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Dragon’s Blood Drag Race

gvw755

gvw755

Well-Known Member
My first encounter with the Dragon’s Blood scent was when I was on a study abroad program in college where we toured different places in Southeast Asia. There was the scent of incense mixed with spices, sandalwood, patchouli, and other things where most Americans in my group found slightly overpowering, however being a Buddhist and attending Buddhist services most of my life, it was comforting and familiar. I later found out that the scent was called Dragon’s Blood and the light suddenly turned on since I was born in the year of the Dragon, and so why wouldn’t I like the scent.:confused

The actual Dragon’s Blood is a sap from the Dracaena Tree (which a variety of it grew like a weed in my yard in Hawaii), and was used as an anti-inflammatory and astringent in the old days. Since I started wet shaving, I got reintroduced to Dragon’s Blood when I bought a goat milk Dragon’s Blood shaving soap on Etsy. It was actually quite good for a $7 puck, but I was just starting my wet shaving journey and so the finer points of a good shaving soap eluded me at that time. I know that I put it in a wood bowl and two years later, after filling it with dishwashing soap and rubbing it with baking soda, the scent still remains in the bowl (a good baseline for what Dragon’s Blood scent should be like).;)

I have tried many different shaving soaps over the years that claim to be Dragon’s Blood and most have failed on the scent criteria. I finally found four that came close to a real Dragon’s Blood scent and a good performing shaving soap. I decided to have a face off between the four to see which is the best (by my standards).

The four are:

CBL Dragon’s Blood
Declaration Grooming Harmony (Icarus base)
PAA Sangre De Drago (original formula)
WSP Rustic Dragon’s Blood

Over the next four nights, I will be lathering with one of these and comparing to see which is the best.

I am also constantly looking for a good Dragon’s Blood shaving soap and so if any of you know of one, please join in.
 
Tonight’s shave was with the newest of my Dragon’s Blood soap – WSP Rustic Dragon’s Blood.

WSP (Wet Shaving Products) is an artisan company based in Arizona and is one of the best kept secrets around. They have two lines of shaving soaps, Rustic (vegan base) and Model T (tallow base). The Dragon’s Blood seem to be a seasonal scent as I have seen it before but not recently until two weeks ago. The web site says that this is a “limited release”.

I went with the Rustic because the Model T sold out at Maggards when I had it in my cart. Perhaps that was a good thing, now that I tried it a couple of times. The soap was very easy to lather. I would recommend loading for only about 15-20 seconds as the soap is just slightly soft and the lather is rather thirsty and so a little will go a long way.

The lather itself builds quickly and is very thick and rich and last for the entire shave. The scent was on the strong side, which is a good thing for me, and closely resembles the Dragon’s Blood scent that I am familiar with. It leaves a warmth (but not burning) on my face after the shave, which is pleasant.

Overall very good soap and highly recommended.

dragon 1.JPG
 
i love this scent. Unfortunately the jar almost empty. I only know the one from Mama Bear. Sweet as blood with a small shot in it. I have no idea if there are several makers of dragonblood. both I like to hear that, then I might be interested.
 
Rudolf1 said:
i love this scent. Unfortunately the jar almost empty. I only know the one from Mama Bear. Sweet as blood with a small shot in it. I have no idea if there are several makers of dragonblood. both I like to hear that, then I might be interested.
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If you enjoy the strong Dragon's Blood, I would suggest you try out this WSP. Check Maggards, as that is where I got mine from. they may still have some and I know they are very friendly with overseas shipping rate.
 
PAA Sangre De Drago (original formula)

The PAA original formula soaps were vegan base, and I must have gotten the last puck because it sold out shortly after I placed my order and has been sold out since. They now have the new CK-6 line which is also vegan, but adds richer ingredients (so you need to be richer to buy it) in order to perform closer to tallow. Being a good Buddhist, vegan is fine for me.

The web site has a very long an involved story about the scent, complete with the owner in a pith helmet explaining what Dragon’s Blood is and the scent profile of the soap. Of course I was sold after watching the six minute commercial. When the soap arrived, the scent out of the tub was weak, but close to what it should smell like.

Tonight’s shave was with the Sangre De Drago. The soap loaded on the brush easily and again, I did not have to load too long (about 20 seconds). The lather built very quickly and was very slick. I added a little water a couple of times and it was still very rich and slick. The scent, however was almost completely gone and I could not compare it to a real Dragon’s Blood scent. When shaving, the lather was the slickest of all vegan soaps I own (probably slicker than most of the tallow soaps I own) and the cushion not only lasted through the pass, but lasted in the dry touch up stage. I personally cannot imagine what the CK-6 formula could add to the performance of this soap (except more money for PAA).

However, this is not a face off of slick vegan soaps, but of Dragon’s Blood soaps. The PAA Sangre De Drago gets high marks for soap performance and quality, but very low marks for scent.

@Rudolf1, stay away from this one, and I am not sure if the CK-6 formula would have a stronger scent.

dragon 2.JPG
 
Declaration Grooming Harmony (Icarus base)

Declaration Grooming first released Harmony when they were stilled called L&L Grooming. It had a very good following from the Dragon’s Blood lovers, however at that time I was still working through my $7 Etsy goat milk Dragon’s Blood soap and so never got one. A couple of years later Harmony came out as a seasonal release and converted to the Icarus formula. Since I never tried the original, I am not sure how true this new release is to the original.

I do know that the scent of the original Harmony was described as Dragon’s Blood and Nag Champa, however the latest release talks only of incense and ancient ceremonial elements. :confused Unlike the earlier two soaps, the Icarus base contains bison and lamb tallow along with goat’s milk, and so definitely not vegan.

The soap loaded easily as the others did and built a good lather quickly. This soap was not as thirsty as the other two, and not as slick as the PAA even with two different exotic tallow and goat’s milk, but it was still a good stable lather that had a good cushion. The scent was definitely a complex spicy one with predominantly incense. There was some elements of a Dragon’s Blood scent, but this was more of a base scent. In comparison with the two previous soaps, this was closer to the WSP in scent, but still lacked the strong Dragon’s Blood. Also, in regards to performance, this fell behind the other two, but still a good performer.

Declaration Grooming Icarus base soaps are definitely worth trying. If one is looking for an exotic, earthy incense scent (like you were attending a secret Buddhist ceremony), Harmony is a very good soap to try. If you are looking for Dragon's Blood, it is not quite complete.

dragon 3.JPG
 
CBL Dragon’s Blood

CBL Dragon’s Blood was the first soap I officially bought from CBL Premium Soap about a year ago. I had been conversing with Chris for a while previously and he gave me helpful suggestions in the fine art of soap making. Since then I have about 8 CBL soaps (with three more coming in). Lucky for me, he has been kind enough to pack my order in 2 oz sizes so I have a chance to finish the soaps. Now I just need him to stop making new scents, so I can finish what I have accumulated.

The CBL soap uses Wagyu beef tallow and so it is not vegan, however the other ingredients are all high powered vegan ingredients, including hemp oil and aloe juice. It also seems to be the only one left that is not sold out, seasonal, or limited production.

As with the rest of the soaps, this soap was very easy to load. Because it was slightly softer, 10-15 seconds is all you need to make a good lather. This is another thirsty soap and so water need to be added slowly to build a very rich and thick lather.

The lather provided good cushion and slickness. The scent was strong but not overpowering, and definitely Dragon’s Blood. In comparing the scent to the WSP, the WSP was stronger in scent, but the CLB was more complex. The CBL soap performed very well, and definitely one that I see myself reaching for when I need my Dragon’s Blood fix. Besides, this is the only soap of the four that is in stock, and not a seasonal or limited production, so easy to obtain.

dragon 4.JPG
 
The Club Chasing the Dragon

So this was not part of the original “Drag Race”, but I had an opportunity to get an unused set for a very good price. The Club products are made by Ariana and Evans, both of which I have never tried before. Truthfully, what attracted me to Chasing the Dragon was the cannabis scent that it advertised as being part of the complex scent profile. When it arrived yesterday, I immediately opened the lid and checked out the scent. Not quite a distinct Dragon’s Blood, but definitely something close mixed in, and so Dragon in the name made me add this to the review.

This soap contained beef tallow and goat’s milk as two if the major ingredients. There was also a bunch of vegan type butter and oils and so I was interested in how the soap would perform. I found out when lathering that this soap needed a little more care in loading. Maybe it was a new puck and the first time I was using this brand, but I fund that I had to wet the brush a little more than I normally do and to load it closer to 30 seconds than to 20. When building a lather, care must be taken as it starts out thirsty, but gets past it too quickly. Still, by reloading the brush a little more, a good lather was built. The lather did not seem slick, but it did provide a good cushion and was slick enough to allow a dry touch up. The scent was very rich and complex. There was just the faintest reminder of Dragon’s Blood, however, like the Harmony, nothing in the description mentioned Dragon’s Blood and so there was no disappointment. The scent was much more complex and fuller than the Harmony and the performance of the soap was about on par with the Harmony, which meant slightly behind the performance of the WSP, CBL, and PAA soaps.

In the end, the WSP and CBL soaps are excellent soaps for someone wanting a very good Dragon’s Blood soap, and the PAA is an excellent soap that needs more scent.

dragon 5.JPG
 
Great write-up! I have never smelled that specific scent, but you made me quite curious, I do need to find a place where i can stick my nose in a soap dish containing a soap like this ;)
 
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