All of your new fragrances have come out in tonique only. Have you considered that the tonique outselling kyovu is a temporary phenomenon resulting from the possibility that your customer base has all the kyovu they need and will only buy it to replace an existing one when it runs out while they are snapping up the toniques because they are new and exciting. Perhaps if you brought out kyovus in the new exciting fragrances sales of kyovu would go up as well. I'm wondering if your reasoning for the respective sales volumes of kyovu and tonique might be flawed. There is the logical fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc which holds that because a thing follows another thing that it must be cause by that thing. Ie sales of tonique may be higher than kyovu not because customers prefer it but because they haven't got the new toniques and have got the kyovu...for now.

Sorry for rambling on, its just that i'm concerned for the future availability of kyovu.
Mark

Hi Will, I'm not going to mention the H word soap here.  I had a great shave this morning with the B&M Anise & Vetiver soap - I think its vegan and its smells and performs wonderfully.  I was slightly indecisive on whether to use the Kyovu bay rum or original aftershave - I went with original.  I really like the Kyovu so Of course I was thinking about what you'd said earlier about reformulating the kyovus and also that the toniques outsell the kyovus by a wide margin.  Neither of these bits of information were taken as good news by me because reformulation usually means cheaper ingredients and if you like the original product then you may not like the reformulated one - based on experience with other reformulated products.  I also compared the ingredients list of kyovu with tonique and kyovu has a ton more ingredients so I'm thinking if its costlier to make and its not selling as well as the tonique....it doesn't bode well for kyovu.  

So here's another thought on the issue of comparing current sales volumes of tonique and kyovu.  Kyovu is a mature product that you've made in a limited number of fragrances - original/bay rum/chesire/roam/seville.  All of your new fragrances have come out in tonique only.  Have you considered that the tonique outselling kyovu is a temporary phenomenon resulting from the possibility that your customer base has all the kyovu they need and will only buy it to replace an existing one when it runs out while they are snapping up the toniques because they are new and exciting.  Perhaps if you brought out kyovus in the new exciting fragrances sales of kyovu would go up as well.  I'm wondering if your reasoning for the respective sales volumes of kyovu and tonique might be flawed.  There is the logical fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc which holds that because a thing follows another thing that it must be cause by that thing.  Ie sales of tonique may be higher than kyovu not because customers prefer it but because they haven't got the new toniques and have got the kyovu...for now.

Sorry for rambling on, its just that i'm concerned for the future availability of kyovu.
Mark

It's a good thought, but what you're missing is the human labor factor. Kyovu is extremely expensive and labor intensive to manufacture, which is one of the reasons that I simply wish to no longer do it in-house. Instead, we're going to hand it off to a manufacturing lab that has been making some of the products that are coming up for release (all of which are secret and have not been included in the release schedule so as to prevent someone from attempting to beat us to it).

Part of the aim of the reformulation is to eliminate what I see as some of the problems of the formula: its stickiness, its potential allergen issues (seriously, there are SO many people allergic to juniper!), high labor cost, etc. The thinking is to preserve the majority of the formula, but eliminate the additional fragrance and instead derive its scent from the hydrosols built into the base (which was actually the original idea; juniper hydrosol just smells awful on its own). The vast majority of its components will remain the same. We'll still be using aloe and witch hazel and licorice and strawberry and quinoa and allantoin and panthenol and hyaluronic acid and such. But we'll be using some different hydrosols and may be replacing the willow bark extract (unless I can find a more economical way to obtain an aqueous extract). The price of the stuff will likely have to increase; it was designed as a luxury product but was released before I had ever considered the possibility of wholesale and thus was never really priced properly.

Deep breaths, Mark. I'm not undoing all the work I've done, I promise.

Hey Will, you're right, I should chill out.  I know that your values and approach will ensure the best outcome for all concerned.  I've had too much time on my hands lately to think things through to their inevitably awful conclusion.  I think I mentioned to you in an earlier communication that I work in the oil and gas business, more accurately, used to work in that industry.  I was "retired" in May.  If you're aware of the collapse in the world oil prices then you likely know about the impact on the industry.  There's been more than 36,000 jobs lost in Alberta so far in 2015.  I know that the shale oil folks in the US are similarly hard hit.  I'm not starving but I have more time to worry about stuff like the future of kyovu.

I look forward to trying the new kyovu.  Like I said (ad nauseum) I like kyovu, you called it balm for splash guys and that is a fair description, it feels balm slick, you got to shake it before using it and its really gentle and soothing, unless of course you're allergic to it.  Of all the B&M products I've used and thats almost all of them, the only one that I had a problem with was DICKENS, the Christmas cookie soap.  It irritated my skin so I assume one of the ingredients in it disagreed with me.

I appreciate the time and trouble you take in communicating with those of us in the community.  You are always informative and articulate and I think you're doing a great job.
Thanks,
Mark

I am still surprised that people are using bots and/or scripts to buy soaps...especially for ones that will be coming back next year. I am also surprised that someone bought more than 3 soaps and aftershaves...again, especially for ones that will be coming back next year. I guess the possibility exists that they bought multiples with the intention of gifting them. However, if they bought it for themselves then a whole year may pass before they finish it all (and they will be available again)

On another note, announcing the note list for our upcoming Le Grand Chypre (Leh-Grond-SHEEP-Ruh) soap and aftershave!

Lime, bergamot, oakmoss, labdanum, Mousse de Chyprée (we recreated another vintage base!), patchouli, peach skin, rose, frankincense, cedar, and musk.

Rich, fruity, and floral, with an intense citrus note and our recreation of the storied DeLaire Mousse de Chyprée base, Le Grand Chypre is a scent for the refined sartorialist.

Labels to come tomorrow.

Labels to come tomorrow.

Labels are out (on Facebook) with a surprise: a new soap base!!!

Labels to come tomorrow.

Labels are out (on Facebook) with a surprise: a new soap base!!!

Very interesting- labels look great too!