Garden Variety Soap Company – Bergamot Cedarwood shaving soap

Tags

6/10, bergamot, cedarwood, citrus, clove, garden variety soap co, juniper, Lime, patchouli, shaving soap, wood

So I received this puck of shaving soap after getting an inquiry from the soap maker about doing a review. I frankly kind of wish she had contacted me prior to coming up with the formulation; perhaps I could have helped to steer her in a bit of a better direction.

As we often see from people who are already making soap that decide to delve into making shaving soaps, it looks like it’s basically hand soap with bentonite clay added. I suppose I can’t blame them terribly; after all that’s pretty much what comes up on the first page or so if you google “How to make shaving soap”. The problem being that they’re all listed on soap oriented websites, and not anyone with any real “cred” with regards to shaving. I’d liken it to someone who was trying to figure out how to bake a cake following a recipe on an breakfast website telling egg lovers how they can alter their omelet recipe by adding some flour, instead of actually listening to the advice on a baking site.

Which isn’t to say that some type of clay can’t be a small component of a good shaving soap (as seen in Mike’s Naturals amongst others), but it sure as heck can’t be the only thing that you’re using to try and make it into a shaving soap instead of something else.

Anyways, enough of a generic rant, about this soap in particular: it seriously lacked lather stability. If you do use it, I’d suggest tailoring your lather mix to be on the water-heavy side, so at least you get a very good amount of glide, since you’re not really going to be able much to speak about in the way of thickness. It did at least have some decent moisturization properties, but that’s not really enough to salvage the performance.

The scent was pleasant; the bergamot seems to be predominate with the cedar and the other scents providing a nice base. There’s a bit of sweetness to the mix as well, which might be from the shea / cacao butter. All together, it came together for a nice combination.

It was about a middling strength; not strong, but not weak, with fairly decent staying power.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 8/10 Scent Strength
• 6/10 Lather Quality

Anyways, I’ll be giving this a 6/10; I can’t really recommend it due to the unsatisfying shave it provided.

• Cost: As mentioned, I was given this puck free of charge for the purposes of this review. You can get your own 4 oz puck for $8.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Merkur 37C Slant
• Blade: Personna DE
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Water, Sunflower Oil, Castor oil, Coconut oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Palm Oil, Shea Butter, Cacao Butter, Bentonite Clay, Essential Oil Blend (bergamot, cedarwood, juniper, patchouli, lime, clove)

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RazoRock “La Famiglia” Don Marco shaving soap (original formulation)

Tags

8/10, bergamot, citrus, floral, Fruit, Neroli, RazoRock, shaving soap

So, this is yet another example of the fact that I really need to get reviews done quicker and out the door faster. Here’s a review of the original formulation of RazoRock’s “La Famiglia” Don Marco shaving soap, which has since been superceded by a new formulation. The old one can however still be found at a few spots.

The soap lathers up easily, really thick, with good amount of lubrication. Just be sure to use enough water; this is one of those soaps where you might lather it up, and it could look right, but when you go to use it, it’s not as slick as it should be, because it needs more hydration. But if you get the water balance right, it’s just an excellent soap, with a good amount of moisturization as well.

The scent is quite pleasant, orange-y and citrus-y from the bergamot, with a nice bit of sweetness from the neroli, it is really a nice little package. Unfortunately, it’s not all that strong, starting off at what I’d say is a medium amount, and experiencing some fading from there throughout the shave.

Edit: For those who don’t read the comments, Joe from RazoRock has pointed out that the only change in the formulation was an increase in the strength of the scent by 50%. I presume by that ihe means a 50% increase in the amounts of the fragrance used by either volume or weight. The base soap formula has stayed the same. So… yeah, I’ll probably like the new stuff better.

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

Overall, I’ll give this an 8/10.

• Cost: As mentioned, there only appears to be a few places you can find the old formulation in stock now. One such spot sells it for $6.99.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Merkur 37C Slant
• Blade: Personna DE
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Stearic Acid, water, cocos nucifera, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, fragrance, sodium carbonate, linalool, linalyl acetate, decanal, erthyl 2-naphthyl ether, gamma-undecalactone, alpha-dimethylphenethylbutyrate, octanal, cital.

Gentlemen’s Tonic Traditional Shave Cream

Tags

6/10, bergamot, citrus, gentlemen's tonic, shaving cream

Next up on the cavalcade of brands I haven’t reviewed yet is Gentleman’s Tonic Traditional Shave Cream.

The lather was good but not great. I found that I needed to add a bit too much water in order to have it give adequate glide, which ended up thinning out the lather more than I like. Not terribly so, mind you, but enough to be irksome.

The scent to me seemed to be a fairly complex “cologne-y” scent, with a fair amount of citrus, which developed as it was lathered. It didn’t really get stronger, like some do, but it did change. For some reason, I thought I smelled a fair amount of anise and a bit of ginger, but that’s not really listed at all in the ingredients or the description, so maybe my nose is just acting weird, or maybe it’s just one of those weird combinations that smell like something else to some people. Overall, I found it fairly pleasant, but nothing to write home about.

Strength-wise, it was so-so. Medium strong when first applied, with a fair bit of fading as the shave went on.

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

All told, with a so-so scent profile and good but not great lather, I think I’m going to round down on this one to a 6/10.

• Cost: Seth over at Men Essentials provided this sample for me for the purposes of this review. A 4.4 oz tub of the stuff is available for $25.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: 1966 Solid Nickel Gillette Tech (with iKon SS Handle)
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Aqua, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Parfum (Linalool, Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Coumarin, Eugenol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone), Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Orbignya Oleifera Seed Oil, Mel (Manuka Honey).

Al’s Shaving Products – Scent of the Month: Bikini Bottom Shaving Cream

Tags

8/10, Al's Shaving Products, aquatic, bergamot, citrus, floral, honeysuckle, kelp, ozone, sandalwood, shaving cream, SOTM

Back again with another scent of the month from Al’s: this one is Bikini Bottom, inspired by the Art of Shaving’s Ocean Kelp line (and evidently Spongebob Squarepants). My first initial impression is of the ozonic scents common to the so-called “aquatic” fragrances; underneath that I mostly pick out a subtle floral; everything else kind of blends in together. Here’s what Al had to say about it:

Bikini Bottom is our new light and refreshing aquatic scent. Notes of kelp that give Bikini Bottom a subtle delicate floral and citrus character that some people associate with honeysuckle.  Notes of petitgrain with touches of bergamot, sandalwood and ozone add to its complexity.  Bikini Bottom has a unique aroma and incredible performance.

Nope, looks like I just misinterpreted something he mentioned. Please ignore. He mentioned that he adjusted the formula to give it a bit more in the way of moisturization; I didn’t really notice much in the way of difference, with either the moisturization or the lather, except for perhaps it needing a bit more elbow grease to lather up all nice like. Or perhaps I was just imagining it; it’s sometimes hard to tell, and it was still at the very least quite close. Either way, it’s still a top notch lather. One of the few actual complaints I have about Al’s products is that he doesn’t give the full ingredient listing, so it’s hard to tell if you think he’s been tweaking things.

Anyways, I can’t really say that I was too much of a fan of the scent, but I’m not really a fan of the aquatic scents overall. I’m sure there’s a lot of you out there that’ll like it more than I.

Strength wise is was quite good; comes on very strong, fading to what I’d say was a middle-strong level by the time I finished one of the passes.

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

Anyhow, I think I’ll round this one to an 8/10. If you do like the aquatic fragrances, I’d highly recommend it.

• Cost: This sample was provided gratis for the purposes of this review. A 4 oz tub will set you back $20.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Personna DE
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: “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.” With the caveat that the ozone scent isn’t from an essential oil (as no such thing exists).

J. Peterman 1903 Concentrated Shaving Cream

Tags

bergamot, cardamom, citrus, clary sage, cologne, elemi, fougère, frankincense, J. Peterman, labdanum, leather, shaving cream, smoke, tobacco, wood

To kick off the week, we’ve got J. Peterman’s 1903 Concentrated Shaving Cream.

True to its name, it’s a rather dense cream, which whips up quite easily; a bit thirstier than most creams out there, it did need a bit of fiddling with the right amount of water to get just right. It turned into a fairly thick lather, with some rather good glide. I did notice a bit of a lack of lather stability; there was some breaking down happening by the time I got near the end of each pass. After the shave, it left the face feeling rather nice.

The scent is akin to a rather spicy cologne. J. Peterman’s website makes up some story about “finding” it in a shop in Paris, but describes it as follows:

an “old woody fougère.” Clean citrus notes, bergamot, “green notes.” The middle notes: clary sage…cardamom. The dry-down: leather notes, smoky labdanum…elemi, tabac, frankincense.

I guess that sounds like a reasonable description to me. I found it to be a rather subdued spicy and smokey scent. Not too strong, but nice and steady nonetheless.

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

Overall? A solid 7/10. Decent enough all-around, nothing outstanding; I think I might like to try the cologne though.

• Cost: This sample was received from a kindly fellow redditor who wanted to know what I thought. If you’re looking to purchase some, it’ll run you $28 for a 7 oz tub. Unfortunately, they don’t ship internationally for some bloody reason, so offer valid for US residents only.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: No clue. Can’t find a listing anywhere.

New York Shaving Company – Old St. Patrick’s

Tags

7/10, benzoin, bergamot, cedar, cinnamon, Coriander, cypress, geranium, ginger, lavender, musk, New York Shaving Company, nutmeg, patchouli, shaving cream, vanilla

New York Shaving Company’s Old St. Patrick is a clean fresh scent; I’m not quite sure why they called it Old Saint Patrick’s, I had assumed before trying it that this might be their attempt to emulate Creed’s Green Irish Tweed, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. It’s a rather complex scent, one which I’d say overall is rather pleasant, if rather hard to describe. Here’s how they describe it:

A fresh gentlemen’s fragrance that opens with an enveloping fusion of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and bergamot notes, and emerges into a perfect blend of coriander and cypress with subtle lavender and geranium undertones. It finishes with a base of patchouli, musk, and cedar softened with vanilla and benzoin.

Maybe it was Irish Spring soap they were going for there, I’ll admit I can’t quite say as it’s been forever since I’ve used that soap.

The strength is middling; it wasn’t all that strong, but it didn’t fade significantly during the shave, staying nice and steady at that lightly scented stage. Which I know some of you definitely prefer!

The lather provided a good shave. I was able to hit the sweet spot for a good combination of thickness and slickness each time, with a bit of tinkering; it seems to be a reasonably sizable but not large range of acceptable water content. Very good lather stability, decent moisturization.

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

So, overall I’ll say it’s a pretty good shaving cream, I’ll give it a 7/10. Apparently they re-formulated their product within the last year or so, so if you tried it in the past and didn’t like it, it might be worth a shot again.

• Cost: I haven’t seen samples of this scent readily available (this one was provided to me from Men Essentials). A 2 oz travel container goes for $12, or $18 for a full-sized 4 oz.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Ladas Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Dunno! Couldn’t find a current listing. Best I could give you is this from their website: “This rich cream contains such beneficial ingredients as Coconut oil, Glycerin, Organic Cocoa Butter & Organic Aloe.”

Taylor of Old Bond Street – St James shaving stick

Tags

7/10, amber, bergamot, citrus, Coriander, floral, Fruit, geranium, lavender, lemon, mandarin, ozone, patchouli, pine, shaving soap, Spearmint, St. James, Taylor of Old Bond Street, wood

St James is nicely scented, a rather complex scent that I would have failed to realistically describe, so I’ll let the manufacturer speak to that:

A fresh masculine fougere opening with bergamot and mandarin intertwined with citrus ozone notes supported by a fruity floral heart resting on a woody amber base. Contains Coriander oil, Geranium oil, Lavandin Grosso, Lemon oil, Patchouli oil, Pine oil and Spearmint oil.

So… kind of reminiscent of Eton College, with some woody and ozone notes added. All in all, I think I slightly prefer Eton College, but they’re both nice enough scents.

Strength-wise, it’s decent enough. It isn’t really strong at all, but it also doesn’t seem to fade noticeably during the shave, staying at a nice medium level steady-state.

I was rather pleased with the lather as well. It lathered up easily, producing a thick cream with great glide, and excellent stability (it managed to stay there while writing most of this review). Not much in the way of moisturization properties, and the volume produced was perhaps a bit sub-par, but all in all, it’s what I’d say is a good shave.

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

So, Overall, I’m going to say a 7/10. It’s a nice middle of the road shaving soap, nothing outstanding about any aspect of it, but nothing to complain about either.

• Cost: While I got this one off someone on /r/shave_bazaar, a new one can be had for $14.50. This scent of soap is unfortunately only available in the stick.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum

Ingredients: Glycerin, stearic acid, aqua (water), potassium hydroxide, myristic acid, sodium hydroxide, parfum (contains: benzyl salicylate, linalool, hexyl cinnamal, limonene).