What soap/cream did you use today?

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

Encre Noire! Yes - great stuff

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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

Dang right. Rolled 7 days in a row with the unscented puck while traveling!

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Love me some sandalwoooood

John…hit quote, then hit reply.  It will bring up the post you want to comment on.

And agreed, Sandalwood is amazing.  AoS Sandalwood the most unique and my personal fav

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 KNEW you wouldn’t miss a beat here……
I think there’s going to be a big surprise when I state what’s worth keeping/the others I really like.  Before I do, let me preface that all the products I listed are/were fine products at one point in time.  Time has brought us new and better, more authentic and natural products. Better products for our skin….

In order….and for VERY different reasons….

Sir Henry’s Island Estate
Dr. Jon’s Raz Warz 
Stirling Bay Rum
Mike’s Natural
B&M Bay Rum Excelsior Base

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.
____________
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.

Thanks, both of you, for confirming what I feared. At first I thought my tube of Cade was just a fluke, maybe damaged in transit. I was hoping that I could pop in to L'Occitane and trade it in for the real thing. But it looks like the real thing has gone the way. Looking at the bright side (which is a little difficult right now), I suppose I can always use this tube of Cade whenever I want to make a super lather.

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.

Thanks, both of you, for confirming what I feared. At first I thought my tube of Cade was just a fluke, maybe damaged in transit. I was hoping that I could pop in to L'Occitane and trade it in for the real thing. But it looks like the real thing has gone the way. Looking at the bright side (which is a little difficult right now), I suppose I can always use this tube of Cade whenever I want to make a super lather.

Honestly Bouki….grab yourself a puck of Williams before grabbing a Cade post 2017
The Cade Rich Shaving Cream was the only one worth having imho….7oz, $34…..like it was yesterday standing at that counter in Sak’s
I have enough left from HighSpeed for one more memory of the past.  Reminded me of the sticker on the box my brother has that says “Marshall Fields State Street”

Gents:

If you choose to give Sir Henry’s Island Estate a go or any Bay Rum for that matter….I’ve selected this joint for your shave….

https://youtu.be/Xj3gU3jACe8

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

John, are you referring to the green and black ceramic tubs or? If so, those are Nuavia Black and Green or Nera and Verde.  There’s also Blue and Red (Blu & Rossa).  Fantastic soaps from PannaCrema out of Italy.  Marcos did a bang up job on these, I still enjoy them very much, although the ceramic containers went way of the DoDo Bird…

Hit me up and I’ll give you the speed version of commenting on specific posts etc

Welcome to the DFS Soap Forum!

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 KNEW you wouldn’t miss a beat here……
I think there’s going to be a big surprise when I state what’s worth keeping/the others I really like.  Before I do, let me preface that all the products I listed are/were fine products at one point in time.  Time has brought us new and better, more authentic and natural products. Better products for our skin….

In order….and for VERY different reasons….

Sir Henry’s Island Estate
Dr. Jon’s Raz Warz 
Stirling Bay Rum
Mike’s Natural
B&M Bay Rum Excelsior Base

ExtraProtein, thanks for this! I've never even heard of Dr. Jon's Raz Warz, but I tried their Anne Bonny. Good for about three shaves. After that it got cloying. Made a good bath soap in the early days of the pandemic when we were washing our hands seemed like every couple hours. Tried Stirling's Bay Rum, but it wasn't for me. Barrister & Mann's Bay Rum is in full rotation. Get's better after it's had a year to breathe off that heavy orange note. Island Estate is excellent: smooth, rich, smoky, nice. And a puck of Mike's Bay Rum is on its way. I've heard it's not your typical bay rum. Can't wait to see what makes it special. It's going to be a good summer.