Razor: Ever-Ready 1915
Brush: Wild West Brushworks Synthetic
Soap: Ariana & Evens Forbidden Fruit
Aftershave: Ariana & Evans Forbidden Fruit
Other: Thirsty Badger lather bowl
Another day, another Ariana & Evans/Club offering. Yes, I realise I might be starting to look like a commercial but damn I like the product line. The performance is always elite level good and I am rarely disappointed in terms of scent strength and quality.
The offering I’m using today, Forbidden Fruit, I’m still not sure on. The performance is fantastic, right on point with the rest. Scent strength is also bang on, it is dialled up so that it is very present during the shave and carries on for a while without being over powering. What I’m not sure of, if the scent profile. The notes on this are Apple, Brandy, Jasmine, Rose, Anise, Resins, H*shish, C*nnabis, Sandalwood, Oud, Cedarwood. It is a very well blended scent. Off the puck it is very apple and brandy forward. There is a touch of floral, touch of spice all grounded in a rich sandalwood/oud. It is very unique from other scents I’ve tried. The apple brandy really pops. It is a really nice scent, but I’m just not sure it is for me. Being so different, I can’t quite figure it out. I am confident that this scent is a different beast and if you are looking for something a bit different this could be a big win for you. For me, I’ll stay on the fence a bit longer before I really know where I stand.
The brush today, you will have seen before in SOTD posts but it has a decidedly different look. From the moment I got that brush from Wild West Brushworks it was a bit of a love hate relationship. I screwed up when ordering and picked the wrong knot. The knot looked OK, but it never fit the handle with the vision I had for it. I also really struggled with the knot. The loft was set a bit low for my liking and the backbone was too much. But man it is such a beauty handle I couldn’t help but gravitate to it. Well I rectified that problem recently when I added a few new knots from Maggards. I re-knotted this with a 26mm brown synthetic knot. HUGE win. Being a larger knot, the loft is a bit more appropriate. It has the right amount of backbone and it is a very soft/dense knot. I also think the brown knot suits this much better. I’m so glad I bit the bullet on this one. I expect you will see even more of this stunner in the future.
