Razor: Ming Shi 2000s on 4
Blade: Super-Max Platinum
Brush: DS Cosmetic Captain Synthetic
Soap: The Club Oriental Oud
Aftershave: The Club Oriental Oud
Continuing on with the A&E/Club products, this is another recent pickup to my den. I picked this up from a fellow wet shaver I met during my recent travels. Vlad was an awesome gent to sit down, have a beverage with and chat shave. One of the things I love about the hobby is connecting with other wet shavers when I travel so I was glad we could make that happen. And he brought soap 🙂
Oriental Oud is an original scent that was created by perfumer Alexandria Fragrances. A quick search of their website shows they have plenty of original and inspired scents at budget friendly prices. I was intrigued to see how this scent would fit in with the vibe of Peter’s typical offerings. I can say with confidence, this is right in that wheelhouse. Notes on this one are Oud, Vetiver, Saffron, Lavender, Lemon, Orange.
This scent has that wonderful, rich and dark oud/vetiver base I was looking for but there is also a subtle brightness and sweetness there. You can also get just a hint of a floral lavender note. These touches add a bit of complexity to the scent that is a really nice touch. It is very well blended scent. I don’t think I would use this one on a hot summer day but with the rain we’ve had here the last 24 hours, it actually fit right in. Scent strength on this is on the stronger side of medium. It doesn’t jump at you out of the tub but it does carry with you. Hours later and I can still smell the scent. Very typical of the A&E/Club product line. This is in the newest A&E base I love so much so performance is on point as you would expect. Unfortunately with this scent, I had a touch of a reaction, getting a bit of face irritation (with the aftershave, no bother with the soap). It will be making its way to a new home shortly.
The shave itself was so-so. I can’t argue with the results as I ended up with a very close shave, but it wasn’t the most comfortable. First, this brush frustrates me. I love how it looks but the knot on this thing is not soft at all. It feels very springy and plastic. Not a big winner, but it looks so nice I can’t help but use it from time to time. The Ming Shi razor is also not the most comfortable hardware but today paired with the Super-Max in was worse than usual. I could tell it wasn’t working thru the whiskers as well as it should, almost tugging at times. Not my favourite blade by any stretch. Today the blade was one and done.
In the end, I am left smelling like a boss with a BBS shave, so it is hard to argue with that. Have a great Friday all!
