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Tempest
Tempest shaving soap on WhollyKaw's Siero base. Aquatic / petrichor fragrance, 2 builds (Tallow + Vegan), made in small batches in our New Jersey workshop.
Tempest is an aquatic / petrichor shaving soap on the Siero base, made in small batches in our New Jersey workshop.
Quick facts
| Detail | What it is |
|---|---|
| Scent family | Aquatic / petrichor |
| Base | Siero — see base section below for the full composition. |
| Weight | 4 oz / 114 g |
| Lather | Dense, slick, builds in 30–45 seconds with a wet brush in cool water. |
| Where it’s made | Our New Jersey workshop. Small batches, single-vessel saponification. |
| Builds | Tallow ($29.99) or Vegan ($21.99) — same fragrance compound, different fat structure. |
What Tempest smells like
Straight from the throne of Zeus himself: a mix of ozone, rain, seaweed, and damp earth. This is how we imagine the air around the King of the Sky and Thunder smells — aquatic, mineral, slightly dirty. Not a clean shower-fresh aquatic. A stormy one.
“Immerse yourself into the aquatic scent of the rain. Walk through it while the lightning strikes all around you, scorching the damp earth beneath your feet, and emerge smelling like the true King of the Gods.”
— from the founder’s notes
Top notes — ozone is the opening — sharp, electric, the smell of air after a thunderbolt. There’s no citrus or floral lead-in; the soap walks straight into the storm. The first ten to fifteen minutes on the lather are the most overtly aquatic.
Heart notes — rain and seaweed take over in the middle phase. The rain note carries a soft, mineral wetness; the seaweed adds salt and a faint marine bitterness that grounds the composition. This is where Tempest reads most distinctly as itself rather than as a generic fresh aquatic — the seaweed is the differentiator.
Base notes — the dry-down is dirt — the petrichor smell of damp soil after a downpour, slightly resinous, slightly earthy, faintly metallic. It anchors what would otherwise be a too-clean composition and keeps the storm reading as real weather rather than a fragrance interpretation. The full arc takes about 2 to 3 hours, with the earthy dry-down lasting longest.
If you’ve worn Creed Aventus, Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey, or any aquatic-aromatic in the modern category, the structure will be familiar — but Tempest is grittier than any of them. Built for the shaver who wants weather, not perfume.
The Siero base — why it conditions like cream
Siero is Italian for “whey,” and that’s the technical detail that defines this base. Most artisan tallow shaving soaps use tallow plus added oils (kokum, shea, cocoa) for hydration. Siero adds whole donkey milk, whole water buffalo milk, and water buffalo milk whey — meaning real dairy proteins, fats, and lactose are saponified into the soap matrix.
What this changes in practice:
- Slickness. Whey proteins create a glide layer between razor and skin that you can feel on the second pass — the razor moves more like it’s running over silk than over foam.
- Post-shave skin feel. Whole milk fats and lactose draw water into the stratum corneum during the shave. Skin feels conditioned for 30–60 minutes after rinsing — before any balm or splash is applied.
- Lather density. The protein content stiffens the lather without making it dry. You can build a meringue-like consistency in cool water without overloading on soap.
Siero costs more to produce than a standard tallow base — domestic dairy isn’t cheap, and small-dairy donkey and buffalo milk especially aren’t. The price reflects that. If you’ve shaved with a coconut-and-lye soap and wondered why an artisan tallow puck costs four times as much, the answer is mostly here, in the base.
Tallow or Vegan — which to pick
We make Tempest in two builds. They share the same fragrance compound (so the scent journey is identical) but the fat structure underneath is different.
Tallow ($29.99) is the original Siero formulation. The conditioning is denser; the lather has more body. If you’ve shaved with WhollyKaw Siero soaps before, this is the same direction.
Vegan ($21.99) swaps tallow for plant-derived fats (kokum, shea, cocoa, mango). It keeps the same fragrance and the same scent arc. The lather is bright and clean rather than dense.
If you’re new to artisan shaving soap and unsure, the Tallow build is the canonical one. The Vegan version is a careful translation, not a compromise.
Layer the full Tempest line
Tempest is built to layer. The lather you build with this soap is the start; the post-shave products carry the same fragrance through the rest of the routine so the scent doesn’t end at the rinse:
- Tempest splash — alcohol-based, bracing, antiseptic. Use directly after rinsing.
- Tempest toner — alcohol-free, witch hazel and aloe. Use if your skin doesn’t tolerate the splash.
- Tempest balm — final conditioning step. Carries the dry-down notes for hours.
For all-day skin support without competing scents, our grass-fed tallow zinc oxide cream is unscented — a daily moisturizer that won’t fight the Tempest throughline.
Who Tempest is not for
Honest limitations:
- Fragrance-sensitive skin. Tempest has a real fragrance load. If our unscented Bare Naked Shaving Soap (Tallow build) or Sans Parfum Vegan Shaving Soap (Vegan build) is what your skin tolerates, this isn’t the soap to switch to — our unscented line is fragrance-free across both Tallow and Vegan, so you don’t have to choose between sensitivity and ethics.
- Strict dairy allergies. The Tallow build contains saponified dairy proteins. Most contact-dermatitis reactions to dairy are with raw milk, not saponified milk soap, but if you have severe sensitivities, test a sample before committing to a puck.
- Looking for a designer-fragrance clone. Tempest is its own composition, not an interpretation of a popular fragrance. If you want a Tom Ford or Creed dupe in soap form, this won’t satisfy.
- Pucks-as-decor shavers. The puck is meant to be used. The fragrance is most expressive in the lather; sniffing the puck doesn’t do it justice.
Cost per shave
A 4-oz puck of WhollyKaw soap lasts most shavers 5–6 months with daily shaves. The math:
- Tallow ($29.99 / ~150 shaves) ≈ $0.20 per shave
- Vegan ($21.99 / ~150 shaves) ≈ $0.15 per shave
For comparison, a single-use disposable cartridge plus a foam can typically runs $0.40–$0.60 per shave with worse skin feel. Artisan tallow soap is more conditioning, lasts months per puck, and works out cheaper than the drugstore aisle.
What's in the soap
Tallow build:
Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua, Donkey Milk, Water Buffalo Milk, Water Buffalo Milk Whey, Glycerin, Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Potassium Ricinoleate, Sodium Ricinoleate, Potassium Shea Butterate, Sodium Shea Butterate, Garcinia Indica (Kokum) Butter, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Hydrolyzed Linseed, Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Lanolin, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid.
Vegan build:
Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua, Glycerin, Potassium Ricinoleate, Sodium Ricinoleate, Potassium Mango Stearate, Sodium Mango Stearate, Potassium Shea Butterate, Sodium Shea Butterate, Garcinia Indica (Kokum) Butter, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Polyquaternium-10, Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Soybean Glycerides, Shea Butter Unsaponifiables, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Fragrance.
Contains no parabens, no chemical sulfates, and no synthetic dyes. Fragrance is a custom compound mixed by an American perfumer to our spec.
What customers say
★★★★★
Perfect for hunting
I was looking for a soap I can use during hunting season...something g woodsy or pine-like and then I saw this. It smells EXACTLY like the dirt in Central Pennsylvania. May not something I would use on a date (unless she's really really into gardening), but for scent concealment...perfect. I have had several deer and even a fisher (the very large member of the weasel family) walk right up on me, well within 5 yards and never know I was there. Well, the fisher did, but that is because I said boo and then he focused and saw me, but he didn't smell me. Aside from the very dirt like smell, like all my Wholly Kaw soaps (I got the tallow) develops a beautiful thick hydrating lather.
★★★★★
High quality shaving soap
Read the reviews/description of this soap and thought I'd give it a try. It matches it description pretty well. I add that it smells like a puddle of rain and dirt when it's raining in spring. Texture is soft and creamy. Scent is light. Would buy again!
★★★★★
Very nice earthy smell. The
Very nice earthy smell. The tallow base from wholly kaw has so far been my favorite to lather (fairly new to wet shaving).
★★★★★
Unique and beautiful
This scent is unique and beautiful! It had grown on me to the point that each time I use it, I like it even more! It's like a damp earth with spring showers and popcorn flowers hiding in the background.
★★★★★
Off the beaten track
En voilà un savon à raser qui sort des sentiers battus ! La qualité du savon : facilité à monter la mousse, densité de la mousse, protection de la peau lors du rasage et après ce dernier ne sont plus à démontrer tellement c'est très très bon. Là, où j'ai été agréablement surpris, c'est sur le parfum, je ne savais pas à quoi m'attendre, tellement cette odeur est inattendue ! Un mélange aquatique mêlée à de l'herbe fraichement coupée. C'est complexe à décrire et surtout très subtil. Franchement une réussite ! En toute franchise, je ne connaissais pas la marque avant d'acheter et de tester ce savon à raser ! S'ils sont tous comme celui-ci, cela s'annonce plaisant à l'utilisation, mais pas au portefeuille :( Merci ------------------------------------ Now that's shaving soap that's off the beaten track! The quality of the soap: easy to set the foam, density of the foam, protection of the skin during shaving and after shaving are no longer to be demonstrated as it is very, very, very good. Where I was pleasantly surprised was on the perfume, I didn't know what to expect, such is the unexpected smell! An aquatic blend mixed with freshly cut grass. It's complex to describe, and above all, very subtle. Frankly a success! Frankly, I didn't know the brand before I bought and tested this shaving soap! If they are all like this one, it looks pleasant to use, but not to the wallet :( Thanks
Frequently asked questions
How long does a puck of Tempest last?
Most shavers get 5 to 6 months out of a 4-ounce puck with daily shaving. The Siero base lathers efficiently — you don't need to load heavily — so a puck stretches further than a typical mass-market soap. Heavy loaders or face-and-head shavers may see 3 to 4 months.
What does Tempest smell like — fresh or warm?
Aquatic and elemental. The fragrance is built on ozone, rain, seaweed, and dirt — the imagined olfactory profile of the air around the King of the Sky and Thunder. The opening is sharp ozonic; the heart settles into wet seaweed and salt; the dry-down keeps the damp-earth note alive for hours. Not a clean aquatic — a stormy one.
Why is it called Tempest?
Tempest is built around the storm — the ozone-saturated air around Zeus on his throne, the smell of rain on damp earth before a thunderstorm, the salty-mineral edge of the sea. Aquatic in the truest sense, but with a dirty, mineral undertow that keeps it from reading as a generic "fresh" scent.
Do I need a brush for Tempest, or can I lather with my hands?
Tempest is a hard puck designed for brush use. A synthetic or boar brush builds the best lather and gives you the slickness benefits of the Siero base. Hand-lathering works in a pinch but won't get the dense, conditioning lather the soap is designed for.
Tallow or Vegan — which to pick?
The Tallow build is the original Siero formulation — beef tallow plus whole donkey milk, whole water buffalo milk, and water buffalo milk whey. Densest, most conditioning expression. The Vegan build swaps tallow for plant-derived fats (kokum, shea, cocoa, mango) and keeps the exact same fragrance compound. Same scent arc, lighter lather body.
Is Tempest on the same base as 1776?
Yes — both Tempest and 1776 sit on the Siero base. Same dairy stack, same lather mechanics, same post-shave skin feel. The difference between them is entirely the fragrance: Tempest is an aquatic / petrichor; 1776 is a green fougère with a grapefruit-tarragon opening.
Can I use Tempest in cold water?
Yes — Siero soaps lather well in cold water, which is why we built the base the way we did. A 30 to 45 second build with a wet brush gets you to a usable lather. Hot water gives a slightly faster build but isn't necessary.
Where is Tempest made?
In our New Jersey workshop. Saponification, scenting, pressing, and packaging all happen in house. The fragrance compound is mixed by an American perfumer.
Is Tempest a moisturizing shaving soap?
In the way most shavers use the word — yes. People often search for "moisturizing shaving soap" or "moisturizing shave soap" looking for a soap that leaves skin feeling conditioned, hydrated, and protected through the shave and after. The technical term we use is "conditioning" because the soap is rinsed off (it doesn't moisturize the way a leave-on cream does), but the experience matches what people mean when they search for moisturizing soaps. Tempest sits on our Siero base — tallow plus whole donkey milk, whole water buffalo milk, and water buffalo milk whey — built for exactly that deeply conditioned skin feel. For an actual leave-on moisturizer to layer over the shave, pair with our grass-fed tallow zinc oxide cream.