PAA General Thoughts?

I didn't care for the 1k soap I got but after hearing from the owner of PAA, I am willing to give their products another try. I am looking forward to trying their Oud scents.

I didn't care for the 1k soap I got but after hearing from the owner of PAA, I am willing to give their products another try. I am looking forward to trying their Oud scents.

I saw anise and I couldn't do it lol. I think sandre de drago has oud in it. They have another oud scent also I think. I haven't tried any new formulations from PAA though other than Crown King which I thought was freaking awesome.

I have three of their soaps. The Deja fougere soap is one of my favorite scents. I got the matching splash, which ironically I dislike. I have frostbite which has way too much methol. Al fin is one of my favorite splashes, it does not last long, however I enjoy the way it feels. A little bite then cooling menthol. I got the matching soap, otra esoteric, however it is way to floral and I have no desire to use it. Out of the five products I have bought from them only two of which I enjoy.

I didn't care for the 1k soap I got but after hearing from the owner of PAA, I am willing to give their products another try. I am looking forward to trying their Oud scents.

I saw anise and I couldn't do it lol. I think sandre de drago has oud in it. They have another oud scent also I think. I haven't tried any new formulations from PAA though other than Crown King which I thought was freaking awesome.

Oh it has plenty of Anise scent man, Anise and Licorice.

I have my sights on the Sangre de Drago. Ouds man, love it.

Hey Steel,
Good thread! I just want to point out why my aftershave/colognes cost as much as they do...ingredients. We don't just throw alcohol, water, fragrance and maybe menthol in a bottle and post it for sale. I am actually a perfumer. Each batch takes 4-6 weeks to produce, sometimes as long as a year to mature. Then there is the difference in the ingredients as I pointed out at the top. I use rather pricey essential oils, resins, absolutes and frags. Some I take the time to steam distill myself, same for the "flower waters" or hydrosols I typically use in place of plain water. Then there is the filtering of each finished AS/Cologne, that, depending on ingredients can take all day. Then there is the addition of skin saving ingredients; aloe vera, Glycerin, Liquid Silk, Honey, Carrot extract, Alum, cucumber extracts and oils, etc. Each AS is almost always different in ingredients and composition but this is usually explained quite in depth on their individual sales pages. This is also explained on the AS/Cologne page so folks understand what they are buying.

As for the price of our soaps, they are very much inline with all other artisan soaps in the industry. For a long time we were very happy to offer a 1/2 lb puck for $18.95, but after years of this and cost analysis we realized we were losing money. Again, glad we could have done that for as long as we did but the prices right now are pretty standard across the board. As for "price per ounce", that's really a flawed perspective unless every maker is using the same exact ingredients and putting in the same time.

With over 70 scent offerings currently we try/hope we have something for everybody. We offer AS samples to make it more wallet friendly for folks to decide on a scent they like.

We are also very proud of our current 3.0 and Crown King formulation. Many folks who have used our CK formula swear there is tallow in it! lol, it's vegan!
We will always try to get better and better at what we do and reformulate again and again as we grow and learn.

Hope this provides clarity. A lot of the time folks seem to simplify something by just looking at cost rather than the real cost differences. If anyone has any further questions we are super easy to get in contact with and love to chat!
Cheers
D

I didn't care for the 1k soap I got but after hearing from the owner of PAA, I am willing to give their products another try. I am looking forward to trying their Oud scents.

I saw anise and I couldn't do it lol.  I think sandre de drago has oud in it.  They have another oud scent also I think.  I haven't tried any new formulations from PAA though other than Crown King which I thought was freaking awesome.

Oh it has plenty of Anise scent man, Anise and Licorice.

I have my sights on the Sangre de Drago. Ouds man, love it.

Did you ever try any Oud scents from PAA? I have now tried Sangre de Drago, Coconut Oud, Enigma Machine, and Oud Spice. I can tell you that if you like Oud you have to try all of those because they are all awesome. There is also an Orange and Oud scent. I just bought the aftershave cologne samples for $1.00 each. You can get up to 9 for $1.50 shipping, and I think it goes up to $3.00 after 9.

Thanks for the info CaD314. I have one question though. Why do you put alum in all of your aftershaves? I really dislike the stuff. You call it a "skin saving" ingredient, but all it does for me is dry it out. The only thing I find alum good for is getting a good grip on your razor or brush! I realize some people like it and it works for them, I was just wondering why it's in ALL of your splashes. Other than that, I really enjoy your aftershaves. The face feel is great and the scents are interesting and creative. I recently ordered a whole bunch of samples so I can figure out which scent(s) I need full bottles of. Thanks!

Hi CaD314 nice to see you posting, thanks for the information on your aftershaves. Your soaps and aftershaves were one of my earliest in my wet shaving adventure, under the old branding and I have a few PAAs as well. I love The Beach and your Bay Rum, after shaves too. When did your version 3.0 come out and are all of your soaps that version now? I might have to update a few favourites although, I'm not having any problem with whichever version I'm using.
Thanks,
Marko

Strange you don't like colonel conk. I used their bay rum the other day and it lathered beautifully and the scent is very nice.

Hey Wyzeone,
Sorry the alum does not work for you, sadly, like everything else in life it's gonna be ymmv. However, if you look at the ingredients you'll see alum is usually last on the list , meaning there is not terribly much in it. With all the aloe and other extracts it shouldn't be the alum that's drying you out...but everybody is different.
I add it because I enjoy the balance of burn and soothing dry down personally. You're right though, Alum is great for grip! I also find it great for acne and an awesome natural deodorant too!
If you own some scents and they seem to dry you out you could try adding a tsp of distilled water to the bottle. Try just a teaspoon at first and then test it, if you still get dryness add another tsp. This will dilute it even more. I actually suspect it more the alcohol or possibly menthol than the alum.
Thanks for the comment!