WhollyKaw

...However, if you are using pre-shave or post-shave products, then the cost of those products has to be factored into the cost of the shave. I find that using high quality soaps, even those that cost $30 can reduce my overall shave cost by eliminating the need for additional products that I would otherwise need.

That must be "Las Vegas math" you're using as a host of superb post shave moisturizers can be had for less than $10 each and will easily last nigh onto a year unless you are slathering it on.

If I look at prices on West Coast Shaving, pre-shave products range from $11 (Prep Cream) - $60 (Castle Forbes pre-shave).
Post-shave balms (non-including alcohol based splashes) range from $9.25 (Stirling shave balm) - $60 (Castle Forbes aftershave balm).
Prices on soaps range from $3.49 (Col Conk) to $79 (Antica Barbieria Colla).

Yes, I know you can purchase some after-shave balms for $5 at your local discount store or pharmacy. I have used them, but prefer not to do so.

Let's say I want to stick with Proraso products. I pick up Proraso pre-shave ($13), Proraso sandalwood soap (10), and Proraso alcohol free aftershave balm ($16). My total purchase has come to $39. I have no idea how long this combination might last compared to a tub of Wholly Kaw Siero at $30, but it seems to me that by purchasing Siero alone, the "Las Vegas math" shows the odds in my favor.

Your needs and preferences are likely to be different than mine. If using inexpensive soaps in combination with inexpensive aftershaves works for you, that is great. I am just trying to point out that if you use pre-shave and post-shave products along with your soap, the total cost of those products needs to be considered. I choose to use soaps that are so good that pre-shave and post-shave products are not required, but that often means I am purchasing more expensive soaps ($20 and up). However, not all expensive soaps are worth the price. 

In another posting, one member reviewed what I consider to be a mid-tier soap. He reported  that the shave was fantastic and the post-shave was fantastic, but admitted to using a pre-shave product and an expensive post-shave serum. His combined cost was somewhere around $150. Thus, he should have expected a fantastic shave, even with a mid-range soap. Had he not used the pre-shave and post-shave products, his shave might not have been fantastic.

Frankly, $30 for a soap doesn't phase me - some spend more than that on a few day's worth of bottled water, lattes or soft drinks.  I don't but it doesn't bother me that they do so $30 for a beautiful soap that provides me with a pretty significant amount of pleasurable shaving is ok by me.  I was at the Sebum website and saw a soap and post shave set that was priced at $720 https://sebumgold.com/products/sebum-blu...having-set Now that's a little steep for my budget but if someone chooses to buy that then that is purely their choice and I'm quite certain they will enjoy it and consider it money well spent.  Thats how I feel about Wholly Kaw Siero.

Sean, I'm dreaming of Pompelmo in Siero base. Is it on your list at some time later on this year?

Sean, I'm dreaming of Pompelmo in Siero base.  Is it on your list at some time later on this year?

Working on the supply chain issues.  Need to get enough of the ingredients with good line of sight into reliability.  Hope to get it resolved soon barring Covid-19 issues.  

Thank you for your patience.

Sri, I listened to your interview on the Lather Talk podcast episode #016.  It was excellent.  I had only listened to one episode of that podcast before and I was underwhelmed, however, I realize now that it was the subject matter of that episode that left me flat.  This episode was excellent.  Your interest in and passion for everything you do really came through.  I already love your wet shaving line but I am now inspired to step into your skin care line and I'm eagerly anticipating the hair care products.  Maybe I'm saying that because I'm 60 and my skin needs help but I think that the younger guys out there who will be introduced to proper skin care through the gateway of wet shaving will be at an incredible advantage in maintaining their skin health as they (inevitably) age.  Talk about lucky.

Sri, thank you for your passion and your committment to shaving and skin care and most of all, to your customers. 

Mark

Sri, I listened to your interview on the Lather Talk podcast episode #016.  It was excellent.  I had only listened to one episode of that podcast before and I was underwhelmed, however, I realize now that it was the subject matter of that episode that left me flat.  This episode was excellent.  Your interest in and passion for everything you do really came through.  I already love your wet shaving line but I am now inspired to step into your skin care line and I'm eagerly anticipating the hair care products.  Maybe I'm saying that because I'm 60 and my skin needs help but I think that the younger guys out there who will be introduced to proper skin care through the gateway of wet shaving will be at an incredible advantage in maintaining their skin health as they (inevitably) age.  Talk about lucky.

Sri, thank you for your passion and your committment to shaving and skin care and most of all, to your customers. 

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thank you for your post.  I am glad you enjoyed the podcast that is over 1 hour long. I was expecting it will put people to sleep lol. To me there is more of cooking in the podcast like the analogies I draw upon.

I enjoy what I do and the team with me has luckily caught on to my passion and help me in our day to day work and long term strategy.  The team also learns why ingredient research is important, understanding the benefits, weighing the pros and cons, which ingredient will go with what, explore the science with the help of external experts and cosmetic chemists. etc. Having this grounding makes the doing part easy and enjoyable.  The harder part is the first part of thinking process which take the passion to a different level. 

Skincare and haircare are just natural extensions to what we do as the chemistry and science can be applied to these use cases as well.

I am elated to have your support in our journey from a hobby to a business.  Thank you once again for the note!!

Sri, I listened to your interview on the Lather Talk podcast episode #016.  It was excellent.  I had only listened to one episode of that podcast before and I was underwhelmed, however, I realize now that it was the subject matter of that episode that left me flat.  This episode was excellent.  Your interest in and passion for everything you do really came through.  I already love your wet shaving line but I am now inspired to step into your skin care line and I'm eagerly anticipating the hair care products.  Maybe I'm saying that because I'm 60 and my skin needs help but I think that the younger guys out there who will be introduced to proper skin care through the gateway of wet shaving will be at an incredible advantage in maintaining their skin health as they (inevitably) age.  Talk about lucky.

Sri, thank you for your passion and your committment to shaving and skin care and most of all, to your customers. 

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thank you for your post.  I am glad you enjoyed the podcast that is over 1 hour long. I was expecting it will put people to sleep lol. To me there is more of cooking in the podcast like the analogies I draw upon.

I enjoy what I do and the team with me has luckily caught on to my passion and help me in our day to day work and long term strategy.  The team also learns why ingredient research is important, understanding the benefits, weighing the pros and cons, which ingredient will go with what, explore the science with the help of external experts and cosmetic chemists. etc. Having this grounding makes the doing part easy and enjoyable.  The harder part is the first part of thinking process which take the passion to a different level. 

Skincare and haircare are just natural extensions to what we do as the chemistry and science can be applied to these use cases as well.

I am elated to have your support in our journey from a hobby to a business.  Thank you once again for the note!!

I loved the cooking references!  Food is love and preparing food for our families and friends or even just for ourselves is one of humanity's basic ways of expressing our love for others.  The care and attention that you take in preparing a dish and selecting ingredients speaks volumes about who you are and how you see the world and the people in it.  I also love cooking and love reading cookbooks - my wife and I have an extensive library of cookbooks.  I enjoy reading and learning about the process and also the science and practicalities behind the choice of ingredients or techniques.  I never liked recipes that just say do this or don't do that, I want to know why and sometimes its not obvious.  When you know why then you can apply the principles elsewhere.  Once you understand the basics then you become able to look at recipes with a critical eye and determine what you think will work and what won't and to vary or create your own recipes - I believe that the bulk of cookbooks on the market contain a large percentage of filler recipes that nobody will ever make.  Like the tunes on the B side of old vinyl LPs.  In any case the fact that your love of cooking and your interest in fermentation led you down the path that resulted in an incredible shaving soap is both fascinating and serendipitous -  some of the biggest breakthroughs have resulted in applying knowledge gains from one discipline and applying it in another.  Its an over used term but its out of the box thinking.  Sometimes the solution to a problem that is vexing you is not to focus more closely on the minute details of that problem but to broaden your focus and look for analogies in other unrelated fields.  The brain is very good at making connections but it works on its own time schedule hence the importance of sleeping on a problem and just letting the process chug along then, eureka! and its so obvious now   

I was also very interested in your discussion of how consumer cosmetics/skin care have lagged behind the science and why the field is ripe for innovative breakthroughs and product improvements if only a motivated person wishes to go down that path - and that person is you.  I am looking forward to trying your skin care line and hair care when its ready.

Would you happen to know if its currently possible to ship your products to Canada due to the covid19 issues?  I know there are disruptions at the moment.  I'd place an order today if I wasn't worried that the package would sit in a warehouse at the border for weeks.  i've also suggested to Carmine at Top of the Chain that it would be a good idea to carry your skincare line as well as the shaving line he currently carries. 

I want to thank you again for taking the time to do the interview for the podcast - I'm planning on researching fermentation and kefir.  We could all use better gut health, oh and one more thing, I'm happy you're using donkey and buffalo milk and not goat milk 

Mark

I forgot to mention that I'm doing an all Wholly Kaw Siero and Toner shave this week to gauge the effect on my skin.  So far so good 

Sri, I listened to your interview on the Lather Talk podcast episode #016.  It was excellent.  I had only listened to one episode of that podcast before and I was underwhelmed, however, I realize now that it was the subject matter of that episode that left me flat.  This episode was excellent.  Your interest in and passion for everything you do really came through.  I already love your wet shaving line but I am now inspired to step into your skin care line and I'm eagerly anticipating the hair care products.  Maybe I'm saying that because I'm 60 and my skin needs help but I think that the younger guys out there who will be introduced to proper skin care through the gateway of wet shaving will be at an incredible advantage in maintaining their skin health as they (inevitably) age.  Talk about lucky.

Sri, thank you for your passion and your committment to shaving and skin care and most of all, to your customers. 

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thank you for your post.  I am glad you enjoyed the podcast that is over 1 hour long. I was expecting it will put people to sleep lol. To me there is more of cooking in the podcast like the analogies I draw upon.

I enjoy what I do and the team with me has luckily caught on to my passion and help me in our day to day work and long term strategy.  The team also learns why ingredient research is important, understanding the benefits, weighing the pros and cons, which ingredient will go with what, explore the science with the help of external experts and cosmetic chemists. etc. Having this grounding makes the doing part easy and enjoyable.  The harder part is the first part of thinking process which take the passion to a different level. 

Skincare and haircare are just natural extensions to what we do as the chemistry and science can be applied to these use cases as well.

I am elated to have your support in our journey from a hobby to a business.  Thank you once again for the note!!

I loved the cooking references!  Food is love and preparing food for our families and friends or even just for ourselves is one of humanity's basic ways of expressing our love for others.  The care and attention that you take in preparing a dish and selecting ingredients speaks volumes about who you are and how you see the world and the people in it.  I also love cooking and love reading cookbooks - my wife and I have an extensive library of cookbooks.  I enjoy reading and learning about the process and also the science and practicalities behind the choice of ingredients or techniques.  I never liked recipes that just say do this or don't do that, I want to know why and sometimes its not obvious.  When you know why then you can apply the principles elsewhere.  Once you understand the basics then you become able to look at recipes with a critical eye and determine what you think will work and what won't and to vary or create your own recipes - I believe that the bulk of cookbooks on the market contain a large percentage of filler recipes that nobody will ever make.  Like the tunes on the B side of old vinyl LPs.  In any case the fact that your love of cooking and your interest in fermentation led you down the path that resulted in an incredible shaving soap is both fascinating and serendipitous -  some of the biggest breakthroughs have resulted in applying knowledge gains from one discipline and applying it in another.  Its an over used term but its out of the box thinking.  Sometimes the solution to a problem that is vexing you is not to focus more closely on the minute details of that problem but to broaden your focus and look for analogies in other unrelated fields.  The brain is very good at making connections but it works on its own time schedule hence the importance of sleeping on a problem and just letting the process chug along then, eureka! and its so obvious now   

I was also very interested in your discussion of how consumer cosmetics/skin care have lagged behind the science and why the field is ripe for innovative breakthroughs and product improvements if only a motivated person wishes to go down that path - and that person is you.  I am looking forward to trying your skin care line and hair care when its ready.

Would you happen to know if its currently possible to ship your products to Canada due to the covid19 issues?  I know there are disruptions at the moment.  I'd place an order today if I wasn't worried that the package would sit in a warehouse at the border for weeks.  i've also suggested to Carmine at Top of the Chain that it would be a good idea to carry your skincare line as well as the shaving line he currently carries. 

I want to thank you again for taking the time to do the interview for the podcast - I'm planning on researching fermentation and kefir.  We could all use better gut health, oh and one more thing, I'm happy you're using donkey and buffalo milk and not goat milk 

Mark

Thank you for the kind words. Appreciate it. Fermentation is a rabbit hole just a fair warning  But it is a very rewarding activity.  End product being larger than the sum of the parts kind of thing!!

We do ship all over the world and we have not had issues thus far due Covid-19 issues.  We have shipped a few to Canada in the last one week and the tracker is not showing any delays or alerts.

Hi Sri, I finally had delivery of Denarius today (Canada) and I'm looking forward to using it - the colour is quite a dark brown,  There is no mention of colour in the description on line but I'm guessing its the vanilla that makes Denarius so much darker in colour than the other Siero base soaps.  Is that correct?

Thanks
Mark