"5 Guys - 3 Soaps"

Discussion in 'Shave Soaps' started by Derhey, Apr 28, 2015.

  1. Derhey

    Derhey Well-Known Member

    If you recall, earlier this year Bama Samurai, JR Reyes, Mr. Shaverman, Radiotube, and I piloted a novel approach to exchanging, testing, and reviewing a few shave soaps at a time to share with The Shave Den. Although it has been a few months since the last review from “4 Guys – 2 Soaps”, we have been putting in countless hours to test and share our results with our Shave Den Forum brethren. All right, it hasn’t been countless hours and I make it sound like a chore, which cannot be further from the truth. Seeing that it was my turn to chose and share a pair of new soaps, I went with my favorite scent type: tobacco. Of course, because I have a slight case of soap acquisition disorder, I could not be limited to two soaps. Besides, we have 5 guys in our group so why not “5 Guys – 3 Soaps”!?! I digress…my soap choices were Mystic Water Sweet Briar Shave Soap, Razorock Tobacco #1, and Razorock Tobacco #2. The selection of soaps resulted in a diverse group of performers and scents.

    My first test shave was with Mystic Water Sweet Briar Shave Soap. Upon opening the tub, a wonderful, rich scent excited the neurons in the bulbus olfactorius portion of my brain resulting in an intoxicated state that caused me to drool. The scent reminded me of another “Cavendish” scented soap that I use, but with a stronger presence of cherry and slightly less smoky finish. Overall, Sweet Briar delivers an outstanding scent of pipe tobacco, very sweet cherries, and a hint of citrus in lieu of smoke as an endnote. Although the scent was a winner, the performance left something to be desired. I must be honest, I was not pleased with any aspect of the lather (or lack thereof) that it produced. After about a week of use, trying various brushes, differing amounts of water, face vs. bowl lathering, etc., I finally threw in the (hand) towel. I was never able to develop a long lasting lather; instead it was consistently weak and faded quickly. In addition (and I am sure due in part) to the thin lather, I did not find the soap to provide adequate slickness or protection. Ultimately, I was informed that it takes a special method for getting the best out of Mystic Water Shave Soaps, but I was never able to achieve Nirvana. I give the maker high marks for the scent but I prefer not having to solve a riddle on how to get a soap to perform.

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    Next on the docket were the Razorock soaps. As soon as I saw that Joe from Razorock was searching for feedback on a few new tobacco scents, I jumped at the chance to test his new creations. Of course I went in numeric order…I am a bit of a type A personality. Razorock Tobacco #1 opens with a nice, light scent of tobacco (more on the pipe side vs. cigar), a faint floral hint as a midnote, with an overall smell that comes across as slightly powdery yet masculine. Overall, I have to say that it’s a really nice, complex scent that will draw you back. Razorock #1 is not my absolute favorite tobacco scent in my soap collection but it is far from my least favorite either. As for performance, it stands up to the best of them. Razorock soaps are known for their quality performance and this lives up to the brands reputation. In the end, #1 formed a thick, slick lather that protects for three passes and could have gone one or two more…it simply does not fade over time.

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    (Note: this was after two passes!)

    The performance found in Tobacco #1 was replicated in Razorock Tobacco #2. I sincerely enjoy the performance of both and tip my hat to the consistency that is produced throughout all Razorock soaps. As for the scent of #2, it was quite different that the first. Although I did not like it as much as #1, it was still enjoyable. To my nose, the smell of Razorock Tobacco #2 is a combination of tobacco leaves (possibly a green tobacco leaf note), faint smoke, and a hint of anise.

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    In conclusion, as anyone with soap acquisition disorder knows, trying three soaps is usually better than trying two. Although I preferred the scent of Mystic Water Sweet Brair to both Razorock #1 & #2, the quality of shave that both Razorock soaps provided was outstanding. IMHO, the winner of this little three-way battle was Razorock #1 based on performance and personal preference of the scent. I look forward to the reviews of my four friends and I hope you enjoy our reviews.
     
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  2. Darkbulb

    Darkbulb Cookie Hoarder

    Yay, one of my favorite threads are back!
    Great review and can't wait to see how well it aligns - or not - with the others.

    As much as I dislike Joe's marketing style and could never see myself spending a penny there - I will keep an open mind during the reviews :)
     
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  3. clint64

    clint64 Blind Squirrel

    Thanks for the review. Look forward to the others.
     
  4. theFAT98

    theFAT98 Well-Known Member

    Sorry you had problems with the mystic waters. It truly is a top performing soap once figured out.
     
  5. clint64

    clint64 Blind Squirrel

    I do want to try Mystic Waters Soap at some point. I will admit that reading the trouble some people have working with it moved it down my list. I will get around to trying it at some point.
     
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  6. Derhey

    Derhey Well-Known Member

    Clint, it was not my intent to talk anyone out of trying Mystic Waters Shave Soap. I should have noted that some people, like Fat98 above, have had success and truly enjoy the soap. Personally, I am of the opinion that a soap or cream should be easy to use and not require a lot of tampering to find success. I am sure some people love finding and trying to continually replicate those ideal conditions on a consistent basis, but alas I am not one of those people. Just my two cents but I wanted to note that I meant no offense to Mystic Waters or any of their users.
     
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  7. SDK

    SDK it's his fault

    I for one, did not take your review that way at all. For it to have meaning, you need to relate your experience with something. Good, bad or ugly.

    This thread should be very informative!
     
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  8. theFAT98

    theFAT98 Well-Known Member

    Everyone has different experiences with soaps. Your review was great.

    If you still have the soap I'd like to offer some help.
    With mystic waters the thin airy lather is a water problem. Too much water. I experienced it before i figured it out. This is how i lather it.

    Don't bloom the soap. Leave it dry. Soak your brush while you shower. I prefer a boar brush for mystic waters. Now when you're ready ring out ALMOST ALL of the water. You really just want a damp brush. Now load the brush. I usually load it for at least 45 seconds. Even up to a minute. It will be very pasty. Now start lathering on your face. I just barely dip the tips in water and continue lathering . Continue doing this until you have a lather you are happy with.

    Once i figured out it doesn't like a ton of water it became one of my favorite soaps. Hope this helps.
     
  9. Derhey

    Derhey Well-Known Member

    Just to note, I did give Mystic Water a fair trial. I tried different amounts of water (my home has very soft water...could that play a role?), bowl and face lathering, and either my Plisson synthetic and Omega boar...all to no avail. I am glad some can find success but again, I don't want to use a soap that demands perfection to get a good shave. I sure did enjoy the scent though!
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2015
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  10. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    Greetings! My name is Chris, I also took part in the last review thread, "4 guys - 2 Soaps". I live on the plains near Denver, Colorado, USA with my wife and a cantankerous old bird dog. I got into traditional shaving early last summer after years of canned foam and multi-bladed carts. I joined TSD in September of last year. My best shaves occur on a Schick Injector using the face lathering technique, so that method is in effect for these reviews. Big thanks to @Derhey for organizing this round of reviews! It's probably a good thing we went up to five guys...more on that later in the post.

    The methodology for these reviews:

    1) Cold water
    2) Face lather
    3) 2 Passes (WTG, XTG)

    The things I like in a soap are scent and slickness. However, skin feel gets a veto. My fave soaps are Arko, TSD Iced Subzero, and Proraso Green. This round of reviews was definitely a foray into scents I never would have tried!

    Tobacco. I dig it. Specifically pipe tobacco, but I never thought about buying tobacco shave soap. Three tobacco scented soaps promised a great round of interesting shaves...here we go! YMMV!!!

    Mystic Waters "Sweet Briar"
    As a pipe smoker, my tobacco tastes lean toward mostly unflavored flakes. Upon opening this soap, the blast of cherry reminded me of drug store cordial tobacco. Think about the kind if tobacco your great uncle smoked as he watched pro wrestling on a BW rabbit ear TV set in 1960. Then think about cherries. And cinnamon.

    I couldn't really figure out the aroma here. It definitely had the tobacco background, but smelled like taking an old flake of Navy tobacco, placing it atop cherry cobbler--sprinkled liberally with cinnamon, and then set ablaze with a plumbers torch. So if you're into that kind of tobacco, this stuff is right up your alley! However, it does not smell like any tobacco I own, or would ever buy. I am not sure if smoking cinnamon is a realistic ideal anyway...but that's a another thread in itself.

    Mystic Waters is a croap, and I chose to place a small ball into a bowl. I loaded a Plisson and was able to load up my brush using only a very tiny splash of cold water and a mostly dry brush. I then applied the brush to build a face lather. I added water into my brush and was a able to get lather going pretty well. The lather was adequate and slick, and easily got enough for my two passes.

    After pass one, my skin felt a little weird. I thought maybe it was the blade in my injector razor. I changed it and completed pass two. I found the scent if the soap to be off putting while shaving, but thought it smelled kinda maybe ok after a final rinse, and it seemed to match up with the Veg in a forced head on collision of shaving goodness. Mrs. Samurai told me to just please go back to Arko and just smoke a pipe if you wanna smell like tobacco. I concurred.

    About twelve hours after the shave, my face was smooth and felt good. It looked normal. It also had a noticeable soreness and burning sensation. Razor burn, or so I thought, or maybe worse...


    Day two brought more burning and discomfort, even with a new blade on a familiar razor. The burning started up full force when I lathered my face, leading me to abandon the evaluation before I could even complete pass one. Apparently I am reactive to an ingredient, likely cinnamon or tobacco flower.

    I can't really give any better feedback on Mystic Water Sweet Briar than that. On day one it worked fine, but an allergic issue was so distracting for me i couldn't say much other than I didn't like the scent, yet it lathered ok. I will need to try another variety of MW in order to know more about whether it is a soap maker for me or not. My verdict on this manufacturer is incomplete, but I would not buy this particular soap again based on the scent alone.


    Razorock Tobacco 1 & 2



    Bad news here. Not exactly the Castle Bravo shot, but both soaps left an impression, or a realization. Apparently I am sensitive to the tobacco oil or whatever is common to these three soaps on this thread. I experienced contact burning almost instantly with both of these and was not even willing to try a shave. I had no issues loading up a brush, and both were easy to face lather, but burned my skin within seconds of application. I didn't care for the smell of either of these too much. Pipe tobacco shave soap doesn't smell like tobacco or smoke or soap to me. It smells strange. I think my tastes in tobacco ruined all of these scents for me. Razorock seemed like another good soft Italian style croap, I need to try a different scent.

    This round for me was an example of how trials provide useful info even if the outcomes are "bad". I think I can safely cross these three soaps off my list with no regrets! I wish I had better thoughts or more to share on these soaps, and actually re-wrote this review post hoping not to sound too negative. It was a great chance to try all three, and I had a great time as usual doing this process and getting a chance to broaden my soap horizons. I omitted pics in this post because of the lack of useful info in my reviews. None of these soaps worked out for me, but If you have SAD, don't let my review discourage you from these...one among them might be a fave to you....YMMV.
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2015
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  11. clint64

    clint64 Blind Squirrel

    You didn't talk me out of it at all. I have been following a huge thread on another forum and a great many people seem to have trouble with Mystic Waters. Most seem to be able to make it work in the end but it seems to take them some time. It's still on my list to try but I need to finish up some of my current soaps first.

    I really value the reviews that you guys provide as they are straight forward and true of what you have experienced with the soaps. Thanks again for your efforts.
     
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  12. clint64

    clint64 Blind Squirrel

    Chris, thanks for your review as well. I have been in the same place with soaps in the past. I love CC Bay Rum aftershave and bought the RR CC Bay Rum soap. Within seconds my face was on fire. Tried it twice more with the same results before passing it along to someone that enjoyed it.
     
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  13. Mr. Shaverman

    Mr. Shaverman Well-Known Member

    Mystic Water Sweet Briar

    Tobacco isn't a scent that's anywhere on my radar, so this was a soap that I would have never tried on my own. I was curious as to how the smell would come through, and how it would last. When I first tried the soap I was thinking more of the scent than of the consistency of the soap itself. Big mistake!

    The first time I used this I decided to face lather it with my VDH boar. I've been doing a lot of face lathering lately and have been enjoying it, so there was nothing behind that method other than it's what has been the norm for me for a bit. I loaded the wet brush up and began the swirling action of building lather on my face. Swirling, swirling, swirling and more swirling and nothing really built. It was soupy, it was thin, and it was kind of a disappointment. It eventually thickened a bit, enough to where I wasn't expecting anything more to happen so I began shaving. The shave itself was 3 passes, all face lathering. The shave itself was okay. Honestly, I forget what razor and blade I used, but it would be one that I used regularly. I got close to a DFS with no nicks or weepers, so I don't have a lot to complain about as far as the functionality.

    On my second shave I tried to start out with bowl lathering, and after a few minutes of messing around with it, gave up. I was using the same brush as before, in case you're interested. It was still that soupy mess and it reminded me of the types of lather I'd build when I first started wet shaving. Again I decided to use it as is, and had a similar shave, another near DFS.

    On my third shave I grabbed my trusty Omega 10049 boar. It can whip any soap into shape. I bowl lathered it and built a nice foamy lather with it in the bowl. It was a dry lather though, not one that I liked. Generally at this point with a soap or cream I'd add just a bit more water and the lather would shine and I'd know it was ready. With this though, I was never able to hit that sweet spot, even just adding a few drops at a time it went from that dry lather to the broken soupy lather really quick. Shaving with the dry lather was terrible and I'd choose the broken soupy lather over that but it would really be a lose/lose choice for me.

    The scent was interesting, I have to admit. Still not a scent for me but I can see how others would appreciate it. I purposely didn't use any aftershave so that I could let it linger and die down naturally. It didn't linger very long and after everything died down I rarely noticed the smell. I think it would pair nicely with some of my aftershaves like Stetson Cool Moisture, Clubman Special Reserve, or Aqua Velva Musk.

    If you're a fan of Mystic Waters soaps you would likely enjoy this. The scent was good, and I can only imagine it's the same as all other MW soaps. If you are adventurous I'd also suggest this as you may be able to do more with it than I do. This soap has its fans, so they must be doing something right at Mystic Waters, even if I don't know what that could be. I enjoy my soap to lather easy, work right, and smell good. This soap only got 1 out of 3, so it's nothing I will ever choose for myself. I definitely wouldn't recommend it for beginners.

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    The best, but still unsatisfying lather I could get with it.​
     
  14. Mr. Shaverman

    Mr. Shaverman Well-Known Member

    Razorock Tobacco #1 and Tobacco #2

    As both of these soaps are from Razorock, I decided to roll them into the same review. Aside from the scents, I felt they were exactly the same so it makes sense to me to do it this way.

    For this review I shaved with each soap three times. Each one got two face lathers and a bowl lather with my VDH boar brush. As noted above, there were no consistent differences between the soaps. Both built a quick lather that provided me with a DFS on every use. The soaps were solid performers in that regard. Honestly, I feel like I'm writing a lame review by saying that these soaps just worked, no complaints; but that's the truth. They performed well, and in that regard I think Razorock makes some of the best 'artisan' type soaps out there.

    This isn't to say that Razorock is the best ever, or that these soaps in particular are the top of the heap. For me, they are not. As I mentioned above, I've used Razorock in the past, and while it's a competent soap I likely won't use it in the future. It's got great lather, great slickness and very nice cushion. However, for some reason Razorock soaps dry my face out quickly. If I use it once there's some dryness, twice in a row leaves my face feeling parched with noticeable dry patches, and you really don't want to feel or see how I am after 3 straight times using it!

    I'm not one to generally look for moisurizing soaps and creams, but I definitely avoid ones that dry me out. In that regard it doesn't work well for me at all.

    Scentwise, I thought these two soaps were great! Between Tobacco #1 and Tobacco #2 there is no way I could choose a favorite scent. I stated in my Mystic Water review that I'm not a fan of tobacco scents, and that still stands. Neither of these strike me as being a tobacco scent though. For me, I get more of an incense type scent from them than I do tobacco. I would wear this scent as an essential oil or aftershave type thing. I thought both scents were strong without being overpowering, and I enjoyed using them without any kind of aftershave that would cover it up. The scent lingered for a few hours, but I'm not sure if that was me smelling what had gone up my nose or if I was smelling the dry down. Whatever, it made no difference. I wear scents that I enjoy, not for other people so I was pleased with the lingering aroma.

    If you like Razorock soaps or tobacco scents, I would definitely recommend trying these. The only thing I could fault them with was the drying that it does to my skin. I can't abide by that, but otherwise they were quality soaps all around, performance and scentwise.

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    A quick and easy lather, again the Omega 10049​
     
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  15. JR Reyes

    JR Reyes I scream for....chicken wings??

    First and foremost, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to these 4 gents who shared this experience and took the time to share their thoughts with these great reviews. I also want to say thanks to the shave den community. It feels great knowing that people enjoy these reviews and benefit from the info. It honestly means a lot...so thanks for your feedback and positive comments. I look forward to keeping this going for a while...

    Now for the reviews....

    @Derhey spoiled us with 3 soap samples this round and selected a Tobacco scented theme. This was great news to me, because I'm a big fan of good tobacco scented soaps, and once you've tried one....well...you want to try them all. So far, my tobacco scented soap experience includes Cavendish (PAA), the Captain (Tiki), La Habana (Country Club), Tobacco (WSP), and Tabac. This was a great opportunity for me to add 3 more to the list.

    My initial scent impressions were favorable, but the clear favorite for me "scent-wise" was the Sweet Briar from Mystic Waters. The Tobacco #1 was a softer version more like the tobacco flower, something along the lines of Tabac, but not a dead ringer. The Tobacco #2 scent was a darker version, and I could pick up a hint of leather. Both of the Razorock versions added a twist to their interpretation of a Tobacco scent.

    Because I enjoyed the scent the most, and had never tried a mystic waters soap, I selected the sweet briar to kick of my lather testing. I believe a picture is worth a thousand words, so let me just show you some of the results I was getting....
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    The lather was thin and dissipated fairly quickly. The scent was great, but the lather was lacking the cushion and protection that I look for in a top performing soap. It was my first time using the soap, so I didn't want to be too quick to judge.

    I did a little homework, and found some videos on youtube to help with lathing tips. I even went as far as contacting Mr. Mystic Waters himself...@Celestino! That's how serious I take this stuff folks...LOL. I knew that he has been using this soap exclusively for the past few years, so I knew I must be doing something wrong. He informed me that mystic waters does NOT contain any coconut oil or coconut butter. This makes it unique from basically every soap that we are used to lathering. I admit that I had a bad first impression, and had all but given up on the stuff, but that was because I was expecting instant results and lathered it like I do all of my other soaps. I changed up my technique for the last of my soap sample, and incorporated the tips. The key "for me" was using a dry synthetic brush, slow water incorporation, and face lathering for almost 4 minutes...lol. Finally! A good lather!

    It can be done, but at what cost? I love to lather, but this was overkill. I can see why most people just give up and stick with soaps that perform much faster.

    This soap is different, but does that make it a bad soap?

    It reminded me of when I first went to driving range and hit some golf balls. You hit a bucket full of crappy shots in the beginning, but once you finally hit that perfect shot and watch it sail nice and straight through the air, you're hooked and want to do it again. That's how I feel now about lathering mystic water soaps. I finally got one good lather, and it makes me want to try some more. I hope you guys get a chance to hit a good one...


    I wasn't able to take pictures of my one good lather from the sweet briar sample, but I did receive some Mystic Water soap through a trade. I lathered it up and got great results. I can honestly say that this soap is actually pretty good, and I especially appreciate the post shave face feel. My skin doesn't feel tight, nor does it appear glossy. It leaves your skin feeling nourished and smooth.

    Here are some pictures...
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  16. 45auto

    45auto Well-Known Member

    Very much so Jr.!
     
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  17. clint64

    clint64 Blind Squirrel

    Great review and photos JR. A big thanks for posting up the lathering tips as well.
     
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  18. theFAT98

    theFAT98 Well-Known Member

    Great reviews guys.
     
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  19. JR Reyes

    JR Reyes I scream for....chicken wings??

    Sure thing Clint. Mystic Water Soap requires a little more patience, but if you stick with it, it will yield some great lather. I now have 2 of her soaps, and both smell great. I also heard that using the shave stick can help shorten the time you spend lathering. My opinion of this soap has changed big time from those initial test lathers. I experienced both ends of the spectrum with this soap. I can see why some people quit or get frustrated, as well as why they have many loyal customers.
     
    Derhey likes this.
  20. clint64

    clint64 Blind Squirrel

    Thanks again guys for all the reviews and photos.
     
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