Member
East Texas
Head & face shower shave. 3 days growth.
Technique: WTG / XTG / ATG/clean-up.
Prep: Shower.
Soap: Cold River Soap Works - Le Chypre Sombre LE
Brush: BSB-Ti w/HMW Extra Dense
Razor: Mongoose BS w/Triad Rolling Hex 316 Stainless Handle
Blade: Kai Captain Titan Mild(3)
Post: Floïd Blue
Cold River Soap Works is another artisan I've been failing to try out. That ended today. My well established proclivity for fancy packaging once again proved to be my undoing. The beautiful hand-crafted Rebecca Wind Pottery bowl was more than I could resist, so I took the bait. Going into this, I knew next to nothing about CRSW other than they have a good reputation among wet shaving artisans.
The pre-filled bowl came quite securely packaged with the lid inverted and a piece of waxed paper placed between it and the bowl. The lid was then adequately taped down with painters masking tape, and the whole thing was tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. It arrived in a box tightly packed with biodegradable packing peanuts. Along with the personalized "thank you" note was a business card-sized black envelope that was sealed with an emblem seal. Within the envelope was a card with instructions on how to obtain a replacement puck at a discount.
Believe it or not, the bowl looks even better in person, and it's far more substantial than I was expecting. Prior to its arrival, I was a little concerned about the possibility of dinging up the fixed ferrule of my BSB-Ti, but the 3.75" diameter mouth allowed plenty of room to load without even grazing the handle. While the bowl is absolutely gorgeous, I look forward to having this soap in a standard puck, so I don't have to be concerned about breaking it. I'm a shower shaver, and I recognize it's just a matter of time before calamity strikes. Fortunately, Larry Jones has indicated he intends to release LCS in a standard tin in the near future.
The bowl has been on my desk since its arrival two days ago, and I find myself frequently pausing to take a whiff. Le Chypre Sombre is pleasant and robust dry straight from the bowl. It's bright and mildly soapy with hints of musk and juniper prior to being lathered. After about three swirls with the slightly damp HMW knot, the musk notes became more prevalent. Never having used a CRSW product before, I took my time with the load until the knot was at max capacity. Then I dribbled water directly on the knot and proceeded with a face lather. This is either a very easy soap to lather, or I just got lucky on the ratio. I never noticed a paste phase as it went straight to a dense super white lather with incredible sheen that was reminiscent of Saponificio Varesino's Beta 4.1 formula. Slickness and glide was spot on. I noted zero drag with the third use of the Kai Captain Titan Mild blade. As I progressed through the traditional three passes, the scent, which had started as a slightly soapy musk, began to build with darker notes of amber. The soapiness was replaced by leather and woody juniper. A familiar, almost cedar suggestion latched onto the preexisting musk and surprisingly the sharper citrus notes arrived late, but boldly so, nonetheless. These citrus notes weren't specific enough for me to identify a particular fruit. I feel like the amber and musk muted the citrus just enough to keep me from outright calling it bergamot, but they're married so closely as to result in a unique ensemble on its own.
The post-shave was at least as good as my personal benchmark, Barrister and Mann's Glissant. After a cold water rinse, my scalp was initially tight and squeaky but not tacky, whereas Glissant results in a satiny feel. As the humidity lifted from the bathroom, however, my scalp felt soft and supple. I most likely could have skipped the Floïd, but I just wanted to feel the crisp cooling alcohol on this hot, muggy, rainy day.
As many have stated before, there's a ceiling of excellence among soap artisans that just can't be surpassed, given their diligence in achieving perfection. In fact, I probably have in my collection at least five different soaps that do perform perfectly and even more that can perform perfectly once you adjust for their individual quirks. Thus the top artisans have to set themselves apart with unique scents and, yes, presentation. I feel like Cold River Soap Works has done just that with Le Chypre Sombre.
Speaking again to the scent, as is usually my complaint, I need a splash that duplicates LCS. Sure there are plenty of splashes that may pair well, Floïd Blue being one of them, but I want a splash that is LCS. I've read rumors that a LCS splash may be in the works, but nothing from the horse's mouth.
As an aside, I have a question for those in the know: CRSW seems to market Le Chypre Sombre decapitalized as, "le chypre sombre". Is this just a marketing choice, or is this the proper way to denote it? I understand if used in a sentence in French it would be decapitalized, but as the name of a product, I find it difficult to negate the proper noun.
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