What soap/cream did you use today?

DG Trismegistus

Pannacrema Nuavia verde



Great cream. Performance is excellent. The scent is just beautiful - not overly sophisticated but not straight forward either, safe (I can't imagine anyone finding it offensive) but not generic, bright but not loud (just like a beautiful classy woman who doesn't need to show too much skin to draw attention).

I also need to complete my Nuavia collection by adding the one that is currently missing i.e. Nera.

Martin de Candre - Fougère

Gotta start things over on the right foot.

Imperial Rum (Phoenix & Beau) gentle bay
Shave 1 ・ 116 g left

What a superb label on this Imperial Rum! The octopus is done with copper foil, so when it catches the light, it really glows. Snaps to Phoenix & Beau for making a handsome jar of soap. And what’s inside is just about as attractive. 

Let’s start off with the scent. Like many of the soaps I’ve tried from Phoenix & Beau, Imperial Rum smells rather tame straight off the puck. I had to hunt for the scent of anything that reminded me of pimenta racemosa. What I didn't miss, though, was an earthy, muddy note, even though no clay is listed in the ingredients. I'm not sure where that's coming from. To be honest, it wasn't very exciting at first because it wasn't that rummy, and as I mentioned, the bay is fairly subdued. In fact, what I smelled mostly was peppery allspice. Nice, but not really bay. But when I dipped my brush into it, all sorts of other interesting notes came welling up. I got bay, lime, vanilla, some more spice, and maybe a whiff of something sweet and floral at the end. Nice? Yes! But unfortunately, it was mostly gone before the shave was over. To revive the pleasure, I finished up with generous lashings of Barberry Coast Bay Rum Aftershave No. 28 and St Johns Bay Rum cologne. 

So, Imperial Rum is an interesting but timid take on bay rum. On the bright side, the citrus doesn’t overwhelm the other bits, and there’s no heavy note of clove. And it's certainly hard to imagine anyone being offended by the fragrance. Polite and civilized, this is a bay rum you could wear to the captain’s table. But if you're looking for a bay rum that will fire you up for a rowdy night in Port Royal, you may be a little dashed.
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Razor Henson AL13 Medium blue ・ Blade Astra SP ・ Brush Phoenix Shaving Peregrino ・ Soap Hoard 17,723 g ・ YTD 2 g

Martin de Candre - Fougère

Gotta start things over on the right foot.

Jordan is the man

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Yahoo!  This morning I chose Salters French Vetiver because it always provides a slick and creamy experience.  ALWAYS.  But better yet, when I uncorked the Genie I was of an instant transported to Pasadena, CA in 2017 to a now defunct shop called Old Town Shaving.  I was in SoCal on business but found myself in Pasadena and stopped into the most glorious shop that was the old OldTown Shaving.  They had an enormous Rooney brush in there and a plethora of products that were blind-buys for me elsewhere.  I was just beginning a love affair with Vetiver at that point and the young kid who was helping me spend money (always odd to me that a business so aficionado - centric would hire folks who knew nothing about the items they sold) lead me to Cyril Salters French Vetiver.  He cracked the top and offered it to me and was totally mind-blown when I smiled and went for a second sniff.  There it was!  The earthy, dank, dark, swamp fire of rooty goodness.  It was so earthy I could feel grit on my teeth.  It was so Smokey as to make me squint.  It was unpolished and unapologetic for wearing work clothes to a black tie affair.   Good golly it was good.  The poor kid didn’t know what to think.  He’d likely sprung this trap on many an unsuspecting nose to his mirth only to have me ruin his schtick.  I don’t recall what else I purchased that day but I clearly remember that Salters purchase.  But why my glee this morning?  Because heretofore my appreciation for the glory of this tub was dashed on the rocks of Covid and it’s temporary removal of my olfactory system.  I’d gotten back most of my scent but alas the tub of Salters remained unused because it was nearly scentless but this morning!  This morning the charred earth was back!  I’ve still got some recovery to do but it’s good to see you again my old grassy friend even if you are still just a bit out of focus.