Razor: Tatara Masamune Nodachi Razor
Blade: Wilkinson Sword
Brush: That Darn Rob Synthetic
Soap: Noble Otter Firefighter
Aftershave: Noble Otter Firefighter Splash
Other: Thirsty Badger lather bowl
Today’s software, Firefighter, is a new limited release offering from Noble Otter. It is a release aimed at raising funds for both those that have been dealing with loss due to some ongoing wildfires in the USA as well as the firefighters that put it all on the line to protect us from those fires (among other things). I’m quite happy to say that we have one of the best fire departments in my area in terms of both of keeping us safe and with engaging in the community. My son is a bit nervous around police officers but he’ll never hesitate to interact with a firefighter. They do a great job here and even though this is aimed more at the firefighters in the USA, I am happy to support and use this software in their honour.
Firefighter is a woodsy aquatic fragrance featuring notes of Grapefruit, Lavender, Red Cedarwood, Water, Sandalwood and Ambergris. Noble Otter scents don’t often resonate with me but this one certainly does. Up front you get that sweet citrus of the grapefruit with a wonderfully rich cedarwood. There is a fresh cool aquatic tone throughout the scent with the additional of the water and lavender notes that give it almost a menthol kind of vibe. It is perfectly blended and smells awesome. The one issue I do have with the scent is that it is so subtle in the soap. On a scale of 1-2 (with 0 being none) I’d put this in at about a 2 on the puck, and maybe a 3 once lathered…. if that. It is very disappointing that a scent so awesome is only there by a touch. I really feel like I’m just getting the essence of the scent here.
Performance on the soap is fantastic. Loading and lathering was super simple. It took water but not so thirsty that it was a pain to dial in. I didn’t get the uber creamy lather some bases are offering but it had plenty of cushion, slickness for days and my skin was left feeling nice and hydrated.
For the razor today I used the Tatara Masamune with the Nodachi base plate. This is billed as being the more aggressive of the two plates I own but honestly I just found it to have a different kind of blade feel from the Masamune plate. Both plates give me a bit more blade feel than I’m used to but this gives me a more comfortable and more efficient shave of the two… at least thus far. Surprising since I tend to err on the mild side of the spectrum.
I finished up with the matching splash today. The scent on the splash is dialled up from the soap but I still found it to be on the lighter side. I’d put it around a 5/10. You won’t mistake it for a cologne by any stretch but you will catch the skin scent for a little while. I think this as an EDT would be an awesome follow up offering. The scent is that good. Performance on the splash was great, my skin felt awesome after application. There is a touch of restrained menthol in there for just the slightest hint of cooling.
Wish the strength was dialled up a bit , but can’t complain about the results. All for now – J
