Grooming Dept

Just when I think Mo has created the ultimate soap I try another base and I'm blown away.  I shaved with Angel this morning (lamb tallow base) and it was heavenly (see what I did there? ).  Kairos is amazing, so is Nai, and I can go on, all excellent,    Thanks Mo!

Mohammad was kind enough to send me a sample of his upcoming Mallard Base, version 5.16. I used it this morning for the first time and had excellent results with it. Mohammad’s previous version of Mallard is one of my personal favorites, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this updated version. The Soap loaded easily in my slightly damp Muhle Synthetic Fibre knot, and I was ready to go after about twenty seconds of swirling. As much as I enjoy Mo’s Kairos Base, this one is even better for me and my personal tastes. This base holds a ton of water which I love, and produced an extremely thick and slick lather with tons of shine. The Kairos base doesn’t need much water to make a thick and slick lather, but this Mallard base can really hold a lot of water. I’m excited to push the limits of how thirsty this base is. I’m looking forward to seeing Mo’s finished version of this base, and I’m also really looking forward to the Scents he’s announced. I’m four hours post shave, and my skin feels fantastic. I plan on using this Base all week and look forward to dialing it in even more with the water, as well as seeing how my skin feels. Thank You Mohammad! I can’t wait for this release!

I love how Mallard drinks up water. Makes for a smooth and slick lather. Really nice post shave as well. A special base!

I too received a sample of Grooming Dept.'s test Mallard 5.16 from Mohammad.  I confess I have been a fan of GD from the very beginning so I have had the opportunity to test or acquire and shave with about 30 different versions/bases or scents of his soaps.  My growing stack of GD soaps is in danger of toppling over and endangering an innocent bystander.

The early GD soaps from 2017-2019 were really excellent and Mohammad's tinkering in his lab is adding incremental changes and improvements to his current and future releases.  I get the sense that he really likes experimenting and seeing how far he can push the levels of slickness, performance, post comfort and long term vitality of your skin.

Mallard 5.16 is a thirstier soap than Kairos.  I like a thirsty soap because it allows me to enjoy the time spent face lathering and building of a lather with incremental water additions.  This soap loads easily and brushes on the face in a dense protolather.  With additions of water, the peaks develop and the shine glistens.  My test sample of Mallard 5.16 is unscented.  Without a scent, I can better judge the soap just on performance.  The dense lather it produces is a nice protective cushion and the slickness allows the blade to glide down the face without skipping.  With just 15 seconds of loading, I had abundant lather which was enough for 3 full passes and then a fourth clean up pass.  I have shaved the past week with it and can say there are some nice incremental advances in this version of Mallard.   From what I have read on Facebook and Instagram, there are supposed to be some gourmand scents of this released soon.  

Have had a couple side by side shaves with the last production version of Mallard and Beta 5,16 lathered with identical distilled water and same manufacturer brushes with identical knots. 

The Beta 5,16 loaded as easily as the last production version, just a bit thicker and beautifully so.  Applying to the face, found the beta to take far more water than the last production version; conducting a palm against palm test, noticed it undoubtedly more cushioned - a promising start given my shaving preference possessing ultra sensitive skin.  By the end of lathering, it was clearly apparent not only did the Beta possess more cushion but also more volume.  The shave proved the early optimism was well founded and revealed some additional initial slickness but abundantly more residual slickness.  A three pass shave resulted in a much less irritated Beta side than production side as well as a cleaner rinse with less residual soap and soap film.  Post shave was a marked improvement over the production Mallard.

Please do not take this as insinuating Grooming Dept is an inferiour soap as all shaving results in irritation but with Grooming Dept being at the top of the soap pantheon delivering minimal irritation - this to state that Beta 5,16 is an improvement on what I already considered a top of the market soap performer.  It really is neck and neck between Nai and Mallard Beta 5,16 as to which is the star of the Grooming Dept line.  They are different but equally great in my estimation and would be quite happy with either - perhaps I would give an edge to Nai but only for it being a vegan formula and hence cruelty free.  Great job Mo!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBPRt2TnIpN/...9znnnjdnfj


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I’ll start by saying I’m a total tallow snob. I never ever tried a vegan soap that was even close to a tallow in performance. That is until today....

I just tried the GD Otium in the Nai base. I’m truly shocked....blown away....All I can say is it was totally incredible on all dimensions! It’s my new favorite base. And I still can’t believe I’m saying this about a vegan. In addition...the lather preparation was faster than any other tub soap I’ve ever used. It took just seconds to generate a thick, luxurious lather...and without a lot of water after a short 15 second load. I don’t know how Mohammad pulled this one off...but...he did...

So...if you’ve never considered a vegan....try this one...and be prepared to be amazed...

I’ll start by saying I’m a total tallow snob. I never ever tried a vegan soap that was even close to a tallow in performance. That is until today....

I just tried the GD Otium in the Nai base. I’m truly shocked....blown away....All I can say is it was totally incredible on all dimensions! It’s my new favorite base. And I still can’t believe I’m saying this about a vegan. In addition...the lather preparation was faster than any other tub soap I’ve ever used. It took just seconds to generate a thick, luxurious lather...and without a lot of water after a short 15 second load. I don’t know how Mohammad pulled this one off...but...he did...

So...if you’ve never considered a vegan....try this one...and be prepared to be amazed...

Patiently waiting for a restock. How do you like the scent?

Not Frenchy but will state that the scent description, although perfectly accurate, scared me off - mint to be specific. However, have since had the opportunity to use Otium. While the description is spot on, the mint is subtly in the background, pleasantly so. Still think Aion best scent Mo has released but Otium quite good.  Again, not Frenchy with all due apologies

I’ll start by saying I’m a total tallow snob. I never ever tried a vegan soap that was even close to a tallow in performance. That is until today....

I just tried the GD Otium in the Nai base. I’m truly shocked....blown away....All I can say is it was totally incredible on all dimensions! It’s my new favorite base. And I still can’t believe I’m saying this about a vegan. In addition...the lather preparation was faster than any other tub soap I’ve ever used. It took just seconds to generate a thick, luxurious lather...and without a lot of water after a short 15 second load. I don’t know how Mohammad pulled this one off...but...he did...

So...if you’ve never considered a vegan....try this one...and be prepared to be amazed...

Patiently waiting for a restock.  How do you like the scent?

I don’t get any mint. More of a mixed fruity vibe to my nose. Hard to describe..It is pleasant. It smells much more strong in the tub than when lathered...which to me is a good thing. Today I pared it with Maol Tangerine AS which complimented it nicely.