Tag Archives: bay rum

Petal Pusher Fancies – Steam River Rum

22 Tuesday Oct 2013

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Petal Pusher Fancies - Steam River Rum

Edit: It appears that the line has disappeared off the face of the earth, after a small scandal erupted following a few allegations, including that the fellow who ran HTGAM had been under different names reviewing some soaps that he made (under the Petal Pushers brand), and that the ingredient listing for at least some of the soaps was likely falsified. Here’s a bit of an overview.

Frankly, what I saw put a bad taste into my mouth, and I don’t think I’ll be doing any more business with that company. Anyhow, they’ve since rebranded into “Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements”

So I finally got around to trying a puck of Petal Pushers Fancy soap which I had kicking around, and let me say, I’m rather pleased. They’re one of a crop of relatively new soapmakers who burst onto the scene in the last year or two who, unlike so many “artisan soapmakers”, actually make their own soap with their own recipe of fats and lye, instead of just buying a commonly available soap base and fiddling with it a bit or just adding scent.

And it looks like they’ve been successful in figuring out what it takes to make a great shaving soap. They tout it as a “Kokum Butter Shaving Puck”, which makes sense I suppose given that it’s a relatively uncommon ingredient to use in soaps that I’ve seen. Even if it is only the 3rd most common fat used in the soap. But then again, if we were being that picky, then there’s no way that Mitchell’s Wool Fat would get away with referring to themselves as such, considering the lanolin there is only a minor ingredient at best, percentage wise.

Anyways, it lathers up nice and thick. I found it a bit tricky to get the right amount of water needed for the right balance of thickness and glide, but once I get it I was rather pleased. That trickiness is balanced out by the fact that the soap did leave my face feeling rather nice after the fact. All things considered, it’s a top notch shave.

This particular puck is their River City Rum, which I now notice appears to be discontinued. Alas, this is what I get for buying far too many types of soap at a time and holding on to them for too long before getting around to review!

It was a fairly nice bay rum scent, although there was just something about it that seemed a bit off to me, although I can’t put my finger (nostril?) on it. Not that it was unpleasant, mind you, but just not as nice as I find most good bay rums smell.

The strength was so-so; it started off at a medium strength, and faded away to a “relatively weak” by the time I got to the end of a pass.

  • 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
  • 7/10 Scent Strength
  • 9/10 Lather Quality

Obviously I can’t really recommend getting this particular scent, as it’s gone, but I’d say it’s probably safe to assume some of their other stuff is pretty decent; I’ll get around to some more in good time! 7/10.

  • Cost: Also no longer available are the cakes shown above which I shoved in a tupperware container; they now all come in tins, with a 3.5 oz tin going for $9.95; 5 oz for $12.95; and 8 oz (5 inch wide) tin for $18.95.

Gear used:

Ingredients:  Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Stearic Acid (Vegetable Derived), Organic Castor Oil, Pure Kokum Butter, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Sweet Almond Oil, Pure Essential Oils, Fragrance (unscented version does not include essential oils or fragrance)

Honeybee Soaps – Bay Rum shaving soap

25 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in American, Honeybee Soaps, Soap

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Honeybee Soaps - Bay Rum

I can’t really say I was all that much of a fan of this rendition of bay rum. It just wasn’t “Bay Rummy” enough, although I’m not really sure I can articulate quite why. I guess it was lacking a bit of the sweetness you usually get from most bay rums, and the balance of spices didn’t really appeal to me either.

The strength was pretty good, came on fairly strong, with just a bit of fading as the shave progressed.

The lather itself is exactly what you expect from Honeybee Soaps: Make sure to use plenty of water, and it’ll whip up into a nice cream with a good amount of glide. Ok moisturization to boot, but nothing outstanding on that front.

  • 7/10 Scent Pleasantness
  • 8/10 Scent Strength
  • 8/10 Lather Quality

Anyways, I’ll round up to a 7/10. It wouldn’t be my first recommendation, either for a Bay Rum or a pick from Honeybee Soaps, but I’m sure there’ll be some out there who like it a bit more.

Cost: Samples are $1.99 per ounce (or $17.95 for a 10 pack), full 3.5 ounce pucks are $4.49, or $5.99 for 4 ounces in a plastic tub.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Hempseed Oil, Safflower Oil, Shea Butter, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Vitamin E, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbitol, Sorbitan Oleate, Soybean Protein, Wheat Protein, White Kaolin China Clay, Cosmetic Color and Fragrance Oil.

Barrister and Mann – Bay Rum

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in American, Barrister and Mann, Soap

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Barrister and Mann - Bay Rum

Yesterday was Barrister and Mann’s launch day, so I figured it would be a good time to review one of the samples that he had asked for my feedback on. My first impressions from this soap is that it’s very reminiscent of Mike’s Natural, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Lather-wise, at first try, with just a little bit of water you can whip up a thick cream that is somewhat deficient in the lubrication aspect. And if you stop there, you might come away thinking that this is a so-so soap, nothing to write home about.

But, like Mike’s, if you keep adding water, that water will be put to good use by the soap; it’ll only thin out slightly, staying nice and creamy, but significantly increases the amount of glide. There’s nothing wrong with it being a fairly thirsty soap, but it helps to know it is before you try it! After the shave, it left my face feeling quite nice, soft, and moisturized. Despite the fact that the new (well, really old!) razor I was using kinda hacked it up.

The scent is just a fantastic Bay Rum, minus the typical cloves that many people apparently can’t stand. I myself don’t mind cloves, but I also wasn’t particularly missing their absence. What did go into the aroma was “West Indian Bay (none of that cooking bay stuff), sweet orange, real blackstrap rum, benzoin (a warm, vanilla-like scent), and just a hint of cassia cinnamon, which provides a pleasant warmth.” All told, it made quite a nice blend.

Strength-wise, I’d say it was spot-on. Nice and strong, and almost nothing in the way of fading. Much more and I feel it would have gotten into the realm of overpowering, but as is I thought that it was just about perfect.

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

Frankly, considering that this is from a neophite soap-maker, I’d say he’s setting himself up for some great expectations (considering the other two samples I’ve seen, I don’t think this one’s just a fluke). I look forward to seeing the rest of what he comes up with. Overall, a strong 9/10; highly recommended.

  • Cost: As mentioned, the sample I used was provided because the soapmaker (fellow redditor BostonPhotoTourist) wanted my feedback. They haven’t yet added samples to their store, however we’ve been told that they plan on doing so within the next few weeks. The full-sized 3.75 oz pucks will be $10. A damned good price for what you get.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua, Glycerin, Potassium Ricinoleate, Sodium Ricinoleate, Citrus sinensis (Sweet Orange) Oil, Pimenta racemosa (West Indian Bay) Oil, Rum, Styrax Benzoin Oil, Cassia auriculata (Cassia) Oil, Coconut Milk, Potassium Kokum Butterate, Sodium Kokum Butterate, Unrefined Shea Butter, Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Cocoate, Lanolin, Allantoin, Silk Protein, Tocopherol Acetate.

The Shave Den – Signature scent shaving soap

16 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in American, Soap, The Shave Den

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TSD - Signature

The Shave Den’s Signature scent is a bay rum spiked with bermagot.  Bay rum crossed with Earl Grey, it’s a bit like the Caribbean meets England. It’s a bold masculine aroma which I rather quite like. It comes on reasonably strongly, with not much in the way of fading while you shave.

As for the lather, again, it does the trick, but it can be picky. I usually find I have to error a bit on the side of too much water, as having it a bit thin is usually better than not having enough lubrication. You should load the brush heavily and add water gradually, because it can be easy to overshoot the water content you’re looking for. It does however produce quite a lot of lather; volume definitely not a problem with this one.

  • 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
  • 8/10 Scent Strength
  • 7/10 Lather Quality

I’ll be giving this a 7/10 overall. It’s a decent enough all-around soap.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Glycerin, Aqua, Olive Oil, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Borate, Sweet Almond Oil, Sodium Palmate, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoate, Palm Acid, Coconut Acid, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, and fragrance.

Queen Charlotte Soaps – Cayman shaving soap

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in American, Queen Charlotte Soaps, Soap

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2012-12-26 12.55.27-2

Oh, ok. Don’t mind if I do.

Queen Charlotte Soaps - Cayman

Hallelujah! A soap from Queen Charlotte that is neither too weakly scented, or discontinued!

I mean, I knew that they could make a reasonably strongly scented soap. I’d tried their Monaco, and it was strong enough, and their Hanami was probably one of the few soaps that I found too strong. But thus far, the other soaps I’ve tried from them have been anything but strongly scented.

Not so with the Cayman. It’s a quite nice rendition of a classic Bay Rum scent, something which I’m almost always a fan of. It carries over to the lather fairly well, reasonably strong with only a bit of fading during the shave.

I’m starting to think I need to give previous reviews a quick once-over before I shave with a brand of soap I’ve used before. Because I totally ended up using too much water for the first go-around on this one. It’s kind of easy to over-shoot the sweet spot and use too much, which resulted in it being too runny for my taste. But a bit of fiddling, and I was able to get a nice shave out of it.

Overall, I give it a 7/10. Good shave, good scent, nothing to complain about here.

  • Cost: Samples go for 5 for $10, with a surcharge for some scents including this one, so $2.50 was paid for the sample shown. A full sized puck is $15, plus $7 if you want a wooden bowl or $2.50 for a plastic tub.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Saponified tallow, water, saponified castor oil and shea butter, glycerin, saponified stearic acid, cocoa butter, coconut oil, essential oil(s), saponified avocado oil, palm oil, and olive oil, aloe vera extract, kaolin clay, lanolin, vitamin E.

Mike’s Natural Soaps – Bay Rum

03 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in American, Mike's Natural Soaps, Soap

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Mike's Natural Soaps - Bay Rum

Next up for the roadshow edition of my soap reviews is Mike’s Natural Soaps’ Bay Rum.

The lather is, well, absolutely luxurious. Use plenty of water (and I mean plenty!), and you’ll yield a thick lather with plenty of glide, which leaves your face feeling soft and wonderfully moisturized after the fact.

The scent was a nice and spicy bay rum. A fine blend of bay, cloves, etc, it’s definitely one of my favourites. Strength-wise, it’s almost spot on, the only issue being some slight fading near the end of each pass with the razor.

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

Definitely near the top of the list. 9/10. For bay rum soaps specifically, right now I can’t decide if I like this one more than Al’s Shaving Products Calypso, I’ll get around to doing a side-by-side comparison one of these days! Anyways, at this point I highly recommend trying a sample of everything that Mike’s Natural Soaps produces.

Gear used (Roadshow edition!):

  • Brush: Wee Scott
  • Razor: Bic Comfort Twin
  • Scuttle: A empty tub that formerly contained the Body Shop’s Maca Root shaving cream.

Ingredients: Distilled water; saponified tallow and stearic acid; vegetable glycerin; saponified kokum butter, avocado oil, and shea butter; lanolin, essential oils; saponified coconut oil;  kaolin clay, vitamin E.

Al’s Shaving Products – Calypso Shaving Cream

21 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in Al's Shaving Products, American, Cream

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Calypso is Al’s take on the classic Bay Rum scent. I’m definitely a fan overall of Bay Rum. I’m absolutely a fan of this Calypso. Here’s what Al had to say about it himself:

Calypso can be described as cool, refreshing, bracing. There is also a warm, friendly, honest feel to this fragrance and one that is extremely natural. On top of this, there is also, strangely, a shadowy, deep, mysterious, spicy quality. The scent itself may be relatively simple but its impression is complex.

The first thing that needs to be mentioned is that the scent of this shaving cream transforms when lathered. When in just the cream form, it has a subdued scent that comes across as a bit grassy, that smells (to steal a phrase from Douglas Adams) almost but not quite entirely unlike Bay Rum. But once you start lathering up, the aroma of the spices absolutely fills the room. The bay leaves, cloves, and cinnamon are quite evident, and if smells just great. And as you could guess from the description of the scent filling the room, there is no problems whatsoever with weakness of the aroma here. It remains strong once applied to the face, and doesn’t fade noticeably while shaving.

The shave itself was likewise quite nice. It’s a thirsty cream, so be sure to not be stingy on the water. Once lathered up, it’s thick and slick (don’t worry, it puts all that water to work rather than just thinning out), and left my face feeling wonderful after a BBS shave both days.

Definitely a 9/10. Seriously, go try it. Worth a sample for sure.

  • Cost: A 4 oz tub goes for 20 dollars, or you can try this scent in the $20 7 day sampler pack, with each 1/4 oz sample being good for 4 – 5 shaves at my usual wasteful usage. (I will say, although I usually don’t mention sale prices, since I want these posts to stand the test of time, I believe both those items have been on sale for at least a few months. It may be one of those semi-permanent sales you sometimes see.)

Gear used:

Ingredients: No ingredient listing was provided, nor was I able to find one on-line. Al did however have this to say: “The forumula of Al’s Shaving Cream is Triethanolamine and preservative (parabens) free and only contains sodium and potassium salts of fatty acids (stearic, oleic, linoleic, palmitic, myristic and lauric) in addition to water, glycerin and botanicals.”