Thread: Declaration Grooming - Icarus Base

Well, since there seems to be some debate as to which is better, the Icarus or the Bison base, I have ordered a tub of the Icarus Contemplation and the Bison TSM Fougere. We will see which I like better from a scent and performance perspective once they arrive next week.

Originally Posted by RayClem

Well, since there seems to be some debate as to which is better, the Icarus or the Bison base, I have ordered a tub of the Icarus Contemplation and the Bison TSM Fougere. We will see which I like better from a scent and performance perspective once they arrive next week.

I have the Bison in yuzu/rose/patchouli scent and love it! I would say the scent strength of Y/R/P is a 6 and Icarus is a 2. As far as performance differnence they are both fantastic. The Icarus is a bit more slick and the post save is far better than the bison IMO. Both are great I just wish Icarus had a stronger/longer lasting scent.

Interested to hear your take on both.

I shaved with the Contemplation scented soap today. Exact same review as the Shore. Exceptional performance, nice scent but way too faint, almost undetectable for me.

I am still waiting on mine, but if the very light scent noted by many is typical of the current Icarus soaps, it is no wonder that many people note the underlying animal funkiness when first opening the containers.

I know that some essential and fragrance oils are rather expensive, so perhaps DG is minimizing the scent, trying to keep the Icarus soaps from becoming so expensive that people are reluctant to purchase them. Both my Icarus Contemplation and Bison TSM Fougere were $25 each. That is well above the price point of many excellent competitors, so DG needs to proivide superb soaps both in scent and performance.

Below is a response from Scott Stewart, Owner | Declaration Grooming

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Hey Richard -

You're the first person to mention a light scent on any of the new soaps, so that is interesting. They have cured for a few weeks (to let the animalic scent of the base air out) and I suspect that the scent is currently light due to some sublimation from the outside of the puck as a result.

I would suspect, but not guarantee, that as you work past the outside of the puck the scent strength will increase accordingly.

If this is an unacceptable guess on my part then just let me know how you would like to proceed.

Thanks,

Scott Stewart
Owner | Declaration Grooming
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Very promising response from the owner of the company. Sounds like he is willing to stand behind his product.
They are on my radar for a future purchase. Thanks for starting this thread. Ken

I've always found Scott a great guy to do business with-I've bought soaps and brushes from him, and he's always been very helpful.

I agree with all the comments on the excellent performance of the Icarus base.

It's different than the DG Bison base in that the lather is more 'structured'. This is a term of art I learned from watching a video interview that Will from Barrister's made. He said the use of fats that are solid at room temperature-which Icarus does-will create a more 'structured' lather than a base that uses fats that are liquid at room temperature-as the DG Bison base does, and thus produces a more 'unstructured' lather. This is similar to the Barrister Glissant base-a more structured lather vs. the Reserve base-a more 'unstructured' lather.

As far as the scent, I can see Scott's point. The first iteration of the Icarus base was in the Santal Auster, a collaboration with Chatillon Lux. Shawn used very expensive sandalwood oil in that, and it was an expensive soap. Some reported a 'funky' smell of the base that came through, although I never experienced that with the one I got.

The first 'new' Icarus base I tried was the Sweet Lemon, and that, to my nose anyway, is a very strong scent, one of the strongest in my den. In comparison, the Shore is more muted, and Contemplation even more so. I'm going to use them more often to see if the scent increases as the soap is used.

Originally Posted by Robini

Below is a response from Scott Stewart, Owner | Declaration Grooming

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Richard -

You're the first person to mention a light scent on any of the new soaps, so that is interesting. They have cured for a few weeks (to let the animalic scent of the base air out) and I suspect that the scent is currently light due to some sublimation from the outside of the puck as a result.

I would suspect, but not guarantee, that as you work past the outside of the puck the scent strength will increase accordingly.

If this is an unacceptable guess on my part then just let me know how you would like to proceed.

Thanks,

Scott Stewart
Owner | Declaration Grooming
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't imagine his response. The light scent seems to be a common complaint from other forums and on Facebook.

I think Scott's response is realistic. When we smell a soap directly from the jar, what we are primarily smelling is the top notes as they are the most volatile components of the aroma. All hot processed soaps have to cure after they are poured to allow excess moisture to evaporate and also allow any residual hydroxide to react with the fatty acids. In this curing process, many of the volatile components of the scent also evaporate. Most of that evaporation will occur from the top surface of the puck. Thus, when a soap is first opened, the scent we detect will be missing a portion of the top notes that are present in the soap. After several shaves with the soap, we go deeper into the puck and should start to smell the true scent. I have noted this with a number of soaps,not just this one.

I recently purchased a puck of WSP Olympus, which is supposed to be inspired by the scent of Creed Aventus. When I first opened the tin, I could hardly detect any scent at all. However, after several shaves, I finally began to smell the wonderful aroma of pineapple and other scent notesfrom the cologne scent. I wish it were stronger, but it is a nice scent.

Due to complaints about animal funkiness in the Icarus soaps, it seems Scott is allowing the soaps to cure longer than normal. Thus, you might need to go a little deeper than normal into the puck to find the true scent. You could always scrape off the top layer of the puck, but why waste an excellent soap? Unless the scent is reformulated to make it stronger, Contemplation will always be considered a lightly scented soap, but I expect the scent will strengthen as I continue to use it.