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This is going to be a joint review. Both the soap and aftershave shall be under scrutiny here, so buckle up and enjoy the ride!
Let's start at the beginning... the soap.
Needless to say, it's popular to use a shaving soap before it's accompanying aftershave. This has been absolutely no exception here in my experiences which have, in turn, allowed me to generate this 'newbie' review.
I bought the aftershave a few days prior to the soap, both second hand, barely used. This allowed me to have an appreciation for the scent, before being able to compare it directly to the Fine Platinum soap, but I'll get back to that later. The soap, for me, was subtle, quiet, under a cloak until liberally lathered and, more liberally, applied to my face. This close-quarters contact allowed me to smell it to the full extent and, yes, it smelled like the aftershave...no surprises there. As for performance, using a well-wrung RazoRock synthetic 24mm brush (my main brush, after putting to rest my Body Shop synthetic), there was evidence of lathering even with the relatively dry, non-absorbent brush such as mine. The thick, pasty lather was dabbed, scrubbed and painted around my chops, chin and neck - as you may (or may not) have read in my SOTD's, I tend to only tidy up my cheeks and neck. Additional lather is applied to my face, top lip, beard (et al.) purely for hedonism. I like the comforting feel of being hugged in a thick lather. I digress; I ran the tap, warm, and dabbed the brush in the pool of water which sits by the plug. I applied this to my face... rinse and repeat. After a couple of water-dips, I noted the bountiful lather. It stuck close to my face and the smell became ever-prominent. It was thick, slick, quick to lather and even for a starter such as myself I had no problem lathering whatsoever. I tested this with my Niazi 1908, Solingen, 5/8, 1/2-hollow straight razor - it glided, singing, up and down my neck. One pass with the grain, complete. One pass across the grain, complete. Touch-ups, complete. It had no issue skipping through the few-day growth to leave me entirely smooth (I missed a portion at the base of my neck, but that was entirely my doing). The lather stayed with the brush, and my face, for the duration of my neck-shave and it could have easily lasted another 40 minutes, comfortably. I rinsed off with cold water, had a shower, no alum. My neck didn't feel tight as I've noted with other soaps previously - I'll give the post-shave a thumbs up as a result. My only gripe, as mentioned by others, is that Fine don't provide tubs with their soaps. It's easy to work around, but more hassle than you'd anticipate for a £12, or so, soap.
Onto the A/s.
As read above, I have had more experience with this than the soap. I've tried it without shaving, I've tried it with shaving. Post-shower, post-shave, I applied liberally and, boy, it bit me hard. There was no alum involved, nor witch hazel, so I can only attribute it to a fresh neck for it to sink it's teeth into. As with all fine a/s, there is a portion of menthol present. Not present in smell, but there when applied. I tend to notice it most on my lips, but had a nice cool-down after applying it to my unprepared neck. It smells, in a word, delicious. It's sharp, heady, fresh, young. I've been told it is a dead-ringer for Creed Aventus, on which it's based, but unfortunately I have no comparison to draw, having never smelled the inspiration. Again, with all of Fine's a/s, there is alcohol, menthol, fragrance and...well, water? It houses no moisturising properties. I chased it up with some argan oil and that did the trick, for me at least. It projects well, my OH commented on how nice I smelled the day I received it. However, I've found it doesn't last. I've been tempted to buy another dead ringer (Al Haramain L'aventure) in the hope it smells approximately equal but lasts longer... It is, in my honest opinion, the main drawback of this a/s.
So, would I recommend it? In a nutshell, yes. It smells good, the soap performs beyond admirably with plenty of slickness and a sweet, fruity smell. The a/s, though not providing much benefit to skin, smells great, gives a nice enough cool down but unfortunately doesn't last well enough. For circa £15, however, it's a cheap way to try out Creed Aventus or L'aventure. Neither the soap or the a/s break the bank. I will be using both in the coming weeks/months/years...
Tl,dr; This soap is grand. It smells great. The a/s smells great. Both have minor drawbacks but give a great experience for not a lot of money. Happy shaving, one and all.
Platinum (Pt - element no. 78), a lustrous, silver transition-metal in its purest form. It houses a vast repertoire, being used for jewellery, industrial catalysts and cancer treatments, to name but a few.
Let's start at the beginning... the soap.
Needless to say, it's popular to use a shaving soap before it's accompanying aftershave. This has been absolutely no exception here in my experiences which have, in turn, allowed me to generate this 'newbie' review.
I bought the aftershave a few days prior to the soap, both second hand, barely used. This allowed me to have an appreciation for the scent, before being able to compare it directly to the Fine Platinum soap, but I'll get back to that later. The soap, for me, was subtle, quiet, under a cloak until liberally lathered and, more liberally, applied to my face. This close-quarters contact allowed me to smell it to the full extent and, yes, it smelled like the aftershave...no surprises there. As for performance, using a well-wrung RazoRock synthetic 24mm brush (my main brush, after putting to rest my Body Shop synthetic), there was evidence of lathering even with the relatively dry, non-absorbent brush such as mine. The thick, pasty lather was dabbed, scrubbed and painted around my chops, chin and neck - as you may (or may not) have read in my SOTD's, I tend to only tidy up my cheeks and neck. Additional lather is applied to my face, top lip, beard (et al.) purely for hedonism. I like the comforting feel of being hugged in a thick lather. I digress; I ran the tap, warm, and dabbed the brush in the pool of water which sits by the plug. I applied this to my face... rinse and repeat. After a couple of water-dips, I noted the bountiful lather. It stuck close to my face and the smell became ever-prominent. It was thick, slick, quick to lather and even for a starter such as myself I had no problem lathering whatsoever. I tested this with my Niazi 1908, Solingen, 5/8, 1/2-hollow straight razor - it glided, singing, up and down my neck. One pass with the grain, complete. One pass across the grain, complete. Touch-ups, complete. It had no issue skipping through the few-day growth to leave me entirely smooth (I missed a portion at the base of my neck, but that was entirely my doing). The lather stayed with the brush, and my face, for the duration of my neck-shave and it could have easily lasted another 40 minutes, comfortably. I rinsed off with cold water, had a shower, no alum. My neck didn't feel tight as I've noted with other soaps previously - I'll give the post-shave a thumbs up as a result. My only gripe, as mentioned by others, is that Fine don't provide tubs with their soaps. It's easy to work around, but more hassle than you'd anticipate for a £12, or so, soap.
Onto the A/s.
As read above, I have had more experience with this than the soap. I've tried it without shaving, I've tried it with shaving. Post-shower, post-shave, I applied liberally and, boy, it bit me hard. There was no alum involved, nor witch hazel, so I can only attribute it to a fresh neck for it to sink it's teeth into. As with all fine a/s, there is a portion of menthol present. Not present in smell, but there when applied. I tend to notice it most on my lips, but had a nice cool-down after applying it to my unprepared neck. It smells, in a word, delicious. It's sharp, heady, fresh, young. I've been told it is a dead-ringer for Creed Aventus, on which it's based, but unfortunately I have no comparison to draw, having never smelled the inspiration. Again, with all of Fine's a/s, there is alcohol, menthol, fragrance and...well, water? It houses no moisturising properties. I chased it up with some argan oil and that did the trick, for me at least. It projects well, my OH commented on how nice I smelled the day I received it. However, I've found it doesn't last. I've been tempted to buy another dead ringer (Al Haramain L'aventure) in the hope it smells approximately equal but lasts longer... It is, in my honest opinion, the main drawback of this a/s.
So, would I recommend it? In a nutshell, yes. It smells good, the soap performs beyond admirably with plenty of slickness and a sweet, fruity smell. The a/s, though not providing much benefit to skin, smells great, gives a nice enough cool down but unfortunately doesn't last well enough. For circa £15, however, it's a cheap way to try out Creed Aventus or L'aventure. Neither the soap or the a/s break the bank. I will be using both in the coming weeks/months/years...
Tl,dr; This soap is grand. It smells great. The a/s smells great. Both have minor drawbacks but give a great experience for not a lot of money. Happy shaving, one and all.
Platinum (Pt - element no. 78), a lustrous, silver transition-metal in its purest form. It houses a vast repertoire, being used for jewellery, industrial catalysts and cancer treatments, to name but a few.