This past week I have had the luxury to shave with a new soap from the Ariana & Evans (A&E) brand...The Club - A Cold Day in Hell 2. The soap is done in the newest base of A&E and in my humble opinion is very good. So good I may consider this soap base as one of my top performers. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I have always appreciated the graphics or the artwork that A&E uses for their soap. They are so much more creative and appealing than the majority of the soaps on the market. A Cold Day in Hell 2 is no exception. The haunting image of the otherworldly figure is something out of the latest fantasy/horror film that scared you out of your wits! It really sets the mood for your morning or evening shave!
Beyond the artwork...I have a subtle appreciation for the packaging in general. Water resistant labels cling to the top and side of this container. There is nothing more I hate than a really nice soap and the label gets smeared or washes/rips off after a couple of uses. It just drives me nuts! A week of shaves with this soap and the label is still much attached and in the same condition that it originally came in. In addition to a top label...there is also a side label that announces what soap this is and lists all the ingredients. This is great if you organize your den in a manner where you stack your soaps.
I have used both badger brushes and a synthetic brush to face and bowl lather this soap. The brushes I used were The Shaving Cadre (TSC) member brush (the Luca Brasi) in Finest Badger created by Eric Sorrentino (Smattayu), a Rudy Vey (egg style brush) in a Shavemac Two Band Silvertip Badger, and a Stirling Soap Co. Pro Handle Synthetic. While bowl lathering I used a Captains Choice lather bowl in the Tempest theme (little known fact...I was actually the inspiration for the name...I mentioned to Scott at Captains Choice that it reminded me of the Shakespeare play “The Tempest” and he adopted that name).
Okay...let’s talk scent! I honestly was at a loss right away about the scent. I really liked it...A LOT...but I wasn’t sure how I was going to describe this scent. A&E does a good job at listing the scent notes in their description...but we all know that these notes meld together for a much bigger experience. Here is what A&E lists as the scent notes for A Cold Day in Hell 2:
Anise, Black Pepper, Lavender, Jasmine, Midnight Lotus, Coffee, Cannabis, Juniper, Vanilla, Oakmoss and Sandalwood.
A&E further describes this scent as…”A very dark Fougere.” I have to agree with this short...but descriptive scent. A VERY dark fougere it is indeed! But a deep sniff out of the tub and I do pick up individual scents of anise and vanilla. I also smell the florals that add something sweet to the arraignment. But there is also earth and spice. My description of this scent is something more along the lines of:
A sultry seduction into a dark forest where there is no return.
I’m sure I won’t be writing for Hallmark anytime soon...but seriously...this is exactly what I get. In my versions of the fairy tales...Hansel and Gretel as well as Little Red Riding Hood never make it out of the forest. You decide which is their fate...for me...I’m rooting for the Witch and the Wolf! But I babble…
This is the new or updated soap base from Ariana & Evans. I liked the last version just fine...but as with many artisan soap makers, they are looking to improve...I appreciate that. This soap base is definitely an improvement! The ingredients for this soap are as follows:
Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Goats Milk, Shea Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Kokum Butter, Mango Butter, Manteca (Pig Fat), Cocoa Butter, Glycerin, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Castor Oil, Camellia Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Yogurt, Lanolin, Bentonite Clay, Beeswax, Sodium Lactate, Argan Oil, Fragrance & EO's.
As you can see there is a lot of really good stuff in there. This is a tallow base soap, but there are also
other animal fats and waxes as well as oils from plant sources. I am particularly interested to find that there is yogurt in the mix here and curious as to what the purpose or mechanism is with that fermented goodness!
Lathering this soap was relatively easy. The consistency of the soap out of the tub is pretty firm...but I wouldn’t call this a hard soap at all. It’s just that it is much firmer than many of the artisan soaps that are coming out now. This isn’t good or bad...it’s just an observation. Loading the soap I used a soaked brush (or thoroughly rinsed if using the synthetic) where I shake approximately 80% of the water out of it. Brush on puck took approximately 15 to 20 seconds to load enough soap to use. This is one of the easier soaps to moderate exactly how much soap on the brush you are going to use.
I won’t say that this is the thirstiest soap I have ever used...but it is thirstier than most. If you start out with wetter than usual brush or bowl...you should be okay. During one of my shaves, I pushed the water band pretty far...and still did not over-hydrate the soap/lather. All in all, I would say that margin for error in this lather is very wide. This is good news for all sorts of wet shavers.
The slickness on this soap is outstanding. I have grown accustomed to above average slickness on most of my soaps. This definitely fist the bill. Am I going to say that this is the slickest soap I have in my den...not sure I can say that...but man...it is right there!
The overall all cushion/protection of A Cold Day in Hell 2 is outstanding as well. A lot of glide that allows you to effortlessly push or pull your razor from one end of your face and neck to the other end. I know nicks and weepers and other shaving injuries are usually a likelihood of a lack of concentration or poor technique, but my five shaves with this soap...I think I only ended up with a couple spots of seepage over the week. This stuff is plenty protective.
Residual Slickness is one of two areas that this soap really excels. A standard three pass shave will leave the skin with enough residue to have an entirely new shave with just water alone! A quick cleanup after the shave...likely doesn’t need additional water as long as the lather was properly hydrated from the beginning.
Overall...this lather did not break down or degrade one bit. I am sure there is a thing as too much water for this soap...but I didn’t find it. If you like this soap thick and luscious, or thin and slick as snot...I think A Cold Day in Hell 2 is very adaptable to various preferences!
There is one more aspect of this soap that I need to mention. Post Shave Feel/Moisturizing is where I decide if I really like a soap or not. This is definitely in the I LIKE category. The artisan soaps that we have available to us are improving in this category with every iteration of their new soaps. A&E is no exception. The post shave feel on this soap is one of the best...if not the best post shave feel I have experienced in a soap. Six to eight hours after my shave...I was still touching and feeling my face and amazed at how it felt.
So if you have read this far...then kudos to you. Here is where I actually grade the soap. I will grade a soap with the following categories: Latherability, Slickness, Cushion/Protection, Residual Slickness, and Post Shave/Moisturizing. Each category can be assigned a maximum of 20 points for a total of 100 points.
Here is where I place this soap:
Latherability - 15
Slickness - 17
Cushion/Protection - 15
Residual Slickness - 19
Post Shave/Moisturizing - 19
Total Score - 85
As you can see this is a very highly rated soap. Anything above an 80 and we are really kind of splitting hairs. Am I going to say that this is the best soap to very see my razor? No, however, it is definitely up there and will see a place in my rotation. It is really that good.
A quick note about the aftershave…
The aftershave of the same name smells just like the soap. There is a bit of an alcohol scent to it...but that is expected. Here is a list of the ingredients in this juice:
Aloe Vera Juice, Vegetable Glycerin, SD 40B Alcohol, Rose Hydrosol, Calendula Extract , Red Clover Extract, Chamomile, Plantain Leaves, White Willow Bark, Vitamin E, Caprylic Triglycerides.
The explanation for the triglycerides is: combination of plant sugars and fatty acids derived from palm and coconut oils for silkier feel and as a natural preservative. All fats have them and some of the triglycerides found in coconut and palm oils have very beneficial properties for the skin.
The aftershave was a wonderful addition to the soap that allowed for the continuation of the scent through most of the day. It also aided in incredible post shave feel. If you end up getting a Cold Day in Hell 2...you definitely need the aftershave!
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