REVIEW - Phoenix & Beau 'Spitfire' Soap

WHAT IS IT, AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
Phoenix & Beau Spitfire - A tallow shaving soap with the apparent ability to bend time.

APPLICATION METHOD AND DESCRIPTION:

SCENT:
When the soap was announced, I almost anticipated the profile as it was delivered.  I expected leather, and tobacco, but not so much the gin (juniper).  It makes perfect sense, the sharpness penetrates the smooth leather to bring balance to the profile.  The tobacco is almost a supporting scent to my nose, acting as a mixer if you will.  All in all, it evokes the true spirit that must have existed in the squadrons of pilots who so bravely piloted Reginald Mitchell's masterpiece (Reginald Mitchell is a local hero around these parts, Stoke on Trent).  This is top draw scent profiling, I can see EXACTLY what Kerry was aiming for here.  One thing to note, like many soaps that are a great blend of fragrances, face lathering changes how you perceive them.  Try it, I personally love how it changes this scent, bringing to me, more tobacco to the front.

LATHERABILITY:
I tested this soap with various brushes in both the bowl and on my face, and find this soap to be on par with the rest of the P&B range.  Easy to load, easy to build, and almost foolproof.  It doesn't take long at all to get a bowl or face full of rich, dense lather at all.  Top marks yet again Kerry, guard this soap recipe with your life!

PERFORMANCE:
Excuse the Uncle Albert moment here, but during the war, you needed an airplane that could do it all, and do it all well.  During a shave, you need that too.  This soap (as I've come to expect from P&B) delivers in spades in terms of slickness and in cushion.  The soap allows the blade to glide across the face with almost reckless abandon, it is that good.  I wouldn't of course recommend complacency when using any soap, but you get that level of reassurance that when you're feeling the results of the mess hall from the night before, Spitfire will guide you through the dogfight and safely out the other side.

POST SHAVE:
When you have a great shave, you feel good, and when your skin feels good post shave, you feel even better.  Here we have a soap that delivers that feel, gives that glorious finish that really shouldn't be possible given what your skin has been through. 

CONCLUSIVE COMMENTS:
We traditional wet shavers enjoy our shave.  We enjoy not only the act of shaving, but the ritual and experience that come along with it.  There is an experience to be had here that is very different from other soaps.  Whilst some soaps have the ability to evoke powerful memories, this soap appears to have the ability to bend the space/time continuum.  You're transported to a time gone by when men were men, when you stared death in the face and radioed back to base to 'cancel two late lunches', when Britain was truly Great.  The soap itself is fantastic, the scent nostalgic, the experience?  Magical. 

REVIEW - Phoenix & Beau TSR Limited Edition 'Obsidian'

WHAT IS IT, AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
Phoenix & Beau 'TSR Limited Edition' Obsidian - It is a shave soap that invokes ancient Gods...

APPLICATION METHOD AND DESCRIPTION:
As I've come to find with all Phoenix & Beau soaps, it is a moderately soft soap, which means it loads very easily, so a shortish load (brush dependent) and you're golden.

SCENT:
I inhaled slowly from the tub and got a hit of the dirty, wet vetiver, with a hint of sweetness that I suspect was the frankincense coming through, with the almost fern like oakmoss hitting you last.  Very primal scents.  I proceeded to make a lather in the bowl with The Monster, and quickly found that the lather is of typical P&B excellence.  The scent changes in the bowl, mellowing if you will, becoming more balanced.  Upon the face, the earthiness strikes you first and foremost, with an image of smoky fire being conjoured as the complex scents dance their mystical way up your nose. 

What struck me as I'd finished the shave was the scent changed again.  Any remains of the scent left on my skin warmed to provide a woody, almost musky aroma.  A very pleasant, but unexpected twist to the dark tale of Obsidian.

A simply stunning profile of scents here, make no mistake.  I'll use this one sparingly so as not to run out...either that or I shall have to cross Kerry's palm with mucho silver and make offerings to various deities to obtain more!

LATHERABILITY:
As briefly mentioned earlier, the whole range of P&B soaps are incredibly easy to lather.  They are fairly soft soaps, so even the softest of bristles won't fail to take plenty of product.  Again, P&B is thirsty soap, so ample water is needed during the build once you've created your proto lather which is nice and elastic.  Even the greenest of wet shavers won't fail to get a good lather with this soap.

PERFORMANCE:
Unlike the moniker of this soap, there is plenty of cushion on hand with this soap, ideal for sharper blades.  When it comes to slickness, you'll find it here in abundance.  Put it this way, you thought a politicians shoulders were slick given what slides off them, they haven't got a patch on P&B soap lather!  I've found the overall shave performance quite simply sublime throughout, from the first pass with heavy growth, right down to the ATG pass in my trouble spots.  Nay a hair of drama.  Perfect.

POST SHAVE:
You'll have noticed by now from reading my reviews, that Post Shave Finish is one of my primary factors when considering a soap purchase.  Given the base soap is the great P&B tallow formula, I knew up front I was in for a treat, and I was not mistaken.  As a pleasant afternote, the warmer woody scents developed once I'd rinsed and dried my face, always a nice touch.

CONCLUSIVE COMMENTS:
I think Kerry and I need to have a 'Godfather' type moment, where I sit him down and make him an offer he can't refuse to make more of this soap (sadly a limited edition run of 50 tubs).  This is quite simply exquisite.  The imagery the name and scents invoke are quite spellbinding.  As a younger gentleman (33), previously I wouldn't have thought the scent profile would have been my particular brand of single malt so to speak, but I was captivated by the promised profile.  The performance cannot be questioned, Phoenix & Beau soaps sit atop the podium for me in every way, Obsidian is no exception.