With the new package of Ariana & Evans coming in, I decided to take a break from the WWSC soaps and try out Summer Fig, one of The Shaving Shop Club’s new releases from June of this year. Packaging is, as are all of the Ariana & Evans line, top notch. Beautiful side labels and graphics on the top label, which are all waterproof. This is the textured label, which I prefer myself, as it’s easy to scratch a glossy label. The tub is nice, not quite as beefy as the B&M tubs, but substantial all the same, and these do feature a little bit higher side wall to assist with loading from the tub without getting lather all over the place. The front graphic shows figs, both whole and halved, on the cover, letting you know what you’re about to experience from a scent perspective.
The notes, as listed are: Bergamot, Tangerine, Summer Fig, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Musk
Now, I’ve seen many people wonder, “What does a fig smell like?” I’m kind of in the same boat, as I never really concentrated on what the smell of a fig was, more what they tasted and the texture. Off of the tub, I get a sweet note, most likely the fig with a pretty good dose of nutmeg. It’s on the gourmand side of the house, but is not off putting whatsoever, even at a strength of scent of about 3.5/5.
I’ve gone over in the past how wonderful the goat milk formula is, and nothing has changed here. It’s full of good skin food, loads extremely fast, and with a little bit of patience, gives an incredibly shiny and slick lather, perfect for straight shavers. Just to re-hash, here is what is in the soap:
Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Tallow, Goats Milk, Shea Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Kokum Butter, Glycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Mango Butter, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Castor Oil, Lanolin, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Lactate, Beeswax, Fragrance & EO's
So, just like expected, this soap lathered up wonderfully well. One of the great features of this soap is that, for me, this has an extremely wide water band. This allows the user to completely control what kind of lather is created, whether you like a fluffier lather or a creamy, thicker lather. I tend to go down the middle on this, but kept the lather on the creamier side for today’s shave. It ended up saving my skin today as I thought I got bit by the Feather SS, and walked away with nary a scratch. The scent once lathered up is something else. It smells like there is vanilla and nutmeg in there the way that Peter has it blended, and neither show up in the scent notes. A very well mixed scent, and strong. It blooms out from the 3.5 out of the tub to about a 4.5/5 once lathered.
One thing to note, the aftershave almost seems to be the polar opposite in how the notes are interpreted. The sandalwood and musk come to the fore right away, with the sweet top notes playing a supporting role. It’s one of the only woody frags that I would feel comfortable wearing in hot weather, and the skin food included in the splash makes your skin feel amazing, as if the soap’s moisturizing properties weren’t enough! Very pleasant to use, indeed.
Here are the scores for the soap base, once again. As always, strength of scent and scent preference are not included due to being too subjective.
Lathering: 10/10
Cushion: 10/10
Slickness: 9.5/10
Moisturizing: 10/10
Residual Slickness: 9.5/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 54/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Declaration Grooming Project Icarus (55/55)
Declaration Grooming Bison Tallow (54.5/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Eufros (51/55)
Conclusion: For those that like a darker sweet scent, a bit on the gourmand side of the house, this might be right up your alley. This is not overpoweringly sweet, however, even with the very strong scent strength. The notes of jasmine, sandalwood and musk really tone down the sweet aspects of the scent and give it a warm feel to it, while still being perfectly suitable for summer weather. The aftershave topper can act as a frag on its own, embracing the sandalwood and musk while using the bergamot, fig and tangerine as supporting notes. Another winner from the team at Ariana & Evans. They are really developing a solid line of soaps that will fit just about anyone’s preferences for scents. With that being said, they are on the expensive side of the “economical Artisan soaps”, at about $4.50 per oz for non-club members. If you’re a member, the price will drop to about $3.25oz for the soap before shipping. Either way you cut it, if you’re looking for a top tier soap without completely breaking the bank, and enjoy strong scent strengths, these might be up your alley.
Here is the video
https://youtu.be/meP0HlikdmI
The notes, as listed are: Bergamot, Tangerine, Summer Fig, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Musk
Now, I’ve seen many people wonder, “What does a fig smell like?” I’m kind of in the same boat, as I never really concentrated on what the smell of a fig was, more what they tasted and the texture. Off of the tub, I get a sweet note, most likely the fig with a pretty good dose of nutmeg. It’s on the gourmand side of the house, but is not off putting whatsoever, even at a strength of scent of about 3.5/5.
I’ve gone over in the past how wonderful the goat milk formula is, and nothing has changed here. It’s full of good skin food, loads extremely fast, and with a little bit of patience, gives an incredibly shiny and slick lather, perfect for straight shavers. Just to re-hash, here is what is in the soap:
Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Tallow, Goats Milk, Shea Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Kokum Butter, Glycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Mango Butter, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Castor Oil, Lanolin, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Lactate, Beeswax, Fragrance & EO's
So, just like expected, this soap lathered up wonderfully well. One of the great features of this soap is that, for me, this has an extremely wide water band. This allows the user to completely control what kind of lather is created, whether you like a fluffier lather or a creamy, thicker lather. I tend to go down the middle on this, but kept the lather on the creamier side for today’s shave. It ended up saving my skin today as I thought I got bit by the Feather SS, and walked away with nary a scratch. The scent once lathered up is something else. It smells like there is vanilla and nutmeg in there the way that Peter has it blended, and neither show up in the scent notes. A very well mixed scent, and strong. It blooms out from the 3.5 out of the tub to about a 4.5/5 once lathered.
One thing to note, the aftershave almost seems to be the polar opposite in how the notes are interpreted. The sandalwood and musk come to the fore right away, with the sweet top notes playing a supporting role. It’s one of the only woody frags that I would feel comfortable wearing in hot weather, and the skin food included in the splash makes your skin feel amazing, as if the soap’s moisturizing properties weren’t enough! Very pleasant to use, indeed.
Here are the scores for the soap base, once again. As always, strength of scent and scent preference are not included due to being too subjective.
Lathering: 10/10
Cushion: 10/10
Slickness: 9.5/10
Moisturizing: 10/10
Residual Slickness: 9.5/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 54/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Declaration Grooming Project Icarus (55/55)
Declaration Grooming Bison Tallow (54.5/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Eufros (51/55)
Conclusion: For those that like a darker sweet scent, a bit on the gourmand side of the house, this might be right up your alley. This is not overpoweringly sweet, however, even with the very strong scent strength. The notes of jasmine, sandalwood and musk really tone down the sweet aspects of the scent and give it a warm feel to it, while still being perfectly suitable for summer weather. The aftershave topper can act as a frag on its own, embracing the sandalwood and musk while using the bergamot, fig and tangerine as supporting notes. Another winner from the team at Ariana & Evans. They are really developing a solid line of soaps that will fit just about anyone’s preferences for scents. With that being said, they are on the expensive side of the “economical Artisan soaps”, at about $4.50 per oz for non-club members. If you’re a member, the price will drop to about $3.25oz for the soap before shipping. Either way you cut it, if you’re looking for a top tier soap without completely breaking the bank, and enjoy strong scent strengths, these might be up your alley.
Here is the video
https://youtu.be/meP0HlikdmI
