Grooming Dept

I used Grooming Department for the first time this morning. All I can say is wow what an incredible soap, absolutely fantastic. Not sure what to do with all my other soaps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi darkknight1234 and Welcome to DFS!

Thank you for your purchase I'm happy you like the soaps. Which one did you get to try?

Flight


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Color me stoked.     These arrived yesterday ...



I'm growing a "Movember Goatee", but I'll trim things up later today.

Next up is Tao today. Looking forward to this one because a few others already expressed love for it. I’ll post my thoughts later today. Island of the Sun was used last so I will try to compare the scents.
SOTD



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tao was amazing today and I think I like the scent just as much as Island in the Sun. Tao is much more subtle but it smells wonderful as it is being lathered. Performance was about the same as Island in the Sun....outstanding as usual from GD soaps. I used my Raw Shaving RS-10 today and compared to my last shave with the new Paradigm SE, just as smooth. Using GD pre-shave and Mo’s soaps is just an incredible pair and the feel of my face after shaving is just wonderful!! The feel I have in the evening and the next morning is smooth and silky. Another home run with this one!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone and happy Shaving. I’m headed out of town tomorrow so the next GD shave will be Monday with Naranja de Sangre.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I received my GD soap (before the fire) today and used it for this evening's shave. I am very pleased with the performance. To say that it can take a lot of water is an understatement, it can take a huge amount of water. The post shave is pretty good too ( didn't use any post-shave product today and after 45 mins my face doesn't feel dry). The scent, however, is a big let down for me, it doesn't really smell like anything, I get a hint of lemon and my wife thinks it smells like cumin :/. Once I am back from my vacation, I will try to pick up another GD soap if I can, Rose and Incense maybe. Overall pleased with the performance and relieved that it arrived before I leave the country for 2 weeks.

I shaved with Island In The Sun today.  What a superb shave!  Slickness, protection, and ghost lather were all superb.  I followed Mohammad's advice and applied the unused lather to my face during cleanup, then rinsed it and let it dry.  It has been a while since my skin felt this good.  Pic posted in the weekly shave thread here.

'Ducks In A Row' Comparison Shave

JA Henckels Friodur 8/8
Grooming Dept Mallard Chai
Wolf Whiskers Cash Brush Black Wolf Knot


I got a new tub of the Grooming Dept Mallard Chai last week, as it’s one of my favorite scents and a wonderful performer. I noticed that there were some differences in the ingredients, so I thought I’d do a comparison shave to see if there was a difference.

I used 2 Wolf Whiskers brushes with the same Black Wolf knot, same loft and diameter, only difference was the handle. Used the new formulation on the left side of the face and the older on the right. Loaded each for the same amount of time.

I know there have been some comments about how much experimenting Mohammad does with his bases, and some wonder if it’s worth it.

In this case, it was.

Don’t get me wrong-the ‘old’ base was very, very good. Easy to lather, good glide, good cushion, fantastic post-shave feel.

When there’s an excellent product in any market, the incremental improvements are always challenging. For you golfers out there, you know that it’s easier to go from an 18 handicap to a 15 than it is to go from a 3 handicap to a scratch player.

The new formulation is also easy to lather, and like the old formulation, can stand up to several additions of water without breaking down. The lather on the new formulation was a bit glossier and had slightly better ‘structure’. They both had excellent ‘glide’, with the edge going to the new formulation, but only by a tiny bit.

The 3-pass shave was excellent with both soaps, comfortable and close. Where I noticed a difference was after the shave.

With a soap with good ingredients like these, I like to put the left over soap on my face while I clean and strop the razor and tidy up. I did notice that the new formulation stayed intact, looking just as it did while I was shaving. The old formulation seemed to dry out visually.

However, on rinsing the face, the post-shave was excellent on both sides, again with a slight edge going to the new formulation. (By the way, Mohammad’s tip of not drying the face with a towel after rinsing, but letting the water dry naturally is spot on).

The new formulation felt slightly more moisturized. Both sides felt supple and smooth, and I didn’t need to put on any further after shave products. (I usually do, because it’s so dry here in the desert). But for the sake of this experiment, I put on nothing more. Checking in about 6 hours later, the improvement in moisturizing and suppleness remained, with the edge going to the newer formulation.

I’m speculating here, but I noticed when comparing the ingredients that the new formulation has added Aloe Vera, Abyssinian Oil, and Vitamin E. It also looks like, from the order of ingredients, that the amount of Babassu Oil has been increased.

In my opinion, the new formulation puts this soap squarely in my top tier of tallow soaps.


Mallard Chai New Formulation Ingredients:

Stearic Acid, Aloe Vera, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Duck Fat, Babassu Oil, Castor Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Kokum Butter, Meadowfoam Oil, Jojoba Oil, Abyssinian Oil, Fragrance, Silk Peptides, Glycerin, Sunflower Lecithin, Goat Milk, Sucrose Cocoate, Carnauba wax, Kaolin Clay, Calendula Extract, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Lactate and Vitamin E.

Mallard Chai Old Formulation Ingredients:

Stearic Acid, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Duck Fat, Castor Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Kokum Butter, Glycerine, Meadowfoam Oil, Jojoba Oil, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Babassu Oil, Sucrose Cocoate, Kaolin Clay, Calendula Extract, Sodium Lactate

I received my GD soap (before the fire) today and used it for this evening's shave. I am very pleased with the performance. To say that it can take a lot of water is an understatement, it can take a huge amount of water. The post shave is pretty good too ( didn't use any post-shave product today and after 45 mins my face doesn't feel dry). The scent, however, is a big let down for me, it doesn't really smell like anything, I get a hint of lemon and my wife thinks it smells like cumin :/. Once I am back from my vacation, I will try to pick up another GD soap if I can, Rose and Incense maybe. Overall pleased with the performance and relieved that it arrived before I leave the country for 2 weeks.

Really strange. I used After the Fire today and the scent is quite strong. I can even smell it over the top of my aftershave.

It’s a very pronounced lime forward barbershop scent with a bit of smoke. Very pleasant.

'Ducks In A Row' Comparison Shave

JA Henckels Friodur 8/8
Grooming Dept Mallard Chai
Wolf Whiskers Cash Brush Black Wolf Knot


I got a new tub of the Grooming Dept Mallard Chai last week, as it’s one of my favorite scents and a wonderful performer. I noticed that there were some differences in the ingredients, so I thought I’d do a comparison shave to see if there was a difference.

I used 2 Wolf Whiskers brushes with the same Black Wolf knot, same loft and diameter, only difference was the handle. Used the new formulation on the left side of the face and the older on the right. Loaded each for the same amount of time.

I know there have been some comments about how much experimenting Mohammad does with his bases, and some wonder if it’s worth it.

In this case, it was.

Don’t get me wrong-the ‘old’ base was very, very good. Easy to lather, good glide, good cushion, fantastic post-shave feel.

When there’s an excellent product in any market, the incremental improvements are always challenging. For you golfers out there, you know that it’s easier to go from an 18 handicap to a 15 than it is to go from a 3 handicap to a scratch player.

The new formulation is also easy to lather, and like the old formulation, can stand up to several additions of water without breaking down. The lather on the new formulation was a bit glossier and had slightly better ‘structure’. They both had excellent ‘glide’, with the edge going to the new formulation, but only by a tiny bit.

The 3-pass shave was excellent with both soaps, comfortable and close. Where I noticed a difference was after the shave.

With a soap with good ingredients like these, I like to put the left over soap on my face while I clean and strop the razor and tidy up. I did notice that the new formulation stayed intact, looking just as it did while I was shaving. The old formulation seemed to dry out visually.

However, on rinsing the face, the post-shave was excellent on both sides, again with a slight edge going to the new formulation. (By the way, Mohammad’s tip of not drying the face with a towel after rinsing, but letting the water dry naturally is spot on).

The new formulation felt slightly more moisturized. Both sides felt supple and smooth, and I didn’t need to put on any further after shave products. (I usually do, because it’s so dry here in the desert). But for the sake of this experiment, I put on nothing more. Checking in about 6 hours later, the improvement in moisturizing and suppleness remained, with the edge going to the newer formulation.

I’m speculating here, but I noticed when comparing the ingredients that the new formulation has added Aloe Vera, Abyssinian Oil, and Vitamin E. It also looks like, from the order of ingredients, that the amount of Babassu Oil has been increased.

In my opinion, the new formulation puts this soap squarely in my top tier of tallow soaps.


Mallard Chai New Formulation Ingredients:

Stearic Acid, Aloe Vera, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Duck Fat, Babassu Oil, Castor Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Kokum Butter, Meadowfoam Oil, Jojoba Oil, Abyssinian Oil, Fragrance, Silk Peptides, Glycerin, Sunflower Lecithin, Goat Milk, Sucrose Cocoate, Carnauba wax, Kaolin Clay, Calendula Extract, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Lactate and Vitamin E.

Mallard Chai Old Formulation Ingredients:

Stearic Acid, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Duck Fat, Castor Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Kokum Butter, Glycerine, Meadowfoam Oil, Jojoba Oil, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Babassu Oil, Sucrose Cocoate, Kaolin Clay, Calendula Extract, Sodium Lactate

Taking a break from packing orders, again

Wow Michael P What a wonderful post! I'm happy you have an older soap as reference. I diligently worked on these formulae to produce noticeable enhancements. Thank you so much.

The next "Coattaling " update will be around April-March which bring about even more noticeable improvements to all formulae. Some of the ingredients and upgrades will show up first in Chypre Vert, "OLIIVI" and an upcoming limited edition Mandarin Bay (donkey base).

Does anyone have an idea when West Coast Shaving will place their GD soaps online for sale?

I emailed them today and was told 1-2 weeks. Sounds like they may not have the soaps in hand yet.