Razor: Rex Envoy
Blade: Wilkinson Sword
Brush: Copper Hat Synthetic
Soap: Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Clown Fruit
Aftershave: Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Clown Fruit Splash
Other: Thirsty Badger lather bowl
Wow, that weekend just seemed to fly by. I worked my way through a several items on my todo list and before you know it Sunday was half over. Luckily it wasn’t too late in the day to enjoy a great shave. Today I reached for Clown Fruit from PAA. This recent release has been generating quite a buzz since it dropped. I’ve actually had this set on my radar for a while since I spotted the original artwork quite some time ago. Honestly, when I ordered this, I didn’t even look at the scent notes. I just loved the concept art and had to have it.
Luckily, this blind buy worked out well. Scent notes on this are Artemisia (Wormwood), Hungarian Oak, Elderflower, Absinthe, Neroli, Amyris, Elderberry, Burnt Sugar, Tobacco Absolute, & FEAR Absolute (Huh? FEAR Absolute? WTF). I’ve heard this described by many as smelling like Root Beer. I can understand why folks would say that, but that isn’t really the case for me. I wouldn’t say it reads that gourmand. You do get a bit of that subtle caramel sweetness/liquorice vibe to it but to me the woodsy base really shines through taking taking it away from reading sweet. It is a very unique scent. I don’t know if I would say I love it but I enjoy it and appreciate how different it is from anything else in my den. And scent strength on the soap/splash is leaning heavy on the stronger side of the scale, so you will carry it for a while after the shave.
The razor is a recent add to the den. I’ve always wanted to try a Rex Ambassador and then this Rex Envoy popped into my buy/sell/trade feed. The Envoy is very similar to the Ambassador but at a lower price point and not adjustable. I figured it was worth the add. I’ve used it for several shaves and I really am enjoying it. It is a bit more aggressive than I typically use, but I find letting the weight of the razor do all the heavy lifting gives me a nice smooth shave. Any pressure and I know this would bite. The razor is very efficient. 2 passes and I could call it a day. Fit and finish is fantastic, weight/balance is excellent and the knurling is the best I’ve ever used. I’m very happy with how it performs and honestly, I don’t need to look at the Ambassador anymore. It isn’t a perfect razor though, there are a couple things I would consider design flaws. 1st, the curved profile on the razor head looks awesome but does cause the razor to have a tendency to tip over when it is on its side (like pictured). That curved profile also makes the head a bit prone to slippage in your hand when disassembling making it a bit risky adding/removing the blade. Not a fan of that. The second thing I didn’t like was the posts in the head to align the cap and hold the blade. They are a touch too shallow and it makes loading the blade a bit trickier than it needs to be. Both are pretty big sacrifices to get the look they were going for. They are smell enough details that it wouldn’t stop me from using/buying as it shaves so well, but I do think they are worth noting/correcting.
All in all a pretty spot on shave today. Wish the weekend was a bit longer as I didn’t get a great chance to enjoy it while I was crossing things off the list. Oh well, back to the grind tomorrow.
Stay safe out there folks. All for now – J
