Hotel Cecil Ultra Premium CK-6 Formula Artisan Shave Soap | Homage To The Original Burma Shave
$19.95 USD
Our Most EPIC Return Of A Lost Classic Yet, Hotel Cecil! An Homage To Burma Shave & The Cecil Hotel!
Scent Profile: Talc, Cardamom, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Kephalis, Sandalwood, Cedar, Nutmeg, Black Pepper, Oakwood and Oakmoss.
[To be read using your inner Vincent Price Voice & preferably on a dark & stormy night.]
Though often overshadowed by their now historic, creative marketing, that really burned itself into the collective consciousness of America, the scent of Burma Shave in its own right is quite iconic too, if not more so! Warm, Powdery, Clean, Spicy, Masculine & Nostalgic! A scent so classic and epic we couldn't sit by any longer and see it lost to time. Sure, the signs, rhymes, and history of Burma Shave is the stuff of legend but the scent is equally so and should be celebrated as such. I can't fathom anyone not immediately falling in love with this fragrance. Seriously, there's just something so pure, wide eyed Americana, and forever innocent about this stuff, and THAT may just be the reason for this ultimate Halloween Mashup Paradox of Good & Evil, Dark & Light, Heaven & Hell! Bwa-ha-ha-ha...[*Lightning crashes. You may turn off the Vincent Price Voice now.]
Parallels & Paradoxes
Make no mistake, I do not exaggerate when I say that this may be our most mind blowing homage yet! Like a madman, I chose to do a joint homage to two American icons simultaneously, Burma Shave and then...The Cecil Hotel. The Cecil is possibly one of the most haunted hotels in the USA, if not all of the world! Typically, Fran and I have always done original scent blends for our Fall & Halloween releases but this year, 2020, has been anything but typical, so I thought I would reflect that anxious spirit into something untypical. Having an interest in all things paranormal and all things wet shaving, it really just made sense. But would it be possible to cobble together these two opposing forces? I was certainly up for the challenge!
[Note: there's also a tip of the hat to Nikola Tesla in our story! Who just so happened to have lived most of his life in hotels, even died in one. Fun fact: Tesla would only stay in rooms with numbers divisible by 3!]Burma Shave (or Burma Vitae) represents life and sun. Heck, Vitae in Latin actually means "Life". Whereas The Cecil Hotel to many, symbolizers something very much the opposite. Believe it or not, they were both born in 1924. It's true, construction on The Cecil Hotel actually began in 1924! And in that same year, the version of Burma Shave that would eventually go to market was formulated.
1927 was also a big year for both. The Cecil opened its doors, and Burma Shave started one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time! Also, being a hotel for traveling businessmen, and Burma Shave being marketed as a quicker, more convenient brushless shave cream, a favorite for the man on the road, it would be silly not to think they never crossed paths. One might also imagine the guests of The Cecil passing many a Burma Shave sign on route to this dark destination!
For those that are too young to remember, Burma Shave was known not only for their innovative Brushless Shave Cream, but also, and possibly more so, for their clever, roadside verses. But don't misunderstand me, these were not billboards but small red signs positioned on the roadside 100 feet apart from each other. Each of the signs were part of a larger jingle, and all ended with the last sign reading Burma Shave. No one had really ever seen anything like this before and it immediately caught on with the public. You couldn't not read the cheerful, always funny, even sometimes a little risqué, signs.
For those that are too young to remember, Burma Shave was known not only for their innovative Brushless Shave Cream, but also, and possibly more so, for their clever, roadside verses. But don't misunderstand me, these were not billboards but small red signs positioned on the roadside 100 feet apart from each other. Each of the signs were part of a larger jingle, and all ended with the last sign reading Burma Shave. No one had really ever seen anything like this before and it immediately caught on with the public. You couldn't not read the cheerful, always funny, even sometimes a little risqué, signs.
In short, Burma Shave did things differently, and that kind of thinking I REALLY appreciate. I should also mention, after the popularity of their brushless shave cream, one company after another popped up trying to get in on the market. But no one could really touch the magic of Burma Shave!
On the opposite end of the spectrum, The Cecil Hotel was built off of skid-row in downtown Los Angeles. Granted this was in the mid 1920's but still within a couple years it was emerging as the location of many strange, unexplainable deaths and paranormal occurrences. It is said that someone has died in all 700 rooms. It can also boast that two serial killers, in the midst of their killing sprees, were living there. Even the Black Dahlia is rumored to have taken her last drink at the hotel bar before her shocking end that made world news, and is still talked about to this day!
[Fun Fact: The Cecil Hotel does not have a 13th floor! Reasons for omitting a thirteenth floor include triskaidekaphobia on the part of the building's owner or builder, or a desire by the building owner or landlord to prevent problems that may arise with superstitious tenants, occupants, or customers.Note: The 14th floor was the last floor Elisa Lam was seen on via that infamous elevator security cam!]
On the opposite end of the spectrum, The Cecil Hotel was built off of skid-row in downtown Los Angeles. Granted this was in the mid 1920's but still within a couple years it was emerging as the location of many strange, unexplainable deaths and paranormal occurrences. It is said that someone has died in all 700 rooms. It can also boast that two serial killers, in the midst of their killing sprees, were living there. Even the Black Dahlia is rumored to have taken her last drink at the hotel bar before her shocking end that made world news, and is still talked about to this day!
[Fun Fact: The Cecil Hotel does not have a 13th floor! Reasons for omitting a thirteenth floor include triskaidekaphobia on the part of the building's owner or builder, or a desire by the building owner or landlord to prevent problems that may arise with superstitious tenants, occupants, or customers.Note: The 14th floor was the last floor Elisa Lam was seen on via that infamous elevator security cam!]As recently as 2013, the Cecil or "suicide hotel" once again was in the news. Canadian tourist, Elisa Lam's body, after being reported missing for 3 weeks was pulled from one of the water towers on top of the hotel. The body was only discovered after hotel guests reported the foul water coming out of their taps for over 2 weeks. They had been drinking it, cooking with it, brushing their teeth with it and yes, bathing in it too! And this, is just the tip of the creepy iceberg when it comes to the high strangeness that the Cecil Hotel is known for! I encourage you all to dig a little deeper into it! The Elisa Lam story is quite a doozy I promise!
Though in real life it is dubbed The Cecil Hotel, in our alternate Phoenix Shaving Universe it exists as The Hotel Cecil. That said, they are not so different, and you will see that as you delve into the most recent continuation of our ongoing saga!
The Storytelling Elements
I began with the artwork. The first two things I had to obviously connect were the classic Burma Shave-esque sign we can all see in our mind with the spooky, ominous facade of the Cecil! This however is more of a for those who have eyes to see type tribute. Honestly, I was hoping even if those two images juxtaposed didn't immediately jump out at the viewer or initiate, it would at least strike a vibratory chord at a subconscious level.
Next, it was really all about sprinkling the DNA of both into the story as well as some other Easter Eggs in honor of other classic horror writers, and even our very own Halloween Special from Season 1 of I’d Lather Be Shaving. Can you spot them all?
Truth be told, this whole project was a complete blast from product development and concept, to the ephemera included. Both Fran and I are very proud of it. Also, this may be the first story I actually wrote within the saga that has an ending! All in all, I promise you, there are many layers to this one, and with every reading & rereading, you’re sure to see something you didn’t pick up on the first time!
It took us many years to develop such a strong, supportive following that would allow for us to get as experimental and innovative as we have and I thank you all. Since day one I have always said, Phoenix Shaving is MORE THAN JUST SHAVING. This confused more than a few who were really just looking for soap, even made some suspicious, lol…but I knew one day if we kept at it, we’d find the others! Thank you all again for “getting it”!
Truth be told, this whole project was a complete blast from product development and concept, to the ephemera included. Both Fran and I are very proud of it. Also, this may be the first story I actually wrote within the saga that has an ending! All in all, I promise you, there are many layers to this one, and with every reading & rereading, you’re sure to see something you didn’t pick up on the first time!
It took us many years to develop such a strong, supportive following that would allow for us to get as experimental and innovative as we have and I thank you all. Since day one I have always said, Phoenix Shaving is MORE THAN JUST SHAVING. This confused more than a few who were really just looking for soap, even made some suspicious, lol…but I knew one day if we kept at it, we’d find the others! Thank you all again for “getting it”!
Soap Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Glycerin, Potassium Cocoate, Aqua, Potassium Kokumate, Sodium Lactate, Potassium Shea Butterate, Potassium Castorate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Cocoa Butterate, Potassium Avocadoate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Theobroma Grandiflorum (Capuacu) Butter, Astrocaryum (Murumuru) Seed Butter, Platonia Insignis (Bacuri) Seed Butter, Parfum [Fragrance]
Soap Net Wt 4 oz (113 g)
External Use Only, Discontinue Use if Irritation Occurs
Handmade In Arizona, USA