Saturday, April 9, 2016

Review - The Distinctive Goat / Shaving Soap Bourbon

Company: The Distinctive Goat
Product: Shaving Soap / Brushes / Bowls
Founder: Roger Taylor
Location: Easley, SC
2015 was a busy year for new soap makers, they seem to have sprouted up everywhere. So many offerings it’s mind blowing. So how do you stick out from the crowd?  Having a great product is definitely one way, but putting the word Goat in the company name always gets my attention. That’s what happened when I saw the tweet for The Distinctive Goat. I followed the tweet to the ETSY website and noticed a whole lot more than just shaving soap. Roger and company take hand crafted to a new level. Their brushes and shaving bowls look amazing. The bowls are hand crafted out of Walnut, Mahogany and Maple. The Acrylic handle brushes are stunning with selection from Amber Water, Explosion and my favorite Creamy Coffee. He has other offerings but they're currently out of stock, they seem to go quickly.


I spoke with Roger and had asked him a few questions about how he got started. All of this began at the end of September 2015 when I was walking through Walmart and saw a Van der Hagen wet shaving kit.  I've always been enthused by doing things traditionally.  So I bought the kit to try a different way of shaving my head.  Then I searched on the Internet for some other shave soaps and came across WSP.  Lee's scent profiles are what sparked an interest!  I had just started growing my beard out and I usually try to make things myself before buying a product.  Over the course of a month I ordered all the ingredients to make my first two scent profiles in beard balm.  From there I ventured in to beard oil, wooden shaving bowls, and brushes.  
 
How did you come up with the Company Name? When I first started this I was coming up with Mountain Goat, but quickly realized that (to me) sounded "redneck" for what I envisioned for the name and logo.  Goat in general was running through my thought process due to the "beard" a goat has.  Then what came to my mind was how did I and others feel after a fresh shave and grooming when leaving a barbershop...I feel clean and distinctive!  The Distinctive Goat was birthed!  A coworker and I toyed around with different goat symbols and finally came up with the straight on goat head with the hat, monocle, and moustache.  

Can you touch on the Shaving Bowls? I do enjoy working in in the woodshop!  My dad is the one with the woodshop and tools and has taught me what I know.  Because he is so much better than I am at wood working (and has more time to do it considering my busy life with my young family) I have him do almost all of the wood working.  As I come up with ideas for bowls, brushes, & hopefully stands in the future, my dad and I have conversations about the product.  Basically I'm the engineer and he's the production guy! Lol. I saw a lot of bowls/mugs/scuttles on Etsy that were of a pottery origin but didn't see a wooden bowl.  Therefore, with my resources, I started designing our shave bowls.  A lot of trial and error took place.  I wanted a bowl that could take a soap refill puck, or be used strictly for lathering.  Wood is a unique material when dealing with water.  We sell our bowls as something that doesn't need to see long exposure to water.  They can be used to soak brushes in hot water prior to shaving and then lathering in without any stress to the wood.

Roger was nice enough to supply me with a full tin of his Barbershop scent along with a zip lock bag of the bourbon. Also included are beard balms in all three scents Bourbon, Barbershop and tobacco.  Both shaving soaps are outstanding scents but I selected the Bourbon for this review.

Packaging:
All products come in tins. The shaving soaps come with a screw on lids but the balms have push on. Also added are color elastic band so if you stack them you should be able to identify what scents they are.

Scent:
The Bourbon scent is outstanding. The notes according to Roger are as follows: Amber-moss, spice, & sandalwood. When speaking of this scent you just think aftershave please! The strength from the tin or zip lock bag in this case is about a 6.5 and does increase when lathering.

Lathering:
The tools for this shave are R89Grand, Nathan Clark custom brush and the Captains Choice lathering bowl. The 4oz shaving soap was packed to the top. The soap texture is firm but had no problem placing into a lathering bowl. I was able to create a great looking lather in just over a minute. The lather was rich and creamy and supplied think coverage which allowed my razor to glide over my face with ease. My post shave feel was a good one for sure.

So I had a great shave with TDG. I think Roger has a real winner here which I highly recommend.

Since I don’t sport a beard I’m asking for (3) volunteers to write a review using Rogers beard balms. The person MUST have a beard and will use the product for one week. I have three scents Tobacco, BarberShop, Bourbon. You must write about your experience and performance of the product be it positive or negative. If you think this is something you want to do let me know by emailing me at mrdon@wettheface.com  I’m looking for a detailed review with over 400 words which I’ll be posting on my blog along with your picture.   

Company: The Distinctive Goat
Product: Shaving Soap Bourbon / Brushes / Bowls 4oz $16.88
                                                     https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDistinctiveGoat




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