Super Smooth V2 Testers needed

2nd shave with the Lemon.
1924 razor and Gem blade.
The scent must have bloomed, as it smelt different, reminded me of fresh lemon juice this time.
I didnt get a great lather last time, so I broke out the Omega 49 brush and went to town on the soap, too much as I nearly took the whole thing ha.
The lather was tremendous this time, really thick and protective. Had a great shave, plenty of cushion and left my skin feeling mousturised.
 
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First shave with Russain Leather. I had a two day stubble. From the scent it took me back to my childhood with imperial leather soap which was the only soap we used. I had a hot shower for prep. Produced a quality lather in no time what so ever. I did a 3 shave pass using the Schick adjustable pass around, set on 8. I had a very close shave the glide was great. No soreness or irration. I will try the lemon tomorrow. I normally like citrus scent but I am in agreement with to others and I am not to keen on the smell.
 
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I have just opened the lemon and menthol to smell it and I really don't care for it at all, like the lemon car freshener you get after hard working Eastern European men have washed your car.
 
First go with the Lemon this morning
Nice fragrance which lingered for quite a while. Amazing thick lather, lovely cushion and glide
Not so great protection as had a few nicks but could of been me, will use it again in the morning which will tell
Menthol, sorry but what menthol
Post feel, fantastic
 
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Ok, umm, wow!

He waits, that's what he does. And I'll tell you what, tick followed tock, followed tick followed tock, followed tick.
After 4 days, he looked in the mirror and thought "wire like stubble - you are gonna need something special".
But he didn't do special, he did an unloved iKon slant, with a 3 shave old blade. In short, it should've been awful.
But wait, what is this? A nice soft silvertip omega and a sample of SSv2 Russian Leather is what.
A tiny bit scooped into a bowl and BOOM! Houston we have a lather.
He has been using SSv1 for months and knows it, so has an expectation. He considers SSv1 to be the perfect soap. SSv2 seems softer.
Happy with the initial lather he notices a small problem when applying to face. The brush likes the lather too much and won't transfer much to his mush. This could be the brush, more testing needed.
Once on the face the slip is great, the cushioning is great, the afterfeel is great, the shave is, well, good, Which is an achievement considering the handicap it was given. No balm was needed.
The scent, wow, the scent. Not overly excited by the idea of an imperial leather clone, this has changed his mind. He loved it. He now NEEDS some Russian leather in his den.

Next he is going to face lather rather than bowl lather. The only thing he disliked about this soap was painting it on didn't work so well. It clung too well to the brush. But this isn't a problem, it's a feature. Clinging well means that you get good glide.
And it's vegetal. Whatever we decided that means. Is there ANY tallow in it? If not then super impressive. A fully vegetarian soap with the softness of tallow? Impressive.
If SSv1 is a 10/10, this is a 9/10. Dropped a mark because it didn't paint well. And that's first impressions only.
I'll feedback on the other sample, and on different methods of lathering.

Final note. I concentrated on feeling for a tingle, but anything I may have felt was probably imagined. There was no after effect. So YAY, I don't have problem skin with this cream
 
Tried the Lemon Cool for my first shave, I'll keep at it for a few days. Put half the sample in a bowl and loaded my brush. The smell when its in the pot and in the bowl is not something I am keen on, somewhat reminiscent of industrial cleaner? When its put to the face and lathered it becomes more tolerable, kind of like old timey lemonade. The lather itself was nice, very slick with lots of glide and decent protection. I used a mercer slant with an astra blade and barely felt it. The menthol was non existent, not even a slight cooling feeling, definitely more required which may even sort out the lemon scent.
Post shave was the best part I thought, soft and without need for much else, however I still carried out my normal routine. Closeness of shave was good for a two pass - WTG and XTG.
 
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Russian Leather this morning with a Weber and Kai, face lathered with a Vietnamese horn silvertip - very nice but not much backbone. Half the sample into a TSR bowl.

Loaded with a dry-ish brush to control the initial burst of lather I've come to associate with this V2. Easy load, thick cream on the brush. Easily whipped to a thick, rich yogurt lather.

A wonderfully easy shave, glide around comfortably, BBS result without effort. Smooth supple face.

The scent was very understated in the little box, on my finger, smeared in the bowl and in the lather on my face. Understated in the latherr to the extent that I didn't get it unless I went sniffing for it.

Coolness - n/a.

Soap marvelous and excellent again - a real wow! Scent - too mild.
 
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Prep - Noxzema / Hot towel
Pre shave - Proraso
Razor – Merkur 34C HD
Blade – Polsilver Super Iridium
Brush - Duke 3 Best
Soap – Super Smooth V2 Lemon Cool.
Post - Witch Hazel

Quality of lather..produces bucket loads of thick, creamy lather...slick and cushiony, with adequate protection.. I personally would like more, but that's just my personal view.
Closeness..no problem getting a BBS shave
Post shave..skin is left soft and comfortable, absolutely no need for anything extra.
The scent is not my cup of tea, could do with less lemon and more menthol IMHO.
Strenghth of coolness.. could do with being a little cooler, but that again, is just me.
There was none of the irritation that I encountered with the Russian Leather, so make of that what you will.. Overall, that was a very satisfying shave.
 
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I used the Lemon Cool this morning and hadn't shaved over the weekend, so there was a fair bit of stubble. I decided to use a Rolls Razor, make light work of the stubble and give the soap a good test.

Glide & protection were just as good as the Russian Leather and I got a very good shave with no nicks or irritation. 3 1/2 passes and the lather held up well, there was probably enough left to shave one of the cats, if I'd felt brave.

The scent didn't seem as bad once lathered, though I don't think I'd choose to buy that one. There was some cooling noticeable, but not a great deal.
 
Second shave with the Russian leather today. I accidently put too much water in and the lather was thin, after a good lathering with the Cadman synthetic I gave it a go anyway.

It was still protective but not as good as the first shave with it. A nice subtle scent that could maybe made a little stronger, but would be fine as it is.
 


My first shave with the Lemon Cool tonight. I'm not at all keen on the scent in the sample pot but it does smell somewhat better once it's lathered up. As with the Russian Leather, it lathers up to a nice thick yoghurty texture.

My prep was to lather it up and let it sit on my face for a good 5 minutes or so. Sometimes adding water to stop it drying out whilst I gave it a good whisk up in the bowl. I didn't get any menthol come through during this time, just the menthol. My set up was the same as the previous Russian Leather shaves i.e.
Gillette Super Adjustable on 9 WTG and 7 on the rest
Polsilver Blade on it's 3rd outing
Razor rock Plissoft Monster with the shaving room bowl
Cold water and Osage for post shave. I didn't really get any mint or menthol during the shave so I thought I'd add some at the end.

As with the Russian Leather it was a decent close shave, everything lathered up well with plenty of cushion and slickness. Post shave feels somewhat dry, but that could be the Osage

PS-My wife's comments on tonight's shave are it's a good close shave but my skin feels dryer than yesterday and she prefers the Russian Leather.
 
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First shave with lemon cool this morning.
Prep hot shower, schick pass a round razor with a personna blade.
The soap gave a good leather, a strong scent not to my taste, the soap felt slick to the touch and gave a nice first pass. Applied the lather for a second pass, I had a tingling feeling on the face. Second pass XTG still gave good protection. Applied the lather for a third pass again the face had a tingling worst then the second lather. The third pass was ok, no nick and very smooth. No noticeable menthol with to cold water splash. Used Dunhill balm because the skin was a little sore. Once the face settle down it did feel nice. I will try with lemon cool on Wednesday with a different razor.
 
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Weapons Selected:
  • Gillette HD500
  • Treet Dura Sharp carbon steel (1)
  • Nanny's Pre Shave Soap - OGBT
  • Whipped Dog 24mm Synth
  • Wickham Super Smooth V2 Russian Leather
  • Brut Musk AS
This time I bowl lathered the soap unlike my first trial. Very easy to lather indeed, in fact incredibly easy. The scent is definitely very close to Imperial Leather and in my opinion is spot on in terms of strength. I've got a vintage puck and one note seems slightly stronger, but this could be down to the age of the original.

Glide and post-shave were again spot on. Cushion was better than my previous attempt and was respectable, but not quite on par with the other elements of what is a very good soap.
 
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Lemon Cool
Face lathered with Shavemac Badger to use with DE today. 3 passes. Probably used too much soap but I prefer it that way. Really thick lather with decent cushion and slickness. Good shave with moisturizing post shave feel.
Weak points. Scent was reminiscent of lemon balm plant and citronella. Good strength to the scent but not one which I find attractive. A slight menthol face feel but much lower than for example OSP Grapefruit and menthol, which I feel is bang on strength wise.
Would I buy it- yes for the performance but no for the scent and menthol feel.
 
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