Catie's Bubbles for t/wetshaving | Dirty Prose
BSB-Ti | HMW Extra Dense
Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE
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For someone who claims to have an intolerance to rose, I've certainly had my share of them lately. In reality, I do like rose fragrances. However, not all of them agree with me, and I still haven't quite isolated the reason. Sweet or dry doesn't seem to be the deciding factor. I've essentially resigned to the fact that if rose is quite forward in the fragrance I should probably avoid it. Otherwise, while I may enjoy the fragrance, if it's too forward---especially in warm weather---a rather intense and nauseating headache ensues. While it's a rather amateur way of handling this issue, I essentially avoid fragrances with "rose" in the title.
Dirty Prose seems self-explanatory, and possibly one I should avoid, even though Chris Cullen is one of my favorite artisans. Taking nothing from the redditor who contributed to the project, knowing that Chris maintained some creative control along with the fact that both Haitian vetiver and white grapefruit are among the architecture, I felt this was a relatively safe call. Besides, it was a way to support the r/wetshaving community, and should it not have worked out for me, it would have been easy to flip. After my first use today, I am happy to say this one won't be going anywhere.
I've previously commented on my impressions of Catie's Bubbles' Luxury Cream base, so I won't rehash it here except to reiterate that it continues to maintain its status among my preferred bases available today.
Straight out of the 98°F mailbox today, I cracked open the tub and was met with an excessively heavy and singular rose note. I let it cool off for a couple hours before using it, and it did not permeate the room as I had anticipated. However, the shower shave yields a best-case scenario (or worst, depending on your affinity) given the enclosure and the sweet, thick rose quickly filled the shower. It is a heavenly experience for sure. This rose does bow down rather quickly however in favor of the more earthy elements, but this never achieves "dirty" status in my assessment. (My gauge has forever been adulterated by the insidiously addictive "322" that truly displays Cullen's ability to sling Haitian vetiver with demonic acumen.) That said, the initial sweet aspect of the rose was obliterated by the earth right away. It is one of the more abrupt turns in a soap fragrance I've experienced. As the 2.5 pass head-and-face shave nears its end, a sharp and muted bitter citrus begins to pierce through the thick earthy and slightly smoky rose. If the soap had been my only exposure to the fragrance, I may have called this note bergamot. Yes, I was somewhat surprised that citrus was the latter element to make a showing. This is a well-blended and crafted story of a fragrance even in the confining construct of soap.
The splash and then the parfum both open in a similar fashion, but the citrus is more accurately identifiable as white grapefruit and maintains a lasting presence reminiscent of Catie's Bubbles' fifth anniversary production, "V". In fact, if you're a fan of "V", I would venture to say you'll like "Dirty Prose". That's not to say that these two are so similar that you only need one of them in your den. I'm just particularly drawn to the interplay between persistent grapefruit and the grounding of the smoky vetiver and then experience their crashing together to something greater than their parts. As should be expected, the parfum displays the ensemble in a more complete, yet protracted fashion. The parfum allows the sweet notes to come through more precisely with a controlled use of patchouli that's separated from other florals and fruits, whereas the soap alone simply represents these as nondescript, but still complex sweets. The dry down of the parfum is simply outstanding as it descends to a darker, spicy, essence that tugs along the surprisingly persistent grapefruit. I'm about 5 hours out now and the accord has plenty of life left as it's approaching a sharp, almost resinous nature.
Dirty Prose is a name that simply does not do this masterfully crafted fragrance justice. While I would have be completely content with a soap and splash set, I'm thrilled there was a parfum option as this is a fragrance that deserves the unabridged story.
Thank you Chris Cullen and r/wetshaving for the thoughtfulness and artistry exhibited in this project.
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