I was underwhelmed when Jekyll & Hyde came out, but mildly interested. After hearing how good the vetiver fragrances are, it is perhaps likely that I would have been satisfied with the purchase, even considering that the soap base is a middle of the road performer (from reviews that I have seen/read). Some of their other releases, like Lavender Creeper or Tangerine Creeper sounded appealing. If the HB soap base were a premium, great performing product all of those releases would have been much more attractive. However, I am not sure they would ever have been attractive enough for me to deal with the limited release, keep refreshing the web page in the seconds before release, click as soon as it goes live or you will miss it, frenzy.
This one is just way, way, way over done. I can get good Frankincense & Myrrh shaving products from companies such as Stirling and PAA (I prefer PAA Magi) that are seasonal items, which are cheaper than this product, much more widely available, and which are also quite, quite good smelling and performing. This product IMO is, at best, a fun idea taken way too far, or, at worst, a blatant cash grab. Strike anywhere matches? A whole head of garlic? A vial of garlic powder? Really? I don't use pomade, so I am not the target market to begin with, but even were it a shave soap in place of the pomade, this one would still be a hard no. The inclusion of the incense and charcoal disk is a nice touch. The log book sounds kinda cool. The iron nails are kinda cool too. The vials of alum, creeper, and menthol are cute, but impractical. So, the product isn't wholly bad, but is wildly overdone and lacking in value beyond the initial unboxing.
It is my opinion that these guys have gone off the rails, in a very big way, in their prioritization of style over substance. However, this is their business model, limited releases that are heavy on theme. The consumer is buying an idea, a concept, a feel. The consumer is not buying a product. I guess you could say that their releases are artistic expressions, and as art pieces there is value to a certain niche of the shaving community. But, here again, I am not the target market. When I buy art (and I have several pieces of original art on the walls of my home) I go more for the traditional (paintings, sculptures, etc.) than for consumable products packaged in a thematic and artistic way. I get that art can be ephemeral, but I want to invest in art that can be enjoyed repeatedly over weeks, months, or years. In consumable products I want the artistic expression to be focused on the quality and content of the product more than on the packaging, and artificial scarcity, of that product. Otherwise it ends up feeling like the producer just put lipstick on a pig. The joy in this product is all in the initial unboxing, not the use of it. Once that moment is gone, is the consumer of that product going to be left with much of value? How long until the garlic rots? How long will the vials of creeper or alum last? Is anyone actually going to put the garlic powder into the aftershave or EdT? How many uses will someone get out of the incense? How many uses will someone get out of the pomade?
I wish The Holy Black would focus on making top notch, high-end products that everyone can share and enjoy, not overly flashy products that people have to fight each other to acquire. I wish they would focus their creativity on the blending of their fragrances and the quality of their soap base, aftershave formula, etc. not on creating a flashy theme around a product that is just okay. Companies like Ethos, CBL, Stirling, Lisa's Natural, Mystic Water, PAA, Heritage Hill, and so on put the focus, the art, where I think it should be. The packaging is well done, attractive, carefully thought out, and adds to the overall product experience, but the focus is more on the experience of using the product. The scents are carefully blended. The soap bases are tweaked over and over to give the best feel possible. Same with the aftershaves. The art doesn't stop before brush meets soap puck, as it seems to do with The Holy Black.
This is just my (very biased) opinion. Please take it with a grain or two of salt.
