very cool..i like and trust your soap reviews..you have inspired a few of my purchases..zero regrets. thank you..
So, the last 2 days I've shaved with Saint Charles Shave soap. I got this sample along with several other brands that were pif'd to me by another forum member. Prior to receiving them I knew virtually nothing about them. This soap is very soft and white with almost a rubber-like consistency to it. The only soaps I've felt like this are lanolin based, so I'm guessing this may be as well, although I'm open to info from anyone who knows more than me on this one. As for performance, this one didn't excite me much. It produced a reasonably nice, thick "santa beard" lather for the DE shave (which I like), but it didn't provide for much slickness or residual slickness. It was certainly good enough to get a good DE shave out of, but not as good as many other I've tried. For my straight shave I added more water, and the lather became very thin and bubbly, despite using plenty of product and taking my time incorporating more water. In fact, the lather dissipated on each pass before I could finish a full pass. This sample was rose scented, and I will say that it absolutely smelled like I stuck my nose right in the middle of a rose and took a big whiff, so if rose is your thing, you may really enjoy the scent of this soap. Not sure if the other scents are as dead on as this one or not, but the soap just didn't give me good enough performance to find out. As always, YMMV.
It's been 4 or 5 months since I used it, Paul, so I don't remember which scents I tried. Again, I think this soap has unique scents and good performance, so I wouldn't be scared to pull the trigger on it if leather is your thing.
I do want to get some leather products into my den. That one, and/or Weekend Rodeo(Central Texas Soaps). I already have CTS's Grandpa's Barbershop , but if you saw my recent post about it, I bought it when he still had Bentonite clay in it....he took it out now. It's fun to "Grandfather the Grandpa" .
Next up: Wickham. This one provided a nice creamy lather with more than adequate slickness and cushion. It provided the creamy lather I prefer for a DE shave and also allowed me to add water to make it slicker for a straight shave without getting bubbly or thin and falling apart. In short, it does everything a good soap should do. Although I didn’t find it lacking In area of performance, it also didn’t really stand out in any particular way in order to make it as one my favorites. Having said that, I will also say that the scent (English Rose) was extremely well done, and smelled exactly like you were sniffing a bouquet of roses. Not too strong or overdone and very natural. That’s hard to find. If you find a scent you really like, I can see how this soap could be a favorite.
Great review as always, I use your reviews as the standard for me when buying a new soap. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
With 13 current scents available should someone wish to try them they ought to find a favorite! Sounds like they have got it figured out. Though I lean toward tallow soaps, I'll do a "Vegetal" soap when it works well.
I have a half dozen of them. My favorite is usually Irish Fern, or Citrus Musk depending on when you ask me.
Thanks, guys. I’m glad the info has been useful. I can’t claim to always be right, but I’ve tried to be consistent...
Had my first "granular" experience with Wickham soap. A shame, because I really liked it. Had to go "buh-bye".
Only twice. The Wickham issue was about 4 years ago. Didn't think to "sieve" out the granules back then.
Thats really a great idea to fix this problem. I have a tub of 1st Canadian Maximo Gomez Cuba that has this granulated problem, may have to give this a shot.
That one does look pretty good! $8.00 for 4/.5oz soap???? Sounds like a worthwhile deal, unless the shipping is high.
Hi Randy, I'm just reviewing "elderly" posts. You have Beach Bum, eh? I decided on Lumberjack for the first one(As you probably know from more recent posts).
I handed if off some time ago, Paul. I’ve been reducing my inventory to a few brands now. Most notably Grooming Dept., Barrister & Mann, & Stirling, with a few others sprinkled in.
Well, I've been primarily doing soap reduction in my den, so I thought I was done with this thread. However, as I mentioned above, I am a sucker for a good scent, and ended up getting some samples of Moon soap that I wanted to try. Moon soap, for me, lands in the same category where I find the vast majority of artisan soaps. In other words, it performs well on all counts and really lacks nothing you need for an enjoyable shave. In my opinion, very, very few soap bases break into the elite category, but those that do tend to stand out either for 1) slickness and residual slickness or 2) skin care. I select most of my other soaps based on their scents. Although I wouldn’t consider Moon an elite soap base, they do have several unique scents worthy of consideration. Union is their Barbershop scent, and although the term “Barbershop” casts a pretty wide swath, I’d say it smells like a real barbershop, and not a “romantic cologne version” of one. This may or may not be your personal preference, but the smell is legit. I also enjoy Havana, a light, sweet tobacco scent, and Amaretto, which is a particularly nice version of the iconic Italian soap smell.
