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Disclosure Statement

I bought all of the products mentioned in this review with my own money. Yep, all of them!

Write-up:

According to Dr. Jon’s, Flowers in the Dark is their most popular scent by far despite it being a seasonal release each year. There are reviews of this scent going back several years now, and I’ve always wanted to try it out, so here’s my take on it. It’s a lavender-forward scent also including supporting notes of woods and ozone, the latter two I find difficult to pick out from the soap alone. The dry soap smells just like “normal” lavender to me, but once it’s lathered up the lavender gains more character, becoming darker overall. The scent really opens up in the aftershave format, which is not surprising to me.

This is the V3 version of the soap base, which I believe was released in 2019. While this is a good vegan base, I wouldn’t call the base better than any of the tallow-based artisan soaps I have used as of late. The last vegan soap base I used and reviewed was Archaic Alchemy’s (which is also a few years old at this point, to be fair), but I prefer the feel of Archaic Alchemy’s base to Dr. Jon’s. Perhaps Dr. Jon’s will release an even better V4 base in the next year or so, as I know they made great improvements in their soap base from V2 to V3.

Dr. Jon’s alcohol and witch hazel-based aftershave contains some interesting ingredients like rose water and alum, which are not usually found in aftershaves. Likely due to the alcohol, rose water, and menthol’s natural smells, the scent I perceive after initially applying the splash is very medicinal, almost like the smell of a botanical gin. However, the scent eventually shows itself in a clearer way after a few minutes and a few days of use in my case. I swear I could not pick up much of a scent from the splash for the first couple of days! Luckily for me my wife could clearly smell the splash from day one and she is a big fan of the scent. I do like and appreciate the uniqueness of their splash, even though it was a bit weird for me at first :)

After reaching a new and awesome state with my Zenith B2 boar brush, I couldn’t resist the temptation when I was offered a Semogue Owners Club boar for cheap. I guess I always need to be fighting/breaking in a boar, or something… The Semogue Owners Club is a smaller knot in diameter compared to my Zenith, but I have heard from others that once broken in the SOC can bloom like no other. I enjoy the wooden handle very much, as I believe this is the first wooden handle I’ve ever owned. The SOC has about 45 uses on it now and I am still fighting to get to hold onto lather for me as I would like it to, but luckily it is already feeling soft and comfortable in use.

I was reminded a few weeks ago just how much I loved and missed using my GEM Damaskeene. It is the perfect kind of daily shaving GEM for me, perhaps even more so than the Clog-Pruf because the Damaskeene is even milder. This particular razor has a somewhat curved cap, though not as curved as some of the other Damaskeenes that I have seen in the past, which some people think really affects how the Damaskeenes and other 1912 models shave. This razor definitely leans more toward comfort than efficiency. It’s nearly impossible for me to do serious damage to myself while using this razor, but I have to focus on being as methodical as possible with my shaving motions to receive a close shave by the end. For days when I feel like being more mindless I would probably grab the Clog-Pruf, but if I feel like putting in more effort I would always go for this Damaskeene.

Until next time, thank you all for reading my reviews and watching my videos. Cheers!