Kell’s Original Hemp Blend Shaving Stick – Lavender

Tags

8/10, kell's original, lavender, shaving soap

Kell’s Original lavender in shave stick form; no surprises here folks.

It’s a reasonably nice lavender scent; I’m fairly certain we’re talking a fragrance version rather than any actual essential oil, but it’s what I think is a pretty good version thereof.

And it’s nice and strong; pretty much just shy of being too overpowering, without anything in the way of noticeable fading while you shave.

The lather performed pretty much exactly as I expected it based upon previous experienced with Kell’s Original. Quite nicely that is. Good performance of thickness, glide, and moisturizing properties; make sure you use a fair bit of water though. Nice volume produced as well.

• 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 10/10 Scent Strength
• 8/10 Lather Quality

So, all told, 8/10. A nice shave, be worth a shot if you like lavender.

• Cost: A 2.5 oz shave stick goes for $9. There are also sample pucks available at $2 for 1 oz, 2.7 oz cakes for $5.25, and 4oz in a tin for $8.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless

Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner).

Oh and they don’t mention it in the listing for some reason, but there’s also going to be some fragrance oil in there.

Kell’s Original Hemp Blend Shaving Soap – Black Tea

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8/10, amber, bermagot, black tea, cedarwood, citrus, floral, Fruit, Glycerin, Jasmine, kell's original, lemon, musk, Orange, shaving soap, tea

Kell’s Original Black Tea is one of those ones were it’s probably best just to start off by giving you the listing of how they describe the scent:

This smoky, sexy and sophisticated fragrance is reminiscent of roasted tea leaves with strong overtones of tobacco. With surprising top notes of Italian Bergamot, Sicilian Lemon and Southern Orange, the blend winds down with Black Tea Leaves, Star Jasmine, White Cedarwood, Amber Crystal and a rich musk. This is a bold and unusual scent sure to intrigue.

So, as you can see, it’s a fairly complex scent. I’m not going to lie, had someone asked me to sniff it and give a description, I’m not sure that “tea” would have popped up. But, knowing that’s what they’re going for, I can see how it hints at that. I’m not entirely sure that I pick up everything listed there, in particular I don’t get all that much of a citrus impression at all, be it lemon, orange, or bermagot. As an aside, I think I would greatly enjoy a shaving soap that manages to capture the essence of Earl Grey, a classic blend of black tea and bermagot.

Anyways, it’s a complex scent, but it’s rather enjoyable; I found it to be somewhat invigorating, it’s just spicy enough to give a little bit of a kick to the senses. It comes on just shy of “strong”, but manages to avoid fading noticeably from there.

As is expected now from Kell’s Original, the lather is quite nice. It’s provides good performance in thickness, glide, and moisturizing properties, provided that you remember to use enough water! Quite voluminous as well, a fully loaded brush will provide far more lather than is needed for a typical 3-pass shave.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 9/10 Scent Strength
• 8/10 Lather Quality

All-in-all, 8/10. I’d definitely recommend at least trying out a sampler. Also available with aloe, although I haven’t tried that formulation.

• Cost: The sample puck used was $2 for 1 oz, also available are 2.7 oz cakes for $5.25, 4oz in a tin for $8, or a 2.5 oz shave stick for $9.

Gear used:

• Brush: Ecotools Kabuki Finishing Brush
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner)

Kell’s Original Hemp Blend Shaving Soap – Sandalwood

Tags

7/10, Glycerin, kell's original, sandalwood, shaving soap

So, the first review post of the new year was my last shave of the previous year, Kell’s Original Hemp Blend, Sandalwood.

It seems to me that the Kell’s Original version of sandalwood is both a bit sweeter, and a bit spicier than the others I’ve tried thus far. I think the combination works quite well actually.

Strength-wise, however, it could have used a bit more oomph. Once lathered up, your lost most of those nice little details mentioned above. It dulled into a kind of vaguely woodsy scent that you had to strain to notice.

As for lather itself, Kell’s continues to not disappoint. Which isn’t surprising, since other than the fragrance, I’m pretty sure that the only variation in the soaps are between their three different blends (hemp, help/aloe, ultra aloe), and I’ve only been using the one type. It’s still a fairly thirsty soap, which takes in the water and puts it to good use making a lot of a nice thick frothy foam, with plenty of glide. It doesn’t thin out excessively, and after the fact, left the face feeling quite nice.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 8/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

Unfortunately, I think the weakness of the scent is enough to drop the overall rating down to a 7/10. It just doesn’t do much to add to the shave at all.

• Cost: The sample puck used was $2 for 1 oz, also available are 2.7 oz cakes for $5.25, 4oz in a tin for $8, or a 2.5 oz shave stick for $9.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner)

Kell’s Original Hemp Blend Shaving Soap – Energy

Tags

9/10, blackberry, champagne, citrus, cucumber, energy, Fruit, Glycerin, grapefruit, Jasmine, kell's original, lemon, Lime, pineapple, shaving soap

Kell’s Original rather clearly based the scent of their “energy” soap upon the fragrance oil of the same name available from Brambleberry.com (as they appear to have done so with a number of their other scents as well). After all, they use the exact same description for the scent:

A stimulating blend of Citrus, including Grapefruit, Lemon and Lime, with hints of fresh Cucumber and Jasmine, and a touch of Pineapple, Blackberry and Champagne. Energy is an exciting mix that’s perfect for spring and summer.

That having been said, I can see why they didn’t want to mess with a formula that works. This is an absolutely wonderful scent. I can see why they call it energy, as it’s almost a bit of a pick-me-up in soap form, sniffing it seems to invigorate. It’s fruity and citrusy and sweet.

Strength-wise, we’re talking just shy of perfect. The soap itself is very strongly scented, and the lather doesn’t disappoint. It stays fairly strong throughout the shave.

The lather itself was also quite nice. It was a fairly thirsty soap, but absorbed the extra water while staying nice and thick, ensuring a slick glide in the process. It was also fairly voluminous in the amount produced. Left the face feeling quite nice.

• 10/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 9/10 Scent Strength
• 8/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

9/10, and I think this might be in the current running for 2nd favourite soap to date. Well worth a shot. Also available with aloe, although I haven’t tried that formulation.

• Cost: The sample puck used was $2 for 1 oz, also available are 2.7 oz cakes for $5.25, 4oz in a tin for $8, or a 2.5 oz shave stick for $9.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner)