I was lucky enough to put in the winning bid in this year's Sue Moore Memorial Fundraiser for 10 tubs of Los Angeles Shaving Soap Company's vegan soap with my own custom scent. Here is the auction thread. The tubs arrived last Friday and have been using the soap all week.
In case you're not familiar with this artisan soapmaker, L.A.S.S. is a vegetable based soap modeled after the much loved Martin de Candre. It's nearly identical in all respects to MdC with the exception that it is not cured for four months after it's made, so its consistency is more like a croap. Even so, this soap creates a rich and protective lather with plenty of cushion and slickness which left a great post shave feeling on my skin. Like MdC, you don't need to heavily load your brush to make enough lather for a three pass shave. I shave with a straight more often than not and make my lather just a bit on the watery side so that the blade won't try to stick to my face on the shallow angle passes. Each shave with L.A.S.S. was smooth, close and comfortable without any irritation.
Now, I must admit that I am not a gifted scent designer but I do know what I like. I also need to admit that I had not tried this soap before I made my winning bid, but based on some stellar reviews given by B&B members I decided to throw caution to the wind. John Brown at L.A.S.S. was a real pleasure to work with as he helped guide me through the process of creating Bespoke #1.
As I had never used his product, John first sent me samples of his existing line of soaps, Topanga Fougere, Santa Monica Bay Rum, Woody Lavender, and Vanilla/Eucalyptus/Mint. His scents are truly remarkable and showed his ability to blend seemingly incongruous EO's (Vanilla and Eucalyptus? C'mon man!) into a sublime shaving experience. I felt a bit intimidated at the thought of creating something he would want to add to his soaps.
After using up the samples we discussed the types of soaps I used and the scents I liked. I gave him a list of the fragrances I enjoy and left it to him to do all the heavy lifting. John was so good at this that he nailed it on the first try! When his first sample scent vial arrived I ran it by my official scent-o-meter (SWMBO, of course) who gave it a most enthusiastic two thumbs up.
Here's the secret recipe
The Bespoke #1 Scent is pretty darned amazing if I do say so myself! Although the earthy (I want to stress not too earthy) vetiver is the predominant note, on the third shave the soap began to release the other notes with vanilla, labdanum and pepper making themselves known. The bergamot is very faint, but I'm sure it will reveal itself to a greater extent with each subsequent use.
If there is one drawback to L.A.S.S., it's the packaging. The mouth of the jars in which the soap is packed is too small to allow a modestly sized brush to pass easily. Here is a pic of the Kent 2008 B&B LE (20 mm x 48 mm) and the tub to give you an idea of the size of the opening.
Thank goodness for Pyrex! The soft consistency of the L.A.S.S. made it real easy to transfer into a larger glass bowl.
Here's a pic of my MdC "brain bowl" next to the Bespoke (on the right) to give you an idea of the difference in consistencies. I'm not saying that I prefer one over the other or that one is better than the other. They're just different.
And now for the money shots! A test lather with the 2008 LE and about 20 seconds loading time. I face lather and this is the first time in 3 years I have made lather in a bowl so please forgive me if you think my lathering skills are lacking.
After 30 seconds
1 minute
And just for fun!
All my other brushes were jealous
But wait!!
There's more!!
John also sent some samples of the Bespoke #1 and I will choose up to 10 B&B members at random to sample the soap and critique its performance as well as my inaugural foray into the world of fragrance creation. I want the lucky recipients to be brutally honest with their opinions of the scent. I know they will love the soap notwithstanding.
My highly biased opinion is that with John's skill and my dumb luck the Bespoke #1 is a marvelous and complex scent married to a truly outstanding soap. If the reviews are favorable he might add Bespoke #1 to his existing line. And if he does, John has graciously agreed to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Bespoke #1 to cancer research.
Even if this experiment turns out to be a real stinker, I would encourage wetshavers everywhere to try the other soaps offered by L.A.S.S. It's a lot easier to get than MdC and just as good, if not better.
In case you're not familiar with this artisan soapmaker, L.A.S.S. is a vegetable based soap modeled after the much loved Martin de Candre. It's nearly identical in all respects to MdC with the exception that it is not cured for four months after it's made, so its consistency is more like a croap. Even so, this soap creates a rich and protective lather with plenty of cushion and slickness which left a great post shave feeling on my skin. Like MdC, you don't need to heavily load your brush to make enough lather for a three pass shave. I shave with a straight more often than not and make my lather just a bit on the watery side so that the blade won't try to stick to my face on the shallow angle passes. Each shave with L.A.S.S. was smooth, close and comfortable without any irritation.
Now, I must admit that I am not a gifted scent designer but I do know what I like. I also need to admit that I had not tried this soap before I made my winning bid, but based on some stellar reviews given by B&B members I decided to throw caution to the wind. John Brown at L.A.S.S. was a real pleasure to work with as he helped guide me through the process of creating Bespoke #1.
As I had never used his product, John first sent me samples of his existing line of soaps, Topanga Fougere, Santa Monica Bay Rum, Woody Lavender, and Vanilla/Eucalyptus/Mint. His scents are truly remarkable and showed his ability to blend seemingly incongruous EO's (Vanilla and Eucalyptus? C'mon man!) into a sublime shaving experience. I felt a bit intimidated at the thought of creating something he would want to add to his soaps.
After using up the samples we discussed the types of soaps I used and the scents I liked. I gave him a list of the fragrances I enjoy and left it to him to do all the heavy lifting. John was so good at this that he nailed it on the first try! When his first sample scent vial arrived I ran it by my official scent-o-meter (SWMBO, of course) who gave it a most enthusiastic two thumbs up.
Here's the secret recipe
The Bespoke #1 Scent is pretty darned amazing if I do say so myself! Although the earthy (I want to stress not too earthy) vetiver is the predominant note, on the third shave the soap began to release the other notes with vanilla, labdanum and pepper making themselves known. The bergamot is very faint, but I'm sure it will reveal itself to a greater extent with each subsequent use.
If there is one drawback to L.A.S.S., it's the packaging. The mouth of the jars in which the soap is packed is too small to allow a modestly sized brush to pass easily. Here is a pic of the Kent 2008 B&B LE (20 mm x 48 mm) and the tub to give you an idea of the size of the opening.
Thank goodness for Pyrex! The soft consistency of the L.A.S.S. made it real easy to transfer into a larger glass bowl.
Here's a pic of my MdC "brain bowl" next to the Bespoke (on the right) to give you an idea of the difference in consistencies. I'm not saying that I prefer one over the other or that one is better than the other. They're just different.
And now for the money shots! A test lather with the 2008 LE and about 20 seconds loading time. I face lather and this is the first time in 3 years I have made lather in a bowl so please forgive me if you think my lathering skills are lacking.
After 30 seconds
1 minute
And just for fun!
All my other brushes were jealous
But wait!!
There's more!!
John also sent some samples of the Bespoke #1 and I will choose up to 10 B&B members at random to sample the soap and critique its performance as well as my inaugural foray into the world of fragrance creation. I want the lucky recipients to be brutally honest with their opinions of the scent. I know they will love the soap notwithstanding.
My highly biased opinion is that with John's skill and my dumb luck the Bespoke #1 is a marvelous and complex scent married to a truly outstanding soap. If the reviews are favorable he might add Bespoke #1 to his existing line. And if he does, John has graciously agreed to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Bespoke #1 to cancer research.
Even if this experiment turns out to be a real stinker, I would encourage wetshavers everywhere to try the other soaps offered by L.A.S.S. It's a lot easier to get than MdC and just as good, if not better.
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