Shaving Product Review - Tiki Bar Soap "Exotic Sandalwood" and
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements "Sandalwood"

Today's SOTD marks another entry in my #SandalwoodShowdown and features Tiki Bar Soap Exotic Sandalwood #soap and PAA Sandalwood #aftershave and #deo!

My #SandalwoodShowdown series: http://tinyurl.com/qgll28b

I've long maintained that PAA Sandalwood is my favorite out of the plethora of sandalwood scented shaving products out there... As pretty much everybody has one. Unfortunately for most, they all use the most common form - Indian sandalwood (Santalum album). Some use the Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) like PAA Santalum Fumus - but very few use Hawaiian sandalwood (S. freycinetianum and S. paniculatum)... Which both Tiki Bar Soap Exotic Sandalwood and PAA Sandalwood use. It definitely smells different, more exotic and is entirely intoxicating!

I scraped off a chunk of soap out of the tin, which is a slightly soft "hard soap." Adding some water to the #GTP scuttle and using a slightly damp #SOC brush, I was able to very quickly whip up some truly superb lather that was thick and creamy with exemplary glide. In fact, this is one of the slicker soaps I've used; easily in the top five. There's a good bit of glycerin in it. Scent strength is pleasantly on the high side of medium, perhaps a bit stronger. It goes without saying that it smells divine. A vegan formula with a simple ingredient list:

Water, potassium sterate, sodium sterate, potassium cocoate, sodium cocoate, vegetable glycerin, fragrance, essential oil

I think I might prefer this soap over the #PAA version; as the one I have is the older Synergy 2.x version (without the avocado oil) and having also used the newest - the Tiki Bar Soap is decidedly slicker and has a slightly denser, creamier lather... Though it is not quite as skin nourishing, lacking both kokum butter and avocado oil. Tough call between the two. They smell identical...

The reason for that is Tiki Bar Soap and HTGAM were to do a collaboration, with TBS making the soap and HTGAM doing the aftershave. Alas, there was a bit of a kerfuffle around this time just before the PAA transition and it didn't happen at HTGAM's behest.

What sets the PAA version apart is the matching aftershave and deo - which I used post-shave... But also the fact that they're part of a large product line with a body wash, hard soap, facial toner, balm and more. It's the most extensive of the PAA product lines, and I have most of it as I'm a certifiable Hawaiian sandalwood fiend and can't get enough of the scent! You can get the whole experience from soup to nuts as it were.

The shava today was my shimmed #Feather AS-D2 razor fitted with a #Feather blade on shave five.

There it is - another entry and among my absolute favorites (certainly thus far, possibly ever). Breaking the common, boring mold of Indian sandalwoods - these products use the much nicer (IMO) Hawaiian version to give it an exotic twist. I definitely recommend you try any of the products mentioned.