Old Village Barber-Bay Rum

Discussion in 'Shaving Soap Reviews' started by DLreno, Nov 17, 2009.

  1. DLreno

    DLreno Well-Known Member

    I just finished this puck of Old Village Barber-Bay Rum and its quality surprised me. I liked it a lot. I have been using shave soaps for about 3 years and have only tried a few brands so far. Compared to Williams this is much silkier, lathers better, smells nicer, and shaves much better. Also, it is made in NH (USA). For 5 bucks this is a soap I will keep in my rotation.;)
     
  2. DLreno

    DLreno Well-Known Member

    Still a winner

    When I did this review over a year ago my primary shave soap comparison was limited to Williams. Since then I have used several top soaps including Tabac, TOBS, ARKO and TSD, and feel I now have a broader perspective for rating this product.

    Wanting to give Old Village Barber another tryout, I went to the OVB website to place an order and was told by the owner that they were retiring, and their OVB brand would be sold under the name "Renaissance Man" by Fields of Ambrosia. http://www.fieldsofambrosia.com/category/renaissance.html

    I ordered the Renaissance Man bay rum soap, have been using it for almost 2 months now, and can confidently say 2 things. First, it is the same excellent glycerin based product as the OVB, and second, it shaves even better than I remembered. It definitely holds its own against the other higher end soaps I have tried. I also upped my rating for lathering, as I now have more than just a boar brush. I find my Vulfix 2235 and Tweezerman badgers whip up fantastic lather with this soap.

    Hence, one year later, as a much more experienced soap consumer, I still recommend Renaissance Man (formerly Old Village Barber) as a high performing -and value priced - shave soap.
     

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