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)

Knockout Shave Cream – Sonny

Tags

7/10, cedarwood, citrus, floral, knockout shave, lavender, lemongrass, shaving cream, wood

The real question here, is which Sonny are they referring to? The Corleone? Or the Bono?

Sonny is a blend of Cedarwood, Lemongrass, and lavender. The Lemongrass is the strongest of the bunch with the lavender coming in for 2nd. It is a rather pleasant scent; I am a fan of lemongrass overall.

The strength was pretty much spot on, strong, with nothing noticeable in the way of fading. However, the strength probably contributed to one problem:

While I generally have fairly bullet-proof skin, I did notice a fair bit of irritation and a burning sensation from this one. Thus, I’d probably recommend avoiding it if you’ve got sensitive skin, as it’ll probably hit you harder than I. I’ll be docking some points directly from the overall score for this.

Since this cream uses Al’s Shaving Products main line as a base, a lot of you should know what to expect. A very darned fine shave, great thickness and lather slickness, as long as you’re sure to use enough water (and elbow grease)! Good moisturization, good lather stability; great shave.

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

So, normally this would probably be a 9/10, however due to the irritation I experienced, I’m going to downgrade it to a 7/10. Still usable, but there’s better stuff out there.

• Cost: I was provided my samples free of charge for the purposes of this review; you however can get samples (0.25 oz each) of the four current Knockout Shave scents for $7.50, or buy a 4 oz tub of the “Sonny” for $25.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue

Ingredients: sodium and potassium salts of fatty acids (stearic, oleic, linoleum, palmitic, myristic and lauric), water, glycerin, essential oils (for fragrance).

Knockout Shave Cream – Citrus of Paradise

Tags

9/10, cedarwood, citrus, floral, Fruit, grapefruit, knockout shave, shaving cream, wood, ylang ylang

Happy new year folks. Here’s to hoping that 2014 treats you all well. As mentioned previously, I’ll be starting off the first bit new year with new soaps and creams. Although I’ll admit, this one isn’t exactly completely new.

It’s a new brand, but it was developed in conjunction with Al over at Al’s Shaving Products. Ralph over at Knockout Shave is using, and I quote, “Al’s cream base with different essential oils to create a different scent experience.” So at the least, we’ve got a darn fine idea of how we can expect the lather to work.

So, first up I’ve got a sample of their Citrus of Paradise. Were I to have judged this one blind, I would have said that I thought I smelled predominately a sweet lemon-y scent (or maybe lemongrass-y) with some wood as a base. Their website outlines how they crafted this one from essential oils of grapefruit, Virginian cedar wood, and ylang ylang. So, my nose wasn’t all that far off I guess. No calibration required.

Both myself and the girlfriend really liked this scent, her a bit more than I. The strength was pretty much spot on; it started off quite strong, and only experienced minor fading throughout the shave. All in all, I’d say Ralph did a great job of crafting the scent for this cream.

As for the lather, well, like I said, it uses Al’s as a base, so a lot of you should know what to expect. A very darned fine shave, great thickness and lather slickness, as long as you’re sure to use enough water (and elbow grease)! Good moisturization, good lather stability; great shave.

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

This is clearly a strong 9/10. I like it a lot. So much so in fact, I think it may have earned a spot on the top 10 list… it doesn’t quite beat out TOBS’s Avocado, but I think it’ll bump Tabula Rasa’s Herb off the list.

• Cost: I was provided my samples free of charge for the purposes of this review; you however can get samples (0.25 oz each) of the four current Knockout Shave scents for $7.50, or buy a 4 oz tub of the Citrus of Paradise for $25.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant (with iKon handle)
• Blade: Big Ben Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: sodium and potassium salts of fatty acids (stearic, oleic, linoleum, palmitic, myristic and lauric), water, glycerin, essential oils (for fragrance).

Green Mountain Soaps – Nick’s Red Jacket (shave off entry)

Tags

8/10, cedarwood, clove, Discontinued, Fruit, nutmeg, oakmoss, Orange, peppermint, Scent Off 2013, shaving soap, spice, Spruce, tobacco, wood

Edit: This particular scent is no longer available.

Ho Ho Ho! And now, with a fair bit of delay because I’ve been feeling both lazy and ill lately, we’re up to the final Scent Off 2013 entry. From Green Mountain Soaps – Nick’s Red Jacket. Here’s what the rest of the judges had to say about it. And here’s what the manufacturer had to say about the scent:

Triple milled shaving soap with a special scent developed for the holidays. Essential oils of Spruce, Sweet Orange, Peppermint, Texas Cedarwood, Nutmeg, Clove, Tobacco Absolute, Carrot Seed & Oakmoss evoke the scent of Christmas Eve clinging to St. Nick’s jacket on Christmas Eve on his journey home to the North Pole.

Of all the scents listed in the description, the Peppermint really predominates. To the point that, while you can tell that there’s “something else” there, it’s difficult to really be able to distinguish what that something else might actually be, with probably the orange and the spruce as somewhat distant runners up.

Overall it’s a pleasant scent; I do like peppermint, and it certainly fits the seasonal theme. The scent was at a good strength level; started out fairly strong, with only a bit of fading throughout each pass.

I’d call the lather fairly good. While it wasn’t all that difficult to find the right amount of water for a good balance of lather thickness and glide, it did seem to have some lather stability problems, with noticeable breakdown starting to happen before got from one cheek to the other.

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

All in all, I’m going to be giving this final entry in the scent off a 8/10.

• Cost: A 1 oz sample is available for $5.50, or a 2.5 oz puck for $9. Unfortunately, the last time I checked, they only shipped within the United States, so any of us who live elsewhere might be a bit out of luck.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Yuma Safety Razor
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Tallow, Distilled Water, Stearic/Palmitic Acid, Coconut Oil, Sodium Hydroxide (lye), Castor Oil, Cocoa Butter, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Olive Oil, Borax, Bentonite, essential oils

Barrister and Mann – Hallows (Scent off Entry)

Tags

7/10, Barrister and Mann, black pepper, cedarwood, cocoa, Discontinued, labdanum, oakmoss, Scent Off 2013, vetiver

The next entrant in the scent off is Barrister and Mann’s Hallows. B&M had made this scent available to the general public; unfortunately, they sold out in rapid fashion, and apparently there’s no plans to make the scent again (I guess some of the oils used are hella expensive). Alas. Here’s what the judges as a whole thought. To kick off my review, let’s see how B&M describe it:

Taking inspiration from the swamps of Boston, we combined vetiver, oakmoss, black pepper, cocoa, labdanum, and cedar to produce a deep, cold scent suited to the chilly, bitter days of late October. Gloomy, rich, and perversely elegant, Hallows is a reminder of why men once feared the dark.

This seems like a perfectly accurate description; it’s certainly suits the requirements of the contest rather well; that having been said, I can’t say that I’m really all that much of a fan of the scent itself; while I wouldn’t say it’s unpleasant, the combination just doesn’t do it for me. If I was judging it solely on how much I like it, it probably wouldn’t be doing all that well, but, since it does meet the parameters of the contest rather well, I gave it a bonus point or two to bump up to 8/10 for overall scent for the contest. The strength was definitely up there, without much fading.

The performance is typical of Barrister and Mann’s; excellent. Just be sure to use enough water and you’ll get a great lather with good thickness, glide, stability, and good moisturization to boot.

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

Overall, I’d say it’s so-so. 7/10. I know there’s others out there who really liked the scent, but it just didn’t click for me.

• Cost: Alas, all sold out. Sorry.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: 1966 Solid Nickel Gillette Tech
• Blade: Treet Dura Sharp
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Potasium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua, Glycerin, Potassium Ricinoleate, Sodium Ricinoleate, Fragrance, Andropogon Zizanioides (Vetiver) Oil, Cistus Ladaniferus (Labdanum) Resin, Juniperus Mexicana (Cedarwood) Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Absolute, Coconut Milk, Potassium Kokum Butterate, Sodium Kokum Butterate, Unrefined Shea Butter, Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Cocoate, Lanolin, Allantoin, Silk Protein, Tocopherol Acetate.

Al’s Shaving Products – Sapone da Barba Al’s Private Stock

Tags

8/10, Al's Shaving Products, cedarwood, floral, geranium, Rose, sandalwood, shaving cream, wood

So, it looks like Al’s shaving products has released a shaving soap. To kick off the review, let’s have a look at what Al has to say about the scent:

Al’s Private Stock is a mix of strong floral notes of geranium and rose otto supported by West Indian sandalwood and cedarwood in the background.

The florals are far more prevalent to my nose than the woody notes are. For those of you familiar with Al’s shaving creams, you should be aware of how his creams tend to smell very different when lathered versus unlathered; that’s not the case for the Sapone da Barba; what you sniff is what you get. All in all I thought it was fairly pleasant, and reasonably strong, without any fading that I noticed.

The lather is produces is damned good stuff, as I would expect for one of Al’s products. While overall I think I slightly prefer the performance of his creams, this did still produce a cream with a good balance of glide and thickness (ending up just a tad thinner than the cream when enough water is added to get the lubrication needed, from what I can tell), and some decent moisturization properties to boot.

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

All in all, I’ll call this one a rather solid 8/10.

• Cost: This sample was free from a kindly redditor (probably the same fellow who supplied the sample for this review over at The Close Shave) who wanted to see what I thought. To actually purchase some, it’ll run you $25 for a tin.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Gillette NEW Ball-handle
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: No full listing is available, but Al has this to say: “Made with coconut oil and salts of long and medium chain fatty acids for the creamiest lather in addition to water, glycerin and botanical essential oils.”

Mike’s Natural Soap – Orange, Cedarwood, and Black Pepper

Tags

8/10, black pepper, cedarwood, Fruit, Mike's Natural Soaps, Orange, shaving soap, spice, wood

Next up, from a line of soap I haven’t touched since December; Mike’s Natural Soaps’ Orange, Cedarwood, and Black Pepper.

The lather is exactly what I expect out of Mike’s Natural: absolutely wonderful. It’s quite a thirsty cream, so use plenty of water and enough elbow grease, and you’ll work up a lather with great cushion, very good glide, which leaves your face feeling nice and moisturized to boot. As per usual, top marks for lather.

The predominate scent is most definitely the orange, with the black pepper coming up a close second bringing some kick to it, with the cedarwood serving to balance things out a bit between the other two. I find it fairly pleasant, if not something to write home about, but I’ll give it a bonus point because the girlfriend really likes it.

The strength is damned good as well; comes on good and stays without noticeable fading.

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

So, all in all, I’d say it’s a very solid 8/10.

• Cost: $8.50 for a 4 ounce bar, $1.25 for a half ounce sample.

Gear used:

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

Ingredients: Distilled water; saponified tallow and stearic acid; vegetable glycerin; saponified kokum butter, avocado oil, and shea butter; lanolin, fragrance and/or essential oil(s); saponified coconut oil;  kaolin clay, vitamin E.

Penhaligon’s Opus 1870 Shaving Cream

Tags

6/10, black pepper, cedarwood, cinnamon, cologne, Coriander, floral, Incense, musk, Penhaligon, Rose, sandalwood, shaving cream, spice, wood, Yuzu

Yes, yes, I know. I’ve been lazy about writing reviews lately. I’m sorry! So, here’s a new one! Penhaligon’s Opus 1870 Shaving Cream! Which, judging by the fact that I can’t find any information about it on Penhaligon’s website, appears to be discontinued. It still seems somewhat available elsewhere, but if you’re a fan you might want to stock up.

It lathers up quite nicely, although you shouldn’t go by how it looks when doing so. With just a tiny bit of water, it lathered up into something that looked like it was good to go, but was still rather severely lacking in lubrication; more water and a bit more elbow grease fixed that up quite nicely, resulting in a nice thick cream, with plenty of cushioning and good glide. All in all, a rather good shave.

The scent was a bit lacking. First off, I compared it to its corresponding cologne, which I recently got a sampler of. While similar, it’s not quite there. Here’s what it’s supposed to smell like:

Opus 1870 is a complex and elegant woody chypre. Opening with a luxurious accord of sweet citrus and fiery black pepper, the heart is lit by the delicacy of English Clove Rose and evocative incense. The base notes are glorious, smoky waves of aromatic cedarwood and sandalwood. Opus 1870 is wonderfully warm and comforting, a fragrance to wrap yourself in on cold winter nights.

There’s a bit of an additional scent that I’m picking up, it seemed to me to be somewhat silty; it reminded a bit of of J&E Atkinson’s I Coloniali mango shaving cream. Also, I didn’t really detect any of the black pepper notes that’s so noticeable in the cologne. However the florals and the woods seemed about the same.

But, all that which was noticeable was fleeting; it wasn’t strong to begin with, and I found it quickly faded.

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

Overall, I’ll say 6/10. Frankly, the lather isn’t nice enough to buy it just for the lather, and the scent isn’t nice enough / strong enough to buy it just for the scent. I wouldn’t bother unless you’re absolutely a fan of the EtD already.

• Cost: I had a sample sent to me by a kindly redditor who wanted to know what I thought of the cream. Otherwise, the cheapest listing I found was on amazon for $41.36, for a 150 mL / 5 oz tube.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: 1966 Solid Nickel Gillette Tech
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Not sure! Probably rather similar to that of the Blenheim Bouquet, but I can’t find a listing online.

XPEC Original Shaving Cream

Tags

8/10, cedarwood, citrus, cologne, Discontinued, floral, ginger, lemon, oak musk, pepper, Rose, shaving cream, spice, thyme, wood, XPEC

Edit: This version had been discontinued. There is a new XPEC cream out there, but it is a reformulation, thus I wouldn’t base a purchase upon this review.

XPEC Original’s scent is based upon notes of rose, thyme, lemon, pepper, ginger, cedar wood and oak musk, with the rose being the scent that predominates. It most reminded me of Truefitt and Hill’s 1805, with perhaps a bit more “spice” added to the mix, as the pepper was noticeable, although I didn’t find it quite as strong as some other reports I’ve seen. All in all, I quite rather liked it.

The strength started off quite strong, however it didn’t stay there; it faded significantly throughout the shave, although it kind of dropped off to a level I’d describe as “so-so” and stayed there, not disappearing completely.

The cream lathered up quite nicely. Initially, with very little water, it looked like something that would work, however that turned out to be a mirage, as it was somewhat lacking in glide. However, a splash or two more fixed that right up, without appreciably thinning the lather. It ended up with a really good balance of glide and thickness, and what seemed like a rather wide “sweet spot” for water content. It was fairly voluminous as well, I’m thinking that you could get away with making a tub of it last a fair while. Very nice stuff, which left my face feeling nice and moisturized as well.

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

Overall, I give it a solid 8/10, not really rounding up or down. It’s a quality shaving cream. That having been said, I’m not sure I’d say it’s worth the price.

• Cost: I had a sample sent to me by a kindly redditor who wanted to know what I thought of the cream. For everyone else, however, samples don’t seem to be readily available, and a 250 mL tub will cost you $66.99. And… the manufacturer’s website doesn’t list a cream anymore, so it’s possible that it’s being discontinued as well.

Gear used:

• Brush: Ecotools Kabuki Finishing Brush
• Razor: Yuma Safety Razor
• Blade: Lord Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Not quite sure. Couldn’t find a listing on-line of the ingredients for the cream, only for the soap. All I could find mentioned are that it includes Glycerin, Coconut oil, and Aloe, which let’s face it, could describe a heck of a lot of shaving creams!

QEDman – Pine and Cedarwood Shave Stick

Tags

8/10, cedarwood, Discontinued, pine, QEDman, shaving soap, shaving stick, wood

Edit: apparently the owner of the place that made the QEDman soaps for QEDman has retired; the line has been discontinued.

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Pine and Cedarwood; a classic scent, done quite well. Of course, since this soap uses essential oils for its fragrance, this isn’t all that surprising. Strength-wise, it’s pretty good. About a medium level aroma, without any noticeable fading during the shave.

The lather is good; this is only the 2nd time I’ve used a shave stick, but unlike last time I managed to not use wayyyy too much. It gives a good balance of lubrication and lather with plenty of cushioning. I found I needed to add enough water until I just got to the point where it was just starting to thin out in order to ensure it had enough glide. No stability problems like I’d seen out of some other similar soaps, and an average level of moisturization.

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

A nice solid shaving soap, I can definitely see why its name gets so many positive mentions. 8/10.

• Cost: The 2oz shaving sticks are available for $9.95, or a 5oz jar is $13.50. While they do ship to Canada and some places outside the US, the shopping cart feature only works within the US, so you’ll need to e-mail for a quote.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox

Ingredients: Saponified 100% food grade coconut, palm, castor, and safflower oils, with kosher vegetable glycerin, soybean protein, aloe vera extract, and essential oils.