SOTD 20-26 November 2016

Catie's Bubbles - Quatre Cent Vingt
Kent V8 | Vintage Badger
Star 1912 | Gem PTFE (1)

[Image: 2UmPJMx.jpg]

Quatre Cent Vingt is my first experience with Catie's Bubbles. I'm not sure how or why I've gone this long without trying something from this prominent and highly regarded artisan. QCV seemed like a reasonable jumping off point. I've read others' reviews, and it seems that generally the cannabis fragrance is understated. As has been noted, the note is that of the cannabis flower as opposed to the leaf or stem. It's not too far separated from the familiar marijuana fragrance, however. That said, it's not dominant, and it makes for an interesting fougère. Lathering it simply amplifies the fragrance from the puck, so this is one of the few soaps that you can get a real scent impression from the dry product.

Catie's Bubbles' reputation is well established as a high quality soap. This being my first use, I will make adjustments next time. Interestingly, it didn't seem to handle water as well as many of my other soaps, and as a result, slickness suffered a bit. Being a head and face shaver, I handled this shave like two separate shaves. After finishing my face, I wrung out the brush and reloaded. The head lather was much better with nice density, but I would rate the slickness a 6 on a 1-10 scale (Stirling being a 7, B&M Glissant being a 9). I don’t think this slight deficiency is solely due to the fact that it's vegan, because Dr. Jon's out-scores it as well.

This shouldn't be taken as a review of the soap but rather a first impression. I'm of the opinion that to fairly evaluate a soap, it should be used several times and, if possible, with various knots. I just counted 32 different brands of soap in my den, and the only time I recall having a less than stellar first impression that I later overturned was with Through The Fire Fine Craft. (If you're wondering how I could possibly keep track of that, I have an app.) Again, it should be noted, this is still a fairly slick soap. I simply have several soaps that are slicker. At either rate, using the 1912 SE made it a non-issue.

The real surprise came afterwards. The post-shave with QCV is incredible. My skin felt very well hydrated and exhibited a softness that approaches that of Nuàvia.

Despite the fairly robust fougère during the shave, it faded quickly after the final rinse. I wanted to enjoy it a bit longer, so I did use the matching splash. The result was a silky feel to my scalp and face. The same notes were present if not a bit sharper, and within a few minutes a very subtle floral sweetness came through. Overall, this is one of the lighter fragrances I've used. Just an hour later, it's only faintly present. I wouldn't mind it lasting longer, but at least one can be confident it won't draw suspicion in mixed company or conflict with a EdT.

I think, based on the post-shave alone, I will be trying more of Catie's Bubbles' offerings.

Happy Thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen!

Proraso Green Pre/Post
Vintage Rubberset Canadian Handle with 24mm Maggards Plissoft Knot
Van Yulay Into The Woods
Razor Rock Black Hawk / Feather Pro Guard (Shave 1)
Thayers Superhazel/Proraso Green Pre/post Followed with Barrister's Reserve Classic

Thater 2 Band
Jabonman Gea
PRC Leviathan in Ebony scales
B+M Reserve Classic

Thanksgiving 2016

Druida Robo I Manchurian
Savionniere du Moulin Tempete'
BBS-1
Polsilver Super Iridium #2
Fine Platinum

[Image: 20161124_SOTD_S_Sepia_zpsewgpi5w2.jpg]

Pre-Shave: Cypriotian Olive/Argan Oil soap, cold water
Razor: ATT S-1 Colossus
Blade: Voskhod (2)
Brush: Paladin Chief Purple Haze
Lather: Mike's Hungarian Lavender
Post-shave: Alum, Barrister & Man Kyovu Original, South Australian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cologne Russe
Doug Korn D7 Shavemac 2B Unique
Luca Pizzi Mille e una notte
Cologne Russe AS

[Image: 54dcf0322818eb5714f544741636cb18.jpg]

Regards

Enviado desde mi D6603 mediante Tapatalk

[Image: e4a87919fbb6bb030698e5a2458aedbd.jpg]
A bit of classic Old Spice mug action with the best of modernity with the Merkur Futur.

Calani Bay Rum
Merkur Futur
Personna 74 (23)
Alfredo Hernandez Manchurian Beehive
Floïd Blue

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Image: PicsArt_11-24-06.31.44.jpg]

Catie's Bubbles - Quatre Cent Vingt
Kent V8 | Vintage Badger
Star 1912 | Gem PTFE (1)

[Image: 2UmPJMx.jpg]

Quatre Cent Vingt is my first experience with Catie's Bubbles.  I'm not sure how or why I've gone this long without trying something from this prominent and highly regarded artisan.  QCV seemed like a reasonable jumping off point.  I've read others' reviews, and it seems that generally the cannabis fragrance is understated.  As has been noted, the note is that of the cannabis flower as opposed to the leaf or stem.  It's not too far separated from the familiar marijuana fragrance, however.  That said, it's not dominant, and it makes for an interesting fougère.  Lathering it simply amplifies the fragrance from the puck, so this is one of the few soaps that you can get a real scent impression from the dry product.

Catie's Bubbles' reputation is well established as a high quality soap.  This being my first use, I will make adjustments next time.  Interestingly, it didn't seem to handle water as well as many of my other soaps, and as a result, slickness suffered a bit.  Being a head and face shaver, I handled this shave like two separate shaves.  After finishing my face, I wrung out the brush and reloaded.  The head lather was much better with nice density, but I would rate the slickness a 6 on a 1-10 scale (Stirling being a 7, B&M Glissant being a 9).  I don’t think this slight deficiency is solely due to the fact that it's vegan, because Dr. Jon's out-scores it as well.

This shouldn't be taken as a review of the soap but rather a first impression.  I'm of the opinion that to fairly evaluate a soap, it should be used several times and, if possible, with various knots.  I just counted 32 different brands of soap in my den, and the only time I recall having a less than stellar first impression that I later overturned was with Through The Fire Fine Craft. (If you're wondering how I could possibly keep track of that, I have an app.) Again, it should be noted, this is still a fairly slick soap.  I simply have several soaps that are slicker.  At either rate, using the 1912 SE made it a non-issue.

The real surprise came afterwards.  The post-shave with QCV is incredible.  My skin felt very well hydrated and exhibited a softness that approaches that of Nuàvia.

Despite the fairly robust fougère during the shave, it faded quickly after the final rinse.  I wanted to enjoy it a bit longer, so I did use the matching splash.  The result was a silky feel to my scalp and face.  The same notes were present if not a bit sharper, and within a few minutes a very subtle floral sweetness came through.  Overall, this is one of the lighter fragrances I've used.  Just an hour later, it's only faintly present.  I wouldn't mind it lasting longer, but at least one can be confident it won't draw suspicion in mixed company or conflict with a EdT.

I think, based on the post-shave alone, I will be trying more of Catie's Bubbles' offerings.

Happy Thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen!

Great shot! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

RR Chrome Hawk
Feather Pro Super
The Dead Sea Shave Soap
Charcoal Goods Aluminum Handle Synthetic Brush
Nivea Cooling Balm
Paul Sebastian Spray Cologne