PannaCrema - Pure2O Damn Fine Shave
BSB-Ti | HMW
RazoRock Black Mamba
Gillette 7 O'clock Black (1)
Folsom and Company - Shady Past
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My only prior experience with PannaCrema is with their flagship, Nuàvia Blu, which is no doubt a top tier performing soap. I admit I've been curious about Pure2O, but I was hesitant given the rather large pricing disparity from their Nuàvia line. My skeptical nature dictated that the relatively low price point coupled with the minimalist ingredients list was just a tactic to fill out their demographic with more economical spenders. In my mind this inevitably would translate to a proportionate performance gap. Quite simply, I was wrong, but given my skepticism, I probably would never have tried it. As luck would literally have it, I won a new jar of the Damn Fine Shave Edition Pure2O. I have never won anything that was random. I am grateful to
andrewjs18 for putting up the soap for grabs.
The lather is somewhat unique in that it's very lustrous. It was impossible to get even tiny bubbles from this as it stayed at a creamy dense state regardless of the amount of water I pushed on it. The water actually contributed to increased thickness of the lather, but it never threatened to break down. It acted like a vegan soap in that regard, but had a slickness that rivals many of my preferred tallow-based soaps. While it rinsed cleanly, the residual slickness was immediately evident, and I probably could have shaved most areas from the slickness apart from visible lather. A three-pass head and face shave yielded a BBS surface that couldn't have been better. Nuàvia's known for its post-shave, and I can confidently say, Pure2O is not far behind. Even my well-rinsed badger knot felt conditioned as I cleaned up the gear.
Unfortunately, the scent is another story. There's no way to dress this up. The pungent floral aroma was quite bold and accompanied by an equally heavy powdery musk. This was immediately reminiscent of an old lady's perfume. You know what I'm talking about. Their olfactories are all but gone, and they've steeped in this heavily powdered fragrance whose floral notes are matched only by the pattern on their amorphous dresses that no doubt perfectly match the fabric of their window drapes. Suffice it to say, this scent is not for me. Despite the website's documentation of citrus notes, I couldn't detect them. Perhaps I'm just overly susceptible to powder, because it, along with the pungent floral, overwhelmed anything else the scent profile had to offer. I'm grateful, however, that this is just a soap. The scent is gone almost as quickly as the final rinse, and Folsom and Company's "Shady Past" annulled any lingering fragrance from the soap.
Despite my feelings about the scent, I will use this soap often. The performance is just that good.