News

My regular readers will know that I generally consider Saponificio Varesino software to be among the best in the world today. While they don't have a huge catalog, what's there is gold. And each new release makes you wonder how they could have possibly improved upon the previous. Similar to the prior Cosmo release in the new Beta 4.2 formulation, it adds (among other ingredients) Edelweiss Extract (Leontopodium Alpinum) and Hazelnut Oil (Corylus Avellana)... Is a new #soap and #aftershave combo, somewhat appropriately called Stella Alpina (Edelweiss). It has top notes of lemon, bergamot and basil, middle notes of cistus, myrtle and eucalyptus and base notes of cypress and amber. It has been available for a while in another line (notably laundry soap). No release date has been set yet, but we'll keep you posted as soon as we hear something from #SapVaresino.

A horrible story being reported today; "A year's worth of artist couple's work stolen from trailer in Vancouver." Apparently the trailer containing some $40,000 worth of product made by the Albertan couple Hugh MacPherson and Deb Rowland of Avalanche Artisans was broken into last weekend. While the goods were insured, it's not known if the whole loss will be covered, and the #drama basically ended their holiday market season plans. Thankfully, the items (mostly #razor and #brush) are fairly unique and can be easily spotted should they surface. Keep your eyes out and report sightings!

News from Dr. Jon's Shaving Soap Co. is this new release - 13 is a very limited custom scent made for the Wet Shave Review. This #soap and #aftershave will not be available at any store including their own unless you are part of this pre-order (soap aftershave) - which runs through December 1st and will be shipped on December 10th. 13 has notes of oud, hedione, musk and Iso-E Super (a synthetic cedar and sandalwood scent) and called "dark, musky and floral all at the same time." If you're a #drjonssoapco fan, get in there and get some!

The fans of Derby City Chop Shop (DCCS) await this time of year with great anticipation over their release of Small Batch Shave Tonic a.k.a. Winter Reserve #aftershave - well, it's here! Just announced, it comes in the usual wax sealed 7.5 fl. oz. bottle for $26. It's essentially a bay rum - but with Kentucky bourbon instead. It's being bottled now and will begin shipping on November 7th.

Today I'd like to post about the "top artisans" of this year, 2016. Not only those that have brought remarkable performance to shaving software, from soaps to aftershaves, not to mention incredible scents... But those that have refined the state of the art[isan] in the market with packaging and presentation, collaboration with other artisans or have worked extremely hard to bring us our simple joys every morning...