Razor: Karve CB on C
Blade: Gillette 7 O’clock Green
Brush: Sloyd Silvertip
Soap: Stonefield Shaving Lucky Number 54
Aftershave: Like Grandpa Lavender Splash
I’m having a chill Sunday today. No plans, dinner out with the fam, nothing too exciting. Decided I’d go the simple route when it came to scents. Something I’ve always struggled with is stepping away from soap and aftershave sets and pairing things up that compliment each other instead of match. I figured some simple scents would be the way to go so the Stonefield Shaving and Like Grandpa offerings fit the bill. It just so happens I know both the gents personally that make the soap/splash. In fact, I’ve been lucky to meet today’s soap, splash and brush maker in person. Some day I’ll get a chance to visit Karve and say the same. Minus the blade here, everything is Canadian made in pretty much my back yard.
The soap, Lucky Number 54 is made right in Winnipeg, MB for Stonefield Shaving Company. The scent on this straight up Red Cedarwood essential oil. I was surprised off the puck on this one, it isn’t the traditional cedarwood I’m used to smelling. The scent is fresh, clean and almost cologne-like. Scent strength is on the stronger side. The base on this one is a very (very) hard soap puck that really needs to be bloomed to get an adequate load. I hit it with a 30 second hot water bloom to make the loading easier. Even then I probably did a 60 second load. Once you get the soap loaded, which is the tricky part of this soap, it is actually pretty easy to lather. Resulting lather is higher structure with very good cushion and slickness. Residual slickness was also quite good. The issue I did get with this soap unfortunately was irritation. My skin must not have liked the essential oil for this. I’ve used it several times now and every time I have gotten varying degrees of discomfort. As such, I can’t really be sure on the post shave of the soap.
For the aftershave, I paired this with Like Grandpa’s Lavender, an offering coming out of Edmonton, AB. If you are a fan of lavender, this is a must add to your den. The scent on this is is bit different than many of the straight lavender scents I’ve come across. This is a bit more woodsy and spicy and reads less straight up floral. Performance is great with both excellent skin food and scent strength that carries just the right amount to enjoy. If you are familiar with the Like Grandpa soap line, you know the soap scents are on the lighter side but the splashes are dialed up a bit more from that. I must say, pairing the cedar with lavender was an excellent choice. I may even have to splash a bit of this on at bed time as lavender is perfect for relaxing.
So irritation aside, a nice relaxing shave today. Can’t complain. All for now – J
