I took advantage of 20% off Sale & stopped by my local AoS. I liked the scent of the sandalwood soap and it comes in a nifty wooden bowl. We were going out last night; I had 2 days growth & decided on a 3 pass shave with my new to me adjustable slim & this new soap applied with a boar brush that I am still breaking in.

The soap created a very rich lather with a subtle luxurious scent. 1st pass with the shaver set to 5 easily removed most of my stubble. I adjusted the shaver to 4, lathered up for the 2nd pass & the lather seemed even more rich. I noticed the shaver took more than one pass to remove the lather. I attributed this to the blade adjustment. I lathered for the 3rd pass & the shaver was not removing all of the lather.

I rinsed my face, finished up with some alum & lucky tiger splash on & examined my shaver. I found the blade gap gummed up with soap to the point that I had to remove the blade & wipe it off with a towel.

My take away:

• AoS stuff is expensive even @ 20% off.

• Sandalwood soap scent & lather is the most luxurious of any soap I have yet to use.

• My technique needs work. I think I was not using enough water to make lather for my 2nd & 3rd pass causing my shaver to gum up.

I am not a fan of AOS products. They all seem overpriced and not as good as what I can get elsewhere. I tend to steer towards English companies like TOBS and T & H. When buying American, i like to go with artisans like stirling soaps and mama bear where i get better bang for the buck.

Fwiw, for sandlewood, I greatly prefer TOBS or proraso.

+1 for proraso red/sandalwood !!!

The only AOS product I have is the old tallow Sandalwood puck. If the razor is getting gunked up you need to add a bit more water. The scent is exactly like Fine Santal Absolute aftershave which is nice if you are looking for a more inexpensive matching aftershave.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to pick some up.

I've got an order enroute from Sterling. Will post a review next week.

Now that's what im talking about!

I have to know: what did you get?

No problem. The scent is an exact match IMO.

Great choices!

I love some Margaritas in the Artic. They tell me that they are going to mentholate their gin and tonic to make it a gin and tonic on the rocks. Im looking forward to that

Even at 20% off, AoS is still overpriced.

+1.

Most American shave soaps are overpriced unless you are talking about artisan soaps.

Anyone tried the Fine accoutrements soap? I love the smell of the AOS cream and was wondering how close is this one?

Santal Absolut.is a straight-forward sandalwood fragrance inspired by Sandalwood from The Art of Shaving (2004). More than any other, this scent proves that the right basenote requires little accompaniment.

Great call I ordered a bottle of the Fine Santal Absolut and it arrived yesterday. I haven't used it yet, but when I took a whiff of the AoS Sandalwood soap and the the Fine AS the scent paired amazingly well. Probably won't use it for another week or so. When I do I'll post up a review. Thanks for the info.

I have not tried the AOS non-tallow soaps but I have heard good things. The AOS with tallow is an excellent soap and I six pucks left I case the new formula is not as good.

I've tried the AOS soaps, and they are just as @bscarpenter described. But, the price is a little steep, for me, and the scent could be a little stronger. I find the Stirling soaps both affordable and have nice scents, at least the ones I like.

No problem. Hope you like it, the scent has good longevity.

An interesting turn of events...

I scored a brand new art of shaving sandalwood 4 piece set at an estate sale today for only $4. Its has their pso, shaving cream, badger brush, and aftershave balm all in their sandalwood scent (except the brush, of course. That would be silly

Brand new, unopened... 4 bucks. I think AOS is largely overpriced... but not at a measly 4 clams. Come on! How could I pass this up?

Looks like I will be doing a pepsi challenge against all other sandalwoods in my wet shave den.

Great score!