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L & L Grooming Soaps

Kaidoh

Kaidoh

Hi all,
Have yall heard of L&L Grooming. From what I have gathered Scott is a one stop shop website. That makes soaps, brushs etc.
To get to my question. Have yall tried his soaps? I was looking at some of his brushes and found that he makes soaps. The one that pecked my interest was The Final Frontier. I have only seen one or two videos on YouTube, so I figured someone on here would have tried at one point in time.

The Final Frontier: from the site
"
This soap is a painstaking recreation of the smell of space as described by the brave men and women who have experienced it. The scent is based around seared beef, spent gunpowder, brake pads, and a hint of ozone."​
 
-EdG

-EdG

I have Final Frontier. Just was too intriguing to not try it. It's very unique, that's for sure! It isn't a scent for everyone. It's not a particularly indulgent scent, and it is pretty bold in strength. Definitely unique though, on the edgy end of the spectrum and unlike any smell I've experienced before. It starts to remind me of welding fumes, but not exactly. I think this would appeal most to those who enjoy soaps like Leviathan, Midnight Stag, or similar.
 
SHAVEWIZARD420

SHAVEWIZARD420

I have several L&L Grooming products ( Harmony soap, Trigmigistus, samples of Cuir et Espices, Marshlands, and a bottle of mentholated Espices aftershave) Their soaps are more of a cream consistency, but the lather quality is very nice and they make some interesting scents. Their aftershaves are excellent as well, bunch of good skin care ingredients and a little goes a long way.
 
S

subie

Used my Darkfall and have to report an issue I'm having. First time I used it it left my face very red and raw feeling. I could tell this was different from the normal reaction to fragrance oils. I chalked it up to a bad day and maybe a bad blade. Second use a couple of days later same thing. This time I made sure to use my preferred Personna blades. I don't get any burning or discomfort during the shave, it's afterwards. Like I said above, it's an overall raw feeling and a very red face. I decided to take a closer look at the ingredients and noticed Bentonite Clay, White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn as included ingredients. A little research on google told me that Bentotnite clay is very stripping of facial oils and an exfoliant. Both White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn are major astringents and aid in exfoliation as well. I talked with my friend who is a cosmetologist and she says that Bentonite clay is one of the harshest clays and the recommended use in a facial mask is bi-monthly and no more. She was not as familiar with the Sea buckthorn but says that White Willow Bark is definitely a strong skin stripping astringent ingredient. She did say that both the White Wilow Bark and Seabuckthorn have the ability to moisturize as well making them a dual purpose type of thing but in a shaving soap when you are exfoliating with a brush and then scraping a sharp steel blade across your face adding these three things can lead to the problems I encountered. It's a shame, as I don't think these soaps are for me. They perform well but a word of caution for anyone with sensitive skin.
 
vtmax

vtmax

I have several of the L&L soaps and find Scott to be one of the top 2-3 soap makers out there today. The lather reminds me of Mystic Waters & the new tallow formula from Manuel/JabonMan but only better. The tallow comes from around the Bison's kidneys which I gather helps with the sheen and slip. Who knows but it works!

Really only Manuel's new tallow & Mike's Natural sit next to L&L these days.

CRSW, B&M, T&S, & even P&B are a notch below L&L Grooming imo with the remaining artisan soaps bringing up the rear.

A soft creamy like soap as mentioned above by shavewizard. Great stuff indeed.
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paintflinger

paintflinger

I like L&L quite a bit. The lather is very similar to B&M glissant and to some extent PC Nuavia. I imagine it is also very similar to sudsy soapery, but I haven't tried SS yet.

It produces very thick, creamy lather without much effort. Post shave is very nice as well.

The only downside, imo, is that it isn't quite as slick as some other soaps. It's really more of a nitpick than anything.
 
paintflinger

paintflinger

subie said:
Used my Darkfall and have to report an issue I'm having. First time I used it it left my face very red and raw feeling. I could tell this was different from the normal reaction to fragrance oils. I chalked it up to a bad day and maybe a bad blade. Second use a couple of days later same thing. This time I made sure to use my preferred Personna blades. I don't get any burning or discomfort during the shave, it's afterwards. Like I said above, it's an overall raw feeling and a very red face. I decided to take a closer look at the ingredients and noticed Bentonite Clay, White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn as included ingredients. A little research on google told me that Bentotnite clay is very stripping of facial oils and an exfoliant. Both White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn are major astringents and aid in exfoliation as well. I talked with my friend who is a cosmetologist and she says that Bentonite clay is one of the harshest clays and the recommended use in a facial mask is bi-monthly and no more. She was not as familiar with the Sea buckthorn but says that White Willow Bark is definitely a strong skin stripping astringent ingredient. She did say that both the White Wilow Bark and Seabuckthorn have the ability to moisturize as well making them a dual purpose type of thing but in a shaving soap when you are exfoliating with a brush and then scraping a sharp steel blade across your face adding these three things can lead to the problems I encountered. It's a shame, as I don't think these soaps are for me. They perform well but a word of caution for anyone with sensitive skin.
Click to expand...

The amount of Bentonite clay in soaps is pretty minuscule compared to a facial mask. This also goes for the other two ingredients. Check where they come in the ingredients list. Even if there was enough to dry your skin out, your face wouldn't be red and raw. It would just be dry.

I'm guessing it was the scent. Darkfall is very strongly scented and what you describes sounds like a reaction to essential or fragrance oil. A

ll that said, I very well could be completely wrong.

PS - Used properly, shaving brushes should not exfoliate. In order to exfoliate, you'd have to be really jamming the brush into your face. This is my opinion of course.
 
PhilC

PhilC

Just worked through a sample of Cuir et Epices (Leather and Spices). I enjoyed everything about it. Great scent and great shaves. Can't wait to try some others. :thumbup:
 
frstplce

frstplce

subie said:
Used my Darkfall and have to report an issue I'm having. First time I used it it left my face very red and raw feeling. I could tell this was different from the normal reaction to fragrance oils. I chalked it up to a bad day and maybe a bad blade. Second use a couple of days later same thing. This time I made sure to use my preferred Personna blades. I don't get any burning or discomfort during the shave, it's afterwards. Like I said above, it's an overall raw feeling and a very red face. I decided to take a closer look at the ingredients and noticed Bentonite Clay, White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn as included ingredients. A little research on google told me that Bentotnite clay is very stripping of facial oils and an exfoliant. Both White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn are major astringents and aid in exfoliation as well. I talked with my friend who is a cosmetologist and she says that Bentonite clay is one of the harshest clays and the recommended use in a facial mask is bi-monthly and no more. She was not as familiar with the Sea buckthorn but says that White Willow Bark is definitely a strong skin stripping astringent ingredient. She did say that both the White Wilow Bark and Seabuckthorn have the ability to moisturize as well making them a dual purpose type of thing but in a shaving soap when you are exfoliating with a brush and then scraping a sharp steel blade across your face adding these three things can lead to the problems I encountered. It's a shame, as I don't think these soaps are for me. They perform well but a word of caution for anyone with sensitive skin.
Click to expand...

Yep, the oils could very well be at fault. Specifically, there is cinnamon in Darkfall.

"Agarwood, amber, and benzoin provide a deep, warm base for the cinnamon and clove top notes. Birch tar adds a slight smokiness that represents the ever-present smell of burning leaves that heralds the arrival of fall in Georgia."

It's happened to people before with soaps like this, and always happens around the holidays with the spiced cider and pumpkin pie scents employing cinnamon. I'd suggest trying another of their scents before writing them off completely. I'm fairly certain Darkfall is the only one right now that has cinnamon.
 
nelamvr6

nelamvr6

I just finished my first shave with Cuir et Espices, and I found the lather to be very slick, some of the slicked and thickes and creamiest lather I've ever had!

The scent is really interesting, it's growing on me. I also used the Cuir et Espices, and I bought the mentholated version, and boy oh boy, that's some freeze there!

Very nice, I will definitely be buying more!
 
steelhead52

steelhead52

I posted a detailed review of Cuir et Espices a couple of months ago. It is indeed a top notch soap. My only negative had nothing to do with performance but price. Since it is a slightly soft soap, it makes the cost per shave on the slightly higher end of artisan soaps. But the quality of ingredients is truly excellent and I feel this soap is worth the cost. L&L soaps are definitely top tier, very healthy, and the post shave experience is excellent. Definitely a top 10 soap.
 
kingfisher

kingfisher

subie said:
Used my Darkfall and have to report an issue I'm having. First time I used it it left my face very red and raw feeling. I could tell this was different from the normal reaction to fragrance oils. I chalked it up to a bad day and maybe a bad blade. Second use a couple of days later same thing. This time I made sure to use my preferred Personna blades. I don't get any burning or discomfort during the shave, it's afterwards. Like I said above, it's an overall raw feeling and a very red face. I decided to take a closer look at the ingredients and noticed Bentonite Clay, White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn as included ingredients. A little research on google told me that Bentotnite clay is very stripping of facial oils and an exfoliant. Both White Willow Bark and Sea Buckthorn are major astringents and aid in exfoliation as well. I talked with my friend who is a cosmetologist and she says that Bentonite clay is one of the harshest clays and the recommended use in a facial mask is bi-monthly and no more. She was not as familiar with the Sea buckthorn but says that White Willow Bark is definitely a strong skin stripping astringent ingredient. She did say that both the White Wilow Bark and Seabuckthorn have the ability to moisturize as well making them a dual purpose type of thing but in a shaving soap when you are exfoliating with a brush and then scraping a sharp steel blade across your face adding these three things can lead to the problems I encountered. It's a shame, as I don't think these soaps are for me. They perform well but a word of caution for anyone with sensitive skin.
Click to expand...
Um, yeah, no.
There is the tiniest amount of bentonite, which aids in slip/glide. Sea Buckthorn oil is very skin conditioning. White willow bark is an astringent, but the amounts in the soap would not likely bother your face like that. The cinnamon scent, on the other hand, is a common irritant.
 
Racquet

Racquet

I have the Cuir et Espices and have used it about 3 times, it's definitely a top tier soap.
The scent is unique as far as it doesn't smell like anything floral,powdery,perfumy,fruity,
etc. Someone described the scent as the smell of John Wayne's kitchen. I really like the
scent because it is so different and the performance is top notch
 
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