Talbot Shaving & Catie's Bubbles | Valley of Fire
DrivenLegend Red & Black | APShaveCo Tuxedo 30mm
Ever-Ready SE | Gem PTFE
Jimmy Choo | Man
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When I was extended the opportunity to sign-up for the latest Talbot Shaving, Catie's Bubbles, and Ruds Shaves collaboration pre-order, I went all in. Given my knowledge of modern mainstream fragrances is essentially nonexistent, the fact that the scent profile was based on Jimmy Choo Man EdT meant nothing to me. However, the EdT is widely available and reasonably priced for a blind buy, so I took a chance and picked up a 100 mL bottle. I'd been wearing it periodically while I awaited the arrival of the "Valley of Fire" set.
The set was made to commemorate Ruds' 10th wedding anniversary. The Valley of Fire state park being the site of their wedding, and Jimmy Choo Man being a fragrance for which he and his wife share a mutual affinity. The documented notes are: lavender, honeydew melon, pink pepper, pineapple leaf, suede, and patchouli.
Given my occupation involves interaction and often close contact with the public, I typically limit my fragrance application to a single spray, reserving more liberal applications to less professional settings or social outings. (Who am I kidding? My social outings are limited to going to the movies with my wife and our close friend. If church counts as a social outing, my fragrance application is inconsequential given the dulled olfactories the ancient parishioners.) That said, I quickly realized that given the rather top note-heavy Jimmy Choo Man, at least two sprays are essential if I want to enjoy it in any case. It opens with a bright but soft and sweet melon nestled among fibrous greenery. These top notes last longer than expected, and after a couple hours the accord gains some momentum acquiring a rounded sweet creaminess and finally an understated herbaceous lavender which, in my subjective perspective, is the only element that tips the scales to the masculine side of the meter. Projection is weak to fair, and sillage is fair. Longevity is about 5 hours according to my wife, but my nose loses it after about 3 hours. Remember, this is an eau de toilette. The characteristics impart a light, fun, youthful vibe without being brash or immature.
After having time to develop a sense of the intended fragrance, my soap and splash arrived yesterday. Upon lathering Valley of Fire, the melon notes pop rather convincingly, but they are accompanied by a surprising pineapple-ish note. Jimmy Choo Man has pineapple leaf listed as a note, but the leaf doesn't smell like the fruit, so my nose probably combined the fibrous leaf with the woody lavender in the EdT. I don't detect a pineapple fruit in the EdT, but I do detect something closely related to pineapple fruit in the Valley of Fire soap and splash. This is not a criticism, however. It's a creative turn that set my nose for an Aventus follow-through, but instead it stuck to the script for the Jimmy Choo Man EdT henceforth, taking on the creamy suede, sweet patchouli, and woody lavender. Despite the relative light nature of the target fragrance, the scent strength of the soap was boosted quite a bit, such that I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout the shave. The splash unfolded in a similar fashion with the exception of the suede being the longest hold-out and longevity being three hours, tops.
Talbot Shaving's soap performance is beyond reproach. This base lathers like a dream as long as you are liberal with the water from the very beginning. Primary and residual slickness are matched by very few in the top-level artisan realm, and post-shave is flawless making any post-shave product completely unnecessary. However, the refreshing topper from Catie's Bubbles splash is not to be missed particularly in this full-tilt set-up.
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