Razor: ALE 9/8″ 1/2 hollow
Brush: DS Cosmetic Synthetic
Soap: Murphy & McNeal Gael Laoch
Aftershave: Murphy & McNeal Gael Laoch
After a little wheeling and dealing I was able to add my first Murphy & McNeal product to the den. This particular offering is a collaboration with M&M, @xicano_design and @johp34. It was also nice to find out that part of the proceeds were donated back to the Wounded Warriors Project. It was offered in a mentholated and non-mentholated version, this one being the latter.
The scent on this is an homage to Creed Viking. Scent notes are Bergamot, Lemon, Pepper, Rose, Peppermint, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Patchouli and Lavandin. This is a well blended cologne scent that was some bright/sweet notes mixed with a spicy/woodsy backbone. There is just the slightest hint of an aquatic vibe but very different from other aquatic scents you might be used to. There is a ruggedness to it. I don’t think this would be something I would wear often but I did really enjoy it. Scent strength on this was light off the puck but amped up to a solid medium once lathered.
For the soap base, performance was excellent. It loaded and lathered easily with this somewhat tricky DS Cosmetic Synthetic. I was surprised to find the base didn’t really need a lot of water. The lather had a nice density to it but not a huge volume. There was a nice richness to it. Cushion was excellent. Slickness was very good (lathered and residual). Post shave felt really good as well. I was able to get a really comfortable shave with the straight razor.
I followed up with the matching post shave. The base on this is a pretty straight forward alcohol/witch hazel mix with a little bit of aloe. Not a tonne of skin food in here but not a lot of burn either. A nice, strongly scented finish to a great shave.
