Brush: Yaqi 24mm Barberpole Synthetic
Soap: Fine Accoutrements American Blend
Aftershave: Fine Accoutrements American Blend Splash
Lately I’ve got interested in Barbershop scents again. I think Highland Springs Barbershop kind of got me back into that scent profile (pick that set up if you have the chance, it is fantastic). I figured if I was getting into Barbershop scents again, I had to pick up one of the most popular Barbershop scents, Rive Gauche pour Homme by Yves Saint Laurent. I was looking at a few shaving soap offerings in this scent when I was lucky enough to pick up Fine Accoutrements American Blend. (I also had my eye on RazoRock American Barbershop and Oleo Irving Park. Are there any other Rive Gauche homages out there I should be aware of?)
The scent on this is classic barbershop. Rosemary, Bergamot, Lavender over a base of Vetiver, Oakmoss and Patchouli. It is a really wonderful powdery barbershop classic. I know many aren’t high on Fine Accoutrements soaps and splashes. The soap base is a hard puck that some people find a bit drying and the aftershave is just a straight up alcohol splash. For me, I don’t have issues with either. The soap base is very easy to lather and I find the cushion and slickness more than adequate. Today I used the straight and had no issues. I would say to those that have issues, try painting in a bit of water onto your face over the lather before each pass. I find that makes a difference whenever I have a soap that it is bit down on those elements.
Post shave suffers a bit but for me I can still get away without a skin food rich post shave product. If you do have an issue, pick yourself up an unscented balm to finish the shave with and it should rectify any issues with soaps that are a touch on the drying side. The alcohol splash could give you the same drying effect as there is no skin food in, so again you may need an unscented balm (or the matching balm from Fine could work too, although I’ve yet to try it.) I can say that the matching splash has a really nice scent strength and it will linger around for a while. For me this shave just worked and I had a nice clean shave. No complaints…. well except for the weather. Stupid rain.
