(10-13-2022, 07:38 AM)Dragonsbeard Wrote: UPDATES:
So I haven’t been very active on here lately and that’s because I’ve been very active playing catch up and most importantly working on a whole bunch of new releases I have planned for both Fall & Winter which includes the remainder of 2022 through February 2023. As far as getting my operation at my new location back to speed I’m about a week or so from that goal.
There are so many new things in the works I can’t wait to bring them to the table. I’ve been very actively working with my good friend Joe who happens to be one of the best cosmetic chemists in this country when it comes to formulating both Hair & Skin care products. We are working with the same ingredient company that we developed the EOS Complex with. In fact I’m going to be doing an in depth write up on that in the near future. It has been my goal to bring advanced Skincare technology to the the traditional Wet Shaving Community since I started this journey with ETHOS.
More details on that coming up as I
have so much to say on so many subjects but I don’t want to lay to much on you at once
So on to the meat & potatoes of this post. The Sandalo Artistico products. So the Shave Soap is made and it’s been sitting since Saturday so it will be ready for shipping to my vendors by Monday. An for those that don’t know. I make a large batch of Unscented/ 85% finished base and it cures for about 2 months so that’s why when creating a new Shave soap ( scent ) all I have to do is do a slow melt add in the remaining ingredients at the lowest temperature possible which includes both the Aroma blend and the high heat sensitive ingredients which would loose some of their benefits and in the case of the Aroma Blend, scent strength. So that’s why it doesn’t take very long from the time I pour the soap till it’s ready for release in case anyone was wondering.
Also aside from the F Base Shaving Soap and Skin Food Splash, there will be the new Skin Food Lotion and the first of my new oil based serums. An I have to disclose there are two new ingredients that were just released that I’ve added to the serum formula but they will not appear on the first set of labels as they were printed before the release of these two revolutionary new ingredients were available but they will appear on the next batch of labels and all the new serums that I’ll be adding that no only match some of the existing Aromas like Lavender for example but all the new releases. This formula is replacing the existing serums. I will list the new ingredients on the website in the description. I’m extremely excited about these two ingredients and I suspect you won’t find them in any other oil based serum in any high end skincare brand for a while.
Ok on to another subject that’s been on my mind and bugging me for a while so time to let it out.
This was recently sparked by a post on another forum where I’m not able to express my thoughts.
So what’s bugging me is the misrepresentation of two of my favorite Wood Oils. Sandalwood and Oud/Argarwood. Here’s my thoughts and why I feel the way I feel. First off the two words are in my humble opinon thrown around very loosely! An I’ll be clear this doesn’t just go for the shaving world but also and more so the world of perfumery.
A couple of easy examples:
Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood. As the name implies. It’s Sandalwood. No it’s not! Not even one drop of it in there. Totally synthetic and it doesn’t smell anything like any Sandalwood I’ve ever had my nose on and I’ve had my nose on not only the easy to get varieties but some very rare vintage ones. Not a one of them smell like TOBS Sandalwood. It’s a created fragrance. In my opinion a nice fragrance and worthy of a name but not simply Sandalwood.. it’s very misleading in my opinion as anyone who let’s say never smelled 100% Authentic Sandalwood may actually think that’s what it smells like. Also if a blend of many aroma ingredients that could all be synthetic, natural or a combo of both and it doesn’t contain a decent amount of real Sandalwood then call the scent/ product a creative name but not just Sandalwood. Especially if it smells nothing like real Sandalwood!
2nd example:
Tom Ford Oud Wood
Aroma blend profile as advertised
Actual ingredients
Alcohol Denat., Fragrance: Water, Linalool, Bht, Limonene, Coumarin, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Farnesol, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Butylphenyl Methylpropional
Not one drop of real Oud/Argarwood oil Sandalwood, Vanilla etc etc.
A great scent and a great job of perfumery and I like it but it is in my opinon once again very misleading. Id have more respect for TF if he were to call it some creative name but to call it Oud Wood when there is no Oud or Wood oil of any sort in the blend just doesn’t sit well with me and especially at the price of entry. If it had a different brand name on it and wasn’t in a custom bottle the synthetic oil scent would sell for a whole lot less. So once again if a person never had their nose on any variation of authentic Oud/Agarwood oil they might think that’s what it smells like.
Authentic Sandalwood oil goes from relatively expensive to extremely expensive when your talking about Vintage Royal Mysore and Authentic Oud/Argarwood oils goes from very expensive to outrageously expensive as I’ve seen some rare aged vintage Oud oil at $5,000 and oz!
So bottom line if someone is making a soap, cologne or any other product and it doesn’t contain a very healthy dose of the real Wood oil in it where it’s the dominant scent please come up with some creative name for the products but please don’t use the name of the Wood oil as a single name/title to describe it. Oh and I’m sure that the makers, at least most of them I’m hoping don’t mean to be misleading or use deceptive marketing to try to pull one over on customers.
Oh and just for the hell of it I did the cost breakdown on what the cost of using a 100% straight Mysore Sandalwood oil that’ I know of that’s available in the US and it’s not a rare vintage one but a 30 to 40 yr old batch and it would cost $67.00 for just the Mysore in each 4oz jar of Shave Soap. So add the other ingredients, packaging and labels and mark up and it’s pretty plain to see that your not going to get the real deal in a $25 tub of shave soap and if it were Oud you could double or even triple that price per jar and again that’s not the rare vintage Oud/Agarwood oil.
So just to be upfront my new Sandalo Artistico has a total of 60% East Indian Sandalwood, 20% Mysore Wood Accord and 5% 1960 Mysore Sandalwood oil in the shave soap with the other Aroma ingredients making up the remaking 15% of the Aroma Blend. And I’m not calling it simply Sandalwood. Even though it has a heavy dose of the real juice in it.
Look I understand not everyone may share my opinion on the subject but I felt I needed to express it. An hopefully I’m not coming off as a fragrance snob or anything like that as that’s pretty far from my nature but like I said those two wood oils seem to be so misrepresented in the personal care industry and especially in in perfumery and in the shaving world as well.
Great shaves all.
Wow! Thank you for taking the time Frank. I must admit it is a lot for me to take in, but OTOH I remember the first time I opened the Mysore Santal from your Aja Collection. I was like "OMG! So this is what the real deal smells like." So for that alone, I'm on board. -- Thanks again for the detailed writeup.
Technique Trumps Tools
Skin Care Trumps Skin Repair
Be Cool, be Kind, and be Well
-- Mike --
Skin Care Trumps Skin Repair
Be Cool, be Kind, and be Well
-- Mike --