I had to be careful with this shave, as I went into this fully expecting to see an improvement on the soap from the last usage of T+S’s Sicily. Kyoto is again using the V3 soap base, but is a limited edition soap that I was lucky enough to pick up. The guys at T+S actually sent this to me free of charge since I’m at an APO address, so I have to give credit to them where it’s due. They didn’t have to do that. First things first, I need to address something about this product that I can’t get away from. The packaging for this soap. It is…unbelievable. This is possibly, with the exception of The Holy Black’s packaging and maybe some soaps such as PannaCrema Nuavia’s ceramic dishes the NICEST packaging using the low-profile wide mouth tubs. The labels are made of what looks to be a nylon type material with some very stylistic graphics depicting some classic Japanese artwork. The coloration is meant to evoke thoughts of art on old parchment paper or papyrus. Very nicely done! As on the Sicily labeling, the ingredients for the V3 base are listed on the side label.
Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Water, Organic Argan Oil, Organic Glycerin, Essential Oils, Organic Castor Oil, Organic Safflower Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Tallow (Pasture-Raised), Organic Coconut Oil, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Hydroxide, Vitamin E and Silk
The notes of this soap are citrus heavy, being 76% Yuzu, two types of Japanese cypress, two types of Japanese cedar and seaweed. Now, how this comes across is as a very woody citrus, though you don’t realize how much citrus you’re smelling until you really sit back and break down what it is your nose is sensing. The best way I can describe it is this. Imagine you are in a very nicely maintained Japanese garden, replete with freshly created cedar benches and fences, accent cypress trees, and a full grove of Yuzu citrus trees, full of fresh and ripe fruit. Grab a couple of those Yuzu fruit and hand squeeze the juice out of them, making a lemonade out of them, but don’t drink it. Just let it sit next to your head as you lay down on one of the benches. The cedar and cypress will dominate the smell, but the scent of Yuzu on your hands and coming from the glass next to your head give the wood notes some much needed lightness and levity. There are whiffs of the seaweed floating in and out that you never really realize you are smelling, but that gives the impression that the coast might be somewhere close. That’s what this scent is. Here is the break down in scent notes as listed on the top label:
76% Yuzu, 12% Hiba (Japnese Cypress), 4% Hinoki (Japanese Cypress), 4% Sugi (Japanese Cedar), 2% Shiso (Japanese Cedar), 2% Sencha (Green Tea) + Nori (Seaweed)
So after one use, this soap definitely met my expectations and I was expecting an improvement on what I experienced the other day. The lather today was extremely fast to build and get to a usable state, much quicker than most modern artisans. The strength of scent once lathered grew to about a 4/5, so you scent hogs out there will like this. It did evolve a bit and wasn’t as cedar/cypress forward and was more citrus forward with the wood accents. The cushion is still great, but I hesitate to give it a max score of 10; it just seemed to be missing…something. It was the same for the moisturizing and residual slickness. They were just missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on. I just know they weren’t all the way “there”, but it was as close as you can get. Maybe it needed a little more work, maybe I overshot the water, or didn’t add enough. Maybe I got the perfect lather with this soap and this is as good as it gets? Not sure…but with having said all of that, this is still a phenomenally good soap, with a scent that grew on me as the shave went along.
Here is the scoring of the soap base’s performance (as always, strength of scent and preference aren’t included since they’re so subjective):
Lathering: 9.5/10
Cushion: 9.5/10
Slickness: 9/10
Moisturizing: 9.5/10
Residual Slickness: 9.5/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 52/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Eufros Tallow (53/55)
Wholly Kaw (donkey milk w/ hops extract) 53/55
Noble Otter (52.5/55)
Wholly Kaw (donkey milk) (52/55)
Soapy Science (51.5/55)
WSP Formula T (51/50)
Saponificio Varesino beta 4.3 (50/55)
Wholly Kaw (regular Tallow) (49/55)
Conclusion: This is frustrating for me. I want so bad to call this an elite soap, but it just isn’t. It falls just short of being in that box 1 category. But it does hold a Tier 1 Box 2 status, along with other great soaps such as Noble Otter, Soapy Science and WSP Formula T. As stated in the video below, if it maxed out just two of these categories, I would have no problem rating it as an elite soap. I will say that the packaging is elite level…some of the best I’ve experienced. You can tell that the artisan really does care about his product, and is proud to display it in the best way he can. The soap is a little more expensive than their normal side, coming in at about $6oz, and can only be purchased at their website. T+S is moving away from the wholesale retail model, and is going to be doing all of its sales through their website. Their aftershaves are not considered alcohol based as it is less than 5% of the total volume, and thusly can be shipped internationally out of Canada. For me, the quality of the packaging alone, was worth the price of entry. When it’s combined with a soap that performs ever so close to my elite level soaps, I can’t help but be extremely happy with my purchase. I have to recommend this soap to anyone who has the room in the budget to spare. It’s a worthwhile purchase for sure.
https://youtu.be/wn2LUvKiO_Y
Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Water, Organic Argan Oil, Organic Glycerin, Essential Oils, Organic Castor Oil, Organic Safflower Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Tallow (Pasture-Raised), Organic Coconut Oil, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Hydroxide, Vitamin E and Silk
The notes of this soap are citrus heavy, being 76% Yuzu, two types of Japanese cypress, two types of Japanese cedar and seaweed. Now, how this comes across is as a very woody citrus, though you don’t realize how much citrus you’re smelling until you really sit back and break down what it is your nose is sensing. The best way I can describe it is this. Imagine you are in a very nicely maintained Japanese garden, replete with freshly created cedar benches and fences, accent cypress trees, and a full grove of Yuzu citrus trees, full of fresh and ripe fruit. Grab a couple of those Yuzu fruit and hand squeeze the juice out of them, making a lemonade out of them, but don’t drink it. Just let it sit next to your head as you lay down on one of the benches. The cedar and cypress will dominate the smell, but the scent of Yuzu on your hands and coming from the glass next to your head give the wood notes some much needed lightness and levity. There are whiffs of the seaweed floating in and out that you never really realize you are smelling, but that gives the impression that the coast might be somewhere close. That’s what this scent is. Here is the break down in scent notes as listed on the top label:
76% Yuzu, 12% Hiba (Japnese Cypress), 4% Hinoki (Japanese Cypress), 4% Sugi (Japanese Cedar), 2% Shiso (Japanese Cedar), 2% Sencha (Green Tea) + Nori (Seaweed)
So after one use, this soap definitely met my expectations and I was expecting an improvement on what I experienced the other day. The lather today was extremely fast to build and get to a usable state, much quicker than most modern artisans. The strength of scent once lathered grew to about a 4/5, so you scent hogs out there will like this. It did evolve a bit and wasn’t as cedar/cypress forward and was more citrus forward with the wood accents. The cushion is still great, but I hesitate to give it a max score of 10; it just seemed to be missing…something. It was the same for the moisturizing and residual slickness. They were just missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on. I just know they weren’t all the way “there”, but it was as close as you can get. Maybe it needed a little more work, maybe I overshot the water, or didn’t add enough. Maybe I got the perfect lather with this soap and this is as good as it gets? Not sure…but with having said all of that, this is still a phenomenally good soap, with a scent that grew on me as the shave went along.
Here is the scoring of the soap base’s performance (as always, strength of scent and preference aren’t included since they’re so subjective):
Lathering: 9.5/10
Cushion: 9.5/10
Slickness: 9/10
Moisturizing: 9.5/10
Residual Slickness: 9.5/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 52/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Eufros Tallow (53/55)
Wholly Kaw (donkey milk w/ hops extract) 53/55
Noble Otter (52.5/55)
Wholly Kaw (donkey milk) (52/55)
Soapy Science (51.5/55)
WSP Formula T (51/50)
Saponificio Varesino beta 4.3 (50/55)
Wholly Kaw (regular Tallow) (49/55)
Conclusion: This is frustrating for me. I want so bad to call this an elite soap, but it just isn’t. It falls just short of being in that box 1 category. But it does hold a Tier 1 Box 2 status, along with other great soaps such as Noble Otter, Soapy Science and WSP Formula T. As stated in the video below, if it maxed out just two of these categories, I would have no problem rating it as an elite soap. I will say that the packaging is elite level…some of the best I’ve experienced. You can tell that the artisan really does care about his product, and is proud to display it in the best way he can. The soap is a little more expensive than their normal side, coming in at about $6oz, and can only be purchased at their website. T+S is moving away from the wholesale retail model, and is going to be doing all of its sales through their website. Their aftershaves are not considered alcohol based as it is less than 5% of the total volume, and thusly can be shipped internationally out of Canada. For me, the quality of the packaging alone, was worth the price of entry. When it’s combined with a soap that performs ever so close to my elite level soaps, I can’t help but be extremely happy with my purchase. I have to recommend this soap to anyone who has the room in the budget to spare. It’s a worthwhile purchase for sure.
https://youtu.be/wn2LUvKiO_Y
