This is November's Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club day and my first try of a Fanzine Saponifications soap; our soap choice this month. For me, the scent strength was mild but that may be due to it being a smush. That's not a criticism, though. I picked up the leather and a touch of vetiver and black pepper. The soap base is just fine and worked well in my travel bowl lathering method. I listened to the u/raymoonie's interview of u/TheStallionPartThree. Kudos to the Stallion for his efforts. Thanks, also, to @[email protected] for the smush and all he does.
$discord
Today is the mostly-monthly meeting of the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club, a small group of wetshavers dedicated to an open internet who partake in the open-source versions of Reddit - namely https://sub.wetshaving.social and https://wetshav.ing. There's also an open source chat (in addition to IRC which is also open source?(not sure really, maybe it depends on how its hosted. Maybe an expert can chime in)), https://chat.wetshav.ing.
Anyway, enough boring stuff. I'm a big fan of Fanzine Saponifications. The soap base is easy to use, and the two scents that I've smelled are really great. This one, Caravaggio, is an off-the-shelf dupe of Killian - Dark Lord. Dark Lord is really incredible and I've finished off a sample of it. Caravaggio is Dark Lord adjacent, but excellent in its own right.
I think that the playing card series did not do as well as Cody thought it would. Of the three I’ve tried, I think Ace should come back under another name. Great scent. I think it would go well with Caravaggio.
The Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club has reconvened, this time with a soap provided by Walden. The smush lathered up very nicely, and the scent is also very pleasant.
I got the impression that this scent
belongs to the Midnight Stag/Valley of Ashes family. It is not the proletarian uncle who is covered in motor oil and shows his butt crack whenever he bows down; it is not the sophisticated librarian who spends his evenings in a leather armchair reading. Here, I rather see the young
man who just bought a leather jacket, and is on his way to the bar.
Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club Meeting – Wed 26 Nov 2025
Brush: Chisel and Hound – Screwdjriver with v28 Fanchurian
Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless (gen 2)
Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
Lather: Fanzine Saponifications – Caravaggio
Post Shave: Pitralon - Swiss version
"Fate loves the peerless." — GEMes Russell Lowell
First time tying a soap from our u/TheStallionPartThree, and this base is solid! It lathers easily, hydrates gradually, and produces slick lather. On the first try!
The scent was fairly faint to my nose, but I'm dragging a stubborn cold with me so that might just be me. Kudos to the Stallion!
Must be something in the air over in that part of the world 🤣
I did a pretty typical packing job with these. Scrape out some soap with a plastic scraper, smear it on wax paper, fold the wax paper over to smush the smush out, etc. No skin contact or any other funny business. Who knows!
Brush: AP Shave Co. black & clear handle w/ 30 mm Tuxedo Fan knot
Razor: Leaf Thorn
Blade: Derby Premium
Lather: Los Jabones de Joserra - The Witcher
Post Shave: Zingari Man - The Master
Alum: Osma Alum block
2 passes on the head, 1 on the neckline. A great shave except for one nicked mole on my neck.
This combo is slowly becoming one of my personal all-time favourites, the spicy notes in both scents are working wonderfully in conjunction. Thankfully, no tingling or any other adverse reactions from the soap anymore. I don't know what was the cause during my first use of it. The Vetonia base is top notch; unfortunately José doesn't have a dedicated internet presence for his business so his goods could be even more well-known.
I have two soaps from Los Jabones de Joserra; Blas de Lezo and Noir. The Witcher looks awesome. Oud, amber, vanilla, tobacco. Checks every box for me. I agree with you about The Master. That’s an underappreciated scene by Shawn.
Yeah, he's really good. We did your Noir for one BVWSC and it was a really interesting scent to me too...
My other LJdJ is "Masala Connection" and I think you'd appreciate that scent even more. Bergamot, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Black Pepper, Cedar, Leather and Tonka Bean - it's a very bold scent. The Witcher has a bit more sweetness due to the vanilla, Masala Connection is basically just spices, wood and leather. I don't know how these work so well as a combination, but they somehow do...
So far I haven't had a single product scented by Shawn Maher that I disliked. Truly a master perfumer.
I agree with you about Shawn. There isn’t one scent of his I’ve tried that didn’t hit for me. Masala Connection does sound great, especially for the cold months.
I was always wondering why so many artisans hired/collaborated with him to scent their products, now I know - he can do fresh interesting citrus like GraveFruit II as well as dark spicy barbershop scents like The Master.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to an american shop that carries that soap for you 😕 tariffs make ordering from Italy, Greece or Germany totally unviable for you in the US.
Thanks for looking! Pasteur Pharmacy and The Razor Company both carry LJdJ here in the states, and neither store has inventory of the product. I’m certain that’s due to tariffs. I can wait.
Post Shave: Fanzine Saponifications - Caravaggio - Aftershave
Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Valley of Ashes - EdP
For today's meeting of BVWSC we're shaving with Fanzine Caravaggio. This is not new to me, as I bought a tub in the initial release. It's a soap I always enjoy shaving with.
Killer scent, excellent lather, what's not to like?
It's been about a month since I used my CF Legacy as well. This things gives me such a close shave, especially with Lab Blue blades. Such a killer razor!
November 26, 2025 — BVWSC
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This is November's Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club day and my first try of a Fanzine Saponifications soap; our soap choice this month. For me, the scent strength was mild but that may be due to it being a smush. That's not a criticism, though. I picked up the leather and a touch of vetiver and black pepper. The soap base is just fine and worked well in my travel bowl lathering method. I listened to the u/raymoonie's interview of u/TheStallionPartThree. Kudos to the Stallion for his efforts. Thanks, also, to @[email protected] for the smush and all he does.
November 26th, 2025: BVWSC
$discord
Today is the mostly-monthly meeting of the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club, a small group of wetshavers dedicated to an open internet who partake in the open-source versions of Reddit - namely https://sub.wetshaving.social and https://wetshav.ing. There's also an open source chat (in addition to IRC which is also open source?(not sure really, maybe it depends on how its hosted. Maybe an expert can chime in)), https://chat.wetshav.ing.
Anyway, enough boring stuff. I'm a big fan of Fanzine Saponifications. The soap base is easy to use, and the two scents that I've smelled are really great. This one, Caravaggio, is an off-the-shelf dupe of Killian - Dark Lord. Dark Lord is really incredible and I've finished off a sample of it. Caravaggio is Dark Lord adjacent, but excellent in its own right.
November 26, 2025 - BVWSC
For November's BVWSC meeting, @[email protected] generously provided smushes of Fanzine Saponifications' Caravaggio made by u/TheStallionPartThree.
The leather, vetiver, and pepper scent notes I was picking up worked well with the supportive notes from Ace by Noble Otter.
I think that the playing card series did not do as well as Cody thought it would. Of the three I’ve tried, I think Ace should come back under another name. Great scent. I think it would go well with Caravaggio.
I agree that Ace was criminally overlooked.
Quintidi 5 Frimaire an 234 de la Révolution, jour de Cochon: Buena Vista
The Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club has reconvened, this time with a soap provided by Walden. The smush lathered up very nicely, and the scent is also very pleasant.
I got the impression that this scent belongs to the Midnight Stag/Valley of Ashes family. It is not the proletarian uncle who is covered in motor oil and shows his butt crack whenever he bows down; it is not the sophisticated librarian who spends his evenings in a leather armchair reading. Here, I rather see the young man who just bought a leather jacket, and is on his way to the bar.
A very good first impression!
Have a good day!
Shared via emacs & sotd.elSOTD - 2025-11-26
Have a good one!
Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club Meeting – Wed 26 Nov 2025
First time tying a soap from our u/TheStallionPartThree, and this base is solid! It lathers easily, hydrates gradually, and produces slick lather. On the first try!
The scent was fairly faint to my nose, but I'm dragging a stubborn cold with me so that might just be me. Kudos to the Stallion!
Interesting discoloration on that smush... I wonder what caused that?
No idea. The envelope showed no sign of damage, and i would have expected simple oxidation to manifest more uniformly. A mystery.
Luckily, it hasn't messed with latherability
Mine looks similarly, btw
Must be something in the air over in that part of the world 🤣
I did a pretty typical packing job with these. Scrape out some soap with a plastic scraper, smear it on wax paper, fold the wax paper over to smush the smush out, etc. No skin contact or any other funny business. Who knows!
MMOC++!
Agreed!
^but this is a Clog-Pruf 🙃^
Ha! I guess my reading comprehension decreases first thing in the morning. 🙄
Been there ☕
26. November 2025
2 passes on the head, 1 on the neckline. A great shave except for one nicked mole on my neck.
This combo is slowly becoming one of my personal all-time favourites, the spicy notes in both scents are working wonderfully in conjunction. Thankfully, no tingling or any other adverse reactions from the soap anymore. I don't know what was the cause during my first use of it. The Vetonia base is top notch; unfortunately José doesn't have a dedicated internet presence for his business so his goods could be even more well-known.
'nuff said. Enjoy your Wednesday, folks 👍🏻
I have two soaps from Los Jabones de Joserra; Blas de Lezo and Noir. The Witcher looks awesome. Oud, amber, vanilla, tobacco. Checks every box for me. I agree with you about The Master. That’s an underappreciated scene by Shawn.
Yeah, he's really good. We did your Noir for one BVWSC and it was a really interesting scent to me too... My other LJdJ is "Masala Connection" and I think you'd appreciate that scent even more. Bergamot, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Black Pepper, Cedar, Leather and Tonka Bean - it's a very bold scent. The Witcher has a bit more sweetness due to the vanilla, Masala Connection is basically just spices, wood and leather. I don't know how these work so well as a combination, but they somehow do...
So far I haven't had a single product scented by Shawn Maher that I disliked. Truly a master perfumer.
I agree with you about Shawn. There isn’t one scent of his I’ve tried that didn’t hit for me. Masala Connection does sound great, especially for the cold months.
I was always wondering why so many artisans hired/collaborated with him to scent their products, now I know - he can do fresh interesting citrus like GraveFruit II as well as dark spicy barbershop scents like The Master.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to an american shop that carries that soap for you 😕 tariffs make ordering from Italy, Greece or Germany totally unviable for you in the US.
Thanks for looking! Pasteur Pharmacy and The Razor Company both carry LJdJ here in the states, and neither store has inventory of the product. I’m certain that’s due to tariffs. I can wait.
November 26th, 2025: BVWSC - Caravaggio Edition
For today's meeting of BVWSC we're shaving with Fanzine Caravaggio. This is not new to me, as I bought a tub in the initial release. It's a soap I always enjoy shaving with.
Killer scent, excellent lather, what's not to like?
It's been about a month since I used my CF Legacy as well. This things gives me such a close shave, especially with Lab Blue blades. Such a killer razor!
November 26th, 2025: SLS