Barrister and Mann – Hallows (Scent off Entry)

Tags

7/10, Barrister and Mann, black pepper, cedarwood, cocoa, Discontinued, labdanum, oakmoss, Scent Off 2013, vetiver

The next entrant in the scent off is Barrister and Mann’s Hallows. B&M had made this scent available to the general public; unfortunately, they sold out in rapid fashion, and apparently there’s no plans to make the scent again (I guess some of the oils used are hella expensive). Alas. Here’s what the judges as a whole thought. To kick off my review, let’s see how B&M describe it:

Taking inspiration from the swamps of Boston, we combined vetiver, oakmoss, black pepper, cocoa, labdanum, and cedar to produce a deep, cold scent suited to the chilly, bitter days of late October. Gloomy, rich, and perversely elegant, Hallows is a reminder of why men once feared the dark.

This seems like a perfectly accurate description; it’s certainly suits the requirements of the contest rather well; that having been said, I can’t say that I’m really all that much of a fan of the scent itself; while I wouldn’t say it’s unpleasant, the combination just doesn’t do it for me. If I was judging it solely on how much I like it, it probably wouldn’t be doing all that well, but, since it does meet the parameters of the contest rather well, I gave it a bonus point or two to bump up to 8/10 for overall scent for the contest. The strength was definitely up there, without much fading.

The performance is typical of Barrister and Mann’s; excellent. Just be sure to use enough water and you’ll get a great lather with good thickness, glide, stability, and good moisturization to boot.

• 6/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 9/10 Scent Strength
• 9/10 Lather Quality

Overall, I’d say it’s so-so. 7/10. I know there’s others out there who really liked the scent, but it just didn’t click for me.

• Cost: Alas, all sold out. Sorry.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: 1966 Solid Nickel Gillette Tech
• Blade: Treet Dura Sharp
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Potasium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua, Glycerin, Potassium Ricinoleate, Sodium Ricinoleate, Fragrance, Andropogon Zizanioides (Vetiver) Oil, Cistus Ladaniferus (Labdanum) Resin, Juniperus Mexicana (Cedarwood) Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Absolute, Coconut Milk, Potassium Kokum Butterate, Sodium Kokum Butterate, Unrefined Shea Butter, Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Cocoate, Lanolin, Allantoin, Silk Protein, Tocopherol Acetate.

J. Peterman 1903 Concentrated Shaving Cream

Tags

bergamot, cardamom, citrus, clary sage, cologne, elemi, fougère, frankincense, J. Peterman, labdanum, leather, shaving cream, smoke, tobacco, wood

To kick off the week, we’ve got J. Peterman’s 1903 Concentrated Shaving Cream.

True to its name, it’s a rather dense cream, which whips up quite easily; a bit thirstier than most creams out there, it did need a bit of fiddling with the right amount of water to get just right. It turned into a fairly thick lather, with some rather good glide. I did notice a bit of a lack of lather stability; there was some breaking down happening by the time I got near the end of each pass. After the shave, it left the face feeling rather nice.

The scent is akin to a rather spicy cologne. J. Peterman’s website makes up some story about “finding” it in a shop in Paris, but describes it as follows:

an “old woody fougère.” Clean citrus notes, bergamot, “green notes.” The middle notes: clary sage…cardamom. The dry-down: leather notes, smoky labdanum…elemi, tabac, frankincense.

I guess that sounds like a reasonable description to me. I found it to be a rather subdued spicy and smokey scent. Not too strong, but nice and steady nonetheless.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 7/10 Scent Strength
• 8/10 Lather Quality

Overall? A solid 7/10. Decent enough all-around, nothing outstanding; I think I might like to try the cologne though.

• Cost: This sample was received from a kindly fellow redditor who wanted to know what I thought. If you’re looking to purchase some, it’ll run you $28 for a 7 oz tub. Unfortunately, they don’t ship internationally for some bloody reason, so offer valid for US residents only.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: No clue. Can’t find a listing anywhere.