Razor: Karve Overlander
Blade: Feather Hi Stainless
Brush: Paragon 28mm Plisson Synthetic (not pictured)
Soap: MacDuff’s Soap Company Raspberry Metheglin
Aftershave: MacDuff’s Soap Company Raspberry Metheglin Splash
We are back….. back from a short but much-needed vacation. We decided to take a quick trip to Edmonton, AB to visit some family, hit up the waterpark at the mall, and meet up with some wet shaving folks along the way. Edmonton is starting to turn into Canada’s wet shaving mecca. The first day I was there we had a small meetup with some of the Edmonton folks. I got to meet up with Blou (from the Canadian Mafia Show), Chris (Karve Shaving), Sean (MacDuff’s Soap Company), Sean, and his SO. We had a couple of beverages, did a little gear swapping, and had a fantastic chat about shave. We even got to preview a couple things MacDuff’s is working on (Haunted Cabin smells really good) and were hooked up with some serious samples (I got to shave with a new MacDuff’s scent every day of my trip). Naturally I grabbed a few sets from Sean like the one I’m using today and including a custom he did for me in his upcoming Explorer Series. I’ll be posting that one soon enough but I can confirm he did a bang up job. Sunday evening I was able to connect with Ken (Like Grandpa Grooming) and had some beauty New Orleans grub at DaDeo’s. And to close out the trip, I circled back to meet up with Chris at Karve headquarters for the full tour. That was an amazing experience as I got to see how things get created and how much thought and care he puts into ever razor. Of course I couldn’t leave withing taking home my very own Overlander (and a long copper handle for my CB). It was great to meet all the Edmonton shave folks there, some real salt of-the-earth people, and some great Canadian artisans. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend reaching out to the wet shavers in this community for a great visit.
So today I’m shaving with a couple of my pickups from the trip. MacDuff’s Soap Company Raspberry Metheglin and the Karve Overlander. I won’t talk too much about the razor as I want to use it a few times first to really figure it out. I can say it is typical Karve quality for fit and finish. I will however talk a bit about the Raspberry Metheglin set. I wasn’t intending to purchase this when I arrived but after smelling it, I had to pick it up. Scent notes on this are Raspberry, Raw Honeycomb, Ginger, Vanilla, Rosehip, Hibiscus, Beeswax. It is a scent inspired by a Honey Mead that Sean makes. It is a very pleasant gourmond-leaning scent. Upon opening the puck you get a pop of an effervescent sweet spicy note from the Ginger. From there you can pick out this balanced blend of sweet honey/vanilla, floral rosehip/hibiscus and fruity raspberry. In the soap, I wouldn’t say any note stands above the other. The aftershave, I’d say the floral tones linger a bit longer. The resulting scent if a very pleasant and unique offering I’m glad to have in my den. Performance if as you would expect from Sean’s offerings….. elite level good. A fantastic shave.
I don’t travel often but when I do I always make a point to connect with local wet shavers. I’m never disappointed with the people I meet and it always reenergizes my love of the hobby. This trip was no exception. All for now – J
