Van Yulay - Soap of the Gods "Hephaestus"
Rubberset 200-4 | Omega Boar
Gillette Pre-war Tech | Feather Hi-Stainless (1)
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F75LeHC8.jpg&hash=d9acd4076c94c4f9f02e48aad8d8e3b6)
Instead of belaboring my thoughts regarding the performance of yet another Van Yulay product, I'll refer you to my previous posts. Otherwise, I will simply stipulate that having 15 Van Yulay soaps in my den, they all perform in line with my other favorite artisans and can compete on every level.
Now, on to the scent. Van Yulay messes with the nose on this one. For just two primary fragrances, Hephaestus is surprisingly complex. It's as-advertised with lime and gunpowder, but the results are quite different from what I'd expected. A few swirls of the wet boar knot released an interesting fragrance with all the sharpness of lime minus the green. It mellowed somewhere in the second pass and began to take on notes of wet nickel without abandoning the lime. As the shave progressed, the nickel became more pronounced as gunpowder. Due to my almost constant exposure to gunpowder, I'm often noseblind to it. This soap taints it just enough with the lime to set it off.
The paired alcohol-free splash is very lime-forward such that I expected a citrus sting, but there was none. There was also a pleasant creaminess that I suspect is from the skin-care ingredients. After about a half-hour, I began to pick up on some hints of gunpowder. Ultimately, the fragrance melds into a charming, but slightly dark, lime. My wife very much likes this fragrance as well.
Despite the peculiar notes, they work well enough together as to avoid being placed in the novelty category. This scent would be appropriate for just about any occasion.
(Regarding the pic: some of you may recognize that's a pressure plate from a clutch assembly. It's the stock one from my '98 Trans Am)
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