Str8 Shave Saturday: PAA Coop (a Doop) with the Dreifuss 1919

Hey, what is up, my marvelous misfits of wet shaving? Welcome back to the channel. It’s Wes, your favorite talking torso. Hope everyone had a solid Memorial Day weekend and found a moment to close their eyes and give thanks to everyone who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we enjoy. That matters every time.

Today’s Str8 Shave Saturday is with PAA’s Coop (a Doop). The name tells you what it is. Coop is a homage to Joop! Homme, the oriental powerhouse from the late ’80s and early ’90s. Right there on the label it says “Coop” with “a doop” underneath it in parentheses, and you’ve got D.B. Cooper himself falling through the sky with money flying out of his backpack. Douglas and Fran over at PAA built the whole D.B. Cooper lore into this release and I love it. If you’ve never heard of D.B. Cooper, use your Google Fu. Back in the ’60s or ’70s something very strange happened, and nobody ever fully explained it. Look it up. It’s a great story.

Coop (a Doop) by PAA

I’ll be upfront with you. Growing up I was a Drakkar Noir guy. That was my scent. Joop! was a close second and I did use it, but Drakkar was home base. So cracking this tub, it hits. Smells just like I remember Joop! That bold, sweet, warm oriental that doesn’t back down. There was a reason that fragrance was everywhere back then.

The note pyramid on Coop, pulled from PAA’s own listing:

Top: mandarin, lemon, bergamot, orange blossom Heart: jasmine, lily of the valley, heliotrope, cinnamon Base: vanilla, tonka bean, patchouli, sandalwood

Classic oriental build. Fresh citrus opening, a floral heart with cinnamon spice underneath, then a warm powdery base with patchouli and sandalwood holding it down. It’s a lot of fragrance. That’s the point.

Scent off the tub on the Tennessee Whiskey Proof Scale - zero proof is the worst, 100 proof is the best - I give Coop a 60 proof. Here’s my reasoning: this is a powerful fragrance. When you open the tub the projection is real. It’s not overbearing, but the first hit is a lot. That’s an 80s powerhouse doing what an 80s powerhouse does. The 60 is honest, not a knock. It settles down and the soap absolutely performs.

The base is PAA’s Ultra Premium CK-6 formula. Vegan base. I’ve used PAA a lot and I can tell you right off: it’s a phenomenal soap. Good lather, does everything you need it to do. No complaints on the performance side at all.

The Shave

Hardware today is the Dreifuss 1919. I want to spend a second on this razor because I’ve been really enjoying it. The size feels right in the hand, and the grind is a full hollow. I keep finding myself gravitating toward full hollow grinds - there’s something about that geometry that works for me. But the thing that stood out when I first picked this razor up: the factory edge. It was shave-ready straight out of the box. First razor I’ve ever gotten from a manufacturer that arrived genuinely sharp and ready to go. That made an impression on me.

Brush today is the Klenzo. I got a good lather going and I’ll be honest - I added menthol crystals. I know. For a proper soap review you keep it clean, you don’t change the variables. Fair argument. But summer is coming on, it’s getting hot outside, and I wanted the cooling action. In they went.

Here’s what I’ll say about that: menthol goes fantastic with Coop. The oriental fragrance and the menthol cooling work together in a way that surprised me. Really nice combination. If you’re a menthol fan, think about trying it with this soap. Just don’t get it in your mouth. It tastes nothing like it smells. Trust me.

One thing I also had to remind myself today: coming back to a straight razor after spending time with a DE, I always have to lighten my touch. That pressure muscle memory drifts. I need to use my left hand more consistently too. Maybe I address that properly come November with the leftover shave challenge, but I probably should start now.

Post-Shave and Final Verdict

After cleaning up I put on the Coop aftershave. Same fragrance family as the soap. You get that fresh citrus up front from the mandarin and lemon and bergamot, then the floral heart comes through with the jasmine and lily of the valley, and then you land in the base - vanilla, tonka bean, patchouli, sandalwood. Woodsy. Powdery. Warm.

The splash opened Coop up in a way that the tub alone didn’t show me. Post-splash on the Tennessee Whiskey Proof Scale: 85 proof. Big move from the 60 off the tub. For me, the splash is where this fragrance really shows what it can do.

As always I got the wifey’s take. On the Tennessee Wifey Proof Scale - same system, zero to 100 - she gave Coop an 85 proof. When I first asked her if she remembered what Joop! smelled like, she wasn’t sure. Then she got her nose on the splash and it came back immediately. “Oh yeah, I remember this.” She was always a Drakkar Noir person, same as me, but she likes it. If your partner is into those 80s orientals - Drakkar, Joop!, that territory - Coop is going to land with them.

Is Coop better than Drakkar Noir? Drakkar was my scent growing up. I’m not going to argue around that. But that’s not a knock on Coop. It’s a great soap. I’ll be reaching for it a lot over the summer, and I think those base notes - patchouli, vanilla, tonka, sandalwood - will make it a solid pick in the fall too. It’s versatile. Head over to PAA and pick up a set. It’s a fine shave and it smells fantastic.

Thanks for watching, gents. Happy shaves.