Review: Phoenix & Beau Obsidian

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.

Thanks for the detailed review, Justin. I loved the bit about Mirkwood .

Kindest regards,

Kerry.

Thank you Kerry. I could have gone on about that part forever. The ending scent notes of the shave/ experience for me was like when Bilbo got to the to of the tree he climb and felt so relieved and restored when the sun hit him. Powerful stuff.