I ordered some samples on Friday night, so an amazing group effort between Maggard and the USPS to get them to me by Monday COB! I wrote this up for the restraint thread, but decided to move it here instead. The following are impressions only based on sniffing the jars and are ranked in order of preference.
1. Barrister & Mann Latha Oceana. OMG what a pleasant scent. Mild enough to use every day and hard to describe except "aquatic" like some colognes, maybe a bit like T&H Trafalgar. Certainly a good alternative for a fraction the price! One of my new favorites, I hope it lathers nearly as good as the original formula!
2. Chiseled Face Redneck. This is not for everyone, but really smells like an auto parts store. My dad was ASE Master Certified before he got into teaching, and always did car stuff on the side. So it reminds me of him. Plus it deserves its #2 spot for "nailing it".
3. CF Summer Storm. Their take on petrichor and at first I didn't get it. But it started to hit me and I think this one, when lathered will be even better
4. CF Orange Creamsicle. In the jar, the menthol and a note of chocolate hits me more than any orange or cream. I think this has to be lathered to really appreciate. I wanted something with menthol
5. B&M Solarion. One of the more floral scents, and makes me think it would be better suited as a bubble bath for my wife. There is that hint of spice (the pepper I think?) and it is well balanced, but not for me
6. B&M Diamond. I was never going to buy the full size (it may even be sold out) but on paper it sounded awesome so I had to know what this smelled like so I threw in the sample. Blech. In the jar, too much of the dirt and beer, not enough of the grass or caramel.
In summary, at some point a full size Latha Oceana will definitely make its way to me. Totally winning scent and possibly my favorite B&M (up there with Leviathan). I should have been confident enough to take the gamble on a full size of this one ($11 vs $2.75 sample) since it's cheap soap, but based on my overall inventory, I didn't. CF Redneck may make its way to me as well, if it lathers well. I will have to test both before Christmas so I have some ideas for my wife.
1. Barrister & Mann Latha Oceana. OMG what a pleasant scent. Mild enough to use every day and hard to describe except "aquatic" like some colognes, maybe a bit like T&H Trafalgar. Certainly a good alternative for a fraction the price! One of my new favorites, I hope it lathers nearly as good as the original formula!
2. Chiseled Face Redneck. This is not for everyone, but really smells like an auto parts store. My dad was ASE Master Certified before he got into teaching, and always did car stuff on the side. So it reminds me of him. Plus it deserves its #2 spot for "nailing it".
3. CF Summer Storm. Their take on petrichor and at first I didn't get it. But it started to hit me and I think this one, when lathered will be even better
4. CF Orange Creamsicle. In the jar, the menthol and a note of chocolate hits me more than any orange or cream. I think this has to be lathered to really appreciate. I wanted something with menthol
5. B&M Solarion. One of the more floral scents, and makes me think it would be better suited as a bubble bath for my wife. There is that hint of spice (the pepper I think?) and it is well balanced, but not for me
6. B&M Diamond. I was never going to buy the full size (it may even be sold out) but on paper it sounded awesome so I had to know what this smelled like so I threw in the sample. Blech. In the jar, too much of the dirt and beer, not enough of the grass or caramel.
In summary, at some point a full size Latha Oceana will definitely make its way to me. Totally winning scent and possibly my favorite B&M (up there with Leviathan). I should have been confident enough to take the gamble on a full size of this one ($11 vs $2.75 sample) since it's cheap soap, but based on my overall inventory, I didn't. CF Redneck may make its way to me as well, if it lathers well. I will have to test both before Christmas so I have some ideas for my wife.
Last edited:
