Razor: Karve CB on B
Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge Yellows
Brush: Spiffo! 24mm Two Band Badger
Soap: Zingari Man / BBS Live The Duo Barrel Proof
Aftershave: Zingari Man / BBS Live The Duo Barrel Proof
Other: Zoha Aroma Musc De Lavande, Thirsty Badger brush soaker
It’s funny, often in this hobby, I find that the soaps I get hyped up the most for are often the ones that let me down the hardest. I think I can build it up in my mind at how great it is going to be and nothing can live up to the high bar. It has happened more than I care to admit, and so now I always do my best to temper my enthusiasm on a new release. This BBS Live / Zingari offering is one of those times I was pretty stoked about it and so I was also a little worried that I could be setting myself up to get crushed. Add that to the fact this set was already a kind of do-over from the first Duo release to fix scent strength issues, and you can see why I was nervous to open the package. I’m happy to report, this surpasses my expectations…. big time.
For those that don’t know, BBS.Live is an Instagram wet shaving show run by my friends Nate and Melly Mel. They run a bi-weekly show with giveaways, shaving chat and other tomfoolery. This set was done by Heather at Zingari man and is inspired by their show, bourbon and wet shaving. This offers notes of Sandalwood, Oakwood, Tonka and Bourbon. It is an absolute banger of a scent, easily my favourite Zingari release to date and probably my top scent of 2021 thus far. Off the top you get that oak and bourbon coming through with a bit of smokey sharpness to it. Then as you lather that sweetness from the Tonka and cream/spice from the Sandalwood real comes through. It has just the right amount of booziness coming through where you can detect it but people don’t think you’ve been in the sauce. It is incredibly well-blended and well-rounded and has a mid-strong scent strength, stronger than any Zingari offering I’ve tried to date. I can’t say enough good things about this scent. Big win.
The soap itself is the Zingari Sego tallow base which I find can be a touch tricky to lather but performs very well on all metrics. The matching recovery splash is one of the best in the business and while it does read a bit more of the smokey sharpness than the soap, it is still an absolute gem. Fantastic set all around.
I decided to pair this up with Musc De Lavande from Zoha Aroma. This is their take on Parfums de Marly Percival. It for sure isn’t a match for the soap but it worked really well in combination. The fragrance reads somewhat floral, spicey and woody and the added smokiness of the soap/splash dance perfectly with this fragrance. It almost feels made for this set. I can see using this combo a lot in the future.
A fan-fricken-tastic shave today. All for now – J
