Happy Holidays (Be Safe)

We would like to thank everyone for watching and to wish you the very best in 2020 and hope the new year brings you and your loved ones everything special it has to offer. If you go out this New Year remember this.. always be safe, be smart, and think twice. God Bless you all.

 Don Youngner Wet The Face

LiDL Food Market First Impressions

I was picking up my prescriptions a few months back when I noticed something strange happening, why is the Best Market closing? Then after a few weeks, it was the topic of conversation. It seems like it was only yesterday when they cut the ribbon to the Best Market it’s been open for 5 or so years and now it's gone. Well as it turns out the german based Lidl purchased 27 Best Markets including all 24 on Long Island.

The transformation started soon after the doors closed and didn't stop for months. Slowly we could see progress and then something came in the mail. We received a postcard of sorts explaining what was coming a (new food market) who they were (Lidl) and when to expect the opening December 18, 2019. The grand opening would be an event with gift cards for the first 200 customers, reusable bags, sweepstakes, Free photos with Santa and live music featuring Billy Joel’s greatest hits seems like they did some homework about Long Island.

Your Best Face Unboxing / Shave

Company: Your Best Face
Product: Shaving Cream Skin Care
WebSite: https://ybf-skincare.com


Sometimes things just get by me but I have no excuse this time. It's all on me and my fault. You see Darrel from Your Best Face sent me an amazing box full of his products with a note explaining to just use them to review them whatever I want and if possible let people know about them. This was a while ago and I just kept putting off the review and now I feel like such a shit. I hope Darrel can forgive me I feel so bad not getting to this sooner because this stuff is amazing!

Trader Joe's Mango Cream Shave

Company: Trader Joe’s

Product: Honey Mango Cream Shave 

Website: https://www.traderjoes.com/

Last week during the Thanksgiving frenzy I found myself at Trader Joes’s. If you don’t have one near you then I’ll explain. Trader Joe's is a neighborhood grocery store with amazing food and drink from around the globe and they also bring in the local fair as well. Great quality at great prices (sometimes) you just have to be careful because you can lose the main reason why you are there and start buying so much more than you need. 

While looking for something during my visit I came across a very small section for soaps for men and women and right in front of me was the Trader Joe’s Honey Mango Moisturizing Cream Shave for $6.00. Wow, I thought but wait why is it called cream shave and not shave cream? This is the way they explain it. “This Cream was specifically formulated for us without the use of harsh ingredients and is tested for gentleness. We designed it for sensitive skin—it’s cream-based, non-foaming, free of parabens, and enriched with aloe vera & vitamin E. Many high-end brands advertise their moisturizing shave creams as being gentle and non-irritating. And then they charge you handsomely for the favor. That’s not very gentle. We’ll happily provide the gentle, non-irritating shave cream, along with a gentle price. Trader Joe’s Honey Mango Moisturizing Cream Shave is an excellent everyday skincare product for both men and women, with a refreshing honey mango scent.

Automation Nation

Things sure have changed over the years. Once we had to bring all our groceries to a cashier now we use our phone or supplied device to scan our purchases and checkout without any intervention. They even have a store from Amazon you put things in your bag or backpack and you just walk out no cashier or checkout at all in the next 5 min you get an email with the things you purchased. Well, now my local carwash has been updated in the same way.

I noticed something was going on when I saw the closed for renovation signs and man did they renovate. They took everything out and gutted the inside of the carwash and replaced with the most modern advances I’ve ever seen. During this time as I went by, they started to redo the outside with a whole new look. You can say that this was a complete makeover top to bottom.

Soapy BathMan - Refreshing Mint

Company: Soapy BathMan

Product: Refreshing Mint
Website: https://www.soapybathman.ca/

There comes a time in every wet shavers life when you must go through his or her den and start weeding out things you just don’t use. I’ve seen a few extreme cases years ago when people are showing their dens and it looks like a wet shaving warehouse. I see no value in hoarding things like this because sooner or later most of this stuff is going to go bad and before that happens its best to let someone else who may not be able to afford a vast collection own something they would normally not be able to afford.

As I was going through the den this year I came across a few things that I just couldn’t part with. I’ve had these soaps since the beginning and still have plenty left in each tub which means I’m not using them as much as I should but with all the Youtube reviews I do I don’t seem to have the ability to use what I want anymore. The soaps I’m talking about are Soapy Bathman these soaps for me are very special. The one I’ll be using today is refreshing mint which they don’t even make anymore which is a shame because it happens to be one of my all-time favorites.

Zu Zu's Petals - Wet The Face

Company: Wet The Face
Product: Zu Zu's Petals

Today we look back at Zu Zu’s Petals shaving soap. A release that was inspired by this 1946 sleeper movie which became the standard for Christmas viewing some time ago. The scene which inspired this shaving soap captures the touching moment when George's youngest daughter Zu Zu's received a flower from her teacher which is falling apart she asks her dad to paste it and George pretends to place the pedals back on the flower but secretly places them in his pocket.

This shaving soap has delighted many throughout the year. I've even received emails from many women of husbands who bought the shaving soap and asked for it to be made as bar soap and balm lotion.

Valyrian Steel - Wet The Face Release

Company: Wet The Face
Product: Valyrian Steel - Product Discontinued 
Website: http://www.wettheface.com

One of the reasons I had HBO was for The Game Of Thrown’s. I waiting for more story which gripped me and millions of others each week. So when I heard that this was going to be its last season I knew I had to make a shaving soap but what would it be about A White Walker? A kingdom’s location? I thought about this hard and finally came to the conclusion that the most important element to the story is Valyrian Steel. So that’s what I set out to create something very complex and according to the legend hard to forge. 

It's A Wonderful Shave - Holiday Release

Last year we introduced what I think was one of the best-themed shaving soaps of the season called It’s a wonderful shave. Based on the movie it’s a wonderful life it has the picture of George Bailey at the time he figured out it was better to be alive and how his life touches everyone around him.

This truly captures what it would be like walking down Main Street during Christmas time in Bedford Falls. The notes include all the holiday flowers and the softest whisper of spices, with bottom notes of balsam and pine. It's one that's sure to come out every holiday but use it each time you shave to remind yourself that you do have "A Wonderful Life".

Pinon - Wet The Face Holiday Release

Company: Wet The Face
Product: Pinon 
Website: https://wettheface.com

Well, November is here and the Holidays are starting up again and so are my Holiday Releases for 2019. We are bringing back a few of the ones from last year including a request from our facebook group. The selections are as follows. Mr. Warlock, It’s A Wonderful Shave, Zuzu Petals, Pinon, and Valyrian Steel

This is the most we ever offered during the holidays. There are three reasons why we have five shaving soap this year. One would be I held back Valyrian Steel as a holiday release and the second Mr. Warlock was the request from our Facebook group to bring it back. The third would be Zu Zu Petals being that this is around all year I still wanted to include it. How could we ever forget Zu Zu Petals?

Wet Shavers Club

Company: Wet Shaving Club
Product: Razors & Blades
Website: https://wetshavingclub.com 

It’s been some time since I did a review on a subscription box I used to love getting them each month but since I have a good idea of what I like they don’t appeal to me as much. One thing I do love is saving money and as any wet shaver knows we start out in this direction but soon after if you're not careful it can get out of hand pretty quick. That being said I was interested in what wet shaving club was all about. They had contacted me two weeks ago with an interesting offer. They wanted me to review their service which is a sort of subscription for razor and blades for an insanely low price for the year. So after I told them I would do an honest review of what I think they said we wouldn’t have it any other way.

McStachio & Co. Back On Track

Company: McStachio & Co.
Product: Coconut, Ginger, Almond
Founder: Jeannie & Alexander McGeehan
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Website: https://mcstachioandco.com/

When you do a great review on a product and you know this is going to be a hit after a while of not seeing it pop up you wonder what going on?. You know it was fantastic but what went wrong? In many cases, a hobby that turns into a business is just something that the artisan never intended to happen and everything gets overwhelming for him or her to handle. Take it from me being a soap maker takes a lot of time and dedication and if you're not committed it will overtake you. Then we have times when the family is the priority and nothing else matters and that’s the case with McStachio & Co. back in 2016.

Looking Back at Shaving Soap Tins

I remember when I was just starting off in wet shaving we had so many artisans using tins back then they had this nostalgic feel and they looked pretty cool too. I had a den full of them but since then most artisans have switched to plastic tubs and like most wet shavers I’ve thinned my collection of tins and shaving soaps over the years considerably. Last week I was waiting for some new products to come in the mail for review and I was thinking I should go back again and take another look at my tin collection. I still have a few which I keep around and use from time to time andI to my surprise I still had one that I've never used. Once I found it I knew I had to do a review. For this review one would need to know the following:

• Who’s shaving soap was it?
• Has this dried out over time?
• Would it still lather,
How would the performance be after all this time dormant?

Well, let’s find out.

Artillery Sidewinder X1 V4.0 Experience

After my Creality reality from a few years ago, I was disappointed, to say the least in how things turned out using the CR10S Pro. I was pretty impressed when I first got it. it's a stunning design and way better than the previous offering in the product line. The Pro indicated that for the higher price, you get a more finished product that could handle just about anything you throw at and it did up until I discovered it had a flaw which was why I could not print TPU anymore and was the main reason for writing this article and why I must move off this platform. 

Caliber 5 Edge Razor and Blades

Company: Personna
Product: Caliber 5 Edge Razor and Blades

If you ever have seen my YouTube reviews you’ll know the one thing that's been consistent are the razor blades I use in all my double-edge razors which happen to be Personna Blue. I found them to perform the best for me and since I’m always testing hardware or software this keeps one aspect consistent and lets me know what I should expect.

Well, it turns out Personna was watching as well and reached out to let me know they had something they wanted me to review. I explained to them I would be truthful in my review and if they still felt they wanted to send me something I would be happy to do it. In about 4 to 5 days a package arrived from them containing a few things.

Pereira Shavery - Travel Shaving Bowl

Company: Pereira Shavery
Product: Travel Shaving Bowl

Back in October if you recall we took a look at the unbreakable shaving bowl that Pereira Shavery released which was a roaring success. It came in many colors and had some great features that made it stand out in the crowd. Well, they did it again this time using the same unbreakable materials they shrunk down the size of the original and come up with an affordable size that fit the bill for the traveler.

I was given a solid white bowl and frankly, I didn’t see any additional colors on the website nor did I find them for sale. They did tell me this was a new product so maybe it just not ready for a public release yet.

Apples & Oaks - Wet The Face

Company: Wet The Face
Product: Apples & Oaks
Founder: Donald Youngner
Website: https://wettheface.com

First off I hope everyone had a great summer. I noticed as I’m getting older I feel the seasons are changing much quicker than they used to. I’m sure it just me but this summer was over before it began. Needless to say, here we are in Autumn and we have a new Fall release this year called Apples & Oaks.

We start with a tart granny smith apples and then round it off with McIntosh apples, we mix in fresh woodsy oak leaves covered in Oak Moss. It speaks to what fall is all about just like our Autumn shaving soap which is available in limited sample sizes as well.

So don’t settle for the same old pumpkin spice shave try something new like Apples & Oaks and also try our Autumn shaving soap in sample sizes I know you’ll be glad you did.

Company: Wet The Face
Product: Apples & Oaks  4oz   $12.95

Barbus Active Shaving Soap and Gel

Company: Barbus
Product Active
Contact: Barbus Warehouse
lubomirgrujoski666@gmail.com
(201) 985-5513

A few months back I was sent this box full of Barbus products from my friend Lubomir Grujoski and now I’m going back and grabbing a few more items. This time we have the Active line of Shaving Soap / AfterShave Gel and Cologne. My last review of the classic shaving soap was a hit now let's see if this continues with the Active line of products.

Moon Soaps - Union Xtra Slick Tallow

Company: Moon Soaps 
Product: Union Shaving Soap
Founders: Melody & Zachary Kent
Location: Aptos, CA
Website: https://moonsoaps.com
One of the best things about doing product reviews is when you get something that turns out to be above the rest, to have used something which checks all the boxes. Nowadays It’s getting harder and harder to find the wow factor since we have so many artisans in the field but the good ones always seem to rise to the top. I remember finding out about this new artisan back in 2017 and now you can see Moon Soaps being shown in many shaves of the day postings in all the forums. In the 3 years, they have been actively producing shaving soap we have seen only 3 releases which really is a testimony to getting things right and now we have a fourth.

Charcoal Goods / Artisan DE Razors

Company: Charcoal Goods
Product: Artisan DE Razor
Founder: Brian Twilley
Website: https://charcoalgoods.com/

Something amazing happened last week. I received an email letting me know that if I wanted I would be able to review a new razor from a company called Charcoal Goods and the crazy thing is Benjamin who is one of our community members received this for himself and has never used it yet. I was excited to do the review and when the package arrived another surprise was inside. He not only included a fantastic shaving soap from through the fire but also in the box was a brand new badger brush from Wolf Whiskers. The note read please give this brush away to your Patreon members which Benjamin had become one a few days after the email. Let me say this brush is stunning and I’m sure on of our patreon members will be very happy.

Bumble & Co. - Bee a Man Shaving Soap

Company: Bumble & Co.
Product: Bee a Man Shaving Soap
Founder: Julie Diers
Location: Walpole, NH,
WebSite: https://www.bumbleandcompany.com

I love reaching out to other artisans asking if they would like to have a review on shaving products they create. Some are just not sure and say no others dive right in without hesitation and then there are the ones that are so darn busy they want to but forget all about it and that’s what happened when I reached out to Julie Diers she runs Bumble & Co. I emailed her on January 2, of 2019 just asking if she was interested and if so to send me samples she replied on Jan 15 and was very apologetic about her delay in getting back to me. She said she was going to send something out so I waited.

Dapper Dan Barbershop Classic Shave Cream

Company: Dapper Dan
Product: Dapper Dan Barbershop Classic Shave Cream
Website: https://dapperdanuk.com/

I’ve been using pomades for a while now and I have a few that I use all the time. Pomades can be an obsession just like shaving soaps and creams can. So when I noticed one of my pomades called Dapper Dan came out with a shaving cream I just couldn’t resist the purchase.

Dapper Dan Barbershop Classic Shave Cream has been developed by professionals to offer superior performance when used in barbershops or at home. Rich in texture with a classic scent this premium shave cream can be used with or without a shaving brush, though I recommend you use a brush for the richest lather to be achieved.

Aveeno Positively Smooth Moisturizing Shave Gel

Company: Aveeno
Product: Aveeno Positively Smooth Moisturizing Shave Gel
Website: Do A Google Search for lowest Price

Today we’re back to our Rite Aide store and found another $4.00 shaving Gel called Aveeno. This will blow you away with its performance. The can states that it has a new look but this is lost on me since I never knew what it looked like before but it's still attractive. My only problem with it is the can is way too tall to be stored on a normal shelf. Instead of making it the size of a normal shaving can they slimed it down which forced it to be taller not a great marketing move if you ask me.

I like the fact that it uses pressure and is not dispensed by a pump. The gel comes out as a clear to cream color which on contact to the skin starts to foam. For now, on this is going to be a sign that a gel is right for me if at least turned to foam it has a 50 present change of working its way into my routine, the other 50 is performance and this one has plenty of that.

Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium / Milk - Shaving Cream

Company: Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium
Product: Milk - Shaving Cream
Website: https://bathhousesoap.com/

We have some great members in our community and when they find something new they like to spread the word to everyone. This happened two weeks ago when a package arrived from a community member Benjamin asking me to take a closer look and possibly do a review of Milk a shaving cream from Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium. I’m always flattered that people think of me when it comes to something they want to be reviewed I always tell them I may not like the product so please be aware it may not go the way they had planned but Bathhouse soapers have nothing to worry about.

Nivea Men / Deep

Company: Nivea Men 
Product: Deep
Website: Google Search for the best price

I found myself in Rite Aide picking up some medication for my cold and I thought while I’m here why not look around for anything new. They're on the shelf was that new something. A product from Nivea Men called Deep a shaving gel with charcoal. Now I’m not one to sing the praises of charcoal but this I could not pass up it has one of the best scents I've ever come across for a shaving gel.  Ok, I know what you're thinking how can this be that good it comes from a can? well, let me put all those doubts away because this is going to blow your mind.

Modern Barber Shop - Wet The Face

Company: Wet The Face
Product Modern Barber Shop

When I started making shaving soaps to sell I created 4 of them. Pipe Smoke, Cuban Tobacco, Vanilla Tobacco and what I called at the time Barber Shop. If you have followed my progression Barbershop has seen many changes over the years.

For starters a few years ago we had a major formula change and that took a very long time to get the product line turned over. alone with the new formula change I renamed Barber Shop to 2.0 and I thought I can’t just add 2.0 to all the labels so I wanted to give our products a new facelift and since then created new labels for everything When I got to BarberShop 2.0 I had already created vintage Barber Shop so I thought lets call this Modern Barber Shop it will let people know the different styles of scents right from the names.

Parthenon Razor V2.0 - QShave

V2.0

Company: Shave
Product: Parthenon Razor V2.0

Today we take another look at the Parthenon Razor. But you say, Don, didn’t you already do one review and a follow-up? Yes and if you can recall I had a conversation with the owner taking in my comments along with other You tubers and he assured me that they would go back to the drawing board and fix all the issues and send me a new one once it was done. I was waiting for the revised razor it took 4 months but it did finally arrive. Not knowing when this was going to happen I placed it on the back burner so now almost to the day of the last review, I will do the final one of the product.

The packaging seemed the same as the last one but I didn’t remember having the small brush included I most likely wrong about it but I thought I would mention it. It also included two booklets a product booklet and a simple manual explaining the operation of loading and setting the shave comfort levels.

The shape has not changed it's still an extremely attractive razor. The turn to open knob at the bottom had no resistance whatsoever and they still have the bottom of the razor act as a magnet.

Hawaiian Tropics From Wet the Face

We’ve been busy at Wet the Face. Our focus has been to give our customers a unique experience using all of our products. I wanted Wet The face to stand out, to be something special, and since I can't do everything myself we needed to reach out to other artisans like Alford Wayman of Creek Road Pottery. He helped us in creating our WTF Shaving Bowl and now he is tackling another hardware project the WTF Coffee mug. We like working with Alford and hope to do more in the future when he's not playing his new 12 string guitar. 

This leads us into software and this year we’ve been working hard delivering some amazing shaving soaps including our new line of Tallow pucks or as we like to call them WTF Pucks. We also have some big hits with our customers like “The Perfect Cup”, Grey’s Vetiver and one of our most popular COLD FUSION but we have just one more release for you this summer and that’s Hawaiian Tropics. This is very close to the sun tanning oil. Truth be told I used to wear it when I was young like a cologne. I’m excited to be releasing this today for all of you to enjoy. I encourage you to get the aftershave it’s just amazing. 

This will end our summer releases for this year but we have some new fall and holiday releases coming up so stay tuned don’t go away!

Don
Wet The Face

Nancy Boy Shaving Cream / Sandalwood

Company: Nancy Boy
Product: Sandalwood Shaving Cream
Founders: Eric Roos
Location: San Francisco CA
WebSite: http://www.nancyboy.com

Last week a surprise came in the mail a package containing the new release of Nancy Boy’s shaving cream Sandalwood. If you don’t know anything about Nancy boy I would advise you to put down what you are doing and focus on this amazing company which has produced (under the radar to me) one of the best shaving creams on the market today. If you haven’t used the Signature Shave Cream then you missing out on something truly amazing. Let see if the second times a charm with the sandalwood.

Pereira Shavery / Oud Shaving Soap

Company: Pereira Shavery

Product: Oud Shaving Soap

About a week or so ago I received a letter from Pereira Shavery asking me to review a new shaving soap they said it was about to be released. Knowing what I already know about this company I immediately said yes. When the letter arrived inside you could see a sample size version about 1oz of the new soap. 

The soap seemed darker then I remember the first one I tried which might translate to more charcoal in the formula but the thing that got my attention the most was the scent it was amazing. 

They call this new one Pereira Shavery Oud Shaving Soap I asked for the notes but they never replied so here is the actual definition: “Oud or agarwood is one of the most popular scents on the market today. Oud is said to be the most expensive wood in the world; oud oil's value is estimated to be 1.5 times the value of gold, and it is sometimes referred to as 'liquid gold'. Rich and powerful, oud's sweet, woody scent is instantly recognizable. For me, this was something I would love to create in my own soaps its that good. 

Dr. Jon's - Flowers In The Dark

Company: Dr. Jon
Product: Flowers In The Dark

Last week Jon from Dr. Jon’s asked me to review one of his new soaps called Flowers In The Dark. This new soap is Vol 3 which is the 3rd revision of his formula to date and lets me tell you I found nothing really wrong with the first one and now this is beyond my expectations as a wet shaver.

Normally I would go right into how the scent is but not just yet because I want to point out the end of the shave first. What an amazing post shave feel this shaving soap has truly one that stands out in my mind as some of the best I’ve had.

Cold Fusion from Wet The Face

Company: Wet The Face
Product Cold Fusion

Attention all menthol heads it’s finally here Cold Fusion my latest release from Wet the Face.

Cold Fusion has the maximum amount of menthol for the coldest shave you'll ever experience and we feel we have reached that goal in bringing this to you. In addition, this formula has pure peppermint oil which is the source of menthol crystals. Next, we added camphor not only to boost this to a new level but it's known to help with irritation and finally, we added on an additional top layer of menthol crystals to push this to critical mass.

In our testing, we have found Cold Fusion to be stronger than Snake Bite, Kronos, Frostbyte and Denali but equal to or if using the aftershave surpassing Cryogenics. We want you to have a great experience with your shave. If you use both the shaving soap and aftershave this will take you well over the limit of Cryogenics but skipping the aftershave allows you a way to control the strength. You can also shake off any additional top layer crystals into the lid of the tub and place them back before your next shave but over time these will dissolve into the soap.

Please test Cold Fusion before committing to a complete shave. We strongly suggest doing the same with the accompanying aftershave as well. Just use a little on your cheek to see if you have a reaction.

Enjoy Menthol Heads!
Don - Wet The Face

Cold Fusion 4oz $12.95
Tallow Puck Version 3.5oz 13.95

Barbus Classic Shaving Soap

Company: Barbus WareHouse
Product: Barbus Classic Shaving Soap

When you think of shaving soap does Slovakia come to mind? Well, it should after reading this article you’ll understand what I’m talking about. I was introduced to the amazing shaving soap by a friend Lubomir Grujoski who is part of my Facebook group Wet The Face. We had a very hard time communicating because this N.J. resident came from Slovakia and we had a language barrier that was hard to bridge. We would go back and forth trying to make sense out of what each other was trying to say until I found Google translator. This made our communications possible and since then we pretty much have meaningful conversations and can get our ideas across to one another but every now and then I still scratch my head. Now that I understand him and what his company is all about I then explained I give a review that is honest and sometimes not in favor of the product and if he understood this could happen but he was not worried he agreed and sent me products to review.

Campbell's Shaving Cream

Company: Campbell’s
Product: Shaving Cream 

Looking at the typical Barber's station you can get a sense of just how many things a barber must have at his or her fingertips to do the job correctly. Razors of all kinds, Sisters, combs mirrors, the list goes on and on but the one things people miss is that little machine that makes the lather. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen them use and I’ve been going to the barber for over 50 years. 

The one I’m talking about is simply called the lather machine but it uses a liquid shaving soap from the company called Campbell’s and no its, not the soup company. So how does one make a lather like the one that the machine produces at home? First, we have to order the liquid shaving cream and that can be done online using Amazon. For $9.00 you can get yourself an 8oz bottle. Then all you need to do is lather it up yourself using a shaving bowl or scuttle. 

Wet The Face / Grey's Vetiver

Company: Wet The Face
Product: Grey’s Vetiver

Today I would like to introduce a new product in our Wet The Face lineup called Grey’s Vetiver. This shaving soap comes in two forms our regular shaving formula and our new tallow pucks. The scent is based on Tom Fords Grey Vetiver and is one of my favorite fragrances from his collection.

I always wanted to bring this incredible scent to shaving soap and now after much testing, it's here! This is a fragrance that must be experienced guaranteed to turn some heads your way. I would love this to become another favorite for fathers day.

Wet The Face Tallow Pucks

Company: Wet The Face
Product: Tallow Pucks

There seem to be one thing most wet shavers agree upon and that’s tallow. This is the end all be all ingredient that makes the difference in having a great shave. Tallow seems to enhance the shaving experience in many ways but mostly it provides slickness and glide that is unsurpassed just ask any straight razor shaver.

Artemis For Men Shaving Cream

Company: Artemis Of Switzerland 
Product: Artemis For Men Shaving Cream 
Location: Switzerland
Website: Do a Google Search for the best price

A few weeks back I received an email from Ryan asking me for my address he wanted to send me something to review. This was not an artisan company but a subscriber who wanted my opinion on a certain product he uses from Switzerland called Artemis For Men. He explained this product is really hard to find and I believe him It took me a while to find anything about it on the internet.

 I find the packaging to be very appealing. A silver tube with a red flip-up top which most modern shaving creams have these days but this was very smart pulling color from Switzerland's red flag to make a bold statement and it works against the silver body it's just stunning.

Duke Cannon Superior Grade Shaving Cream

Company: Duke Cannon

Product: Duke Cannon Superior Grade Shaving Cream

Today I’m giving the Duke another visit no not John Wayne I’m talking about Duke Cannon line of products. If anyone remembers my last encounter with there Hot Shaving Gel they know it didn’t go very well, in fact, it was tossed into the trash at the end of my YouTube Video review.  I’m hoping for a better experience with Duke Cannon Superior Grade Shaving Cream I was told by many to give this one a try.

The packaging is typical of modern day shaving creams plastic tube with a flip-up easy open top. Also, the branding of Duke Cannon is all over the packaging the kind of stuff like he grows a full beard in 3 hours, etc.. its all over the outside of the package. 

The scent of this cream is something I’m not fond of its a heavy aloe smell but if you like aloe then this one is perfect. I would rather have them incorporate the scents from the Big Ass Bars of Soap line this is what put them on the map in the first place so why not continue using them in all other products? I guess it’s another marketing genius at work. 

First Line Shave - First Responder Owned and Operated

Company: First Line Shave
Product: First Line Shave
Founder: Michael Riley

Today we have a new player in the field of shaving apparel. Michael Riley reached out a few weeks ago wanting me to test one of his creations which when it arrived seemed pretty polished even tho it was on its 7th revision when I received mine and has been revised even further. Its final release will be this May 19th, 2019 I’m talking about First Line Shave a first responder owned and operated business.

Ming Shi - 3000S Adjustable

Company: Ming Shi
Product: 3000S Adjustable  (Clone)
Location: China
Website: Google Search for the cheapest price

When it comes to knock offs Ming Shi seems to be the winner. They have done amazing things with bringing classic and sometimes out of reach DE razors to the masses but are they any good and are they safe. Let’s take a look at some razor manufacturers like Merkur, Edwin Jagger and Parker they put more R&D into there products than any clone maker will ever do and the result is a precision quality tool. The clone maker is not that caring they just copy a design and may not understand the reasons behind certain aspects of that design and therefore might omit a key element or feature for cutting costs due to the lack of understanding why it's there in the first place.

The clones I have reviewed in the past range in the order of 5 to 7 dollars not including shipping. Pretty darn cheap and almost irresistible not to purchase. Most of these knock offs are from razors that cost hundreds of times over this price.

Today I’m going to review one more clone from Ming Shi it’s the 3000S adjustable. Some say this clone was meant to mimic the Gillette Slim or Fatboy. These razors are in high demand for collectors an original 1960 Gillette FatBoy can fetch well over $200.00 in fair condition so Ming Shi knows the market well.

Duke Cannon - Hot Shave Gel

Company: Duke Cannon
Product: Hot Shave Gel

I was first introduced to Duke Cannon with there amazing bar soaps I think one of the biggest bars on the market and the scents are just fantastic. So I will really disappointed when I got my hands on a tube of there Hot Shaving Gel. What in gods name were they thinking? First off gels just don’t work well for anyone and I’ve reviewed many of them and only found one to be any good and it was extremely expensive, all this product did was piss me off.

The packaging was typical for a modern product flip open top easy to dispense and store. Nice attractive coloring.

The instructions say that you can’t use a brush and you should use warm water first on the face and then massage it in with your fingertips leave it on for 30 sec or so and it should begin to get warm not hot warm even though the products name is Hot Shaving Gel.

Through The Fire Fine Craft - Arrow / Joesph Meyer - Shaving Foam

Company: Through The Fire / Joesph Meyer
Product: Arrow Shaving Soap
Foam After Shave
Website: https://www.ttffcraft.com/   /  https://josephmeyerclub.com/


Each year I call upon my brothers and sister in the wet shaving community to contribute to our Wet The Face Giveaway’s and so far since 2015 we have never missed a one yet. This year our group of artisans includes Through The Fire fine craft which gave us the Arrow Shaving soap and splash. I was lucky that inside the box was a sample size tub for me to try as well. So I will be reviewing this along with something else that I received it’s a shaving form from Joseph Meyer. Not too many foam aftershave are hitting the shelves lately which makes this one extremely special. It stands out in scent and performance which I will talk about here as well.

Pure Shaving Cream by Gillette

Company: Gillette
Product: Pure shaving Cream
Website: Google For Cheapest Price

Today I’m using the new shaving cream I picked up called Pure by Gillette. I have to say I’m very impressed with the ingredients. This cream has no alcohol, Dyes, paragons or sulfates just like the name says it’s Pure. I’m always seeing the Gillette blades offered right at the same location and you have to laugh at the multi-blade prices at $45.00 for 5 it just highway robbery.
Any wet shaver will tell you how cheap and how long a box of 100 DE takes you. In fact, I’m on the same box for over 2 years now.

Barlow's Shaving Cream Crafted For Men

Company: 180 Innovational LLC.
Product:  Barlow's Charcoal Shave Cream
Website: Exclusive at Rite-Aid

This week I took to the local Rite-aid for another look on the shelves and came up with 4 different products that I will be reviewing. First up is Barlow's Charcoal Shave Cream. Charcoal is becoming the new additive these days in lots of products I’ve seen it many times in shaving soap before but not shaving cream. Come to think of it I’ve never even heard of Barlows until now. So I did a little investigative work online and found something very interesting this is a Private label company owned by 180 Innovational LLC. This brand has no website and only sold through places like CVS, Target, Rite-aid you get the picture. They also own other brands ranging from Medical to HairCare products. Here is a link if you're interested - https://trademarks.justia.com/owners/180-innovations-llc-3504706/ So you can see that the experience of an artisan product is pretty much gone so don’t let its advertising fool you.

Wet the Face - Creation Of Bar Soaps

Another peek into the soap making process. This time bar soaps. A different process than making shaving soap we use the cold process method. Here I start you at the beginning of melting the oils and butters to the end when we pop them out of my 3d printed molds and placing them on the racks to dry.

Beau Brummell - White Marble Shaving Bowl

Company: Beau Brummell
Product: White Marble Shaving Bowl
Founders: Zack & Daniel Evar
Location: South Hackensack, NJ
Website: https://beaubrummellformen.com/

Beau Brummell is a company out of South Hackensack, NJ started by two brothers in 2013. They create grooming and skin care products crafted in small batches at their laboratory in New York. To say they have been in the press would be an understatement just pick a magazine most likely they were in it.

I always try to get things rolling with my reviews by sending out emails to companies at the beginning of the year to see if anyone would be interested in me reviewing any products. I happen to send one to Zack one of the founders of Beau Brummell I told him who I was and what I did on youtube along with telling him about our Wet The face community. He wrote back that he was interested and would send me something soon. some time went by and on the 28th of January, he wrote that he sent me a package and gave me the tracking number it arrived only a few days later.

Naked Armor Shaving Set

Company: Naked Armor 
Product: Shaving Set DE Razor / Soap

A few weeks ago I received an email asking if I wanted to review a wet shaving set from a new company. I told them if they don’t mind an honest review I would be glad to do it. They told me they always welcome any kind of feedback to make their products better so they put together a wet shaving set for me and here are the results of that experience.

The company is called Naked Armor which I have never heard of before the packaging was well crafted a box containing a shaving soap sealed in a tin. Also included was a separate box inside was a brush with a wooden handle and a DE razor again the wooden theme applies. Then to finish the set we have the facial soap

Godrej Shaving Cream

Company: Godrej
Product: Godrej Shaving Cream (Lemon)
Location: Mumbai,  India
Website - Google Search

Every day tons of SOTD pictures are uploaded to my social media community and very often I take notice of what people are using in their daily routine of shaving. One such photo caught my attention I noticed something that I’ve never seen before so I did a little research and found it was available for only $4.00. A shaving cream called Godrej this company is located in Mumbai  India stared in 1932 and now they have over 20 brands and have reached the number one spot in some areas in consumer purchases.

FuzzyFace Soaps / Beau Brummell

Company: FuzzyFace Soaps
Product:  Beau Brummell
Founder: James Presley
Location: Washington, MO
Website: https://www.etsy.com/market/fuzzy_face_soaps

Sometimes a soaps name can make me stop and take notice like the one from FuzzyFace Soaps called Beau Brummell. I had no idea who Beau Brummell was until I googled it and now it makes perfect sense why he called it that. Beau Brummell was, in fact, an innovative dresser and arbiter of good taste who laid the foundations for tailoring as we know it today. Do you remember Billy Joel's song “Still Rock in Roll to me” there is a line in that song that reads “How about a pair of pink sidewinders and a bright orange pair of pants? You could really be a Beau Brummell baby, if you just give it half a chance.” well this is the guy he was singing about. In the end, Beau Brummell was considered an FOP or a Dandy. A fop was a fool who was focused specifically on his clothing and appearance.

Timeless Razor - Blue Shaving Bowl

Company: Timeless Razor
Product: Blue Shaving Bowl
Location: North Royalton, Ohio
Website: https://timelessrazor.com

It’s no secret that I like to bowl lather I do this because I enjoy the ritual of it all. I’ve been doing so for a very long time now and what I have found is that the bowl you use does matter. Just in the last few months, I had reviewed two new shaving bowls one high-end plastic which had lots of bells and whistles the another a hand made artisan ceramic bowl. Now today we head into a new shaving bowl direction. This one is a bit less than the others starting at only $12.00 could this one be as good as the high-end ones? let's find out.

Nancy Boy Signature Shaving Cream

Company: Nancy Boy
Product: Signature Shaving Cream
Co-Founder: Eric Roos
Location: San Francisco CA
Website: https://nancyboy.com

I do many reviews on shaving creams so many in fact that I have lost count over the years. In that time  I’ve only had a few that stand out to me but recently I found one that might top them all. This one shaving cream was introduced to me by a YouTube subscriber who told me if you think the product you just reviewed is good then you must try Nancy Boy. So I took his advise and contacted the company and spoke to Eric. I asked him if he would be interested in sending me a sample of his shaving cream for a review and he agreed.

UWHARRIE Soap Co. Vegan Shaving Soap

Company: UWHARRIE Soap Co.
Product: Glycerin Based Shaving Soap
Location: North Carolina
PM Pete Bellanger if interested

Today we have a new shaving soap from a company call UWHARRIE Soap Co. I first heard about this on my facebook page with a video that Pete Bellanger had posted and he was demoing the shaving soap. He announced he would be starting to sell them and went on to talk about the quality of them. I was intrigued so I asked Peter if it would be possible to get a sample for a review and he agreed.

When I opened the sample which comes in an envelop I noticed that this was a glycerin soap commonly known as a melt and pour. Since I didn’t have the box or container I had to refer to the website for additional information but as hard as I tried I couldn’t find any nor could I find a picture or any products or shaving. I wanted to see how the soap was made but it looks like we are going to have to wait on that. The puck size is 2oz and goes for about $5.00. The nice thing about them is you don’t need a lot to load your brush loading happens in just a few seconds so it should last a good long while.

The scent on this is cucumber and what a sent it is. Absolutely fantastic on the scent alone I would give this soap a big thumbs up. They have many other scents available which I’m sure are on the same fantastic level as this one.

I bowl lathed and it created an amazing amount for the small sample given to me. It fast to lathered and once I started to applied it got right into the beard. Not every soap I use is going to perfect and the only thing I would say to do when using this is to add a little extra cushion maybe a pre-shave oil would do the trick other than that it was a perfect shaving and the post shave fell was a good one. This would change from person to person so other might not need that extra help the pre-shave oil provides.

So, A great shave was had and I would recommend them for sure 

Company: UWHARRIE Soap Co.
Product: Glycerin Based Shaving Soap 2oz $5.00