Southern Witchcrafts | Autumn Ash Leo Frilot Tru-Stone Copper Matrix | AP Shave Co. SynBad 30mm Ever-Ready SE | Delta Echo | Gem PTFE Once again, I'm trying out a product from an artisan who's new to me. This would seem to be the right season to break this one out, too. Southern Witchcrafts, hailing from Tucker, Georgia, have some peculiar scent notes for the products in their catalog. It's my understanding their packaging has recently undergone a revamp, and unless I'm mistaken, the soap base has also experienced an upgrade. Honestly, several of the offerings were enticing, but I settled on "Autumn Ash" and "Alchemist" as my introduction to this artisan. No complaints on the packaging from me. The labels appear to be vinyl and arrived (from Maggard) without blemish or bubble. The soap tubs are your standard all-black PET, and the splashes are plastic as well and resemble those used by Storybook Soapworks. I've not seen these EdP bottles before, but they fit the motif and look cool. Upon cracking open the tub of Autumn Ash, I was immediately met with a powerful sweet maple syrup note that overwhelmed anything else that may have accompanied it. Needless to say, it needed to air out as is often the case with a new tub. After giving it a few minutes, I revisited it, and as expected, the maple settled down and musky damp earth with a suggestion of mushroom was faintly detected. Despite their sharing very few common notes (smoke and cedar), off the puck, Autumn Ash reminded me of Chiseled Face's "Ghost Town Barber". Upon lathering, this drastically changed, and was actually closer to Barrister and Mann's "Fougère Gothique". Autumn Ash is it's own thing, mind you, but if you like fragrances in the vein of Fougère Gothique, you'll likely enjoy this. Upon lathering, Autumn Ash opens with a warm syrupy and smoky maple that's immediately mitigated by damp earth. Again, I feel like there's a faint mushroom note, but it may well be my brain filling in for the expected, given the convincing damp earth note. Specifically, the image of damp earth is that of rich, black spongy soil rife with ancient tree litter remains. As the shave progresses, the fragrance continues to descend to a muskier and thicker fragrance that stops just short of becoming murky. I can not pick up the documented ash note in the lather, but the overall fragrance does lift up towards the end with a slightly edgier resin and spice. The soap in the puck is of medium firmness such that pressing a finger in the middle causes very little crumbling followed by a smooth dent. This vegan base doesn't seem to have any quirks in terms of loading and lather building. A 45-second load in my damp 30mm synthetic knot provided more than adequate yield for a 2+ pass head and face shave. It did require a fair amount of water to optimize which, as always, is an observation and not a detraction. Test lathers the night before proved it can be drowned if you try, but there's plenty of room before you reach that point. In practice, the lather-building is intuitive and results in a hyper-white, voluminous and moderately dense substrate with a bright even sheen. You cannot brush away the lather when it's optimized, thereby making this quite the paintable lather. First-swipe slickness is very good, and residual slickness is such that hasty sweeping passes can safely be pulled-off in the absence of visible lather. Post-shave is on-par with today's medium to upper-grade soaps, but not yet select status. I will note, 18 months ago, this post-shave would have been considered elite. In terms of fragrance, the splash unfolds in similar fashion to the soap, but the maple is much more forward and longer lasting. I would prefer this be toned down a bit, but that's just my personal aversion to sweet fragrances. Ultimately, after about 30 minutes, the sweet aspect does indeed burn off, relenting to the rich damp earthy heart and base. Unlike the soap, the ash does make a presence that is surprisingly pleasant and well-blended among the ensemble. Just a touch more smoke or birch tar would have stifled this fragrance, but instead a fair bit of artisanal skill is exhibited in taking Autumn Ash to the edge without stepping into the offensive. The paired splash is water-based and contains witch hazel, aloe gel, vitamin E, Polysorbate 20, and glycerin. It is water-thin and has a pale milky amber color. It distributes easily. It's soothing, and I detected no tackiness or greasiness. I can't say if it's particularly moisturizing or not, because the soap wasn't drying to begin with. This fragrance is so nice, I'm happy I picked up the EdP. After priming the bottle, I applied a single pump to the solar plexus. The EdP never completely abandons the maple, but the sweetness does abate after about an hour or so. Six hours out, I continue to enjoy the full complement of Autumn Ash's dark but pleasant earthy, resinous accord. Ultimately, I'm quite pleased with this base's performance. After just one use, I feel like the only aspect that could improve more than incrementally would be the post-shave. That's not to say it lacks, but rather the current upper-tier artisan soaps' post-shaves have recently attained ridiculous heights. As of this writing, I've taken a whiff of my "Alchemist" tub along with extensively reviewing the fragrances offered by Southern Witchcrafts. It would seem this brand will make its mark by way of thoughtful, complex, edgy, and daring fragrances while still offering the crowd-pleasers like lavender, sandalwood, and cedar. I anticipate continued and long-term success from this artisan. Alternate SOTD Pics
Thanks for the review! Have been eyeing SW for a while now. Their scent profiles sound intereresting and the EDT bottles are unique.
very nice detailed review,shame I am not a fan of maple syrup.I prefer cane syrup being a southerner.
