Nearly Naked Soapery Commander: Micro Artisan Ep. 22
I tried to record this one last week. Swore I pushed record. Went to turn the camera off, hit the button, and that’s when it actually turned on. Whole shave, gone. Then I left on a trip for a few days, just got home about an hour ago, and I wanted to get this out to you right away.
This is Micro Artisan episode 22. We’re looking at Nearly Naked Soapery and their Commander shaving soap. Small shop on Etsy. I have the puck loaded into my Black Ship Grooming Co. Grandpa’s Shaving Mug, so all I had left for this video was a crumpled wrapper I had to dig out of the trash. Worth saving.
The Commander Soap
Commander comes with a matching balm in the same fragrance. If I’m remembering right, you can get the soap puck and the balm together for around $28. Fantastic value for both. Nearly Naked Soapery does have a website, but it looks like it’s under construction with no products listed yet, so go straight to their Etsy shop. Link is down below.
They have four other fragrances besides Commander: Trail Boss, Bay Rum, White Tiger, and Woodsman. Good range for a small shop.
Here’s how the label describes Commander:
Strong as the ocean, steady as the North Star, bright Japanese grapefruit, bergamot, and lemon open the shave before giving way to peppercorn, ginger, aquatic marine notes, and a commanding base of cedar, patchouli, vetiver, and frankincense. Confident, sophisticated, completely intentional.
On paper that’s a citrus-aquatic up top with some real weight underneath. Japanese grapefruit, bergamot, and lemon to open, peppercorn and ginger through the heart, then cedar, patchouli, vetiver, and frankincense holding the base. That base could go dark and resinous if they leaned into the frankincense. Worth finding out.
The ingredient list: stearic acid, shea butter, potassium hydroxide, coconut oil, cocoa butter, sodium hydroxide, glycerin, avocado oil, castor oil, fragrance, sugar, and mulberry silk. Vegan base, mulberry silk in the mix.
This fragrance is something else. If they had an EDP I’d already have it on the way. Loading up the boar knot and just smelling the puck while I worked up a lather, I kept thinking I need to get a few more from this shop.
Hardware
For the razor I’m running the Shield Elite Titanium Dominator. This is only my second use, first time was in that video I failed to record. Very thin head, interesting profile, similar to another razor that came out recently. I got it direct from Mike at Shield Razors.
I’ve bought four new Shield razors. Once the slant arrives, I’ll have all six in the new lineup. I also took the Shield Stamper Elite Titanium single edge on my trip with me. Fantastic single edge razor. But I hadn’t put the Dominator through a head shave yet and didn’t want to be stuck trying an unfamiliar razor away from home.
For the brush, I went vintage. This is my Heritage Collection Merit 99.5 with a boar knot. I honestly don’t know why I haven’t been reaching for this one more often. Absolutely love it.
Lather and Shave
Commander lathers up beautifully. Takes plenty of water and makes an incredibly slick and protective lather. Performance was wonderful, no complaints at all.
I only had time for two passes since I just got home late. Apologies for the rushed pace. Even with two passes I got a fantastic shave. The Dominator runs about medium aggression to me, but it is super efficient. That first use with this soap and this razor together I went BBS. That tells you something about both of them.
The Balm
After the rinse I came back up for the Commander balm. A little goes a long way.
The marine notes hit right away along with the patchouli and vetiver, but what really gets you is the frankincense. The cedar comes forward a little later than I remembered from that first use. What’s interesting about Commander is where it goes. It starts out as this breezy citrusy aquatic, then it moves directly into darker territory. It’s got a lot of depth and sophistication to it. A lot of aquatics just stay light and airy the whole time. Commander doesn’t do that.
I’ve got a couple of little weepers from rushing through this one. That’s on me, not the razor.
Check out Nearly Naked Soapery on Etsy. Link is down below. The prices are incredible, the soap performs, and the fragrance is outstanding. Find your peace in what and where you can. See you next time on A Texan Shaves.