Razor: Karve CB on C
Blade: Wilkinson Sword
Brush: Rubberset Cashmere Synthetic
Soap: Grooming Department Voyage
On the road for some travelling Thanksgiving turkey. Before we left for the weekend my wife stopped by the post office and picked up a massive mail call for me. Here in Canada, our National postal service, Canadapost, is having a promotion of one free shipping item every Tuesday. It makes for one of my favorite times of year as I get to trade a bunch of things with other wet shavers outside of my local area. I always turn over a good portion of my den. This year has been no exception.
Grooming Department Voyage was one of the pickups in my mail call. I’m still on the hunt for the Grooming Department scent I love as I find their soap base always performs very well. I’m not sure this is it. I’m learned on thing about Grooming Department, never judge the scent off the puck. In fact, don’t even smell it direct until you lather. Something about their base gives me a funk smell until lathered. I’ve gotten the same hit from all the Grooming Department soaps I’ve tried, regardless the base. Once I hit it with water and brush, the real scent opens up. The scent on this one is notes of Petitgrain, Elemi, Orange, Ginger, Lavender, Rose, Frankincense, Black Pepper, Incense Accord, Patchouli and Amber. Apparently it is familiar to Amouage Epic Man. It does blend very well, the Orange and Ginger came out to me, with the Amber and Patchouli coming thru. It is a nice scent (once lathered). I’ll have to use it a couple times more to really form a final opinion.
What I can be confident about is the base. This particular offering is in the Janus Vegan base. I found it to be quite thirsty and I was rewarded with a lower structure and high sheen lather. I did need a bit of effort to dial in the lather as I’m working in unfamiliar water. There is a water softener here so the smallest load does the trick. I definitely overloaded, but once I figured out the water, the lather was fantastic. It was quite buttery and rich. I had to double check if it was vegan. Slickness both lathered and residual were excellent and post shave was excellent as well. I got a fantastic shave. It was a good thing the post shave was so good, as I didn’t have a post shave with me that worked. Even without a post shave product my skin was left feeling fresh and hydrated.
Now I’m ready to do battle with a turkey. Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian shave folks!
