CRFTD Shave Soap Review

I was generously given the opportunity to try out the newly released CRFTD Ranger shaving soap. @m54daboll was nice enough to send me a tin. I will do the official shave review on Sunday night for those of you who are interested.

This is a completely vegan and paraben free soap with a short, quality ingredient list.

Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Water, Coconut Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Macadamia Nut Oil, Fragrance.

I'm really intrigued by the Macadamia Nut oil, as I have never seen that on the list of products I have used.

The packaging is really nice, it's a nice metal tin with a screw on lid which I thought was pretty cool. I've only seen screw on with the plastic containers. I am also really satisfied with the scent. It's a nice balanced barbershop scent, and it's not overpowering. The consistently seems to be a firm croap, but I will update that with my first lather. I will update with photos on Sunday.

Feel free to ask questions!
I pulled this image off the company website as I just woke up, and we don't have heat in the barracks so I refuse to get out from under my comforter.

 

I'm not really sure how to describe it. I'll have to go stick my nose in the tin for awhile. It kinda reminds me of Maggards London Barbershop which is bergamot, basil, Oakmoss, and patchouli.

 

@pvtbanks ... pix or it didn't happen.

( or at least a pic of the tin.)

 

I added a picture of the tin from the owners webpage. My own pictures will be coming Sunday.

 

Just a couple other cool things about this soap, it has waterproof labels, and the big thing, he donates 15% of his procedes to a program that helps veterans become barbers.

 

I'm seriously curious to learn more about this program. I'm a vet and have been interested in barber college. Is this program state specific?

 

From what I found, the tins are 125 grams or roughly 4.5 oz for $20 plus shipping.

and here is the link if you guys want to check it out for yourselves.

http://www.crftdgrooming.com/

 

I just got my sample today as well. I will be shaving with it tonight, and will do the best writeup I can. I'm sending some of it to @Bama Samurai as well to do a writeup.

 

Sample??? that looks like a full tin my friend...lol

 

Well it was a free tin for review. Lol

 

Ok here goes my review of CRFTD Ranger shave soap...

Please bear with me as I am no wordsmith and say things plainly. I have a hard time "fleshing" out stuff like this to make it sound nice. Hopefully others will post their thoughts here as well as they get the soap and try it.

My review is subjective to my tastes, preferences, and what I am really looking for in a soap/cream.



Presentation/packaging - 7.5/10

So the first thing you see when receiving the product, the tin, is pictured here. Waterproofed labels, a nice touch. A clear list of ingredients on the back side.



This soap is very dense and heavy feeling to me. The tin just has some heft to it compared to other soaps. It's a softer soap but not a true croap, if you press your finger down on it it will give way a little and you could press it into a bowl if needed. It's a little harder than say Stirling.

One thing about the tin that I dislike, is the screw on lid, because its hard to get lined up to get back on straight. Maybe I'm just "special" but I'm having to attempt it 4 or 5 times instead of just simply pressing a lid on like other tins.



The scent. 8/10

I have to disagree with the OP in this one, its not barbershop at all. In fact all I get is a sweet smelling cologne like scent. Now it does smell pretty good, and it passed the SWMBO test. In fact it's a pretty strong scent, compared to others like Stirling and Strop Shoppe and Maggards. It lingers.

The lather. 6.5/10

So onto lathering. I presoaked my New Forest 2204 Silvertip Badger for a couple minutes and shook out most of the water. The soap tin is filled to the very brim so you'll have to load over a mug or something which is what i usually do anyhow. I loaded the brush for 30 seconds. At this point the soap is very bubbly. I started slowly adding water a couple drops at a time, trying to find the right ratio, and that desired yogurty slick lather. I couldn't ever get it the way I wanted it. I probably added 20 or more drops of water and this was the best I could do



Some Bubbles going on there, not a sheen to it like other soaps I've used, no yogurty like texture. More like a foam. I messed with the water ratio more. But just couldn't do better than this. YMMV.

Also I want to say here that once applied the lather doesn't "die". Which is a plus.

Cushion. 6/10

I started shaving, with a Fatboy adjusted to 7 with a new Polsilver SI blade.

I just wasn't seeing GREAT cushion here. Good enough yeah. But I want GREAT. Lather more on the thinner less protective side of things. With other soaps I really like, I can almost shave with just the collected soap in the razor guard, it has that much cushion.

Slickness/glide. 6.5/10

Once again, it performed well enough. Not GREAT but good. I will say this... With my other soaps I HAVE to use alum to do pulls, they're so slick. Not so here. I didn't have to use alum but a couple times.

Skincare. 6/10

After the shave, and rinsing the soap off, I feel the face for smoothness and softness, to check for moisturizing quality of the soap. This one once again is just good enough. Not drying but not like I just rubbed on a good lotion either. Just feels like I washed my face with a decent soap. Could use some more moisturizing elements here to really elevate it IMHO.


So overall, I would give this around a 7 out of 10. Based on the scent alone its an interesting soap. But I can't just help but feel like there's something missing in the soap that would elevate it. Kokum or shea butter or both? Another oil? I'm not sure as I'm not an artisan soap maker. I'm sure the maker of this is proud of his product and he should be, he's done well. It just could be a little better though if it's going to get into the rotation with Stirling, Strop Shoppe, Mike's, Maggards, etc.

 

Ok, so I just finished my first shave with the CRFTD Ranger shave soap. I had my Slim wide open on 9 with a fresh feather blade. Prepped with the usual AJ Murray pre shave oil.

I bloomed the soap as I do with all others, a layer of HOT water, I then soaked my WD 24mm Silvertip and let the hairs soften. In the tin the scent seemed really light, but as soon as I added the hot water it really came to life.

I really do get the barbershop vibe off of this, but this is definitely YMMV, I had completely different results than young gun.

Lather:8/10
I thought this soap produced an excellent lather with minimal effort. I was able to produce the lather I do with any of my other soaps.


Cushion:9/10
This lather gave me a confidence inspiring cushion. I normally only can make first pass set on 9, but I was able to finish all 3 passes with the slim wide open.

Slickness:6.5/10
This was the only place I wasn't super impressed with CRFTD. I wasn't really able to buffer with this as there was minimal slickness left behind. It was perfect when lathered though.

Skincare:8/10
I thought my face was left feeling refreshed and hydrated. I imagine Shea butter could take this soap to a whole different level of skin care though.

Overall:9/10

I love the scent, and I thought AV Ice Blue complimented the soap and wrapped up the "experience". This soap will be in my rotation. Remember, YMMV

 

Yep YMMV! Glad it worked better for you than me for sure I hate being negative Nancy

 

Hey Tim...what did you do for prep?

I noticed Seth used a PSO...and I'm not a fan of doing so, if I'm going to have a rating for slickness. No telling if it will impact the result.

Overall I think you guys did pretty good. It's tough to do a write up off of an initial use. It takes a little time to nail the perfect water ratios, and loading times. I remember having miserable initial lathers with mystic waters soaps, but after a week of lather testing, I was getting amazing lathers.

I would love to read some follow ups.

 

I didn't use a pso here, I haven't been last few shaves and wanted the lather to stand on its own. I think tallow just adds so much more slickness and also the butters used in other soaps make a difference for me. Maybe I just didn't do the lather right but starting with no water and adding a couple drops at a time I should come up with something I like at some point. Like I said it was just good but not great.

 

Fair enough. I understand. I hope it works out for future lathers.

 

I always start with a wet puck, and a damp brush and lather until I'm happy.

 

"Now... what was I supposed to do today??? "