Razor: Boker 11/16″
Soap: Barrister & Mann Promises
#samplesaturday hits with a big dump of snow here in the prairies. It appears winter is here to stay. I went hunting in the den for a sample that hit that fresh winter vibe and came across this sample of Promises from Barrister & Mann. B&M describes it as
Notes of orange and bergamot are suffused with the warmth of real honey, whiskey lactone, peat, and nutmeg. To finish it off, we’ve incorporated the strange, rubbery, industrial character of a high grade saffron molecule to give the scent the feel of being out on the trail with idling sleds all around.
Seems like that should be a winter soap. Sledding on the trails is a regular occurrence when I’m back home, so this should hit home. Scent wise, I’ve heard this described as rubber. To me, I get more of a black liquorice vibe as it blends with the sweet notes. There is a sweet booziness with the liquorice vibe as well. It definitely opened up as lathered. Scent strength is mid strong. I can’t say I’m offended by the scent, but it isn’t something I’d pick up and to me it doesn’t really scream winter either. The base is fantastic, but I continue to find the B&M scent offerings not for me. There is one big exception to that, one that finally hit my den that I will be posting in a future SOTD. Stay tuned!
For the hardware today I used this Boker 11/16 I recently had restored from my friend Jason Underwood (find him on Facebook Canadian Wet Shavers). I believe he has upgraded his stones because the blade on this seems a touch sharper and smoother than his previous work. A big win on that front. I’m still a newb on the straight shaving front so it was slow going (and a touch up with a DE) but only a couple weepers, no cuts and no irritation. I look forward to continuing to honing my craft.
