I picked up two pucks from the Crowne & Crane website after reading this thread: See Here On the C&C site, the shave soaps are separated into three categories (Tallow, Vegan, Women's). I perused both the tallow and vegan soaps and opted to try two that caught my interest under the Vegan section: "Cognac & Cubans" and "Tobacco Leaf & Amber." I'm a fan of most 'tobacco-scented' products and so this was an easy choice. The package arrived from C&C a few days later. Upon opening the box, I was hit with a subtle, pleasing aroma of tobacco. In the box was a tub of the jar of the "Cognac & Cubans," a puck of "Tobacco Leaf & Amber" and a free sample of "Lavendar and Cedar" tallow soap. All three had appealing fragrances. The Lather & Shaves: "Cognac & Cubans"— A sweet tobacco scent that mellows a bit when lathered. Masculine fragrance. Wife gave it a thumbs-up after a sniff from the jar. Lather development was a cinch. Damp boar brush with about a dozen swirls loaded up the brush well. Not an overly-thirsty soap. What I look for in a quality shave soap is the ability to coat the face with thick lather with minimal effort and without the foamy "drippiness" I've encountered with some non-tallow soaps. I prefer a dense, thick n' slick lather for my straight razor shaves and this soap hits the mark. I can paint my face with a dense layer of this lather and the lather will endure for the entire pass, no matter how leisurely a pace I may be shaving. With some soaps, the lather will begin to dissipate after only a few minutes and thus require additional applications during each pass. This lather lasts and provides top-shelf glide for straight razor shaving. "Tobacco Leaf & Amber" — This puck packs a potent tobacco scent. I keep my soap pucks in my wall cabinet and when I opened the door to access this puck, the aroma was as if I had opened a door to the local tobacco shop. This puck lathered with ease, and the scent was more 'tobacco-forward' compared to the 'cognac & cubans' aroma. Very pleasing to my nose. Wife also enjoyed the scent. Same top performance as the jar soap! Post-shave: After using both of these soaps, my face didn't suffer from any of the dryness that some non-tallow soap can create after a shave. I have very sensitive skin and certain soaps have a 'drying ' effect on my face that can itch or simply not be comfortable. Martin de Candre, a soap that is one of my favorites, can have that effect on my skin if I leave the lather on for a prolonged period. I was pleased that after using each of these soaps that none of that dryness was present. Smooth and moist. I haven't yet used the tallow sample provided (love the lavender/cedar scent!), but so far I've been impressed with the two C&C soap samples I've used for several shaves.
Great review. The post-shave feel sounds great. I like the ingredients in their soaps and they are on my shortlist. Can't wait to try their soaps myself.
Nevermind. I found them at their site. The tallow formula looks very good, and the vegan formula looks nice, too.
