Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements AMA, September 17th, 2017

I have seen just about every vendor close for a week or two due to vacations plans. I am not going to tell you what to do but people will get over it :-) Also, PAA is the brand that helped me overcome the tallow paradigm so thank you for educating me.

My question, I subscribe to the newsletters but would also be interested in seeing a basic release schedule for the perennial favorites and anything else you feel like sharing on the PAA website.

Keep up the great work!

Hey Doug and Fran.

Any new hardware on the horizon? Razors or brushes?

What's a good scent to turn off bees? Seriously.
I got stung by a wasp or yellow jacket on Labor Day. Immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
Got to the ER just in time.
Anaphylactic shock. Total nightmare.

I had just shaved and doused myself in a generous mix of different aftershaves beforehand. I wasn't outside for five minutes when I was suddenly Kamikazed by that mean little venomous devil.

I'd obviously like to avoid ever going through that again if I can.

I'm a little hesitant to use anything scented lately since the internet suggests not to when trying to avoid bees and wasps.

Are my days of wearing any aftershave at all over?

Is anything you know of a repellent more than wearing a bee suit or staying inside?

Wow, great question Todd!

I know Lavender repels most bugs including bees and wasps, so my Lavender Planet would be a good guard against any future attacks! I would google "essential oils that repel bees wasps". Then look for soaps and splashes that contain these essential oils. Just make sure it's the essential oils and not a fragrance oil. Hope this helps brother and take care of yourself!

I have seen just about every vendor close for a week or two due to vacations plans.  I am not going to tell you what to do but people will get over it :-)  Also, PAA is the brand that helped me overcome the tallow paradigm so thank you for educating me.

My question, I subscribe to the newsletters but would also be interested in seeing a basic release schedule for the perennial favorites and anything else you feel like sharing on the PAA website.

Keep up the great work!

It's tough for us to get away, we will eventually, there's just too much to do at this time - we are very dedicated and passionate about what we do. But I appreciate the advice for sure!
As for a schedule...it's just not how we operate. The reason I set out to work for myself was so I didn't have/need a schedule. I wake up in the morning with an idea and act on it, I think this is what sets us apart.

This format has actually served us really well. Take our recent release last weekend of "Irma-Shave", this was a spur of the moment decision to do a fundraiser soap for first responders of Hurricane Irma. Fran was away for the weekend visiting her dad...so i was alone in the lab. I had planned on releasing Porthos last Monday, had all my ads made, newsletter done, ready to launch! But instead since no one expected a release date, I was able to put that on hold and go ahead with raising much needed funds for the time sensitive crisis over the weekend. Had we a schedule I would have pissed off a lot of folks or I would have been forced to release both, causing me much more work, raising less money and probably causing some mistakes logistically that could turn costly on our end.

The good thing is, we don't really do Limited Editions so there's now rush. A seasonal scent will be around for the season and a new release isn't going anywhere! So plenty of time to pick it up minus the frustration and pressure that caused us to stop with the limited releases in the first place.

As for the newsletter, I have stuffed that thing since our first issue with all kinds of fun, behind the scenes info. Even Fran has written a blurb or two! Have you received them all? That said, for anyone interested that would like to stay updated on all thing PAA/CK please visit: http://bitchn-newsletter.com (shameless plug, lol)

I hope this makes sense my friend! Great question my man!

[quote='bakerbarber' pid='164940' dateline='1505681878']
Hey Doug and Fran.

Any new hardware on the horizon? Razors or brushes?

Oops, almost missed this question! I was so blown away by the wasp attack! All I can say really in regards to new hardware is...YES! Lol, the Starling SE Gem style will be ready soon but as of yet they are still being machined and then will be anodized...so no date. I hope to have some other new, original offerings out also soon!

I thought that might be the answer, I really enjoy using both formulas and couldn't pick between them but thought I'd ask anyway.

Doug and Fran, I realise that putting your products through the silly EU regulations is costly but which scent would you choose to put through next if you could? P.S. this will be my last question as I am now full to the brim with rum and any further questions may just be utter drivel.

Hey Marko,
Thanks for your continued support!

This question is perfect and ties in with the last question in regards to our "origin" (or, lack of a plan). When I first created Synergy, it was entirely for me, just me. Being a huge Bay Rum fan I was always on the quest for a Bay Rum shave soap, believe it or not, *NO ONE SOLD a bay rum artisan soap...unless you consider Colonel Conk artisan.

So I went to work on "the perfect shave soap". I asked friends living all around the country to send me water samples so I could experiment with getting it to perform in both hard and soft water. I also would take the temp of the water on the puck to record the "sweet spot" for lather production and lastly, but most importantly the Large Format Tin or delivery system. I thought for sure this would become industry standard! The combination of the tin and the soap is where the name Synergy actually comes from in fact. The large surface area made loading the brush nothing and saved soap. Rather than working down into the soap, you worked across. I never intended to offer a smaller size, hell I never intended to offer the soap even!

I sent a tin to Mantic and another to Leisureguy, they both asked when I was going to release it, Michael Ham told me I needed to! lol....So that happened and the rest is history, kinda.

But let me get back to Never wanting to offer a smaller size. As with most things I have learned, people just didn't get it. I would have to explain to folks who wanted samples that, that would defeat the point...you can't sample the "synergy" in a sample size. I offered 1/2 LB of soap for $15.95, but folks wanted a 3oz tin...sigh. So we created a smaller one, which made a selection of our customers happy. The Lg format never caught on and it was useless trying to explain the concept over and over, may have even made some people mad, lol.

The reason why we no longer offer the tins is partly due to what I just explained and that they were prone to dent. Also, if not properly cared for i.e. dried off, they could rust.

It's safe to say we will not be going back to the large tins, we tried and were happy to offer them when we did...I just don't think the world was ready, lolololol.

[*please correct me if I am wrong.]

Hey Douglas, I'll go with that - you and I were just visionaries ahead of our time and unfortunately , the world never caught up I'll try that line on my wife and see how far I get with it.

I get it, you have to give the world what it wants (more or less) - Those large tins were lying around (its dry here so no rust) so when I went looking for a suitable container to re-pot one of your competitors (cough LASSC,cough) that comes in a too small container IMO I figured, what the heck and went to town. Let me tell you the lather just exploded on the brush. That soap never knew what hit it because its never lathered like that in its own container.

In any case, thanks for taking the time to discuss the rise and fall of the large format container. Good luck with everything.
Marko

As a butcher and a carnivore I like to use soaps with ingredients such as tallow and lanolin as I believe that the industry in which I work should be striving to use every byproduct they produce and taking responsibility to reduce waste at every opportunity.

As a butcher and a carnivore I like to use soaps with ingredients such as tallow and lanolin as I believe that the industry in which I work should be striving to use every byproduct they produce and taking responsibility to reduce waste at every opportunity.

Totally! Tallow can be used and is for so many things aside from soap; cooking, jet fuel, bio diesel, etc...I just don't want it on my vegetarian face! lol, it's personal choice at the end of the day and I respect that.

Doug and Fran, I realise that putting your products through the silly EU regulations is costly but which scent would you choose to put through next if you could? P.S. this will be my last question as I am now full to the brim with rum and any further questions may just be utter drivel.

Gondolier! lol, rum fueled questions could really liven things up! lol