The PAA aftershaves and soaps have tremendous scents, to my nose. The aftershave also is a top tier performer, but the soap is not in my very top tier (although it's very good).
I don't buy into the drama either. PAA puts out a good product and thats all I care about. I have Sandalwood, CaD, Oud Spice and Deja Fougere. The soaps whip up into a thick creamy lather and the after shaves are top shelf...IMHO.
I think all the drama is best left in the past. I have their CAD shave soap and its a great performer. I got it early on in my "collecting" and haven't looked at them in a while. Recently got their 400 style shave brush and I have to say its an amazing handle. They also make great aftershaves. and they have good prices of other brands on their site. They ship fast too.
My first experience with PAA was before it existed in its current iteration. Frances at Petal Pusher Fancies was one of my favorite vendors in my early days. Her products and customer service were unmatched. And I experienced all that love right in the middle of the drama. I continue to support her, and her PAA partner, as I've always been treated well by both of them, and their products. Reading testimonials by others who might have had different experiences (or not) will not affect my positive view of this couple or their products.
Yea the longevity of their aftershaves reminds me a bit of Fine, bordering on EDT strength. I agree that the soap base is not top tier, but some of the scents are awesome.
I recently bought a PAA Bakelite Slant and I have to admit, its a great little razor. Its bakelite, so its pretty light but the blades fit snugly in them, the razor seems to be of quality contruction, its open comb and its a great little shaver. For me, that razor with a German Wilkinson provides BBS 3-pass shaves with minimal irritation every time. Its not quite to the level of the shavette shaves that Im used to but for a safety razor, its pretty darned good. Ive also got PAA's Atomic Rocket brush and its a great brush, although its a bit big for my liking. You cant go wrong for $12 though. Ive also got a bunch of his soaps: Tokyo Rose, Sandalwood, Paredolia and Agharta and theyre all very good soaps. Ive read some of the drama of the past with PAA and its all whatever for me. All that matters to me is does PAA make quality products, do they ship things out in a tiely manner and do they provide good customer service. FWIW, about a month ago I emailed PAA to inquire about the label on Tokyo Rose. I found that graphic interesting because it depicts a geisha holding a knife behind her back, with American soliders in the distance. I know that with most of his soaps, theres a story that is behind it, so I was just curious. I sent the email out at 5am on a Sunday and within a few hours, I got an email back from Douglas Smythe and over the course of the day, he and I sent back 5 or 6 emails about that soap and about asian inspired soaps in general. Ive watched a few of his videos on Ebay and based on how the emails were worded, I believe that it was him and he seems like a cool dude. He didnt have to email me back on a Sunday and he didnt have to shoot the breeze with me about soaps. Id like to believe that he has better things to do on a Sunday and I can tell you that if it were me, I wouldnt have answered an email until Monday. LOL
Overall, I find PAA soaps to be just average. Nothing wrong with them, but nothing really stands out above the pack to me. On the up-side they offer tons scent choices. On the down-side, I find the scent strength to be a bit weak and numerous scents are copies from other manufacturers' that I find to be a bit less complex and enticing than the originals. I'd equate them to Razorock. A good value, but not the best soap in the den.
You could say the same thing about just about every soapmaker though. Theres only so many new scents that you can come up with and most soapmakers simply have their take on classic scents.
