Chiseled Face Discussion Thread

Chiseled Face is a “grooming brand” in the sense that it was started by an avid wetshaver and soap-maker (Ron Wiebe). They offer lots of the traditional wetshaving products (soaps, balms, and aftershaves), but I thought I’d start a discussion thread because they also sell fragrances.

(Fun fact: Chiseled Face also collaborated with Zoologist on a number of shave soaps years ago.)

In my experience, all their ”grooming” products (aftershaves, soaps, etc.) are quite potent. In a Reddit AMA from several years ago, Ron Wiebe noted that:

“I scent my soaps to the max level recommended by the IFRA (this is not law, just a suggestion, but I think it's a good place to be) and scent my aftershave right to the point of saturation - my base can only hold a certain amount of oils, and that varies from scent to scent.”

I think many here will find Chiseled Face to their liking. It’s an excellent little artisan house, and I’d encourage others to check it out!

To get the discussion going: if you’ve tried Chiseled Face, what’s your favorite fragrance?

I find these brands don't usually get skilled perfumers to make their products. I'll pass.

I own many dozens of shaving soaps and aftershaves from the usual suspects (Stirling, B&M, A&E, DG, Southern Witchcrafts, etc.) and the EDP/EDTs are rarely as good as what I buy from mainstream fragrance designers and niche producers. The odd one from Stirling, Pre de Provence or St. James of London is excellent, but I won’t blind buy any more fragrances from shaving soap vendors.

A soap and AS such as Summer Storm from Chiseled Face smells great but fades quickly. I own this soap/AS and would still use my regular fragrance of the day.

I am a big wetshaving fan with dozens of high end brushes, Wolfman and other high end razors, etc., but I look at fragrances as a totally separate thing. YMMV.

SmellSharpe said:

I own many dozens of shaving soaps and aftershaves from the usual suspects (Stirling, B&M, A&E, DG, Southern Witchcrafts, etc.) and the EDP/EDTs are rarely as good as what I buy from mainstream fragrance designers and niche producers. The odd one from Stirling, Pre de Provence or St. James of London is excellent, but I won’t blind buy any more fragrances from shaving soap vendors.

A soap and AS such as Summer Storm from Chiseled Face smells great but fades quickly. I own this soap/AS and would still use my regular fragrance of the day.

I am a big wetshaving fan with dozens of high end brushes, Wolfman and other high end razors, etc., but I look at fragrances as a totally separate thing. YMMV.

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Thanks for sharing. Summer Storm is a good one. Another I like is Muir(e) Wood, though I’ve only tried the aftershave.

I am perhaps in the minority among fragrance enthusiasts in that I prefer more intimate performance; many aftershaves suit my needs just fine and I wear them as personal fragrances.

That said, most of the EDTs/EDPs I’ve sampled from “grooming” brands have respectable (if perhaps a bit refined) performance. You also get the bonus of affordable matching toiletries, like beard oil or bath soap, which I find lacking (if offered at all) from mainstream fragrance houses.

Chiseled Face’s Midnight Stag aftershave, for instance, has excellent performance, and B&M’s Fougere Gothic EDP will last on clothes through a wash.

As far as wetshaving goes, though I use an affordable DE razor, I don’t get into the brush, blade, and soap craze - give me a good fragrance at an affordable price! I think Chiseled Face offers just that: $35 for 50ml of EDP is better value than even most other grooming brands.

GWM said:

I find these brands don't usually get skilled perfumers to make their products. I'll pass.

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Same here.

GWM said:

I find these brands don't usually get skilled perfumers to make their products.

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I was pleasantly surprised by Captain Fawcett, and I've heard good things about Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements (whose whimsy I appreciate, scents unsmelled), but I don't gravitate toward wet shaving brands. While I'm open to finding exceptions, I'm not looking for them.

I don’t go in for all this male grooming nonsense. A beard trimmer, a quick daily scrape with a razor in the shower to keep things neat. I have an electric shaver I rarely use. No shaving soap and brush, pre shave, beard oil, aftershave balms…I simply don’t have the time or inclination. That, plus the fact that a lot of these brands are US only, means I don’t end up in a place where I even think about buying these kinds of products, including their fragrances. And they often smell, for want of a better word, unsophisticated. I imagine bourbon, tobacco and oak. Add them together, hey we have a ‘manly’ cologne.

Growly said:

I don’t go in for all this male grooming nonsense. A beard trimmer, a quick daily scrape with a razor in the shower to keep things neat. I have an electric shaver I rarely use. No shaving soap and brush, pre shave, beard oil, aftershave balms…I simply don’t have the time or inclination. That, plus the fact that a lot of these brands are US only, means I don’t end up in a place where I even think about buying these kinds of products, including their fragrances. And they often smell, for want of a better word, unsophisticated. I imagine bourbon, tobacco and oak. Add them together, hey we have a ‘manly’ cologne.

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Speaking of nonsense, you really have no experience with wetshaving and/or the male grooming you refer to and no idea what you are talking about do you?

Which unsophisticated brands do you have experience with? I own dozens of different shaving soaps and aftershaves and not one has a bourbon, oak or tobacco note. I wouldn’t consider the scents any more manly than the vast majority of my 200+ designer and niche fragrances.

“A lot of these brands” (I would say the majority) are in countries other than the US. Predominantly Europe.

At least put in a minute of effort to Google things you are unfamiliar with before posting in a wetshaving specific thread.

SmellSharpe said:

Speaking of nonsense, you really have no experience with wetshaving and/or the male grooming you refer to and no idea what you are talking about do you?

Which unsophisticated brands do you have experience with? I own dozens of different shaving soaps and aftershaves and not one has a bourbon, oak or tobacco note. I wouldn’t consider the scents any more manly than the vast majority of my 200+ designer and niche fragrances.

“A lot of these brands” (I would say the majority) are in countries other than the US. Predominantly Europe.

At least put in a minute of effort to Google things you are unfamiliar with before posting in a wetshaving specific thread.

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Touchy!

I seem to have touched a nerve!

Look, if you want to buy a fancy shaving brush, a bowl, a special shaving soap, razor, etc. etc. that’s great.

But remember one thing.

This forum. We are in ‘masculine fragrance discussion’, not shaving and grooming.

I have an interest in fragrance, not shaving.

I don’t go into shaving/grooming forums, so maybe, just maybe, we don’t drag them into the fragrance forums.

Now, to take issue with your specific comment ‘Which unsophisticated brands do you have experience with?’, you haven’t read my post properly. I didn’t say anything about ‘unsophisticated brands’. I said they often smell, FOR WANT OF A BETTER WORD, unsophisticated.

I’m not interested and don’t use shaving soap. You obviously are as you say you have dozens.

SmellSharpe said:

Speaking of nonsense, you really have no experience with wetshaving and/or the male grooming you refer to and no idea what you are talking about do you?

Which unsophisticated brands do you have experience with? I own dozens of different shaving soaps and aftershaves and not one has a bourbon, oak or tobacco note. I wouldn’t consider the scents any more manly than the vast majority of my 200+ designer and niche fragrances.

“A lot of these brands” (I would say the majority) are in countries other than the US. Predominantly Europe.

At least put in a minute of effort to Google things you are unfamiliar with before posting in a wetshaving specific thread.

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I’m going to suggest you try a few of these shaving soaps. I did a google search as you suggested.

WHOLLY KAW King Of Bourbon Shaving Soap 114gr​

Scent: notes of tobacco, bourbon vanilla from madagascar, ginger, vetiver, ylang-ylang, cassia
Made in USA

Barrel & Oak

Classic Shave Soap - Bourbon Cedar 3.15 oz.​

Mama Bear Soaps Kentucky Bourbon Shave Soap​

LOTHUR GROOMING

Bourbon - Shaving Soap - 4oz​

Phoenix shaving

Chocolate Bourbon Artisan Shaving Soap​

Cielo Mercantile

French Bourbon Shaving Soap​

I could go on.

Growly said:

This forum. We are in ‘masculine fragrance discussion’, not shaving and grooming.

I have an interest in fragrance, not shaving.

I don’t go into shaving/grooming forums, so maybe, just maybe, we don’t drag them into the fragrance forums.

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You might want to actually read the post at the top of this thread. It's specifically about fragrances.

I thought this was going to be a thread on the recent resurgence of the trend of mewing.

Growly said:

I’m going to suggest you try a few of these shaving soaps. I did a google search as you suggested.

WHOLLY KAW King Of Bourbon Shaving Soap 114gr​

Scent: notes of tobacco, bourbon vanilla from madagascar, ginger, vetiver, ylang-ylang, cassia
Made in USA

Barrel & Oak

Classic Shave Soap - Bourbon Cedar 3.15 oz.​

Mama Bear Soaps Kentucky Bourbon Shave Soap​

LOTHUR GROOMING

Bourbon - Shaving Soap - 4oz​

Phoenix shaving

Chocolate Bourbon Artisan Shaving Soap​

Cielo Mercantile

French Bourbon Shaving Soap​

I could go on.

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The absolute last thing I would ever do would be to take shaving soap advice from you, but thanks anyways big guy.

Growly said:

Touchy!

I seem to have touched a nerve!

Look, if you want to buy a fancy shaving brush, a bowl, a special shaving soap, razor, etc. etc. that’s great.

But remember one thing.

This forum. We are in ‘masculine fragrance discussion’, not shaving and grooming.

I have an interest in fragrance, not shaving.

I don’t go into shaving/grooming forums, so maybe, just maybe, we don’t drag them into the fragrance forums.

Now, to take issue with your specific comment ‘Which unsophisticated brands do you have experience with?’, you haven’t read my post properly. I didn’t say anything about ‘unsophisticated brands’. I said they often smell, FOR WANT OF A BETTER WORD, unsophisticated.

I’m not interested and don’t use shaving soap. You obviously are as you say you have dozens.

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Not touchy at all. It is actually quite entertaining to see you go in circles with yourself.

This is a shaving related thread. If it upsets you that much that it is in the masculine fragrance discussion forum, why not ask a mod to move it? Or how about this… Just ignore the thread that you obviously have no interest in and resist adding your nonsensical $0.02.

I was thinking it was this kind of "Chiseled Face."

SmellSharpe said:

nonsensical

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I had to look that one up.

FOXHOUND said:

I had to look that one up.

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Me too. I had to Google it as it was a big word for me.

I haven’t tried any of the Chiseled Face fragrances, but I do want to try their Cryogen soap. I’ve heard it’s quite the experience.

Opiate said:

I haven’t tried any of the Chiseled Face fragrances, but I do want to try their Cryogen soap. I’ve heard it’s quite the experience.

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It is definitely an experience! LOL

Cryogen is to as Midnight Stag is to IMO. I find both to be something that you would dare your friends to use.

Chiseled Face makes some great stuff, but these two are almost novelties to me.

Summer Storm is an excellent petrichor and Ghost Town Barber is another excellent soap. I would recommend these before Cryogen or Midnight Stag.

L'Homme Blanc Individuel said:

You might want to actually read the post at the top of this thread. It's specifically about fragrances.

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So why talk to me about soaps?