The Shave Den’s Winter Pagoda is fairly sweetly scented. And that’s about it; other than the sweetness, it’s not all that distinctive. It’s supposed to be “frost and white woods with sweet amber and light musk”, but to be honest, it’s hard to really make out any of the individual scents. Maybe a bit of the musk, but overall, it’s kind of bland. Vaguely pleasant, but boring.

And that’s when sniffing the soap itself. Once applied to the face, there’s not much there at all.

For the lather, the usual caveats for the Shave Den apply; load your brush very heavily, and then add your water gradually, and you’ll should be able to hit the sweet spot with a good balance of lather thickness and glide. It’s easy to overshoot though, and can be tricky to get just right.

7/10 Scent Pleasantness

7/10 Scent Strength

7/10 Lather Quality

So, overall, meh. 6/10 I guess. There’s definitely better stuff out there.

Cost: A one ounce sample goes for $2.50, or $6.99 for a full 4 ounce puck (an extra $2 if you want a tub with it).

Gear used:

Ingredients: Glycerin, Aqua, Olive Oil, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Borate, Sweet Almond Oil, Sodium Palmate, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoate, Palm Acid, Coconut Acid, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, and fragrance.