Razor: RazoRock SS Lupo DC Double-Edge Razor w/ UFO Handle
Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge Yellows
Brush: Some Making Required 26mm Cashmere Synthetic
Soap: Strike Gold Shave La Befana
Aftershave: Strike Gold Shave La Befana Splash
Other: Zoha Aroma Epitome
Wow, yesterday was a crazy day. We had our first drop of 2021 and I was blown away by all the interest. Unfortunately so was our website. The traffic brought the website to a crawl and some couldn’t access it at all (myself included). When the dust settled, the smoke cleared and I was able to get into the website, 15/16 bowls were all sold with only 1 lefty remaining. All in the time frame of about 15 minutes. We will spend the weekend packing with care to get these off to their new owners. Again, my apologies to those that had issues and weren’t able to get what they were hoping for. I’m going to spend some time trying to improve the stability of the site in high traffic situations so that the drop will go a bit smoother next time.
In the haste yesterday I never did get to posting my SOTD. I’m catching up on that today. I used La Befana from Strike Gold Shave. This is their dupe of Xerjoff 1861. I already had a fragrance homage to Xerjoff 1861 from Zoha Aroma that I absolutely love. When I found out Strike Gold Shave made an homage I had to have it…. even if I had to overpay, which I did. $48US for a set puts that over $60CAD for the soap/splash. That makes it one of the most expensive sets in my den. Is it a good soap/splash? yes. Is the scent strong and wonderful? yes. Is it the best shave soap/splash in my den? No. For the premium price they are charging I expect much better packaging. They should have the wide mouth lower profile tubs. Label artwork should be the full size of the lid and should be centred and printed edge to edge. Soap performance should be elite level good, I should be blown away with how awesome it is. I know I might be nitpicking but when it is priced at the top tier, I expect those things. If this set was in the $45-50 range, I have less of an issue. If I compare this to the other top tier prices sets in my den from say First Line Shave, Ariana & Evans and Declaration Grooming, it just doesn’t hold up.
Soap performance on this still quite good on all metrics. It loads and lathers quite easily. Scent on this is mid strong. It is a fairly basic Tallow/Goat Milk formula. Notes on this scent are lavender, lemon, bergamot, orange, cinnamon, cashmerian, jasmine, honey, tonka bean, tobacco, vanilla. This cologne scent is a very rich, creamy and sweet tobacco scent with some bright citrus top to it. It is a fantastic scent and 100% up my alley.
The razor today was a new addition to my den, the RazoRock SS Lupo DC Double-Edge Razor w/ UFO Handle. I’ve really been interested in the budget CNC stainless razors of late and RazoRock has several. This Lupo is a really nice razor with a less aggressive .72 safety bar side and a more aggressive .95 open comb side. I really like the option of having both for a shave where I can start off aggressive and switch to something a little milder mid shave without changing plates or razors. I just need to pay attention a bit more when I’m shaving so I use the intended level of aggression. I also love this vintage Gillette inspired UFO handle. Weight and balance of these two are spot on. This is a really nice razor.
I also don’t know if I’ve highlighted this brush yet, the Some Making Required handle with a Cashmere synthetic. I saw this posted on a B/S/T site and I jumped on it. I’ve had my eye on SMR brushes for some time as I like the unique design with nice clean lines. This one was knotted with one of my favourite knots so it just had to make its way to my den. The photo on this really doesn’t do justice to how stunning it looks so I’ll have to highlight it a bit more in the future. The handle is really comfortable in the hand.
I finished up with the matching splash which has nice strength and longevity but only a little bit of skin food. Again, top tier price, pretty meh on base. While I could have called it a shave with that and carried this scent for a few hours, I was happy to prop up the longevity with the homage EDT from Zoha Aroma. This stuff performs very well for me, I was still catching the scent into the late evening. Pretty awesome for something so budget friendly.
All in all, a fantastic shave today… I mean yesterday. All for now – J
