What soap/cream did you use today?

I kid you not, but offhand I cannot think of a soap that has been on my radar as long as Beaudelaire.  A coincidence?  Who's to say, but Beaudelaire it is!  Hopefully its journey to my mailbox will be quicker and less fraught with escapades than Dantès!

OT1H I confess skepticism about pairing books with soaps, but OTOH the issue is of no matter to me.  To me, this is mainly a chance to get reacquainted with an old friend (the book), but with a bonus chance to make the acquaintance of a new soap.  If you knew how long Monte Cristo has sat on my shelf, you would understand how much I appreciate your help Bouki.  The unabridged Monte Cristo has 117 chapters (which average almost 11 pages each), and reading a chapter a day would take almost four months.  I doubt things will play out that way here at Casa Highspeed, since for me, fiction books tend to be either non-stop page turners or dust magnets.  I doubt Monte Cristo will ever be a dust magnet, at least not a permanent magnet.

In any case, on February 24, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signaled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. ...

HighSpeed, you're tempting me to put down Moby Dick and pick up the Count! I read that fat book when I was only 14. I loved it so much I had to ration myself to thirty pages a night. Got me through a long Wyoming winter. It wasn't until many years later that I realized my version was considerably abridged. I missed nearly half of the plot! Now I'm bound and determined to go through it all stem to stern ... just as soon as I'm done with Moby Dick (Barrister & Mann Leviathan), Robinson Crusoe (Sir Henry's Island Estate), Crime and Punishment (Barrister & Mann Cologne Russe), Virgil's Eclogues (Barrister & Mann Le Grande Chypre), Don Quixote (Barrister & Mann Seville), ... too many books, too much soap!

Have a great read and a lot of great shaves. I hope you enjoy Beaudelaire as much as I do!

I kid you not, but offhand I cannot think of a soap that has been on my radar as long as Beaudelaire.  A coincidence?  Who's to say, but Beaudelaire it is!  Hopefully its journey to my mailbox will be quicker and less fraught with escapades than Dantès!

OT1H I confess skepticism about pairing books with soaps, but OTOH the issue is of no matter to me.  To me, this is mainly a chance to get reacquainted with an old friend (the book), but with a bonus chance to make the acquaintance of a new soap.  If you knew how long Monte Cristo has sat on my shelf, you would understand how much I appreciate your help Bouki.  The unabridged Monte Cristo has 117 chapters (which average almost 11 pages each), and reading a chapter a day would take almost four months.  I doubt things will play out that way here at Casa Highspeed, since for me, fiction books tend to be either non-stop page turners or dust magnets.  I doubt Monte Cristo will ever be a dust magnet, at least not a permanent magnet.

In any case, on February 24, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signaled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. ...

HighSpeed, you're tempting me to put down Moby Dick and pick up the Count! I read that fat book when I was only 14. I loved it so much I had to ration myself to thirty pages a night. Got me through a long Wyoming winter. It wasn't until many years later that I realized my version was considerably abridged. I missed nearly half of the plot! Now I'm bound and determined to go through it all stem to stern ... just as soon as I'm done with Moby Dick (Barrister & Mann Leviathan), Robinson Crusoe (Sir Henry's Island Estate), Crime and Punishment (Barrister & Mann Cologne Russe), Virgil's Eclogues (Barrister & Mann Le Grande Chypre), Don Quixote (Barrister & Mann Seville), ... too many books, too much soap!

Have a great read and a lot of great shaves. I hope you enjoy Beaudelaire as much as I do!

Thanks very much Bouki, and good luck with your list - a very impressive one - and your shaves too.  I'm sure you will get to the Count when the time is right.

Good gracious. Looks just like my neighbor's cat – battle scarred but good for another decade at least. And looks like you've been reading Kieje's Japanese Grotesqueries. Where do you turn for your marvelous inspiration, ExtraProtein?

Japanese Art is an influencer, whatever disturbs people, capitalizing on their fears makes my brain go 5x as fast.  I can’t pick up markers and pencils fast enough.  At night, that moment you turn the lights out and for about 10-15 seconds if you keep your eyes open it’s dark but you can now see shapes moving? These are the things people fear the most.  Alone, in a cabin, in the deep woods; stare out the window into those trees for as long as you can.  I promise you, the images will come to you of what’s out there….

The 20th Century Masters is where I draw it all from.  The colours of Miro, the shapes from Picasso, the shading from Chagall and the off the charts style of Dali

Regarding Nik Kieje’s JG….. anything Japanese Folklore gets my immediate attention! Japanese Grotesqueries will be 50 years old next year! That book was done in 1973, it will always be a relevant book.  The sketches of ghosts and demons are…… just wow

The dust cover on mine is getting a little tattered….how’s your copy? 

Thank you Bouki.   I'm of two minds on the MdC Fougère.  OT1H, it pairs well with the book in ways that never occurred to me until you mentioned it.  For example, MdC's ethnicity matches the characters' ethnicity; MdC's marketing image fits with their time period and station; and the titular nobility of Houbigant's original Fougère Royale fits too.  And yes, both are definitely built to last!  OTOH in my mind, MdC does not really speak either to the initial treachery, or to the ensuing clever and swashbuckling adventures through which Dantès loses and then wins back his freedom, reputation, wealth, and true love.

But at the end of the day, I think MdC Fougère would do well enough; I'm beginning to see how easy it is to overthink these things; and I thank you again.

You're absolutely right, HighSpeed. Martin de Candre's Fougère might not be dirty enough to suit the darker parts of the tale. Barrister & Mann's Fern is also too bright, but maybe Will's Beaudelaire just might hit the spot? Its fragrance has a French pedigree (sort of), and like the plot of the book, it harbors plenty of curious and unexpected twists and turns, some dark, some bright, but all very interesting.

I kid you not, but offhand I cannot think of a soap that has been on my radar as long as Beaudelaire.  A coincidence?  Who's to say, but Beaudelaire it is!  Hopefully its journey to my mailbox will be quicker and less fraught with escapades than Dantès!

OT1H I confess skepticism about pairing books with soaps, but OTOH the issue is of no matter to me.  To me, this is mainly a chance to get reacquainted with an old friend (the book), but with a bonus chance to make the acquaintance of a new soap.  If you knew how long Monte Cristo has sat on my shelf, you would understand how much I appreciate your help Bouki.  The unabridged Monte Cristo has 117 chapters (which average almost 11 pages each), and reading a chapter a day would take almost four months.  I doubt things will play out that way here at Casa Highspeed, since for me, fiction books tend to be either non-stop page turners or dust magnets.  I doubt Monte Cristo will ever be a dust magnet, at least not a permanent magnet.

In any case, on February 24, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. ...

Ahhhhhh, Beaudelaire….it’s up next for me and a brand spanking NEW balm. I’m going to butt into this conversation on Sunday when I shave.  I always get nervous when I fall in love with a scent and/or performer.  Like Khalifa and Dragonsbeard,  picked up more than I need, you know, just in case

Beaudelaire, I don’t even know where to begin, it’s more than a FOUGÈRE.  That’s where I’ll start….

BoukiLeviathan sample (Barrister & Mann) leather, sandalwood, coffee, cedar & musk
Shave 3 ・ 50% left ・ "Loomings"

Interesting idea.  The first "brick book" that comes to mind for me is Robin Buss' translation of The Count of Monte Cristo.  I wonder what soap would go with that?

Unabridged, huh. That takes dedication, HighSpeed. For the Count of Monte Cristo, I might lean toward a new tub of Martin de Candre Fougère. A great French soap for a great French book. Both are built to last. What do you think?

Truly, hold off on the MdC, grab a Beaudelaire from WCS first.  And the balm…..pssshhhht, super sauce.  If you don’t fall in love with it at first use, I’ll pay for it.  I’m that confident on this one especially if you fancy a FOUGÈRE.  This isn’t a fougi per se tho….it’s that Mousse de Saxe that makes this one special….

PHOENIX & BEAU ** Empress Rising

You're absolutely right, HighSpeed. Martin de Candre's Fougère might not be dirty enough to suit the darker parts of the tale. Barrister & Mann's Fern is also too bright, but maybe Will's Beaudelaire just might hit the spot? Its fragrance has a French pedigree (sort of), and like the plot of the book, it harbors plenty of curious and unexpected twists and turns, some dark, some bright, but all very interesting.

I kid you not, but offhand I cannot think of a soap that has been on my radar as long as Beaudelaire.  A coincidence?  Who's to say, but Beaudelaire it is!  Hopefully its journey to my mailbox will be quicker and less fraught with escapades than Dantès!

OT1H I confess skepticism about pairing books with soaps, but OTOH the issue is of no matter to me.  To me, this is mainly a chance to get reacquainted with an old friend (the book), but with a bonus chance to make the acquaintance of a new soap.  If you knew how long Monte Cristo has sat on my shelf, you would understand how much I appreciate your help Bouki.  The unabridged Monte Cristo has 117 chapters (which average almost 11 pages each), and reading a chapter a day would take almost four months.  I doubt things will play out that way here at Casa Highspeed, since for me, fiction books tend to be either non-stop page turners or dust magnets.  I doubt Monte Cristo will ever be a dust magnet, at least not a permanent magnet.

In any case, on February 24, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. ...

Ahhhhhh, Beaudelaire….it’s up next for me and a brand spanking NEW balm. I’m going to butt into this conversation on Sunday when I shave.  I always get nervous when I fall in love with a scent and/or performer.  Like Khalifa and Dragonsbeard,  picked up more than I need, you know, just in case

Beaudelaire, I don’t even know where to begin, it’s more than a FOUGÈRE.  That’s where I’ll start….

BoukiLeviathan sample (Barrister & Mann) leather, sandalwood, coffee, cedar & musk
Shave 3 ・ 50% left ・ "Loomings"

Interesting idea.  The first "brick book" that comes to mind for me is Robin Buss' translation of The Count of Monte Cristo.  I wonder what soap would go with that?

Unabridged, huh. That takes dedication, HighSpeed. For the Count of Monte Cristo, I might lean toward a new tub of Martin de Candre Fougère. A great French soap for a great French book. Both are built to last. What do you think?

Truly, hold off on the MdC, grab a Beaudelaire from WCS first.  And the balm…..pssshhhht, super sauce.  If you don’t fall in love with it at first use, I’ll pay for it.  I’m that confident on this one especially if you fancy a FOUGÈRE.  This isn’t a fougi per se tho….it’s that Mousse de Saxe that makes this one special….

I ordered the Beaudelaire soap and matching balm from WCS after reading Bouki's post today.  I have heard nothing but love for Beaudelaire, including from you IIRC.  However, this is the first I recall about the balm, so perhaps I just stumbled onto a good thing.  But hey, you remember what Napoleon said:  "Screw the generals.  Send me lucky shavers."

FWIW I like Beaudelaire, BUT I am glad I was able to get a sample of it & the matching AS when WCS had as such. IMO it is a Lavanille flanker and like the latter it is not a hot weather scent. I once shaved with Lavanille soap and used the respective AS on a hot late Summer day. After a few hours the scent was like a ball & chain around my neck!! 
Now mind you, I like both it and Beaudelaire, but they are COLD weather affairs for sure. I am fairly sure their new soap Melangé will likely fall into the same weather dependent category as well.

Martin De Candre Rose