Razor: Yaqi Mellon
Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword
Brush: Sloyd Synthetic
Soap: Primitive Outpost Roasted
Aftershave: Primitive Outpost Roasted Splash
I always love finding new Canadian artisan talent in the wet shaving space. I always get a great sense of pride when one of my compatriots makes a product that I fall in love with. If you haven’t discovered so far, there is some fantastic Canadian talent out there. With that in mind, I am always on the hunt for something new. My good friend Lyle hooked me up with a sample (Margarita) and I new I had to pick up something from this artisan for my own. The scent wasn’t really my style but the performance was excellent.
I received a couple sets thanks to Jonathan at Stonefield Shaving. Jonathan carries probably the best selection of Canadian made shave products. I grabbed this set as well as Down To Earth.
First impressions took a bit of a hit. Packaging is my pet peeve. I shop with my eyes first and when something isn’t right, I notice. If I’m making a choice on products and I’m undecided, the better visual impression will always win. Primitive failed on 3 fronts for me here. 1st, the least important, the labelling was crooked. I know, not a big deal, but really not something that an extra couple seconds of care wouldn’t have fixed. 2. the splash bottle had no restrictor to prevent using most of the bottle in the first use (luckily I had some on hand, they aren’t the only artisan that has failed on this front) and most importantly 3. when I opened the tub it was clear to me they didn’t tidy up the soap splatter when they filled the tub. It looked bad. Like BAD. Given the colour of the soap, it kind of reminded me of the days when I used to change my son’s diaper. Seriously, who wants to shave with that?
Undeterred… I pushed on. The scent on this one is a dark roasted coffee with a dirty/earthy patchouli base. Mid strong. Off the puck it smells like black coffee and dirt. I really wasn’t sure about it, but once lathered that dirtiness let up a bit and you really got that earthiness with a really nice smokiness from the roast coming in. Now that I’ve used it a couple times, it has grown on me a bit. It is a darker scent, but I wouldn’t say too much so. Performance wise, I really like this tallow base. It is quite firm and loads/lathers very easily. The lather exploded when I hit it with water and I got a dense, creamy and somewhat glossy lather. Slickness was excellent (lathered and residual) and post shave was very good. I got a fantastic shave.
I followed up with the matching post. I really like this formula. It is a fairly thick liquid, almost like a gel, but absorbs very well. Not sticky or tacky either. My skin felt fantastic after this. The scent on this had a bit less of that dirt vibe and it stuck with me in a subtle way for a good part of the morning. A really nice find.
All in all, a great shave. It does sadden me a bit with the few packaging shortcomings because it doesn’t really showcase the quality of the product inside which is damn good. If you are looking to give another Canadian artisan a look, I suggest giving Primitive Outpost a try.
