Phoenix and Beau - Whitechapel
DrivenLegend Red & Black | APShaveCo Tuxedo 30mm
Ever-Ready 1912 | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE
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Whitechapel is my first Phoenix and Beau soap. Obviously, the label on this limited run caught my eye, so it made for a good opportunity to try them out. The label is certainly striking if not a little difficult to capture in a photograph. Upon initial inspection, I thought it was a screen-printed label, but it is in fact a sticker label, only very well done. The label is thick textured vinyl, and the "blood splatter" (not "spatter" in this case) is raised beyond that. For those that don't know, this is a Jack The Ripper themed soap. The blood splatter is in the shape of a nude female torso, and Jack and his knife can be seen in the negative space.
The soap concept was borne of a contest in which the winner named the soap, defined its theme, and played at least some part in outlining the scent profile. It was inspired by five victims of Jack The Ripper. Each note was influenced by the surroundings in which their bodies were found. The place was Whitechapel. The notes were to be smoke, chocolate/caramel, leather, lilac, and tobacco. I can provide a screenshot of the original listing if there's interest. Macabre as it may be, its creativity can't be denied. This, alone, will offend some. The art will offend others. This writing is not intended to broach that aspect, but rather comment on my impressions of the overall product.
The all-black tub is your standard plastic offering. There are no visible identifying marks for me to track down the precise model, but other than being black, they're the same as my L&L Grooming tubs in every other aspect. The tub itself being quite flexible and the lid is fairly rigid. I didn't measure it, but it's documented to have 150g of product, and the tub is just over half full. The product is a pale tan color and is on the firm end of the croap spectrum. It appears to have been pressed into the tub with the aide of a spatula or similar tool.
The fragrance off the tub was mostly smoky vetiver and leather with perhaps a very faint floral note, but not such that I could define the specific floral. Lathered, the smoky vetiver is still forward, but it's much cleaner than say, Catie's Bubbles' "322". The leather note is present, but muted throughout most of the shave. With continued exposure during a 2+ pass shower head and face shave, the floral note also remained muted, but useful in keeping this from being a single-faceted aroma. It's possible I detected some cocoa, but I was searching for it given the documented notes. I did not detect tobacco.
I used the 30mm APShaveCo Tuxedo knot both for a test lather the night before and for the full shave today. I'd read some less-than-stellar reviews and was thus fully prepared for a mediocre experience. Fortunately, I was surprised. This beef tallow-based soap loads and performs very similarly to Barrister and Mann's white label soaps. With that it shares the rather substantial thirst. I learned a lot from the test lather and found it could handle even irresponsible amounts of hard water before finally collapsing. I suspect this thirst is the culprit for some of the below-average reviews. In pushing the water, I obtained a very dense lather. While this first go yielded a sufficiently slick lather, it wasn't quite as slick as Barrister and Mann's white label. The residual slickness was above average, but again, not to the level of that of B&M's. The post-shave was at least competitive with my other favored artisans, such that skipping a post-product could be entertained. I almost never skip an aftershave, so I had planned on using Catie's Bubbles' "322" regardless. I chose it for the smoky vetiver of which I'm a fan. B&M's Hallows may have been a better "pairing" with the cocoa element, but it's irrelevant since the soap has little to nil lingering fragrance. In this case, it's more about extending the experience.
I've been intrigued by Phoenix and Beau's offerings for some time, now, and I'm glad to have picked this one up. Since they're across the pond as it were, this single tub cost me $31.52 shipped to Texas. Given that, I'm not compelled to randomly explore more of their offerings since similarly performing soaps are readily available stateside. Additionally, I gravitate to soaps with matching splashes, and Phoenix and Beau apparently have no such offerings. That said, when a unique theme and eye-catching label comes along again, I won't hesitate to jump on it. Especially now that I'm confident they offer a product that performs as good as it looks.
Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate (Bovine), Potassium Castorate, Cocos Lactate, Glycerin, Potassium Safflowerate, Potassium Shea Butterate, Lanolin, Allantoin, Tussah Silk, Vetiver EO, Sandalwood EO, Jasmine Absolute, Ylang Ylang EO, Leather FO, Chocolate FO, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Eugenol, Farnesol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Linalool.
Here's a gif I crudely made in an attempt to show the label's texture:
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Lather pic:
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Another texture pic:
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Click to expand...
