It can be tough keeping up with the artisan shave soap market these days. I have been trying to look a little closer at the new or less-talked-about artisans and recently had a chance to try Night Watch Soap Co.’s Kauboi shave soap. Here are my impressions
Night Watch Kauboi
From the Night Watch Soap Co. website:
“An inspiration from JOOP! Homme. The scent begins with engaging citrus notes, followed by warm floral accords that will embrace you, then finally a sweet woodsy finish and you’ll find yourself with a spicy, virile fragrance that sparks curiosity.
“This soap was created to honor two traditional wet shavers, Carlos De Medeiros (@s_0_g_6) and Paola Caló (@samuraishaving), and their love for this fragrance. They had the idea to bring this fragrance to the traditional wet shaving community.”
Ingredients: Distilled Water, Stearic Acid, Organic Beef Tallow, Shea Butter, Kokum Butter, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Mango Butter, Lanolin, Fragrance, Sodium Lactate
What Does JOOP! Homme Smell Like?
I’m not familiar with JOOP! Homme so I asked my favorite search engine. The results were broadly a “masculine oriental scent with a blend of Cinnamon, Jasmine and Honey,” and “notes of orange blossom, cinnamon and amber.”
My Experience With Night Watch Kauboi
Presentation
Night Watch Kauboi shave soap comes in the now ubiquitous artisan four inch wide, four ounce plastic container. There is a label on the side of the container, a convenient detail for those of you who like to stack your containers.
Scent
Personally, I don’t get any of the notes in the JOOP! description. YMMV of course. 🙂
OK, so what does Night Watch Kauboi shave soap smell like to me then? I honestly have a hard time describing it: my notoriously insensitive nose can’t really pick out individual notes. Perhaps more interestingly Mrs. Mantic 59–who has a much better nose–has a difficult time as well.
Broadly, I get “spice.” What kind of spice eludes me. Peppery? Some kind of incense (which would make sense given the oriental theme)? Nutmeg-ish?
In any case, I like the scent. I do get sort of an oriental vibe from it.
I would term the strength of the scent as “moderate” and moderately persistent. I think Night Watch has done a good job making this scent approachable to the majority of shavers.
Lather
Lather is quick to build, relatively dense, and voluminous, even in my “hard” water. I find it a bit “thirsty.” The consistency is between a yogurt and a meringue for me.
Performance
Overall I find the performance of Night Watch Kauboi shave soap to be very good. For me the lubrication/glide aspect is excellent, though I find the cushion/protection aspect as just good. I got a few weepers from shaves with Kauboi, even with the mild razors I prefer.
Other reviewers, including Subie Shaves and Marion The Barbarian on YouTube seem to get better results with the cushioning aspect. Maybe it’s my “hard” water?
After The Shave
Post-shave skin moisturization has been excellent for me with this shave soap.
Conclusion
It’s great to see shave soap artisans continuing to come into the world of old school wet shaving. While Night Watch Kauboi shave soap may not make Sharpologist’s best shave soap list just yet, I’m definitely keeping an eye on them to see how they evolve. Night Watch Kauboi shave soap is available from these sources.
