Your Black Friday deals

How did I get through without buying something?

Have you checked your pulse?

I picked up a Kent BLK12 Pure Silver Tip Badger King Size shaving brush from Men Essentials - retailing at CDN$350, a crazy price that I would never pay, however, it was on for 50% off plus another 20% off so I got it for CDN$140 which I consider to be more reasonable.

https://www.menessentials.ca/collections...-king-size

Marko, that thing looks like a monster — in the most positive sense of the word. I’ve heard that those Kents are pure, pillowy luxury. I hope you enjoy yours!

Marko, that thing looks like a monster — in the most positive sense of the word. I’ve heard that those Kents are pure, pillowy luxury. I hope you enjoy yours!

It is a pillowy luxurious monster - I haven't got it yet but one of my brothers gave another of my brothers this same brush a couple of years ago and I got to touch it. I've dreamed about it ever since and now I get one. For cheap (relatively) too! I have a medium sized one and its great. I'm really happy about the price.

So I thought I would report back on my Black Friday acquisitions as it was an extremely disappointing haul for me. Please keep in mind that I consider the Artisans that I bought these products from to be some of the best in the hobby today and many of them make some of my very favorite products but things just didn't work out for me at all this time.

Purchase #1) Tallow and Steel Boreal Soap 30% off - I have only had 1 other Tallow+Steel soap which was the Classic soap and it had a very off putting scent to me. Well Boreal to me anyway, is even worse. I honestly cant even begin to explain what this soap smells like except that it seems like there is a good dose of 'BENGAY' ointment in it. If this is what a Canadian Forrest smells like then I never want to go to one. I haven't yet used the soap(and probably never will) but I assume from their reputation that performance wise it would be great, and maybe the scent would open up to something different but just don't think I want to try.

Purchase #2) Storybook Soapworks Elysium Soap 20% off - I used this a couple of days after receiving it and had a very nice shave performance wise. Great protection and post shave but the sent on this one is just way too sweet for me. I actually really liked the scent when I opened the tub but after I lathered it a very sweet vanilla just seemed to overpower the rest of the scents and now the soap seems to have held on to a vanilla scent that just overpowers the Lavender and Pepperment.

Purchase #3) Wickham 1912 Cashmere and Classic 24 - Wickham makes two of my very favorite soaps in Irish Fern and Magnum. I knew what I was getting with the Classic 24 in that it is an Aventus type scent and a very good one at that, so I really don't have any problem with this purchase. Where my disappointment came in was with the Cashmere. I have seen so many posts on many different forums referring to how nice and pleasant the scent of this soap is, and I agree it is. What I failed to ever see was how similar it is to Maggard's London Barbershop, Mikes Barbershop, and MLS The Kracken all of which I already own or have had in the past. So to open the tub with totally different expectations was a real let down for me and all I could think was "This scent again?" So two great soaps with great performance but really nothing new here which was a little bit of a let down.

Purchase #4) Shannon Soaps Woodland Frost & 25th Street Lime 15% off - This was probably my most disappointing purchase. Shannon's Soaps make three of my very favorite soaps in Woodlands, Silk Pajamas, and Forrest City Fern. I especially love the scent of Woodlands(definitely in my top 5-10 scented soaps) so when I saw Woodland Frost I thought it was a no brainer to purchase even though the scent profile was different. Wow, was I wrong. I know scents are subjective to each individual but I have smelled this tub probably 50 times since it arrived and all I get is ash tray mixed with a very unpleasant menthol. 25th Street Lime would be nice for someone that likes a sweet lime scent, unfortunately that's not me.

Purchase #5) Last bottle of Country Club for Men Frozen Vetiver aftershave I was browsing Etsy and found that Country Club for Men actually has an Etsy store and had 1 single bottle of the Frozen Vetiver aftershave available, in fact it was the very last item they had for sale. I had very much wanted to get this aftershave in the past. No Sale here but I bought it anyway. Again the disappointment came from the scent. Super light and fades almost immediately.

Well there you have it, my truly 'Black' Friday purchases. Again, I am not saying any of these products are bad in any way, in fact I would say all of these artisans belong in the 'Best in the Business' discussion. It's just to say these purchases obviously didn't work out for me. It's just hard for me to believe that I didn't find something I will be extremely happy with from even one of the purchases. Well maybe the Classic 24 or Elysium will grow on me. Here's hoping your Black Friday purchases worked out better than mine!

Wow, Oasisdave, sorry to hear about the several letdowns!

I’ve been interested in Boreal, and have seen some praise for it, but also saw someone say that it smells like toothpaste. And now you say Ben Gay. Hmm… Elysium has also had me curious, but I’m not that big of a vanilla fan, so… Glad to hear the Classic 24 is at least what you expected. That one’s on my list, as well.

I haven’t yet used all the products that I got on sale (Cashmere knot, Unconditional Surrender toner, Feather blades, The Stallion splash, Chypre Rose Concerto toner), but so far I’m happy with them.

Better luck next year!

Hey Oasisdave sorry to hear about your bad run on black friday. I always find it interesting to read people's unvarnished opinions of those products that they're unhappy with. I think its the best way to get past some of the sales pitches and get a good feel for whats out there. Invariably there will be things I disagree on , things I agree on and obviously things on which I have no idea other than what i'm reading.

Elysium I have but haven't used yet - I've sniffed it several times and I'm just not sure - I know that Storybook's soap base is decent having used the La Foret de Liguest Chatillon Lux collaboration soap. I also have a bottle of their Hook balm - that one I'm glad I didn't get in a soap (sold out) because it just smells overpoweringly of the leather of Captain Hook's boots (I assume). If anybody wants that one, let me know. New unused. I chuckled at your description of Boreal, right, I love that one. Its one of my favourite T+S scents. I can assure you that Canadian forests don't smell of Ben Gay, but who knows, maybe my schnoze is the issue??

So the challenge is to read enough feedback that you can eventually find someone who likes what you like and dislikes what you dislike because then you can be reasonably sure that if they say they like something that you haven't got yet, you can go ahead and get it. I did manage to find that person but he's dropped off the radar over the past year. Hey Kevin kwsher can you hear me!!

Thanks for the comments and better luck with your next buy - that really sucks that virtually your entire black friday haul was a big fat miss for you.

One Blade Genesis Shave kit, not sure about the Genesis just yet...

Thanks guys. Marko, a question on the Boreal, does the scent change at all when lathered? I have some soaps that when lathered the scents kind if 'break up' and so the soap is better lathered during shave than sniffed from the tub.

I'm actually kind of apprehensive about purchasing because of this bad run right now. I really wanted to grab 2-3 of the new soaps from The Grooming Dept when they come out on the 14th but am having 2nd thoughts.

One Blade Genesis Shave kit, not sure about the Genesis just yet...

One blade is still hit or miss for me. I have both the Genesis and the Core versions and find I actually get better and more comfortable shaves from the Core but it takes more effort through touch ups. I will say I have gotten a couple of my best shaves ever from the Genesis though. I think I just need to spend more time with the razor.