What soap/cream did you use today?

Up today is Nuavia Vert by PannaCrema.

I really wish I was not among the relative few who are not fans of any of the Nuavia scents, because all of them have superior performance on my skin.  They (Vert included) are the only shaving soaps I intentionally abstain from any pre or post shave products, because they are completely unnecessary. 

In the case of Vert, the scent is probably my favorite of the Nuavia offerings, proving a relatively benign Acqua di Gio profile, adding a sharp green tinge.  Nothing earthshaking surely, but wholly inoffensive.  As mentioned and expected, performance on my skin is unmatched, including post-shave.

I can’t quite understand WHY the Blue is the fan fav when the Green is the best of the 4! I wish they would make a bath gel or soap, I’d soap up my GOSHI and get that spa shower going!

Nuavia Verde, voted best of the 4 from my camp!

A proper Bay Rum Kit should be a staple in every Gent’s Den

Good Bay Rum should be middle of the road strength of scent.  It shouldn’t be overpowering but should stay with you most of the day.  A proper BR has an easily identifiable sweet, woody and spicy scent.  Pimenta Racemosa should be in the ingredient list, if it’s NOT, you might want to rethink your choices.  Sir Henry’s Island Estate ingredients list reads “Fragrance.”  Is it possible to achieve this wonderful scent without? I truly don’t know, that’s a question for the folks at Sir Henry’s, though I doubt Pimenta Racemosa was left out.  Many Artisan’s leave their scent profile ingredient list out to protect their hard work, I don’t blame them.  When you have perfection, why give it away? 

Sir Henry’s Bay Rum in my opinion is Perfect.  I used my first one over the entire 2020-2021 winter and recently purchased a second.  The bay in Island Estate is abundant.  The spicy/peppery allspice is complimented by a hint of Bergamot and Patchouli.  Vanilla/Coconut smooths it all out. There could be a lemon-y/lime-y fern note at the bottom but I can’t quite put my finger on it, definitely citrus. That’s all I get, I don’t get any clove/cinnamon in this one nor do I want it.  This soap needs clove/cinnamon like a good steak needs a condiment, NO THANK 

My favorite Bay Rum!  Actually this is the only bay rum I kept.

Lip….imho, you made the correct choice.  I’ve tried my hardest to find fault with it, I really did.  Price point, almost said cheap arse label and container, anything. I got nothing. I even went with, “ask the soap maker what FRAGRANCE means, as rudely as I could without being a d—-.  Waterproof labels good packaging, responsible packaging too, I read the number in the triangle

No one can dispute my lather game, I can do a Sir Henry’s butter out of this formula.  I really like that I don’t have to read about their 17,467 base formulas either.  Scent, unmatched, this is the way Bay Rum is supposed to smell, and lingers on you properly.  This scent is what Pirates slathered on themselves before date night with their wench

Best Bay Rum in the game to date

These Gents have a good product, more to come from my camp on Sir Henry’s

Cade Cream 2021 v. (L’Occitane) faint fruity floral

L’Occitane’s Cade cream used to smell like smoky spices, herbs, and woods. It was wonderful. I went through a whole tube in a matter of months and I loved every shave. That was back in 2015. At some point between then and now the reformulators got hold of the fragrance. Gone is the smoke and the spice. In its place you’ll find the faint smell of apricots and flowers with a touch of coconut around the edges. It’s fine but it bears no relation to the deep smoky reek of real cade. In fact, this reminds me more of cold cream than a shaving cream – pleasant enough but not exactly attractive. At least the performance hasn’t changed. I got a perfect one-pass shave. Still, I miss the old scent.
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1959 Gillette Ball End Tech ・ Gillette Silver Blue ・ Phoenix Shaving Peregrino ・ Lalique, Encre Noir ・ YTD: 326g

Agreed! The OLD scent is where it’s at! HighSpeed gave me a wonderful time capsule recently, and my Grandfather countered when I mentioned what Mike sent me! 

They don’t make em like they used to!

Damn!  I just a second ago sent a PM to ExtraProtein in which I mentioned CADE, and then stumbled on this post.  IMHO Bouki, you are being charitable.  Kudos to you, I suppose.  OTOH I am in a slightly under the weather and critical mood at the moment, and perhaps I ought to reserve some judgement.  Nevertheless, from where I sat, opening the cap and squeezing a some of the new CADE cream onto my palm was a "what is the world coming to" moment.

My apologies to all for the somewhat Grinch-like tone of this post.

That's a wicked nice tengu, ExtraProtein. I really enjoy your drawings! And your experience with bay rum is encyclopedic. So, you've baited us. Now spill the beans. What are the four bay rums worth keeping in your den?

Bouki Based on that writing, I hope there's only 3 more to learn about!
Thanks, ExtraProtein. Brad, Joe, and myself have a policy of not talking about more than just the highlights in regards to any of our scents. They are closely guarded. I will share this about IE. Yes, the real deal on the bay and real rum.

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Dom…..The rum is real, it’s implied the moment you open that container, I didn’t even need to speak about that. The Bay….I opened that for discussion, I didn’t want to mislead the reader.  I didn’t ask you personally about materials in IE either, I wanted you to reach out which authenticates my reviews honesty. Open that container and you’re instantly transported to Tortuga (the most notorious of Pirate settlements in the Caribbean circa 17th Century)

Where did the name Sir Henry’s come from Dom? Sir Henry Morgan, the Welsh Captain who used Port Royal Jamaica as a base of Operations for Raids on the Spanish strongholds at Portobello, Cartagena and Panama City?

Full Transparency…..I mentioned in a post I had a duplicate of something Dominic wanted. He emailed me and asked how much? I said how about a trade, I read you have a good Bay Rum, of which some say the best out there.  I said nothing else, especially that I’m a Bay Rum snob, and here we are. I said I’ll review it, took me the winter to really give it a go.  If I’m going to say something is the best I’ve ever had, I’m doing it with integrity.

Sir Henry’s Island Estate….Best Bay Rum Kit I’ve ever had, and I had a few

I like those soap commander tubs are those the old ones?

Verbena Cream v. (Esbjerg) lemony herb garden

Something went terribly right with yesterday’s shave, and it’s got me all muddled. You see, I’ve searched for years and years for a shave soap or cream that would perfectly suit not only my taste but also my skin. Now, I have lots of soaps that smell good but don’t give a great shave, and I have a few soaps that give a pretty good shave but don’t really smell that good. But Esbjerg’s Verbena is both good smelling and good shaving – I mean really good shaving. Slick and creamy and wonderfully protective, this lather turns my face into an ice rink. The blade just skims over the surface of the skin without doing any damage. The finish, dry at first but richer as the hours pass, feels plump but not sticky, even on a 'bug hot' day. I’m almost afraid to admit that I may have found my shave nirvana. The hunt for this sort of perfection has been so central to my daily routine for so many years that now when I think I’ve found it, I’m troubled by the thought of giving up the search. This could leave a gaping hole in my psyche. I’m almost tempted to pitch this soap out. But how can I when a shave with it comes so close to paradise?
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1946–50 Gillette Fat Handle Tech ・ Bic Chrome Platinum ・ Phoenix Shaving Solar Flare ・ Guerlain, Eau de Guerlain ・ YTD: 318g

  

ARIANA EVANS / SoCal Hipster

That's a wicked nice tengu, ExtraProtein. I really enjoy your drawings! And your experience with bay rum is encyclopedic. So, you've baited us. Now spill the beans. What are the four bay rums worth keeping in your den?

I love that you know what a Tengu is! Tengu became the spirits of people who died through their own arrogance and became associated with the sin of pride. Bad Tengu are disruptive demons, Good Tengu are protectors.  What are mine? Bad Tengu of course, what fun is the world without chaos and disruption? 

Cheers Bouki !!!

Love me some sandalwoooood

Up today is Nuavia Vert by PannaCrema.

I really wish I was not among the relative few who are not fans of any of the Nuavia scents, because all of them have superior performance on my skin. They (Vert included) are the only shaving soaps I intentionally abstain from any pre or post shave products, because they are completely unnecessary.

In the case of Vert, the scent is probably my favorite of the Nuavia offerings, proving a relatively benign Acqua di Gio profile, adding a sharp green tinge. Nothing earthshaking surely, but wholly inoffensive. As mentioned and expected, performance on my skin is unmatched, including post-shave.

Nice post and good reminder of how high quality PC is. I love the blue and red. Need to get on the black and green

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That’s a classic! No pun intended

That's a wicked nice tengu, ExtraProtein. I really enjoy your drawings! And your experience with bay rum is encyclopedic. So, you've baited us. Now spill the beans. What are the four bay rums worth keeping in your den?

Bouki Based on that writing, I hope there's only 3 more to learn about!
Thanks, ExtraProtein. Brad, Joe, and myself have a policy of not talking about more than just the highlights in regards to any of our scents. They are closely guarded. I will share this about IE. Yes, the real deal on the bay and real rum.

Sent from my SM-A716U1 using Tapatalk

Dom…..The rum is real, it’s implied the moment you open that container, I didn’t even need to speak about that. The Bay….I opened that for discussion, I didn’t want to mislead the reader.  I didn’t ask you personally about materials in IE either, I wanted you to reach out which authenticates my reviews honesty. Open that container and you’re instantly transported to Tortuga (the most notorious of Pirate settlements in the Caribbean circa 17th Century)

Where did the name Sir Henry’s come from Dom? Sir Henry Morgan, the Welsh Captain who used Port Royal Jamaica as a base of Operations for Raids on the Spanish strongholds at Portobello, Cartagena and Panama City?

Full Transparency…..I mentioned in a post I had a duplicate of something Dominic wanted. He emailed me and asked how much? I said how about a trade, I read you have a good Bay Rum, of which some say the best out there.  I said nothing else, especially that I’m a Bay Rum snob, and here we are. I said I’ll review it, took me the winter to really give it a go.  If I’m going to say something is the best I’ve ever had, I’m doing it with integrity.

Sir Henry’s Island Estate….Best Bay Rum Kit I’ve ever had, and I had a few

The story isn’t that sexy. As some of you may recall, we were Black Tie Razor Company. When we decided to launch products on Amazon, we decided to come up with another brand. We wanted something simple and I thought that with the reputation of the Brits in regards to shaving products, we should follow that theme. Sir Henry’s popped into my head and it sounded British, the guys liked it, and boom, there it was.
Around the same time, we failed to get a trademark for Black Tie and our lawyer said we looked good for Sir Henry’s and we were successful. Only afterwards did we find so many bad asses named Sir Henry in history.


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