Razor: West Coast Shaving/Charcoal Goods Lithe Razor with Space Needle Handle
Blade: Voskhod
Brush: Tournure de bois 26mm White Synthetic
Soap: Copper Hat Cedar & Cinnamon
Other: Thirsty Badger lather bowl
December is here…. and so begins the countdown to Christmas. The tree is up, some of the decorations are hung and the bulk of the Christmas shopping is complete. I don’t tend to jump on the themed seasonal releases as I find they seem to be pretty situational but his particular soap made be pull the trigger. Something about the simplicity of this particular soap drew me in. I’ve used Copper Hat in the past and while I like the base the very subtle scents have always meant they get very little use in my den. When I spotted this one and it was advertised as having a “strong one”, I was intrigued. The scent is made with essential oils and cinnamon is a known irritant so I was equally nervous. Given the price point and the want to support a Canadian artisan, I decided to take a leap of faith.
First off, the soap was packed with care and arrived very quickly. The soap still comes in a fragile tin, so I’m not a huge fan of that. I also think the labels are water resistant but now water proof. It will be interested to see how they hold up. The scent is perfectly blended as the name implies, a subtle woodsy cedar with a very present cinnamon. It is a wonderful seasonal scent. Strength wise, I’d say strong was an overstatement. I’d say this is on the lighter side of medium. That still makes it the strongest Copper Hat release I’ve tried.
The base itself is a pain to load. It is an extremely hard soap so you are best to bloom it a bit to soften the top and then load it like you hate it. Once you have an adequate load, it lathers quite well with a nice stable lather. Cushion is good, slickness is above average. Where this soap really shines is the post shave. My skin is left feeling fantastic after the shave. As such, no post shave product was used today. I can also confirm there was 0 irritation with the soap. Your mileage may vary here but I’m happy to report that this passes the big test. I’m happy with the purchase and I predict using this several times this holiday season.
Just a note about the razor…. I picked up this West Coast Shaving/Charcoal Goods Lithe Razor with Space Needle Handle off a buy/sell/trade board recently. Given that Charcoal Goods is quite highly regarded in the wet shaving space I figured this budget option was worth a try. The lithe head is made to define the angle of the shave with a medium aggression level made with budget materials/manufacturing. The handle is a little higher end being CNCed stainless steel handle. I’ve used it several times so far and for me, they are both meh. The razor shaved OK but nothing special, certainly not very efficient. If I was pointing someone to a budget beginner razor this wouldn’t be it. The handle looks nice and has very nice build quality but I didn’t much care for the length or shape. I also really didn’t like the combo pairs together as the colouring is just off with one being stainless and the other being a budget metal.
Regardless the ho hum razor, I still had a great shave today. Enjoyed the shave with a nice little sprinkling of Christmas tunes in the background. Maybe it is time to fire up Elf on the TV.
All for now – J
