Razor: Tatara Masamune Nodachi
Blade: Permasharp
Brush: Wild West Brushworks 26mm Brown Synthetic
Soap: Highland Springs Soap Co Havana Vieja
Aftershave: Highland Springs Soap Co Havana Vieja Splash
Other: Bentley for Men Intense EDT
Day off today so I wanted to go out smelling like a champ. I decided to grab an old faithful soap/splash and pair up with new to me EDT. The newest Highland Springs releases have all been in their new tallow base (which is great) but this offering still comes in their vegan base. Don’t sleep on this base, I still say this is my favourite vegan base I’ve tried and there have been plenty. It is a very soft soap that is very easy to load/lather and rewards you with a lower structure lather with a nice sheen, excellent cushion, slickness and post shave properties. If you don’t have one of their vegan offerings you need to add one.
The scent on this one will be a winner with most. It is pretty much straight up sweet tobacco and vanilla. Think Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille without the fruit or woodsy notes. It is a very approachable cologne style scent grounded in that true Cuban history. Scent strength on this is just under a medium. If you are looking to try the vegan offerings from Highland Springs and are unsure what to choose, this would be an excellent choice.
You might think the logical pairing for this would be to a Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille EDT and you wouldn’t be wrong. However that is a bit out of my price range. Instead I opted for this very budget friendly offering, Bentley for Men Intense. This is a sweet and boozy powerhouse fragrance that lasts and lasts. The sweet rum notes in the EDT bridged to the Vanilla in the soap perfectly. I’m not a fragrance expert by any stretch but I do know what I like and this is it. When you walk into a room with this you will get noticed and that scent will stay performing on you all day.
Smelling like an absolute boss today.
All for now – J
