Razor: Rex Envoy
Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge Yellows
Brush: Yingling Brushworks 26mm Black Badger Synthetic
Soap: Murphy & McNeal Barbershop De Los Muertos
Aftershave: Murphy & McNeal Barbershop De Los Muertos Splash
Other: Thirsty Badger lather bowl
This week BBS.Live is having a Barbershop Theme week. Barbershop being one of my favourite scent profiles, I just had to play along. Who is BBS.Live? Well I’m glad you asked. Nate and Mel are a couple of outstanding wet shaving gents that run an Instagram live bi-weekly to chat bourbon, shaving and run a bunch of wet shaving giveaways. It is an awful lot of fun. Give them a follow on Instagram and drop on in one of their (usually) Thursday shows.
Today I’m running with Barbershop De Los Muertos from Murphy & McNeal. This is another colab with Xicano Designs so as always, the artwork is on point. It is actually a re-release of this namesake as it was released years ago by another soap maker that isn’t producing anymore. I’m glad this came back as this (along with Dapper Man) have been on my want list since I saw this label years ago.
The scent on BDLM is based off of the fragrance Amouage Jubilation XXV Man. Scent notes on this are Blackberry, Olibanum, Orange, Labdanum, Coriander, Tarragonm Honey, Guaiac Wood, Cinnamon, Bay Leaf, Clove, Rose, Orchid, Celery Seeds, Opoponax, Agarwood (Oud), Myrrh, Patchouli, Ambergris, Cedar, Immortelle, Musk and Oakmoss. It is a perfectly blended cologne scent that is spicy, woodsy, dark with a powdery base from the Oakmoss, That makes is a great fit for a barbershop in my books. I absolutely love the scent on this. Strength on the soap and splash I’d put on the stronger side of medium.
This was my first acquisition in the Kodiak base (bear tallow) from Murphy & McNeal. Price point for this set (and BDLM2 which I also picked up) was quite high as I needed to grab from the US direct. Packaging is extremely nice, some of the nicest I’ve seen. The soap base is extremely soft. I’ve used this several times since picking it up and I’d have to say it doesn’t live up to the hype for me. I find it quite tricky to work with and dial in. I find it loads a bit inconsistently in the brush and when adding water it doesn’t seem to jump up like a typical lather would. You add more water and get a bit more gloss but the lather just doesn’t seem to volume out for me. Several shaves in and I still have the same issue, so I just keep pushing water til it looks glossy while remaining structured and give it a go. Once at that point, I am getting very good slickness (lathered and residual) and a really nice post shave, but it just doesn’t feel right. I don’t get that satisfaction of an awesome lather build, and a soap just shouldn’t be that tricky to dial in.
Before I go on to the post, can we talk about this brush for a second? I picked this offering up from Yingling Brushworks in Winnipeg, MB. It is the perfect match for the soap label with the awesome green/copper base and cream top. The knot is a Black Badger synthetic I had on hand. It is my first time using this knot and I’m impressed. It is soft like a tuxedo with the right amount of backbone. I also this it looks very close to an authentic black badger hair. A big win on the brush. Scott is an upcoming brush maker you should keep your eye on. I think he is just starting to find his style. And his brush coin is one of the nicer ones in the biz.
As for the post shave, the splash is a pretty good one. The scent is close but I do pick up a hit of a base smell in it. I get the same thing in the other M&M set I have. It does separate a bit but after a good shake I could it went on smooth with no burn and a nice skin feel. No complaints here. Scent strength will carry for a while but I may have to pick up a decant of the frag to get a bit more longevity. It is that good.
All in all, a great shave. Wish I liked the base a bit more because the rest of this set is an absolute banger. Maybe as I use this base more I’ll get it dialled in. Today just wasn’t that day. All for now – J
