Grooming Dept

Today was Aether. Lathered up very quickly felt nice of the skin and was slick. Once lathered, the components of the scent came through and are quite light and clean. As my [first] shave progressed I noticed more and more of the scent and started to appreciate that it was not a full strength in your face scent. The scent of the tub isn't much to write about, but lather it up and give it a chance.

Aftershave pairing for this? I don't know. I reached for B&M Reserve Cool.

I believe it's really hard to judge my scents by just sniffing the puck. The scents open up greatly once lathered. Interestingly L&L has observed a similar trait with their outstanding soaps! This is from the L&L website

Please note: The initial smell off the puck is significantly different than the full fragrance once lathered. Please do not judge the soap based on the dry smell, as my soap base heavily mutes the mid and top notes, leaving a mostly musky smell. This scent is normal and transforms into its final form once lathered.

I agree. I also noticed that with L&L and I really like his soaps as well.

I'm not too concerned about the scent of the Duck base as it's only one right now and it's the first, but I can't wait to try the formula. Those ingredients are outstanding

Used the Magnolia this morning.

While I really enjoy tallow soaps (used the Aether yesterday), and Mohammad's first offering of his duck tallow soap did not disappoint-I am an unabashed fan of lighter, non-tallow soaps, especially the Italian soaps like SMN, XPEC, Nuàvia, Saponificio Varesio, which are in the topmost tier for me.

The performance of this new formulation Grooming Dept soap was just outstanding.

I have never seen a glossier lather with a non-tallow soap. It's shinier than most of the tallow soaps I have. And yet, although the lather was very stable, it did not feel thick, dense, or heavy. Super easy to lather as well-I used a big synthetic this morning, a 30mm Tuxedo knot from AP Shaving.

Great glide, and a wonderful post-shave feel to this soap as well. It has all of the things I really enjoy about a tallow soap without the heaviness, and a nice 'lightness' and glide to it like the best non-tallow soaps I have.

Now about the scents. My tastes in scents are basic and pedestrian. I like a good scent, but if performance on a soap is 10 on the importance scale, scent is a 5 for me.

The Magnolia is very pleasant, I can smell magnolia, perhaps some gardenia, perhaps some woody notes. And I can also pick up something of the scent of the underlying ingredients. I had the same experience with the Aether yesterday.

Here's my theory.

This stems from a conversation I had with Matsilainen who commented that one popular soap maker's soaps smelled alike in a certain way.

I think it has to do with not wanting to compromise on the base ingredients. ram57 mentioned that he smelled carnauba wax. My nose isn't that keen, but I know what he means. There's an underlying scent of the waxes, butters, etc. And I recognize this on all of the new formulation soaps that I got from Grooming Dept, at least from the tub.

It's by no means unpleasant. But it's there, underneath the fragrance notes. I grabbed some of my soaps from that other popular soap maker, who also uses very good quality ingredients, and I could recognize that 'sameness' that Matsilainen was talking about.

It's like organic shampoo. I have one that does a great job on my hair, makes it feel great, nice shine, etc., etc. But unlike these soaps where the scent of the ingredients is not unpleasant, there's some ingredient in there that I can hardly bear.

The modern mass-produced shampoos use lesser-quality, less-natural ingredients, lots of fragrance, so the user doesn't get a whiff of the underlying chemicals. They compromise on the quality of the ingredients for that result, and sell millions of bottles of the stuff.

All I can say is that the performance of the Grooming Dept's soaps is extraordinary, the scents are very nice, and now that I'm tuned into it, I know from the underlying scent that it's a Grooming Dept soap. And that, to me, is a good thing.

Just to clarify: I like and enjoy the scents of the new Grooming Dept soaps I've tried so far. And the others smell very nice in the tubs. That 'underlying' scent of the good organic ingredients is by no means unpleasant or off putting.

Shave #2 with Yuzu was excellent. Dialed it in a bit more this time around, and probably to perfection because this soap is easy to load and get great lather. I foresee other GroomingDept scents making their way into my den.

I shaved two days in a row with the Yuzu. The scent is wonderful -- it is medium high in strength and the citrus accord is bold with different notes coming through. I'm glad this soap has a stronger scent than version 1. I experienced no problems during the shave, and it performed and lathered very well. Where I think this vegan soap doesn't achieve at the same levels as other tallow soaps (L&L, T+S, WK and SS) is in the post shave area. After both shaves I experienced a certain amount of tightness of my skin, and I felt that I needed balm to remedy that. I noticed that when I rinsed my face after the shave, it didn't have the same luxurious feel that I get from those other soaps I mentioned. In fact, I think I sensed a slight waxy residue. For those that have tried both the vegan and the duck fat soaps, is there an appreciable difference in post shave feel?

Superb shave today with the Yuzu. I'm really enjoying this new formulation.

Went with a bowl lather and a large (30mm) badger brush this morning. Easy to lather, and I'm again impressed with the sheen this lather achieves, being a non-tallow.

I enjoyed this scent, very nice indeed, and noticed a couple of things:

For me, the scent of this soap opened up more with bowl lathering than my last two shaves which were face lathers.

Also, that 'underlying scent' was less noticeable as well. I thought that was perhaps because of the different scent of the Yuzu.

I went back to smell the Magnolia with which I shaved yesterday, and that 'underlying' scent could hardly be noticed-it was much more magnolia in the tub. I'm in the habit of keeping my soaps uncovered overnight to let them dry, and perhaps that was it.

Wonderful post shave-to answer Bert's question, the non-tallow post shave is 'lighter' than the Aether duck tallow. Other tallow soaps have even a 'heavier', more 'buttery' feel. Some love that, some prefer a 'lighter' post-shave feel, when it's very hot out as it has been here, I like that lighter feel.

I found the scent of Aether very comforting for some reason....can't quite put my finger on it, but it was wonderful. The performance was really put to the test, as I hadn't shaved for 5 days... yeah, it delivered the goods, my skin was well looked after during, and post shave... 5*'s.

Shave #2 with Yuzu was excellent. Dialed it in a bit more this time around, and probably to perfection because this soap is easy to load and get great lather. I foresee other GroomingDept scents making their way into my den.

I found the scent of Aether very comforting for some reason....can't quite put my finger on it, but it was wonderful. The performance was really put to the test, as I hadn't shaved for 5 days... yeah, it delivered the goods, my skin was well looked after during, and post shave... 5*'s.

Fantastic! I'm glad you're enjoying the soap. Thank you.

Mystery of the 'underlying scent' SOLVED!

Another fantastic shave today with the new formulation. Today's scent was Ambra.

I really enjoyed this scent-a little bit fruit, a little bit incense, and the performance and post-shave feel extraordinary.

So I reported in an earlier post that there was some underlying scent of ingredients that I could discern under the fragrances when I opened the soaps I got from Grooming Dept

I also noticed that when I let the two soaps I used before this one (Aether and Yuzu) air dry overnight, that 'underlying scent' dissipated.

I thought I was onto something until...

I opened this morning's soap, the Ambra, and just pure fragrance goodness. What the heck?

I opened the other 3 soaps that were still closed and unused and lo and behold-no underlying scent, just nice fragrance.

And then I remembered a conversation I had with the postal fellow who delivered this package.

He apologized for it being delayed because it was on a truck that had broken down and was out there on the street for about 6 hours. It then sat on another truck for a couple of hours, all of this in about 110 degree heat!.

I think what happened is that these soaps got a little extra 'cooking' and when they had a chance to settle and cool down for a couple of days, they returned to normal.

Put this morning's soap to the test of a very large, very dense brush, and it came through with flying colors. Bowl lathered again, and the fragrance really came out nicely.

All I can say is bravo, Mohammad!

Mohammad, who much peppermint is in the fragrance and in the end, how much does it come across in the whipped up lather? The other notes are something I am willing to try but to be honest, peppermint doesn't sit well with my nose.