A new soap artisan which is becoming more popular among wet shavers : Gentleman's Nod
A to start , a disclaimer : the man behind these shaving soaps is a virtual friend since 2012 when we used to chat in other shaving forum regarding synthetic shaving brushed,.I lost contact with him until I recently tried these soaps and I discovered he is the one behind them.CJames was his username in other shaving platforms back at the time and I'm really glad I tried his creations and re kindled our friendship.
This brand has two lines , one with tallow and the other without it , but if you ask me , both are equally good and I'm actually more partial to the non tallow version , due to the slickness of it's lather.
I'm going to start writing about the number 11 or "Vincent" , which has a tallow based (red label)
Here are it's ingredients :
As you can read a lot of great ingredients for extra dry skin like mine with Aloe , Jojoba, Castor , Lanolin etc as well as tallow.
This soap comes on a 4 oz plastic jar (around 115 grams) and is the more expensive of the line , 27 dollars per jar.
It was a very elegant presentation and , like other artisan shaving soaps , a medium hard consistency
And ,of course , a pic with the later I get from this soap , using a Semogue 1305.
Is very easy to make lather from this soap , no matter what shaving brush you use , badger , boar or synthetic , and the lather is quiet thick compare to other artisan soaps but I find this one less slick than the non tallow one that I'll write about it later.
The lather is extremely protective , and my extra dry skin can testify about that.The shave is extra pleasant and I don't even need pre shave oil , which I always use.Its impossible to ask more to this soap on the skin care department.
But the thing that I LOVE (yes , with capital letters) about this soap is it's scent.Pure poetry of notes combine together to create such a brilliant and elegant scent.Since the Tallow and Steel Classic scent I haven't fell in love with the scent of soap like I have done with this Vincent.Simply superb.A combination of lavender and bergamot with green notes of Cypress and Vetiver.When I open the tub I can smell the fresh notes of lavender and bergamot , very crisp and clean , but as I start loading the brush , the green deep notes start showing up creating a very classy symphony of herbal scents.The idea behind this scent was Van Gogh is Southern France and let me tell you , it smells that way.Amazing indeed.
The 85 "Ernest" comes with the new non tallow formula and it has a citrusy scent , perfect for this time of the year if you want to avoid mentolated creams or soaps.
Same presentation than the Vincent , with 4 oz of soap (approx 115 grams) and a price of 20 dollars.
And here the list of it's ingredients
As you can read , no tallow on this formula but plenty of great ingredients like Aloe Vera , Argan , Jojoba , Castor , Mango and Basau Oil and even Raw Honey and Goats Milk.
The lather looks identical to the Vincent tallow based one , with that extra thickness , but this lather is more , more slick , at least to me.I use a water softener and I don't know if that's related but this lather is much slicker than the tallow based one and I really enjoy that.If we add that the skin care properties are also top notch and I don't even need to use pre shave oil , we have another winner.
And it's scent is perfect for summer.As a matter of fact the idea is Hemingway in Key West or Cuba and yes , smells very refreshing and citrusy with deeper notes of tobacco flower.
Do I recommend these soaps ? Yes , of course.The skin care and scents are excellent , specially the Vincent one , but I prefer the non tallow version over the tallow due to its slicker lather.
Well done Gentleman's Nod and I can predict that many wet shavers are going to enjoy your creations !
A to start , a disclaimer : the man behind these shaving soaps is a virtual friend since 2012 when we used to chat in other shaving forum regarding synthetic shaving brushed,.I lost contact with him until I recently tried these soaps and I discovered he is the one behind them.CJames was his username in other shaving platforms back at the time and I'm really glad I tried his creations and re kindled our friendship.
This brand has two lines , one with tallow and the other without it , but if you ask me , both are equally good and I'm actually more partial to the non tallow version , due to the slickness of it's lather.
I'm going to start writing about the number 11 or "Vincent" , which has a tallow based (red label)
Here are it's ingredients :
As you can read a lot of great ingredients for extra dry skin like mine with Aloe , Jojoba, Castor , Lanolin etc as well as tallow.
This soap comes on a 4 oz plastic jar (around 115 grams) and is the more expensive of the line , 27 dollars per jar.
It was a very elegant presentation and , like other artisan shaving soaps , a medium hard consistency
And ,of course , a pic with the later I get from this soap , using a Semogue 1305.
Is very easy to make lather from this soap , no matter what shaving brush you use , badger , boar or synthetic , and the lather is quiet thick compare to other artisan soaps but I find this one less slick than the non tallow one that I'll write about it later.
The lather is extremely protective , and my extra dry skin can testify about that.The shave is extra pleasant and I don't even need pre shave oil , which I always use.Its impossible to ask more to this soap on the skin care department.
But the thing that I LOVE (yes , with capital letters) about this soap is it's scent.Pure poetry of notes combine together to create such a brilliant and elegant scent.Since the Tallow and Steel Classic scent I haven't fell in love with the scent of soap like I have done with this Vincent.Simply superb.A combination of lavender and bergamot with green notes of Cypress and Vetiver.When I open the tub I can smell the fresh notes of lavender and bergamot , very crisp and clean , but as I start loading the brush , the green deep notes start showing up creating a very classy symphony of herbal scents.The idea behind this scent was Van Gogh is Southern France and let me tell you , it smells that way.Amazing indeed.
The 85 "Ernest" comes with the new non tallow formula and it has a citrusy scent , perfect for this time of the year if you want to avoid mentolated creams or soaps.
Same presentation than the Vincent , with 4 oz of soap (approx 115 grams) and a price of 20 dollars.
And here the list of it's ingredients
As you can read , no tallow on this formula but plenty of great ingredients like Aloe Vera , Argan , Jojoba , Castor , Mango and Basau Oil and even Raw Honey and Goats Milk.
The lather looks identical to the Vincent tallow based one , with that extra thickness , but this lather is more , more slick , at least to me.I use a water softener and I don't know if that's related but this lather is much slicker than the tallow based one and I really enjoy that.If we add that the skin care properties are also top notch and I don't even need to use pre shave oil , we have another winner.
And it's scent is perfect for summer.As a matter of fact the idea is Hemingway in Key West or Cuba and yes , smells very refreshing and citrusy with deeper notes of tobacco flower.
Do I recommend these soaps ? Yes , of course.The skin care and scents are excellent , specially the Vincent one , but I prefer the non tallow version over the tallow due to its slicker lather.
Well done Gentleman's Nod and I can predict that many wet shavers are going to enjoy your creations !
