Ok, last reviews to write up for this round since the box was shipped back home earlier today. Maggards/TTFFC Northern Moss. Ok, another scent dud for me. This one was slightly earthy and sort of medicinal--or what I imagine an old time apothecary might smell like. I typically like to face lather, but had to resort to a bowl here--and my bowl lathering technique wss a but rusty, but after a little work I got a nice lather. Sickness was good for me on this one. I'm definitely going to pick up a tub of another scent so I can dial this one in. I think this could be a very solid performer for me if I can find a scent I like. Downeast Shaving Bar Harbor Brut- I think some will like this scent, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Traditional cologne type scent here. Just a small side note, I hate these tiny tubs for loading my brush. For a sample it is understandable, but not with a larger quantity of product! Personal pet peeve I guess. Anyhow, I had to reload my brush a couple times which isn't the end of the world. This one was in the lower tier for me. Just average performance all around. With so many outstanding products from so many artisans, I won't be adding this to my permanent rotation. Music City Suds - Cedarwood So, I live in the Music City and really wanted to like this one. The scent, i hate to say seemed amateurish. Just plain cedar essential oil. If you don't know what that smells like, go to your local Homer Depot and sniff a cedar 1x and that's exactly what this soap smells like. Nothing more, nothing less. Ok, that aside after the shave I liked them up (I found the mobile site not user friendly) and found a couple other scents I might be willing to try. I found performance to be upper middle tier on this one, good lather and bit sicker than a few other soaps in this box. Also a frustrating small container, but again not a deal breaker. So to wrap up, here are my final results based on performance only (scents mostly were not good for me in this box, so I'm ignoring them here) Top tier- Maggards, Tiki, Stirling Middle- MWF, razorock, music city suds, Lower- Col Conk, Downeast Shave Mama Bear? I needed another shave or two. I think I introduced some user error. As of right now if I had to rank, I'd put in the bottom of the middle tier. Thank you again for the opportunity to participate. Hope to see a revamped round 2 in the future.
Thanks for participating as well as for your reviews and thoughts! Round Two should commence after the holidays slow down.
The box has made it back to me. I'll post a picture of contents later along with some scent impressions. Thanks to all who participated and contributed to this first soap box. I look forward to trying most of these. I have some items to contribute again and will get the next box up and running soon.
Alright, the box contents: Some impressions, in no particular order. Disclaimer: my ability to describe scents is pretty terrible! Tennessee Whisker Cedarwood - Strong cedar smell. This is one of the soaps I donated to begin the box. Mitchell's Wool Fat - clean, subtle scent. I use MWF each Friday, so this soap isn't new to me. I love it! Maggard Northern Moss - Earthy scent. I donated this as a starter. Provene Sante - Just sort of smells like soap. A good smell but nothing all that unique. Downeast Shaving Bar Harbor Brut - Nice, clean cologne-type scent. I really like the scent. Col. Conk Southwestern Sun - strong, industrial cleaner citrusy scent. Another starter puck from my den. Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood - Nice vanilla scent, but not sweet. I really like how this smells. Stirling Glacial Wintergreen - Smells like a freshly opened bag of Certs mints! It's a STRONG smell. Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic - Exactly what the title describes - think frozen margarita. Razorock Classic - Almond smell, but not too sweet or too strong. Tiki Bar Set Sail - Really an odd scent. Can't describe it too well. Something seems off with this one. The description is rosemary, mint, and lavender, but the scent doesn't seem to be any of those three. Derby Lemon shave cream - Strong lemon scent. Exactly what you would imagine. Mama Bears Ice soaps in mandarin, lime, lemon, and grapefruit - These are not emitting much scent. I've used Mama Bear's before with good results so I'm interested in these mentholated versions. I will shave with several of these over the next little while. I'll post my shaves and thoughts in this thread as I do. I mentioned I'll be adding some things to the box and will reorganize for a second pass-around. In fact, I have some surprises up my sleeve as far as products that I think you'll enjoy and appreciate. Stay tuned!
Good stuff! Glad to see you had the same thoughts about the Tiki scent that I did. It does smell odd, right? Looking forward to your reviews.
I am a big fan of Stirling soaps, and MITA is easily one of my favorites. You should definitely keep that one if the scent appeals to you. I have never tried the vanilla sandals, but I'm sure it is high-quality
I've tried a number of stirling scents. I'm also a big fan. I'd highly recommend their mountain man and executive man if you like cologne scents (they are creed clones). I also enjoyed the noir (also a clone of drakkar noir). If you like natural scents, many of their soaps use only essential oil (lime, lemon, lavender- bergamot, etc.). Of course these are all just personal preferences.
SOTD November 10, 2016 Blade: GEM Stainless Razor: GEM Pushbutton Brush: JR #60 synthetic Lather: Downeast Shaving Soap Company Bar Harbor Brut Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Fine American Blend, Nivea sensitive balm WTG, touch-up I really like the scent of the Bar Harbor Brut. It's a nice, cologne-type scent - not too strong. It reminded me of Fine American Blend some, and I chose that scent as the aftershave to go with the soap scent. The performance was middle of the road. I've had better slickness and post-shave feel from other soaps, but I've also had much worse. The scent is attractive enough to me to consider keeping this one. We'll see after trying the others that interest me. I'll agree with @NickMach007 that the size of the container inhibited loading a good amount of soap on the brush. I had to go back and reload a couple of times. But that's okay. I could always move it to a different container. Overall, I really like the scent of Bar Harbor Brut and found the performance to be good but not great. Not sure what I'll use next! My Friday shaves generally feature Mitchell's Wool Fat. But tomorrow is a day off for me so I might not shave. We'll just wait and see. Enjoy your day!
It's almost as if something has spoiled or gone wrong in the Tiki soap. Very strange smell! I may still try it at some point. I've never tried any Tiki.
Very nice write up. Sounds like our performed similarly for you. While the scent was not one I liked, I knew it would be a good one got lots of other people. Scents are so personal. Anyhow, looking forward to the reviews in the coming days.
No shave for me today. Tomorrow I am going out on a limb and trying the Tiki Bar Set Sail. The scent on that one is interesting, as we've discussed a few posts back, but I'm also interested in Tiki's performance. I haven't tried any Tiki, so we'll go with it and see what happens! I'll post the shave and thoughts here tomorrow.
@Straight razor dandy - Exactly how cold is Margaritas in the Arctic? I'm thinking ahead to Menthol Monday and may use it. Honestly, I'm a little scared of the Glacial Wintergreen. It seems to be really cold. I've never used a REALLY cold soap.....could be interesting.
Is is cold, but not as cold as the glacials. For me, it's great, especially in the summer. I'm not sure how cold it is where you are, but it should be invigorating and brisk. Glacial spearmint, on the other hand, will freeze you out.
I agree, start with MITA. Compared to the glacial soaps they are "refreshing." The glacials really do freeze your face off!
I'll echo the "refreshing" sentiment for MITA. Haven't had the pleasure of using any Glacial's yet, so can't compare, but MITA was a great experience. I'd say if Proraso Green is a 6, MITA would be 7.5-8 on the dial.
That's helpful! I have a tub of Proraso Green and like it a lot. I could take more cooling than it offers and be okay, so the quote of 7.5 to 8 sounds good. Thanks!
SOTD November 12, 2016 Blade: GEM Stainless Razor: GEM Pushbutton Brush: JR #60 synthetic Lather: Tiki Bar Set Sail Post: Witch hazel splash, Barbasol Pacific Rush, Nivea sensitive balm WTG, touch-up The Tiki Bar soap was middle of the road. The lack of scent is still perplexing. I was also interested in the performance of the soap despite the scent issue and found it to be middle of the road. Pretty good slickness and cushion but post-shave feel wasn't that great. I have better soaps in my den that work for me. YMMV of course. I would interested in trying some more Tiki at some point but probably won't seek it out. That's too bad because it's made (or used to be) about 30 minutes from my house. Good shave overall with the Tiki soap. Someone else might really enjoy it. I'll leave it in the box for the next iteration. I'm off to see the Alabama and Mississippi State game in Tuscaloosa this morning! I may not shave tomorrow. I'm planning to use Margaritas in the Arctic on Monday. Have a great day!
SOTD November 14, 2016 Blade: Chinese Schick Razor: Schick G1 injector Brush: Vulfix 2006c badger Lather: Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic Post: Witch hazel splash, TSD Iced Yin Yang, Nivea sensitive balm WTG, touch-up Margaritas in the Arctic provided some nice chill this morning! It's the coldest soap I've used. I enjoyed it overall. The lather was terrific - slick, cushiony, and great post-shave feel. That's to be expected with a Stirling soap. The scent of MITA is not too margarita-ey as I once feared. It's a nice citrus scent. It was a nice soap for Menthol Monday. I can't imagine how cold a Glacial soap would be! There is some Glacial Wintergreen in the box but I will avoid that one. It would be too cold for me. Overall I really enjoyed today's soap and getting to try something a little colder than Proraso Green. It all resulted in a nice shave. Not sure what I'll use tomorrow. I'll decide later today and post it here tomorrow morning. Have a great day!
@PLAIa - You really should try the Glacial. One shave with your eyes tearing up and your nose running.... You'll be hooked for life. I think it is like Shaving Crack.
