Ariana & Evans

Ariana & Evans is an American artisan grooming and fragrance company based in Ansonia, Connecticut. Family-owned and stylized as ariana&evans, it makes shaving soaps, aftershaves, skin-care products and extrait de parfum, all produced by hand in small batches. The company was launched in April 2017 by Peter Charkalis, a wet-shaving hobbyist who had reviewed products on YouTube under the name "Shaving with Charky" [5].

The brand's name is a family tribute: it combines the middle name of Charkalis's daughter, Ariana, with a variant of his own given name. Charkalis remains the founder and head soapmaker, working alongside relatives who handle fragrance direction and operations.

According to the company, Ariana & Evans began as a home-kitchen project by an enthusiast rather than an industry insider. Charkalis had built a following as a hobbyist reviewer before, as the brand puts it, "a little encouragement from his daughter" led him to turn the interest into a business. The company describes itself as family-owned, and its name honors both father and daughter.

The founder's move to full-time work came later. By the brand's account, Charkalis lost his job at age 57 during the COVID-19 pandemic and committed to the business full-time soon afterward, launching a shaving-soap base called Kaizen during that period.

A niche wet-shaving publication, Daily Lather, dates the launch to April 2017 and traces the company's early evolution [5]. In its first years the brand developed in-house shaving-soap formulations, and by 2018 was using ingredients such as goat's milk and lanolin as signatures; lanolin was later removed from its formulas [3]. Daily Lather characterizes the early operation as marketing-led with outsourced production that later shifted toward proprietary, in-house formulations [5].

The company's own narrative marks 2020 as a turning point, tied to the founder going full-time and the release of the Kaizen base. Later milestones center on recognition within the wet-shaving community and expansion into niche fragrance.

Ariana & Evans frames a signature scent as an expression of personal identity. Its stated philosophy is that "a signature scent is more than fragrance. it is identity," and that every product is "crafted by hand in small batches, without being defined by gender or age." The tagline "everyone deserves a signature scent" reflects a positioning the company describes as inclusive and individuality-focused.

The brand presents itself in the indie and niche category, and its mission statement invokes "the American Dream, dedication, and the spirit of exploration." Community giving is part of the stated identity; the company has run campaigns such as a suicide-prevention effort it says raised more than $10,000 through 2024, and an initiative to help with medical and funeral costs.

The range spans shaving soaps and creams, aftershave splashes, shaving brushes and razors, face and body skin care, and a line of extrait de parfum. Formulas draw on ingredients including tallow, goat's milk, shea butter, Kokum butter and avocado oil.

Much of the brand's reputation rests on its named shaving-soap bases. The Kaizen base is treated by reviewers as a premium formulation, while Ultima, K2E and a vegan base marketed as VR2 round out the tallow and vegan options; the company also sells a merged Ultima 2 base. Fragrances are offered as extrait de parfum, with releases such as Cannabliss Santal and Choco Cubano, and the brand has announced a forthcoming layering line called SINGLES.

Independent reviews place the brand across price tiers rather than at the luxury end. Sharpologist describes one of its value formulations as "a little less luxurious than the top-shelf, premium shave soaps" yet "still a solid performer," and judged that most shavers would find it satisfactory [6]. Daily Lather was initially skeptical of the brand's early "luxury" self-positioning, concluding that its products were not top-tier at the time, but noted after later improvements that "both the soaps and aftershaves perform very well" [5].

On packaging, the company says it uses recyclable glass bottles and plastic-free frosted glass jars, and states a goal of reaching full eco-friendly status by the third quarter of 2026. No third-party certifications are documented.

The brand's awards come from within the wet-shaving community rather than mainstream beauty press. Ariana & Evans lists a "Best Shaving Soap Artisan" recognition for 2022 and 2023 and a "Top Overall Wet Shaving Vendor" title for 2023, both from community votes associated with the Lather Talk YouTube channel [4]. It also cites a "Best Shaving Soap" selection for 2024 and 2025 from Mantic59 of Sharpologist [4].

Ariana & Evans is an active company as of 2026, trading directly to consumers and through wet-shaving retailers. It has pointed to recent activity including a "Best Shaving Soap" recognition for 2025, an upcoming fragrance collection, and the LATHERED 2026 expo scheduled for August 2026.