16.07.2025

• Brush: yellow bakelite handle w/ 22 mm AP Shave Co. SynBad knot
• Razor: RazoRock Hawk V2 w/ Cyber handle
• Blade: KAI Captain Protouch MG
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park
• Post-Shave: OAM sensitive skin toner

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-> 2 passes on the head, 1 for neck line and cheek line each. Nice and smooth!

For the BVWSC shave (it’s Thursday by the time I’m posting in my time zone, but the shave happened while it was still Wednesday) we used Irving Park by the very talented Vida (owner of Chicago Grooming). Thanks to @BossHoggins10 for the generous sample!

YSL Rive Gauche and by proxy Irving Park would on paper be something I shouldn’t like, thanks to anise, lavender and geranium - scents that usually turn me off. That being said, on paper is different from the real world: it’s blended nicely with the other very pleasant notes that it smells really pleasant to my nose. I would say I can notice and appreciate the hint of bergamot, but I don’t really get anything else individually. It’s really a thorough cologne blend. A good one though. For those male wetshavers who aren’t as crazy as us hobbyists with tons of different soaps, I can see this being a solid daily driver. Perhaps better suited for the other 3 seasons except summer, but today it was a rainy day over here so it actually worked for me.

As for the performance, it was as great as expected. Never had any problems with CG lathers. I had to use a tiny brush for sample lathering which was a bit awkward for head shaving, but it became useable pretty fast. Good primary and residual slickness (important during head shaves) and a very nice post shave skin feeling.

Overall, a really good shave. Thanks to Boss for the opportunity to try this soap!