Like I said in the other thread, I would like to see you review Pre de Provence, Provence Sante, and L’Occitane Cade.
Last shave with Rhapsody. I chose to use the Silver Star razor that I just won in a PIF. As a side note I absolutely love The Shave Den, this is the very first PIF I have ever won even though I have given out many many of my own PIF on other forums. This place rocks! The blade that came with it was from the fifties or sixties when the razor was made and had a little rust on it like many of the Vintage blades I have received before. Like all other vintage blades this one had become very dull and about one stroke in I knew it had to be replaced. The tugging was absolutely unbearable! I replaced it with an Astra SP (6) which again was not the best option as this razor is very mild and would love to have a new feather in it. The next pass I did like normal which is a thick Barrister & Mann lather. The slickness and cushion is the same as all the previous reviews so I won't go into that but the scent I have decided it is not for me. If this was my first Barrister & Mann review I would be disappointed and turned off to the brand probably but as it is in my top 5 I think I will let this one slide and look forward to my next soap review.
Ben - I, like many others, have followed you over here. I was also worried something had happens so I'm happy that everything is ok (other than how you must have been treated.) I like the new format and will enjoy reading your reviews again. Can you tell me where you stand on your soap making adventure? Do you have a thread here you could link me to? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I reviewed Pre de Provence a few months back and I really liked it for a summer soap. I have a whole puck of it and I think that stuff will last several months of daily use. I think you're right, it's time to try it again, I'll put it on my front burner. Provence Sante sound like a good soap just from the ingredients. Ingredients : Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Water, Talc, Fragrance, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Palm Kernel Acid, Tetrasodium Etidonate, Pentasodium Pentetate. Good to see you here brother, I started the soap making thread here as well and I'm going to have a lot of additional details that I could not add over at Badger and Blade. I was not mistreated there I just spend a lot more time here it seems. There are some amazing members here reviewing soaps I have never heard of. Again I'm glad to see you here and hope to see you joining in the discussions with all of us.
Through the fire Spring Fern Merkur 38c Barberpole Astra SP (5) Way too soft, this soap needs some aging before it goes out the door. Slickness 7/10 when run wet like the picture above it achieves an 8.5/10 but cushion crashes to 7/10 Residual sickness 6/10 but achieves 8.5/10 when run really wet. Cushion 8/10 when lathered normally, when wet 7/10 Moisturizing 4/10 terrible, my face was very displeased and needed aftershave balm ASAP Scent 7/10 great scent but very synthetic for this first round. Perhaps my score will change as I use it more. Overall 6.5/10 I am scared to run this soap with a more aggressive razor. Very unimpressed.
They soaps she makes for Maggards are super soft like that too. Not sure why she lets them go with so much water in them.
Very interesting to see your thoughts on ttffcraft. Ember was my first soap and it's still my favorite scent to this day. Maria is also a great person and she went out of her way to remedy the situation when I explained that I was having a severe reaction to one of her scents. I'm a little surprised to see that her soap stacks up poorly against your other reviews so I'm eager to branch out now. I used to think that it was an incredibly slick soap and after trying Dr. Jon's, I agree that it is not very moisturizing. Perhaps her soaps could use some shea butter. Unfortunately, I had to set them aside to use as hand soaps in the future since using them daily burns my face too much due to the reaction.
I too am surprised that she lets them go out the door this soft. They are literally a cream which could be squeezed from a tube with no effort. I certainly would not classify this as a soap. Well it did not take long to reach the bottom of the sample tub. I am two shaves in and already seeing the bottom of the plastic container. My phone ran out of battery so I did not get face lather shots but I went much thicker this time to increase the cushion since I was shaving with the Aristocrat and a feather on its second shave. Slickness 7.5/10 Residual slickness 6.5/10 Cushion 7.5/10 Moisturizing 5/10 Scent 7/10 I am actually beginning to enjoy this scent. Overall 7/10
Starting to make a dent in this soap already after three uses. Today was a mild razor with a brand new feather. Slickness 6/10 Residual sickness 5/10 Cushion 5/10 Moisturizing 5/10 Scent 7/10 Overall 5.2/10 for some reason this blade/razor combo did not work well today and I had probably one of my worst shaves. Top 5 worst at least. I'm not sure what the problem is but I'm moving on to soap that I know works. Edit, I know this soap has plenty of stearic acid based on the easy to make lather but I think it has too much coconut oil which reduces moisturizing and creates a more bubbly lather instead of a creamy lather. I would like to see this soap reformulated with half the coconut oil and triple the glycerin in it. Then allow it to sit out in the open air not for 6 months like MdC but for 1 month at least. This would definitely help create a more dense yogurt like lather.
Mickey Lee soapworks Unforgiven Gillette adjustable set on 3 feather (3) This is a very dense thirsty Tallow soap. After I was done shaving and cleaning up my brush I noticed there was still a big chunk of soap at the bottom of the scuttle. I only used half a gram so I'm thinking in the future I'll only need an MdC amount of 0.3 grams. Slickness 9/10 Residual Slickness 8.5/10 Cushion 8.8/10 Moisturizing 9.2/10 Scent 8/10 Overall 8.9/10 my only complaint with this soap is the large amount of aloe vera juice in it which throws the scent off. I have been unable to use much aloe vera juice in my own soap because it is quite strong and difficult to cover up. It is the same case here and the manly Smokey scent of Unforgiven is interrupted occasionally by the sweet aloe vera juice smell. I'm really nitpicking here because the moisturizing more than makes up for the smell and some people even enjoy the smell of aloe vera. In this case I should probably give it a pass because Unforgiven reminds me of a desert fire and aloe vera fits perfectly into that theme. I have a feeling this is going to break into the 9s when I start to use mild razors. Excellent soap highly recommended.
Mickey Lee soapworks Unforgiven Gillette Aristocrat with feather (3) I ran the 0.3 grams of soap a little wetter this time in hopes of increasing slickness but I think I should have stayed with the traditional lather. Slickness was the same as last time but was a little more airy than I would have liked. Still the soap has a very wide water tolerance and there was no discernible drop in cushion. I went ahead and bowl lathered it this time since last time I used the scuttle and next time I will face lather it. Slickness 8.5/10 Residual sickness 8/10 I was a little over optimistic last time since I was coming off some pretty horrible soap but this is plenty slick and very very efficient at mowing down your beard. Cushion 8.8/10 Moisturizing 9.3/10 excellent just excellent Scent 8/10 Overall 8.8/10 A little lower overall score than the last time due to the more realistic slickness score but this is plenty slick and extremely efficient soap. I know a lot of people have not tried Mickey Lee but it receives very high praise from me. Grab a couple samples and let us know what you think here at The Shave Den. We can always use more reviews!
Final shave with Mickey Lee Unforgiven Mild razor with Feather (3) I tried to get an action shot like JR does but it's harder than it looks, and he uses straights! Sickness 8.8/10 Residual sickness 9/10 Cushion 9/10 Moisturizing 9.3/10 Scent 8/10 it worked well for me today since I was outside by a campfire for several hours. Overall 9/10 just breaking the 9 barrier. I really enjoy this soap with a mild razor and sharp blade. It takes very little soap so you know it has been properly aged, good job Mickey Lee, solid soap at an affordable price.
Strop Shoppe Orange Blossom Merkur 38c barberpole new Astra SP This stuff has cushion that goes to Infinity so I always Load with a medium wet brush Add 8ml water (half tablespoon) Add another 8ml, we are now at 1 tbsp of water. Slickness 9.3/10 Residual slickness 9/10 Cushion 10/10 Moisturizing 9.5/10 Scent 9/10 Overall 9.5/10 By far the best shave I have had in a month. I now remember why I started using castor oil in my homemade shave soap only I think I need to really pump up the percentages I'm using. I currently use around 5% but this soap uses more. This soap is fantastic!
Hi Ben, I was looking at your RR XXX review over at B&B and had a quick question for you. Do you remember what the residual slickness was like ? I just got a tub of XXX and while all other aspects of the shave are nice I fine there to be almost no residual slickness.
I cant recall what the slickness score was but I do remember that there was a lot of love and a lot of hate over XXX so I went in with a skeptical mindset. In the end I thought it was an average tallow shave soap so it would receive pretty high remarks but I think I remember it having too much Coconut Oil and the lather was a little off because of it? That may be why the residual slickness was off, CO will reduce residual slickness very quickly. I loved the scent however and as such it will remain in my den forever.
Strop Shoppe Barbershop WWI OC new Astra SP This aggressive razor typically likes a thicker lather. I loaded the same 0.3 grams in the scuttle for a warm shave but I think I used to little product and whipped too much air into it. Actually I know I did because the slickness was way off. With an aggressive razor like this I should have gone for thicker lather 0.5 grams at least. Oh well, I still like Strop Shoppe. Super close shave as always. Slickness 7.5/10 Stirling really excels under all conditions with an OC razor. Residual slickness 7/10 Cushion 7.5/10 Moisturizing 9/10 Scent 7/10 an average barber shop nothing spectacular in today's world of soaps. If you're looking for a 9 rating look to Dr. Jon. Overall 8/10 saved by the moisturizing score. This soap is always moisturizing regardless of what aftershave you use.
Ben, thanks for continuing these reviews. I really do think that there is something almost magical about castor oil in a soap recipe; most of my favorite soaps contain it. If you haven't ever tried Jeeves of Hudson Street, I need to send you a sample so you can see what you think of it and provide a review. Let me know and I'll get it out to you.
