What soap/cream did you use today?

Crabtree & Evelyn Sweet Almond Oil shaving soap and shaving cream (vintage), great stuff.

Barrister & Mann Latha Taiga Shaving Soap

CRSW Summer Rose, another lovely scent and wonderful soap


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Leviathan (Barrister & Mann) whispered florals adrift on an ocean of coffee, smoke, & leather

Leviathan, first recorded in the oldest books of the bible, is commonly translated from Hebrew to English as ‘whale’. But the scent of this soap seems to have no connection either with these graceful sea creatures that spout and splash outside my back door, or with the ominous beast of Old Testament lore, which, it is said, will swallow all the world’s wicked on the last day. Instead, when I smell this soap, I get a picture of a crumbling rust belt diner in some winter month early in the 1970s. The windows are fogged with soot and steam, the ragged Naugahyde stools are cracked, ashtrays brim with cigarette butts, and stale coffee has been spilled across the counter. The flowers in the vases are all wilted.

Leviathan, to me, is not a beautiful scent, but it’s certainly evocative.

I love that diner...

Juniper (Cold River Soap Works) juniper, black pepper, sweet earth

I love the smell of this soap for its simplicity — just tart juniper rounded out with a few earthy notes. It’s a nice scent for winter, when most other natural smells have gone to ground until the snow melts. The artisan’s description of the scent doesn’t mention black pepper, but I get a whiff of it when I lather this soap. Its light spicy bitterness complements the juniper’s pungent evergreen smell. It reminds me of walking through piñon-juniper forests in the Four Corners.

This simplification of scent follows the general streamlining of Cold River’s operation. Gone are the thank you notes, the elaborate typography printed on metal tins, the cardboard mailing boxes, and even the invoices with their handwritten notes from the soap makers. What remains is a fabulous soap, whose new formulation is all the more welcome, to me, for not burning my eyes and nose, as Select v2 did. The lather is as good as ever, standing up boldly today against a four-pass onslaught from a new razor.

AOS Lemon

Eufros Kasbah.

A great spicy scent. I have been scooping some out of the tub as the consistency lends itself to that. Might be the finest lather I have experienced. Manuel's new tallow formula really shines and, as Bouki says above, a new formulation that is all the more welcome!

I hope to spend more time with the new CRSW formulation over the weekend. They arrived right when the Jabonman soaps did and I need more time with them.

Route 66 Rum Runner

Eufros JabonMan Premium Tallow Incienso

Tiki 50s Dive Bar