Reviews
Featured and recommended in the July 2016 GQ British 'Style Manual'
SOAP SAMPLES - by Pippa Akram (twitter follower @Social_Pip)
"I'll admit I was a bit sceptical about using the shaving soap; 'lathering and loading' a brush was something I'd watched my grandfather do with deft skill when I was very young. However it wasn't half as difficult nor time consuming as I thought it would be. The shaving experience itself was smooth, my legs felt moisturised and nourished afterwards and knowing that I hadn't covered my skin with hidden nasties from a can was also particularly uplifting. Girls give it a go,you won't be disappointed."
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SPITFIRE - by Stephen Tyler (Instagram)
Excellent Tuesday shave! I really enjoy soaps whose scent evolves over the course of the the shave and this one did just that. Leather was the first dominant note but that gave way to woodsy sweetness, and underneath it all tobacco was lurking. Great scent that I'm sure I'll pick up more notes with more use... and it's an exceptional performer, slick lather, it falls into that category of soap where you really can't feel the blade on your face while it's doing the work. Added bonus it provides awesome post shave feel, this is fantastic soap! |
SOLARIS - by Nick Sorrel of 'sorrellshaves.blogspot' |
Pre-release / development phase reviews and feedback provided by UK wet shaving fraternity The Shaving Room (TSR). These are the comments given by traditional wet shaving aficionados whose insight helped me develop my soap.
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CITRA ROYALE & SOLARIS - by Steve VTMax (Instagram) I am using the Solaris & Citra Royale and right there with Mike's. Not well known. Yet. It might be the finest soap I've ever tried. Perfect ingredients So good. |
SANSKRIT - by Nick Sorrell of 'Sorrell Shaves blog' |
SPITFIRE & CITRA ROYALE - by Newton (The Shave Nook forum) "Citra Royale and Spitfire showed up on my doorstep yesterday. I had my first P&B experience with Spitfire this morning and thought I would post a few initial impressions. |
SOLARIS AND SPITFIRE - by Windsor Citrus (Damned Fine Shave forum) Phoenix & Beau has broken into the wet shaving world with a storm, and I am a little ashamed to say it's taken me this long to try it. Although I will also add I thought it may be a little over hyped, however the good reviews were followed by great reviews and great reviews followed by reviews claiming this could be the best soap ever...I gave in!
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SPITFIRE - by Mark1966 (Past and Cut (Australian & New Zealand forum) Packaging |
OBSIDIAN - By Justin Wastell (Damn Fine Shave forum, US)
Review: Phoenix & Beau Obsidian This is my first review so please take that with a grain of salt. Also, I'd like to thank a couple of DFS members- Gordy for selling me this beautiful soap and sending it from the U.K. KerryPB for creating this wonderful scent in collaboration with TSR. Additionally, I am not the best at scents, so I attribute part of this reviews to the reviews already provided by Sorrell Shaves and Cap7597 For context, here are the tools for the shave: Razor: Gillette Slim- M1 Blade: Voshkod #2 Brush: L&L Grooming- Custom Two-Band Finest Now, let's get down to the soap. The presentation is beautiful- the label and leaves no doubt in your mind that this will be a dark and mysterious scent. The tub itself is a bit thin, but I believe this is something P&B are working on and it doesn't not affect or hinder any loading ability. The soap is on the softer side- I would say comparable with L&L's bison base. The scent, well that's what we're here for right? It is quite complex- that's the easy way out. I agree with Sorrell Shaves on this- it's a wet vetiver to start off, very dark. As you work through it, you start to get some oak moss and woody scents. There is also a spicy note ever lingering in the back ground that becomes more prominent as the shave progresses. Though the scent remains dark throughout the shave, but the woody, spicy undertones bring some light into the shave. As I said, I am not the best at describing scents so let me put it this way (and please don't judge). I compare this scent, or experience for use of a better word to that of The Hobbit as Bilbo makes his way through Mirkwood Forest. Lather & Performance, along side with the scent this is another area where this soap really impressed me. I loaded the brush for about 30 seconds and began face lathering. I was initially concerned that I overloaded the brush, but I kept adding water and the lather became more and more impressive. I felt I was in a good spot so I put the blade to my face- disappointment? I felt considerable drag and zero slickness. I picked the brush back up and began gave lathering again adding a good amount of water.- yes this is a very thirsty soap. After another minute or so I put the blade back to my face. That extra work on the lather paid huge dividends. The cushion and slickness are easily among the best I've experienced. The lather performed flawlessly throughout my 3 pass shave. Post shave was equally impressive. The soap rinsed clean and left my face wanting nothing. My skin felt extremely soft and moisturized. Zero tightness or irritation even after a couple of hours. I did end up using Chatillon Lux CdL later in the evening as we had a wedding to attend but I was still able to smell notes of the Obsidian coming through. This is a scent I have been searching for so this scent now definitely holds a very special place in my den. If you're on the fence about Phoenix and Beau- don't be! It's a fantastic soap that can run with the best out there. I have two more coming and can't wait to get my hands on them. All in all this soap provided a great experience and really that's what this hobby is all about. Yes, this was a limited 51 jar run, but it will be back- it's too good not to be. Justin
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