I see one from The Soap Exchange 4 Men....I'm going to buy from them before the end of the year to prep for NB18.
So I've sniffed them all and taken some small samples since I cant do a trade. Is it time to send it off or wait in case someone signs up after me? Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
I'd hang onto it for at least a few days. Some things that you might not care for tonight will smell different when you don't overload your nose with the miriad choices in the box.
Perry @PLAla started the box moving almost six months ago. I'd imagine he's about ready for it to come home so he can see how it's changed? Do pull a sample from any brands you'd like to try for the lather quality, even if it's not a scent you particularly like. Without having any tubs, tubes, or pucks to swap in/out you ought to get at least a months lathers just from samples!
Yep, @Stu929 will be sending back to me shortly. I'm going out of town next week and it should be back to me by then. This has been a terrific pass-around. I had no inkling it would be out for almost six months and have the contents change over so much. Very exciting!
The most difficult part was seeing all the interesting soaps that went in after I had it. But that's how these go. I'm glad I participated. It made for an exciting thread to follow with lots of great reviews!
Yeah this was awesome. Glad I got to be a part of it. Can't wait to see what he thinks about the soaps! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
@Stu929 - Any remarks on what you pulled to sample? I hope you found some goodies! Did you send it back this way yet?
I was in a 12 hour meeting yesterday so could not make it to the post office. I plan on getting it there today. As for what Ive tried so far. Ive only tired the Ginger Gardens Suede. Love the smell which lasted for hours and it lathered great but didnt seem as slick as my Bigelow. The razor seemed to skip across my face. Maybe to much water maybe not enough. Other than slickness or lack of I definitly liked it. Im going to try it again in the morning. I took a few small bit of some of the bay rums and a squirt of KMF for the wife to try. Im not a soap/noxema fan so the citrus and Bay Rum flavors stood out to me. Hoping to come up with a few choices for fathers day ideas Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
Oh there was a random bay rum in a bag with no vendor name... any ideas? It was written in maker but worn off. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
May 31 - Something for a rainy day Merkur 34C Perma Sharp (Day 3) French Vanilla (JR#72) Chiseled Face Summer Storm Alum/Thayers/AOS PSB Today was another grab at a sample from the pass around box. Today was Chiseled Face Summer Storm. Not sure how to describe it other than a rainy day with a citrus twist. It was really nice and I enjoyed the scent. After having this one, I must second guess Caties Bubbles Un Jour Gris. I think they are similar but SS might have more citrus which I like. At first I thought this soap wasn't thirsty but instead it just has a rather wide range of water. It was nicely slick and excellent in cushion and thickness. This was a very good soap. The Perma Sharp showed very little indication that this was its 3rd shave. Still very sharp and smooth. I focused hard at keeping very light touch and minding the angle. 3.5 passes yielded a BBS but the alum stung. I hope this wasn't a reaction to the soap. Has anyone has a reaction to this or any Chiseled Face soaps? I doubt it is the soap because I have had alum burn on every shave with this blade. It would suck if it is the blade because I like its sharpness and smoothness. It is the end of the day and my face still somewhat touchy from a 6:30am shave. Based on my experience with this soap, I am anxious to try another Chiseled Face soap. It was very good and I want to add it to my den. This might be one I will grab on my trip to Pasteur's Pharmacy in June.
June 1 - Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements 11235 Today, I used another of the pass around soap samples, 11235 from PAA. Based on the original scent description: , I thin k this soap is a little old. the scent was light to maybe medium and much of what is listed I could not smell. What I did smell had a citrusy powdery floral note. It was pretty nice. Lather was amazing!!! I pressed the sample into my bowl and added about a teaspoon or slightly more water to the bowl. It took no more than 10 or 15 strokes of my SilverTip brush to completely dissolve the soap. It was quick! As I am whipping it up I thought I over watered it and ruined another sample. To my surprise, it thickened nicely and resulted in a thick but light and very slick lather. On the face, this lather was amazing. To me, I thought I applied some form of cream moisturizer instead of shaving soap. It felt like cold cream or an excellent top quality cream moisturizer instead. I also find that most Tallow soaps lather up heavier while vegan seem to be lighter. This soap follows this as well. It is think but has a light feel to it. Stirling and B&M for example, to me, feels heavier. Could be I need more water in those but I like the feel of a heavier lather so I don't. The weight feeling is not at all a detriment for any soap I have. just an observation. Since I had questions about a blade irritating me, I shaved one side with the 34C/PermaSharp and the other with a 6C/Rockwell blade. Lots of lather was created and had loads extra that I applied to my face while I cleaned up the brush and bowl. 3.5 passes yielded a BBS but the alum still stung. Not as bad as yesterday but enough. I think this is more residual irritation than what was caused today. To me, PAA made a great soap. I have gone through their offerings and made myself a list of soaps that I should check out at Pasteur's Pharmacy to buy. This is definitely a great soap.
June 2 - Ginger's Garden British Empire Today was the 5th day on the PermaSharp blade. It STILL is going strong. Today, I got to use British Empire. Their website lists the scent as: . This is a vegan soap. To me, the soap was great except for the scent. It was very light to almost unnoticeable. If you nearly stick you nose in the lather, I got a short lived hit of citrus followed by a floral/powdery scent. This finished with a vanilla and coconut smell which could just be the smell of the base soap. This could be the amber, oud and musk but I am not well versed in scents and so might be relating it to something simpler to my nose. That is its only negative. Having read that this soap needs more product, I intentionally grabbed a bit more in the sample. I also kept the water low. I was able to whip up a nice lather but it did need more water than what the previous reviews , to me, suggested. It was not a super thirsty but about average. the reviews made it seem like a few drops was too much. The lather produced was classic vegan from my experiences. It was thick, slick and light in feel. I did not feel it needed any more than any other vegan soap so I do not understand why they needed more water. I think , much like my experiences, they are either use to softer soaps or ones that need lots of water. My soft water created tons of lather as well. It was very nicely moisturizing and yet did not leave your face feeling greasy at all. there was no residual left on the face and rinsed cleanly. If they could kick up the scent, it would be a great soap. Their vegan base is wonderful and works very well. If you prefer light scents, this is a must try. I tend to prefer bold scents but sometimes it is good to have something lighter and this would be perfect. The ingredients list is short and might also be good for some that have allergies but you must check them first. The soap protected very well and kept the blade from biting at all. It was a very pleasant shave experience. 3.5 passes and I did not want to give up the lather. I still had enough for 3 more passes, at least. Recently I was having irritation and the alum was stinging. today, I had the lightest alum sting and it faded quickly. For an old blade that tended to cause stinging, I think the soap, and technique, helped improve the end result. Only because PAA and Chiseled Face had stronger scents but similar feels would I lean towards them but I still would peruse GG soaps for a more potent scent and would be happy to purchase it in a heartbeat. If they would offer a strong scent in this soap, I would definitely think about adding it to my den. Thank you gang at Ginger's for sending and refilling the box. I am looking forward to Barbershop Quartet and Suede now since these seem to be a bit bolder in their bags. I will be happily smelling your products at Pasteur's and looking for a favorite to add to my den.
June 3 GG Barbershop Quartet No one but me seems to want to post about the soaps in the box so I will continue to do so Merkur 34C PermaSharp(day 6) Dark Chocolate (JR 148) DIY PSO Ginger's Garden Barbershop Quartet Alum/Thayers/AOS PSB Today was another run with the pass around box and Ginger's Garden soaps. Today was Barbershop Quartet. I decided to hydrate it more than yesterday and got nice slick lather that was light and filled the bowl. I think I got more lather today from the same amount of soap. Nicely protective lather. My only gripe is I did not smell what is listed on the website for the description of the scent. It states . To me, the scent was stronger but I only got a sweet powdery floral scent that is like a talc powder. It was a good scent just to me not what is listed on the site. It is also on the light side. I need to either hold the bowl to my face or have soap on it to smell the scent. For me, I still would like it stronger. The scent description sounds more like a bay Rum than a barbershop scent. I wonder if they made a mistake on the website. I even double checked with the wife and she smelled the same as I did. I did 4 passes and the blade was showing wear, finally. DFS because I have some stubble feel in one direction on spots on the neck. Blade did very well. I still have GG Suede but I am not sure it is a scent for me and if it will be stronger. Post shave felt clean and non greasy. A shame it doesn't have a stronger scent. Then again for rehouse days you do not want an overpowering scent, this would be a great soap to grab. Alum was very light in bite. Best so far. Odd how the blade got better with age I do feel GG has a great soap base and protects well and is nice and slick. I would not say I do not like light scents either. I have Saponificio Varesino Dolomiti and that too is an excellent soap with a light scent. Like SVD , GG is a soap to enjoy when you are not looking to be a teenage boy looking to attract a girl with cologne and end up only attracting flies. This soap has more of a refined scent level and is not overpowering. They are not trying to deodorize your bathroom, only trying to grants pleasant experience and as such they do a great job. I have felt like my reviews of GG lighter scent might be taken as a negative but there are plenty of times it would be a positive.
I have enjoyed the Ginget Gardens Suede so far. Only one I've tried since sending off the box. Lathers great but I dont think its quite as slick as my C.O Bigelo tube. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
Please continue!! I will be posting my shaves here when I use soaps from the box. Thanks for your contributions.
Here is the arrival pic. That's the only one I got because I got sidetracked when taking out the contents and then started to get a headache from all the smells!
