Grooming Dept

[gvw755]

I have heard many folks talk of Grooming Dept shaving soaps, but until recently, I was not able to get a tub.mostly because the batches were so small that it would sell out immediately when posted. When I was fortunate enough to see one in stock, the price ($25+) always made me think twice as I do not have a soap budget of @The King. Recently I see that production has increased significantly as soaps are being made for exclusive offerings at WCS and IB and the soaps on the GD web site last for longer than a day.

With the help of a WCS Black Friday Sale and a 20% coupon for late Diamondback delivery, I was able to afford one of the GD exclusive WCS releases - Maleki. This was one of the premium donkey milk, lamb tallow, and duck fat formula. The scent was listed as rose, oud, and musk.

Tonight I tried the Maleki. I face lathered using my fan shape 24mm Viking Shaving two band knot. the lather was very easy to build and was very slick and cushioned well. The scent was very pleasant and present without being overpowering. The blending of the rose and oud worked very well and reminded me of a Tom Ford Oud scent I smelled recently from one of those clone scent product. Post shave feel was the best of all the soaps I have tried, and the scent lingered way past the shave and the shower afterwards.

I am not sure if I will buy another GD luxury type soap, but I know I will enjoy this one, and at 5 oz, it will probably last a long time. I also was able to get one of the new GD Fortis soap which is supposed to be the budget line going for $15 for 5 oz. that one hopefully will ship to me soon and so I can compare both.

 

[gvw755]

The GD Fortis soap arrived recently and I had a chance to use it tonight. The name of this soap was Incense and Oud, and the scent was incense and oud (I like it when artisans keep the name simple). I used a synthetic brush and face lathered for tonight. As in the luxury GD soap, this lathered quickly and easily. It was a thirsty soap and so I ended up with a thicker lather than I anticipated. The scent was exactly as described with slightly more oud , which is fine with me. Unlike the Maleki, the scent was present during shaving, but did not last long afterwards. The soap itself provided the same amount of slickness and cushion as the premium soap, but post shave feel was slightly lacking. Unlike the Maleki that had exotic ingredients like donkey milk, lamb tallow, and duck fat, the Fortis line is basically a beef tallow based soap with hints of more exotic ingredients in the background.

At $15 for 5 oz, this is definitely a great value and a step above many of the other $15 artisan soaps out there. The Fortis line s one I would consider getting if it wasn't for the fact that I am no longer purchasing soaps for a while.