Shaving Product Review - Cold River Soap Works "Colonia Mediterrania (Oliva)" and
Tabac "Gentle Men's Care"

Today's SOTD features lots of new products including Cold River Soap Works Oliva #soap and Tabac Gentle Men's Care line of #balm and #EdT software!

Let's start with the CRSW Oliva soap; I received a sneak preview tub of it, and I'll go with saying "wow" - and work from there... First, if you have any reservations about the possible negative side effects of olive oil on lather... Fuhgeddaboudit. There is only positive here, and the 11 months of R&D that went into this has resulted in a truly insane soap and resulting lather.

A few shavings from the container by way of a thumbnail produced truly epic amounts of lather that was very slick, truly dense and creamy that just felt really plush on the skin and made for lovely, comfortable shaving. There was ample cushion there, as this lather is actually a bit more fluffy than the usual CRSW lather, IMO. The face feel was very nourishing and moisturizing! Therefore, this would make an especially good choice for a "winter soap."

The scent is described as "a classic Mediterranean type fragrance" and it holds true with aromatic woods, spicy florals and light citrus in the profile. It really does smell Mediterranean; a natural choice with the olive oil base - and it smells awesome. Unfortunately, there's no matching AS - but you could use, say, any Acqua di Parma or Colonia (including the new Acqua Colonia from 4711) or even Acqua di Gio. Take a look at the ingredients:

Stearic acid, extra virgin olive oil, aloe leaf juice, potassium hydroxide, kokum butter, castor oil, glycerine, jojoba oil, shea butter, sodium hydroxide, sodium lactate and fragrance

If you've been stuck in a rut with some lesser artisan offerings, you really owe it to yourself to check out #coldriversoap (as well as B&M and SV) to see what you're missing out on. Through regular use of these higher tier offerings, I've admittedly become a performance snob...

The other software, also new - is Tabac Gentle Men's Care... This is the third new product line from #Tabac ( Man being the second ) and their attempt to break away from the "old man's scent" stigma of the original at least in the German market (the only place you'll find this, at least for now) and where I got mine. It was introduced in 2015 and is inexpensive and pervasive - found in drug and department stores just like the original. Shown here is the balm and EdT (I also picked up the aftershave) - the latter two in 90ml sizes.

The fragrance of GMC is orange, pear and ozone notes on top, with lavender, cardamom and violet leaves in the middle and finally, sandalwood, ambergris and cashmeran making up the base. It smells nothing like the original yet has a similar vibe. It's a truly European sort of men's scent... If that makes any sense.

The product line is new but already very well-rounded with everything from cleansing, shaving, skin care and fragrance represented. Unfortunately (for me at least) there was no deodorant other than a spray and the only shaving soap was a gel.

Hardware today was the fitting #Mühle #R89 razor fitted with a #PolSilver blade on shave two and the #SOC brush doing the deed in the #GTP scuttle - a wonderful thing to have when it's 11ºF outside!

To sum up... Freakin' wow! This is some all-around awesome software! From the shaving experience to the resulting face feel and scent profile of the EdT, this was a truly outstanding shave! I will most definitely be picking up more of the Tabac and also grabbing a regular tin of the CRSW Oliva soap... I would encourage you to do the same, given a chance!