Happy Wednesday From Florida! Many of the folks who have used the R-41 would likely say that the R-41 sort of scrapes the whiskers off instead of cutting them, and I can agree. While the R-41 is the only razor I have been using for a few weeks, there are days where the shave is less comfortable than others. Today however, was the most comfortable shave that I have had with the R-41 and I am going to attribute that to the Monsavon Bol' A Rasor soap. I had so much cushion and glide today that I could have skipped an aftershave treatment. I went ahead and slapped on the Arko more out of habit than anything else. I had a bowl of Monsavon awhile back and remember it to having been a good soap with a great scent. Now that I am a bit over a year in to our obsession, I feel that I can authoritatively say that the Monsavon is not only a good soap, it is a fantastic soap. Clocking in at just under $13.00 delivered, this soap is expensive compared to other brands. While I did start shaving our way to save money, it never worked out that way, so what the heck. The scent is what I would call lavender, but my snout is not as refined as other folks so please don't hold me to lavender. If it is not lavender it could be lilac or some other floral note, but there is definitely zero rose and no citrus that I detect. The consistency is reminiscent of the Italian soft soaps, but a tad on the creamier side, and lathers with the ease of an Italian soft soap. Like I said in the opening, Monsavon is very cushioning with ample glide / slip properties. If you have a few bucks to spare and are interested in trying a new soap, I don't think you can go wrong with Monsavon. If you buy it and don't like it send me a PM; I will buy it from you!
Italian soft soap is the way to go with the R41, except Monsavon is French haha... Jeff is it a non tallow soap?
I threw the wrapper out so I cannot say for sure. Maybe when Luke gets his he can chime in. I think it is a tallow soap though. In looking at the wrapper on the website, if I blow it up to 565% I think I can make out stearic acid as the second ingredient, which I think is animal fat and I also think I see sodium tallowate as the third ingredient. At 565% the pic is highly pixelated, so I won't swear to it.
You can find it at www.ar-soap.com. They are based out of England and started importing this soap to sell and ship internationally, simply because no one else would. Steve is a great man and kept me informed on when and what the rates were going to be when he started shipping international. (As you can tell, Jeff ordered his before me...but mine should be arriving any day now) If I remember correctly, it is a Tallow based soap, but I will take a pic of the ingredients when mine arrives.
It is roughly 3.60 GBP to ship a tub. That's why it is expensive, because the prices are in Pounds Sterling. To ship to Canada, it was just over 4 GBP. It is all done by weight and I think the e-mail Steve sent me with the weight : price list got deleted...I can look for it when I get home.
Well, with a money back guarantee from Jeff........I have nothing to loose. Maybe that will go on my list to Santa. Thanks for the tip!
That would be pretty cool if it were tallow, the French seem to be use some variant of a shea butter in the base for the different soaps.
Definitely tallow. I bought a tub when I was in France in September. It cost me 1 euro 30. I wish I had bought more. It is a fantastic soap.
I am still waiting on mine...I think the border is holding all parcels with my name on them. Hopefully it comes tomorrow! Tapped out while on the RedPill.
I thought I had thrown my wrapper away but the sticker stuck to the side of the can. Indeed, Monsavon is a tallow soap.
Looks like the answer is already out, but I will put this out there for any other ingredient questions:
Thanks Rodd for stomping on my thunder! (J/K ) I just got mine yesterday and I am happy to say that it is wonderful (worth the wait). Although it has a really strange scent that I cannot, for the life of me, describe. The only thing is that I think I will go through the container pretty quick, once I get going (I must resist using my boar brushes when lathering this soap).
+1 I used one of my boar's on Jeff's brand-new bowl ... Yikes! I'll have to get him a replacement!! It is an awesome soap though!