Shaving Product Review - Barrister and Mann "Citricuyá"

Value (Cost, Packaging and Performance)

Lather (Density, Glide and Feel)

Post-shave (Healing, Moisture and Feel)

Scent (Quality, Strength and Longevity)

Passion fruit meets citrus - and a whole lot of smooth - in this SFWS exclusive from Barrister and Mann called Citricuyá in a #soap and #aftershave!

The idea here was to create a set with a distinct Floridian vibe, and nothing says "Florida" better than oranges, so we led with blood orange and backed it up with passion fruit.

I've done a lot of reviews of #BarristerMann goodies over their history - in fact, almost every product they've released! Click on the hashtag to browse them all, or check out the History of Barrister and Mann for a more targeted approach. Regular readers should be well aware of the performance of both soap and aftershave, so let's skip that for today. Just a quick note that the soap base is Glissant and the aftershave is Tonique.

The release of #BarristerMann Citricuyá was for the SFWS (South Florida Wet Shavers) "End of Year Bash 2" on November 11, 2017. Besides the T-shirts (see last photo above), the release was limited to 221 soaps and 219 splashes total. 64 of the soaps had dates on the label for the attendees; 157 were without, for everyone else. Seven of those left the country, leaving exactly 150 non-attendee soaps and 64 for the attendees in North America. It was orchestrated by Brian Myers with the help of William Carius of Barrister and Mann and Brian says of it:

The idea here was to create a set with a distinct Floridian vibe, but also one which shared some of my favorite characteristics of another Barrister and Mann soap which I absolutely love. I wanted fruity, but not too fruity, so I wanted the crisp vegetal balance of galbanum oil as well. Nothing says "Florida" better than oranges, so we led with blood orange and backed it up with passion fruit. I suggested pear and something else, although what that something else was is forever lost to time. Will felt that something was missing. After much deliberation, he came up with the pink pepper mid-note, which works just perfectly. Will made something special here in our opinion.

As for the name, Jonathan and I were batting some ideas back and forth one day. We looked at the scent notes and their equivalent names in Spanish… Naranja is orange, citrico is "citric," and maracuyá is "passion fruit." We considered other variations. Eventually I married two of them and blurted out Citricuyá. Over time, we came to love that word, so here it is.

On the top you're presented with blood orange (a.k.a. citrico) that's balanced perfectly with passion fruit (a.k.a. maracuyá). Blending with these two heavy hitters is a lovely galbanum note adding a green, leaf-like and woody, balsamic undertone. As the accord descends towards the middle and some of the fruit burns off, the pink peppercorn comes to life, adding a sweet and spicy, yet fruity note with a dry balsamic peppery back note. Underlying all of these notes are a slew of atmospheric compounds (e.g. hedione, applelide, etc.) that serve to smooth it all out (one smells almost like jasmine, another like pear). They're not scent notes, in the strict sense - but contribute to the accord. Overall, it's a divine, tropical serenade to the nose.

The scent strength in the tub is a strong medium; the passion fruit and blood orange really grab you by the nostrils. Once lathered, it mellows down a bit to a medium. The aftershave is once again a strong medium at first - settling down rapidly as the volatile passion fruit and blood orange notes dissipate. The middle of the accord, the pink peppercorn hangs in there briefly but also fades away. There's not much of a base left behind; therefore I would hesitate to say there's any sillage or longevity for this scent. The former is bold, but only for 20-30 minutes - while the latter doesn't exceed 1-2 hours, tops. I was a bit generous in the chart above. Definitely plan to layer another fragrance if headed out for the day.

For the sake of obvious comparison, Citricuyá was begat of two prior releases, also passion fruit forward; Passiflora and Soapmakers of Awesometown (check those links out for in-depth reviews of each). While Passiflora also has passion fruit and galbanum, it's decidedly more floral and spicy with a touch of warmth from tonka bean. Soapmakers of Awesometown dials back the floral (offering only lavender) while adding a hint of citrus - with a more approachable sandalwood and ylang ylang base. While all three share the passion fruit note, each of these accords goes in a different direction. Each is unique unto itself, despite the common thread. Citricuyá offers the fruity green of the former and the citrus of the latter and dials them both up a notch. I dare say that I like Citricuyá the best. I love florals, but I love citrus more! And the distinctly Floridian vibe has a special place in my heart for several reasons.

Hardware today included a black #StandardRazors with a #PolSilver blade, while the lovely silver, black and purple brush from #WildWestBrushworks contrasted the razor and artwork of the packaging quite nicely. The 24mm Tuxedo knot had no trouble at all loading and lathering the Glissant soap base into bountiful, slick lather in the #GTP scuttle.

This is a beautiful scent. If you're a fan of passion fruit and/or citrus, or past, similar releases such as Passiflora or the more approachable Soapmakers of Awesometown from Barrister and Mann or the recent limited edition release of Lu'au from Mickey Lee Soapworks then you're sure to enjoy this one as well. I'm a sucker for both, and this one is masterfully blended (as expected) and superbly smooth. Performance, goes without saying, is top notch as well. Well done!