May 14, 2026
• Bowl: Fine Accoutrements – Stoneware Lather Bowl
• Brush: Semogue – 1470 (Boar)
• Razor: Ern – Model 421; 11/16, Full Hollow, Square Point
• Soap: Wild Fox Rituals – Bourbon and Smoked Vanilla
• Aftershave: CBL Soaps – Russian Tea After Shave Tonic
• Balm: Eleven – Unscented Aftershave Balm
• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Co. – Seaforth! Black Watch EDT
I was very happy to see The Razor Company offering samples of Wild Fox Rituals. It is particularly nice as the company is Canadian and rather—I would even say unjustified—expensive. I picked up three scents: Cooling Japanese Peppermint, Citrus Blast, and today’s scent: Bourbon and Smoked Vanilla. I had tried this scent once before and noted that it was something I would like to explore once again. However, after today’s shave, I think just keeping this sample (and the other samples) around will be enough for me. The truth is, for every one of the samples I purchased from Wild Fox, there is a similar soap I have that is far cheaper with a better base and a more natural scent.
I should give credit to Wild Fox’s base. It is protective and slick. I am not sure that it is tremendously moisturizing, but I certainly don’t have a problem with it. It was not particularly voluminous, but again, that may not be how it functions. The scent of bourbon and smoked vanilla was fairly nice “off the puck,” but as I lathered it, it became somewhat bizarre and disjointed. The vanilla, which had been merely a sweet vanillin, receded into the background, and the bourbon smelled incredibly fragmented. It is almost how perfumers take the hundreds of notes that make up a scent like bourbon and pick out the most prominent few. There was the sort of alcohol of bourbon, some elements of a wooden cask (though not a charred one, almost like a moldy one), and some very strangely muted browned sugars. It was a jarring experience where I started the shave thinking, “I wish they made a fragrance or a candle of this scent,” when smelling the puck to “Ugh, if you’re going to do bourbon, make it a bourbon, not an artificial broken bourbon.”
I mentioned that each Wild Fox soap I purchased has a cheaper and better alternative in my collection. For bourbon and smoked vanilla, that is Moon’s Warmest Regards. I know there are proper bourbon-based scents out there (I am particularly fond of Zingari Man’s Barrel Proof), but I think the feeling that Wild Fox is after is the one found in Moon’s Warmest Regards. That is to say, I know there are better soaps with more similar scent notes, but the spirit of what Bourbon and Smoked Vanilla is trying to capture is best expressed by Warmest Regards.
Wild Fox might just be a victim of being late to a crowded market with top notch soaps. It’s a good product. It’s just not something I’m terribly excited about. On the other hand, I am very excited about CBL’s After Shave Tonic. After using it, I very rarely reach for a balm. I just noticed that CBL does sell an unscented version. I wonder if that might be something to use as a balm? Something I’ll have to think about, for sure.
Have an awesome day, friends!
