Shaving Product Review - L&L Grooming "Marshlands"
Once again, L&L Grooming week continues - today featuring the awesome vetiver-ness of Marshlands #soap and #aftershave!
Much like yesterday's review of Cuir et Épices I won't get too much into the outstanding performance of the soap and aftershave today. Marshlands immediately caught my eye many months ago (along with Final Frontier and After the Rain) but not knowing too much about #landlgrooming at the time, I took a pass. They say good things come to those who wait... Turns out, it was released in the bison tallow formula in between, and the one I'm using today. After the Rain will follow suit on November 9th. As far as the lather goes, I got it dialed in like a Rolex today! I went in with a slightly wetter, slightly cooler brush and with slightly less pressure during loading than yesterday. Voila! Not goopy at all today and it loaded quite nicely. I went with the same amount of water in the scuttle as yesterday and in whipping up the lather - came up with more than enough for three passes with a good, heavy coating on each. I've now completed my meditations and attained L&L Grooming Nirvana.
The scent of Marshlands is a tribute to one of my favorite scents - vetiver. In fact, the product description starts with, "There are some amazing vetiver scents on the market today, but most of them don't actually smell like vetiver. Rather than try to mask the amazing, smoky greenness of vetiver, we embrace it wholeheartedly..." With notes of vetiver, oakmoss and bergamot it certainly sounds it! In real life, it's also very much the case here. This is a smoky, woody and green vetiver and there's no hiding it. The oakmoss extends it perfectly with its own rich woody, earthy vibe while the bergamot adds a slightly bitter, citrusy element to brighten things up a little. Pure vetiver can be a real eye opener... Witness Cyril R. Salter French Vetiver shaving cream. It holds back even less and it's deep, dark and dank with a serious smoky, ashy tone. Too much for all but the hardcore vetiver fans. Marshlands is not a dressed up vetiver for mass consumption - it's for the fans. Sniffing the tub of soap you really get that deep smoky green while the aftershave is slightly tempered - and masked by the included menthol. Applying the aftershave gives you just enough of a menthol kick to make you smile, but subsides into the scent we're all here for... Drying down to a more mellow, rounded scent. Good stuff here, and it will get a lot of play in my den. I've also solved a problem (for the most part) from earlier in the week... The trick to the restrictor is to cover it completely with your thumb and just "blip it" over your palm to dispense a little at a time.
The hardware today included the #Merkur #Futur which I've been rocking for some two weeks now, having fallen back in love with it. The #PolSilver on shave three with the razor set to a reasonable "2" kept things close and comfortable. The #BSB Shaving Brush had its way with the lather in the #GTP scuttle.
Curse you, L&L Grooming! You're four for four now and now that things are dialed in... I can totally get used to this awesome face feel and smelling great for most of, if not all day. The shaves have been nothing but close and comfortable. This grand experiment continues tomorrow with Trismegistus!