What soap/cream did you use today?

Im not an A&E regular because I just don’t care for the label art.  This one intrigues me though and the label art is compelling.  Great shave and scent.

Charkalis has some edgy artwork for A&E and The Club on his labels and I can understand why some may not like it.  That said, I fall on the opposite side of this.  For me, the soap is top notch and I like the artwork for the most part.  As with many things it is strictly a matter of taste.  I certainly would not let artwork determine a soap purchase with this company.

You're his demographic Glenn  Too many other options for me to feel I need to change my standards and wouldn't even if there wasn't. He's free to make what he wants and you're free to buy it just as I'm free to choose not to. It's all good.......well, sorta 

Neither criticizing nor stirring the pot, simply curious what specifically is offencive regarding the A&E label art?  Asking because never encountered shave soap art would consider as polarizing beyond favouring or disfavouring.  Art that insults religion or races, definitely understand the indignation but curious as Hell on this matter.  Not seeking to debate the issue; rather simply gain insight.  Please do respond.

Being the opposite of what has been stated. I have a narrower filter for acceptance to what I consider visual art. I don't need anything occult, spiritistic, tattoos, skulls or bawdy on my shave soap labels. That just me and I don't expect him or anyone to just cater to me. I think we're derailed enough now and should let the thread focus on the soaps used for daily shaves. My apologies for the highjack, I was just agreeing with lipripper.

HC&C Bayrum soap

Im not an A&E regular because I just don’t care for the label art.  This one intrigues me though and the label art is compelling.  Great shave and scent.

You're his demographic Glenn  Too many other options for me to feel I need to change my standards and wouldn't even if there wasn't. He's free to make what he wants and you're free to buy it just as I'm free to choose not to. It's all good.......well, sorta 

Neither criticizing nor stirring the pot, simply curious what specifically is offencive regarding the A&E label art?  Asking because never encountered shave soap art would consider as polarizing beyond favouring or disfavouring.  Art that insults religion or races, definitely understand the indignation but curious as Hell on this matter.  Not seeking to debate the issue; rather simply gain insight.  Please do respond.

Being the opposite of what has been stated. I have a narrower filter for acceptance to what I consider visual art. I don't need anything occult, spiritistic, tattoos, skulls or bawdy on my shave soap labels. That just me and I don't expect him or anyone to just cater to me. I think we're derailed enough now and should let the thread focus on the soaps used for daily shaves. My apologies for the highjack, I was just agreeing with lipripper.

I think there are two label aspects of A&E that some folks may not find to their taste, DanLaw.  First, much of the art has a slightly florid or sometimes "edgy" quality, the Peach & Cognac that Lipripper660 posted, with its branches coming out of the head, falling into the "edgy" category.  Or at least I would characterize it as such.  Second, and what Peter Charkalis did move away from, were the "Pinup" series of alluring females ala Vargas pin-ups. An example is the Vacanza Romana soap and splash label that I posted yesterday with the A&E logo on woman's butt cheek. Folks did complain about them as being sexist.  (And there are also A&E labels that I think that just don't work no matter what aesthetic is intended, such as the cartoonish-looking ones, but that's my taste.)

Having said all that I wanted to weigh in that I do find the A&E Kaizen/ Kaizen 2, and 2e soaps to all be excellent performers.  I might be inclined to purchase more but I find the scents sometimes overly strong and slightly synthetic (at least to me).  Some scents I like a lot on the soap but I find the splashes either to be too strong or to have a sweet, "perfume" quality.  And with the continual flood of new offerings Peter puts out, unless I can check them out at Pasteur's in New York City, I rarely try anything new now, since he doesn't believe in offering samples.

Im not an A&E regular because I just don’t care for the label art.  This one intrigues me though and the label art is compelling.  Great shave and scent.

Matt, what knot do you have in that baby?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

It’s some synthetic my boy was working on with his supplier.  This one didn’t make the cut.  Loft is too short but the tips are so soft!  It works for a two pass shave before it runs out of lather.

Nectar Amissa (Noble Otter) spiced potpourri
Shave 7 ・ 90 g left

Noble Otter puts out some of my favorite labels. Cody Wick, the founder of the company explains, “We wanted to tell a story with our products that our customers can experience through the art on our packaging.” To create the art, he hired a Serbian graphic designer who goes by the tradename Mad pepper. Her artwork is well rendered and funny, while her typography is modern, precise, and elegant. What story does she tell? The details are a little hazy (what's the deal with the satyr mask?), but the gist is clear: this soap is going to give you a fun, clean shave. I admit, the branding is cute, but it isn’t cutesy. Both me and Mrs Bouki get a kick out of these labels.
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Razor Merkur 15C (13) ・ Blade Gillette Silver Blue ・ Brush Phoenix Shaving Amber Aerolite (82) ・ Scent  ・ Hoard 18,283 g

   

Having said all that I wanted to weigh in that I do find the A&E Kaizen/ Kaizen 2, and 2e soaps to all be excellent performers.  I might be inclined to purchase more but I find the scents sometimes overly strong and slightly synthetic (at least to me).  Some scents I like a lot on the soap but I find the splashes either to be too strong or to have a sweet, "perfume" quality.

This 100%, I love their base especially k2e but their scent profile is too strong and too synthetic smelling for my taste.  I have a tub of apricity I just never reach for because of this exact reason. Label art has very little if anything to do with my soap purchase decisions but everyone has their thing.

Am I the only one getting a 'Games People Play' Alan Parsons Project vibe  from this label art?

August 23, 2022 - I dipped into my dwindling supply of Crabtree & Evelyn's "Sienna".

August 23, 2022 - I dipped into my dwindling supply of Crabtree & Evelyn's "Sienna".

This is a scent that needs to have an artisan dupe, or four.
There were at least two or three iterations by C&E over time, the best having the smoky/fire spice note. Also, cologny and soapy.
Any artisan got a BBQ smoker?