Received mine today, in time for a couple of days beard shave. Pleasant scent off the tub, my granddaughter thinks it smells like apple pie. Easy loading with a shook out damp APShaveCo Cashmere knot off the dry, non-bloomed puck. My water is relatively soft being low in calcium and iron, but contains dissolved silicates (sand). The Blood on Steel lathered as easy as a previous Jeeves soap - bay rum. Do they have just one soap base with different scents? My shave was with a familiar razor, and the lather performed well provided adequate lubrication. On my next use I'll be paying attention to the residual slip as it's an important factor to me. I tend to slightly overlap each stroke. Razor, brush, and bowl all rinsed easily with no undue scum. The aftershave is as I prefer being high alcohol for a pleasant burn, with a light menthol boost. Hours later I can still smell it. There's a slight difference between soap and AS scent that I can't quantify yet. Overall, high end of acceptable range with no negatives to keep me from recommending it to others. Tapatalk Via Kyocera
Yes, he does. He developed it over several years. He actually renders his own tallow because he couldn’t get high enough quality tallow. His wife does not like that part of the process.
I have a couple of Byron’s soaps, (thanks Adam) and really enjoy the base. Top tier stuff. Scents are what scents are: you like, love or hate them, but the soap is right up there with any thirsty artisan soap: Stirling, B&M etc... Was kinda bummed that somebody bought them all out before I got a chance......
I liked the scent very much. Hope my words weren't overly negative. I thought the Bay Rum batch sample from Jeeves was just fine.
I feel like something is amiss with the tub you got. I have the same mountain runoff coming out of my faucets and have no problems lathering it. Did you have lather issues with the Bay Rum ? Perhaps it isn't the EO causing the irritation but some lye still present in the soap ? Just a though.
I don't know about the same water Andrew. I put a water softener in our house shortly after moving in. I don't think Chris lives very far from me. If he gets his water from South Adam's he has some pretty hard water. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
I just looked at the Water Quality reports, South Adams is 21 GPG, WOW!! Colorado Springs Utilities is 11 GPG. Both are rated at very hard but South Adams is almost double.
Ill have to check on what hardness my water is, I know it’s pretty bad though I replaced th water heater after 9 years and then had to change out the replacement after 2 years and it weighed about 30 lbs more. All my soaps lather fine even the col conk. The problem might be what type of dissolved minerals are in the water.
Wow. I used to keep fish that required very hard water. (Cichlids from Lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika in the Rift Valley in Africa.) My brother and I had a business breeding and selling them to pet stores. We had to maintain a certain hardness to our water, and we would add limestone to the tanks to get that. I'm not sure the fish would do well in the water you have, Chris.
I didn't want to level the bad chemistry, unreacted lye issue, but yeah. Could be that too. The reason I cite tobacco is that mass market high end (think DR Harris) containing it tend to irritate my skin, and I doubt DR Harris contains unreacted lye. Soap only has two varieties for me, adequate and inadequate. It's why I've gotten out of artisan soap and reviews. The artisan soap game is really all about scents, and I find arguments for quality misguided. The more artisan soap I've tried over my years here, the more I realize that the reviews focus on scent, and that the range of acceptable shave soap is immense. Mass market QC will always be better, and artisans will never compete on price against factories. Again, another example of how taste and desire drive purchases as much as anything else, including price. Lots of great products, both artisan and mass market. And honestly, SAD is the best of the ADs. I did it, just not anymore. Am I regretful about this purchase? No, I would do it again. The fact that some random guys have formed a group worthy of its own soap is reason enough to purchase. The scent is great, I like it very much. The name is even better, and comes directly from our group culture. So, this one was never actually about the soap. It was about all of you.
@jluc @Drygulch @Linuxguile @Paul76 This is why I just stick with the Barbasol and mass market sticks.
I almost fell out of my chair from reading bar&@$ol. This is a family friendly thread. Language like that can be extremely offensive and could land you in tsd
It's OK to say Barbasol. They've been making it since the 1920's so it can't be all that bad! There's even a gathering of like minded folks in the Barbasol Brotherhood. I'm an occasional user, though I play with mine between the can and beard. I like to shoot a blob into my shave bowl and punch it down with a moist brush. That knocks out the propellant making it less like styrofoam, more like from-a-puck lather. Then I juice it up with more water to achieve my chosen consistency.
I have one. Still pretty hard. The city is actually installing softening systems at the supply level. Recently we had an issue out here that has cut us of from our normal supply, and according to the city, the water is extra hard for the next few months. The water in my area also reeks of chlorine, to the point that use a carbon filter on everything just to kill that. On my recent trip, I was very aware of the relative softness of STL, and in KY the water is really low in minerals and solids. Probably contributes to STL being a historical brewing center, and Kentucky being the origin of oft imitated Bourbon style of whiskey.
This is my first time with a softener and I’m finally getting used to it. I spent all of my life in California with hard water and it amazes me the differences in how soaps behave. I’ve grown to like the soft water.
I'm one of the libertarian shavers. Will argue/advicate for certain blade and lather technique all day, buy honestly feel like all the rest is interchangeable to a large degree. In my case, Barbasol feels fine for my skin, and is slick enough for SR. I enjoy the shaving part of shaving the most, and any adequate lather works for me. SAD is fun, and in practice, almost an infinite pursuit
