I was stuck in Nashville last night, and happened to have Bourbon Tennessee Whiskey Cowbow in my suitcase. Lovely scent. Questionable artwork for my refined tastes. Very good base. Good shave.
Nuàvia Verde is such a bright, fresh scent. It always takes me by surprise. The PannaCrema soap base is vegan and has a light, airy feeling about it; even when loaded heavily. Slickness with it is just fine. It takes water up to a point after which the weight of the water makes the lather too heavy.
2 passes on the head as well as the face around a fresh henriquatre. Again a rather irritation-free shave, but smoother on the dome than on the face.
So it was time for a second try of the HNDRX today. I was wondering if it could be any good for face shaving, since on the box it's clearly advised to use it for shaving body hair (I mean, head shaving is often lumped together with body shaving). So I was curious enough to try it out...
Of course it has similar limitations to a cartridge razor and by extension also the Leaf/Shavent razors: it's not suitable for getting a sharp line-up/contours on a beard. I had to supplement with my Leaf Thorn for the detail work on the sides and chin part of the beard for a good result. However, it worked good for the rest of my face except that it also struggles to get my jawline very smooth without skin stretching.
It delivered a very flawless head shave once again and tbh, one of the closest ones I ever had without much effort or any redness or bleeding. I'd say it's perfectly suited to that job - I might even be tempted to try going ATG on the sides of my head next time, something that usually ended in razor burn or ingrown hairs with other razors. Once I fold my ears over, it also has no problem with the tricky areas around the ears and doesn't cut me there.
As for the face? Very smooth on the sideburns and cheeks. Good to OK on the neck (ATG pass felt less cool, but Derby Premiums aren't the sharpest either). As for the jawline, I definitely need to stretch my skin there up again despite the pivoting action. My jawbones are very prominent and this is, as it seems, a necessary technique to get the underside shaved smoothly. Definitely something I need to keep in mind for next time. As explained, it doesn't do any contouring and I need an additional tool for that. So far though, that's the only flaw that I can find with it.
As for the software, usually Peaches & Cognac is awesome, but today I had a mild burn on my face from it. More of a tingling. I know A&E uses a lot of fragrance, but I usually never had problems with this one here and couldn't feel anything weird on my scalp. Strange... Then again, this soap is now a bit older and still in Peter's OG Kaizen base - we're now up to "Ultima" from Kaizen2 and Kaizen2e. Maybe frag oils become more aggressive with age or protective ingredients less effective? Who knows.
I don't know whether fragrance oils become more aggressive, but there were certainly complaints about fragrance burn early-on with A&E. I've never had an issue, but there was enough noise that I think some formulations did bother people. Over time, I've heard much less about this. Peaches & Cognac is one of my favorites. Like you, I have an early release. As I get very close to finishing my tub, I hope to get the same thing in Ultima 2 so I can compare them. I'll bet they are different, but we'll see.
June 15th, 2026
A nice minty shave!
JeJune SOTD - 2026-06-15
Does this soap and splash go together? Absolutely not. I feel like I tripped into a perfume counter at Sam's Club.
Have a good one.
June 15th, 2026
I was stuck in Nashville last night, and happened to have
BourbonTennessee Whiskey Cowbow in my suitcase. Lovely scent. Questionable artwork for my refined tastes. Very good base. Good shave.Yeah. Look into Alberto Vargas. People of my vintage always enjoyed Vargas girls.
Perky.
June 15, 2026
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
Nuàvia Verde is such a bright, fresh scent. It always takes me by surprise. The PannaCrema soap base is vegan and has a light, airy feeling about it; even when loaded heavily. Slickness with it is just fine. It takes water up to a point after which the weight of the water makes the lather too heavy.
HNDRX Razor, second impression - 15. June 2026
2 passes on the head as well as the face around a fresh henriquatre. Again a rather irritation-free shave, but smoother on the dome than on the face.
So it was time for a second try of the HNDRX today. I was wondering if it could be any good for face shaving, since on the box it's clearly advised to use it for shaving body hair (I mean, head shaving is often lumped together with body shaving). So I was curious enough to try it out...
Of course it has similar limitations to a cartridge razor and by extension also the Leaf/Shavent razors: it's not suitable for getting a sharp line-up/contours on a beard. I had to supplement with my Leaf Thorn for the detail work on the sides and chin part of the beard for a good result. However, it worked good for the rest of my face except that it also struggles to get my jawline very smooth without skin stretching.
It delivered a very flawless head shave once again and tbh, one of the closest ones I ever had without much effort or any redness or bleeding. I'd say it's perfectly suited to that job - I might even be tempted to try going ATG on the sides of my head next time, something that usually ended in razor burn or ingrown hairs with other razors. Once I fold my ears over, it also has no problem with the tricky areas around the ears and doesn't cut me there.
As for the face? Very smooth on the sideburns and cheeks. Good to OK on the neck (ATG pass felt less cool, but Derby Premiums aren't the sharpest either). As for the jawline, I definitely need to stretch my skin there up again despite the pivoting action. My jawbones are very prominent and this is, as it seems, a necessary technique to get the underside shaved smoothly. Definitely something I need to keep in mind for next time. As explained, it doesn't do any contouring and I need an additional tool for that. So far though, that's the only flaw that I can find with it.
As for the software, usually Peaches & Cognac is awesome, but today I had a mild burn on my face from it. More of a tingling. I know A&E uses a lot of fragrance, but I usually never had problems with this one here and couldn't feel anything weird on my scalp. Strange... Then again, this soap is now a bit older and still in Peter's OG Kaizen base - we're now up to "Ultima" from Kaizen2 and Kaizen2e. Maybe frag oils become more aggressive with age or protective ingredients less effective? Who knows.
I don't know whether fragrance oils become more aggressive, but there were certainly complaints about fragrance burn early-on with A&E. I've never had an issue, but there was enough noise that I think some formulations did bother people. Over time, I've heard much less about this. Peaches & Cognac is one of my favorites. Like you, I have an early release. As I get very close to finishing my tub, I hope to get the same thing in Ultima 2 so I can compare them. I'll bet they are different, but we'll see.
June 15th, 2026
Shave 124 of the brain bowl