Kapo Shaving Cream – Classic

Tags

5/10, citrus, herbal, kapo, shaving cream

Next up we have a product out of Bulgaria, Kapo’s Classic shaving cream.

The scent is very similar to a lot of the European creams I’ve tried; what I describe as sort of an herbal concoction, with perhaps a tinge of citrus. It’s reasonably nice, but not strong at all; barely noticeable when applied to the face.

The lather left something to be desired; it wasn’t quite as thick as I tend to like it, nor do I feel it provided quite enough lubrication. Not bad, but far from great. Some semi-decent moisturization properties, but not enough to drag the rating up.

• 7/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 5/10 Scent Strength
• 7/10 Lather Quality

Overall, I’ll give it a 5/10. Not really recommended.

• Cost: I bought the 100 mL tube for $3.95.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Sharp Durablade
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Aqua, myristic acid, stearic acid, sorbitol, potassium hydroxide, PEG-8, boric acid, sodium borate, menthol, parfum, coumarin, geraniol, limonene, linalool, alpha-isomethyl ionone.

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eShave Mandarin shave soap

Tags

7/10, citrus, eshave, Fruit, Orange, shaving cream

Ok, so I’ve been lazy lately. Sorry about that. During this time, I’ve been using almost exclusively this soap, which I’ve had forever and just hadn’t gotten around to reviewing. So, suffice it to say at least, I’ve got a pretty good idea of how much I like this soap, having tested it for about 4 months straight.

Which isn’t to say that I’m necessarily going to have all that much more to say about it mind you.

The scent is supposed to be mandarin, and for that, I suppose that it fits reasonably well enough. It’s a sweet vaguely orange-y scent. I think I also catch a bit of the Shea butter as well, one of those ingredients in the actual soap that you can still sometimes actually get a whiff of.

It’s a somewhat weak scent. Just strong enough that you can notice it during the shave, if you’re paying attention. Not strong enough to command your attention if you’re not.

As for the shave itself, it’s rather good. It has a very wide range for the amount of water that you can use and still get a good shave. Using just a bit more than a moist brush will do a passable job, add more and you get a good balance of glide and thickness, keep adding water and it thins out only gradually. It never does get to quite what I’d consider to be an ideal balance of the two, mind you, but still overall, I’d say it’s a really good soap. The moisturization is about average for a typical commercial product.

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

I probably rounded up on the lather quality above, but I’m going to have to round down for the overall due to the weakness of the scent. 7/10.

• Cost: I had purchased this from Fendrihan, where a refill goes for $26.50, or you can purchase it with the bowl for $39.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum

Ingredients: Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Water, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Palm Kernel Acid, Shea Butter, Cocamide DEA, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, FD&C Yellow 5 Al Lake (CL 19140), D&C Red 7 (CL 15850), D&C Yellow 10 Al Lake (CL 47005), Limonene, Citral, Hydroxycintronellal, Citronellol, Geraniol.

Acqua di Parma – Collexione Barbiere Shaving Cream

Tags

7/10, citrus, cologne, lavender, patchouli, Rose, rosemary, sandalwood, shaving cream, verbena, vetiver

Next up, we’ve got a cream that I’ve been waiting far too long to review: Acqua di Parma’s Collexione Barbiere Shaving Cream. Mind you, it’s the only shaving cream the Acqua di Parma makes, so you’ll typically see it called just that, or even just AdP.

The scent is a traditional “Colonia” scented cream, which might not tell you anything about it. Basenotes outlined the scents included in AdP’s main Colonia cologne line as being made up of citrus, lavender, rosemary, rose, vetiver, sandalwood, and patchouli. Suffice it to say that my nose isn’t trained enough to pick out those details. However, it is a scent which I do find fairly pleasant.

And, before anyone asks, yes it does smell fairly similar to the RazoRock XXX, or at least the old version, as I haven’t had a chance to pick up the reformulation yet. The XXX managed to beat it handily strength-wise however, as the AdP was relatively weakly scented during the shave. It didn’t fade all that much, but it was definitely subtle.

The lather quality was superior: whipped up easily, nice wide range of acceptable water levels producing good results, producing a nice thick lather, with great glide, and some decent moisturization properties to boot.

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

All in all, I’m giving it a 7/10. That’s rounding down rather than up, but still. The lather was great, but the scent definitely could have been stronger to suit my tastes.

• Cost: So it looks like this was actually the old version; the soap was reformulated last year, and made unscented. Honestly, there’s no way in hell that a jar of the stuff is worth $70 if we’re going on the lather quality alone. There’s better stuff out there for far cheaper.  A 4.4 oz jar of the stuff will set you back $70. As for the samples shown, I got it off of someone from /r/shave_bazaar, I’m not sure they’re readily available for purchase.

Gear used:

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

Ingredient listing: Aqua, Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Myristic Acid, Parfum, Propylene Glycol, PEG=150 Distearate, Limonene, Hydroxycitronellal, Menthyl Lacate, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Linalool, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citral, Benzyl Salicylate, Eugenol, Coumarin, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Geraniol, Hedera Helix (Ivy) Extract, Mentha Aquatica Leaf Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Leaf Extract, Amyl Cinnamal.

The Strop Shoppe – Russian Tea limited edition

Tags

9/10, cinnamon, citrus, clove, Fruit, Orange, shaving soap, spice, strop shoppe

Despite its name, “Russian Tea” is an American invention, or at least the mix of tea, oranges, cloves, and cinnamon upon which this scent is based is, where it’s most popular as a Christmastime drink in the Southeast.

Strop Shoppe specifies that it’s a combination of orange, clove, and other spices. Those two scents are definitely quite noticeable in the mix, as well as a cinnamon-y note as well. I didn’t really notice much in the way of tea, however. Overall, it’s a sweet spicy concoction, which I found to be rather pleasant.

And the strength level of the scent is pretty much ideal for me. Nice and strong, without any noticeable fading while you shave.

The performance is excellent, as expected from one of the Strop Shoppe’s special edition soaps. It lathers up easily, very thick with a great amount of glide as well. And some great moisturization properties to boot.

I do however have to mention the inconsistency on the labeling. Again. The label listing of ingredients doesn’t list the cocoa butter or shea butter that another part of the label specifies it has in the “double butter formula”. Also, this soap can’t seem to figure out if it’s the special edition or the limited edition, as both are on the label. I seriously hope that I stop having to see labeling inconsistencies when dealing with the Strop Shoppe in the future. It’s irksome. Frankly, they don’t seem to be getting any better at this whatsoever. For example, on their website, the “Limited Edition – Vivace with Tallow & Lanolin” doesn’t have any lanolin at all in the ingredient listing.

Edit: So, apparently the newer style of the labels for the special edition Russian tea had the labelling fixed. And they’ve since fixed the issues with the ingredient listing on their website for the Limited Editions.

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

So, I think I’ll be giving this a 9/10. A very nice soap.

• Cost: I think this was probably actually the Limited edition, as it’s in the 4 oz tub instead of the 6 oz tub that the special editions seem to come in. But the limited edition doesn’t currently seem to be in stock; the special edition version is however, at $18.99 for a 6 oz tub.

Gear used:

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

Ok… as for the ingredient listing, here is what the label says:

Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Castor Seed oil, Coconut Oil, Fragrance.

As mentioned above, I don’t think that’s accurate.

QEDman – Spearmint and Tangerine shave stick

Tags

7/10, citrus, Discontinued, Fruit, mint, QEDman, shaving soap, shaving stick, Spearmint, tangerine

Edit: as below, this line is no longer available.

---

So, apparently the owner of the place that made the QEDman soaps for QEDman has retired. They’re down to one last scent available in the shaving stick, the wild orange, and three scents available for the tubs; Anise & Lavender, Grapefruit & Peppermint, and this one, Tangerine & Spearmint.

The lather is decent enough; a good balance of lubrication and thickness; you’ll want to be reasonably generous with the amount of water used. Somewhat narrow sweet spot to get the balance just right, but some good moisturization.

The balance on the scent is definitely predominately the spearmint, which shouldn’t be all that unexpected, considering it’s generally considered a much strong scent than tangerine. You can detect hints of the sweetness of tangerines underneath the minty-ness. Fairly pleasant, although I would have preferred more tangerine.

The strength is reasonable to start, without much in the way of fading. Not strong per se, but definitely not weak.

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

Anyways, it’s a nice enough soap, with good performance in all areas, but nothing to write home about in any aspect. 7/10 overall.

• Cost: As mentioned, the shaving stick in this scent is no longer available, however a 5oz jar can still be found for $13.50. While they do ship to Canada and some other 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: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Big Ben Super Stainless

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

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)

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.

Kiss My Face – Key Lime Shaving Cream

Tags

8/10, citrus, Fruit, key lime, kiss my face, lemongrass, Lime

The scent is a refreshing aroma of tart lime; very nice. Although a glance at the label reveals that the underlying ingredients which made that scent are a fair bit more complex. but it definitely comes together as something that strongly reminds me of key limes. Unfortunately, it’s not really strong enough. It’s certainly noticable when lathered and put on the face, but not strongly so, and it faded away quite a bit while I was shaving.

The lather seems to be the same as any other Kiss My Face cream; requires a medium amount of water to get going, and a bit of elbow grease, but leaves you with a creamy lather with a pretty good balance of lubrication and cushioning. Nothing really out of the ordinary when it comes to moisturization.

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

All in all, we’re looking at a 7/10 for this one.

• Cost: $4.99 for the 100 mL (3.4 oz) tube shown, (although current on sale for half price) or a 325 mL (11 oz) hand pump type container for $7.95 (currently on sale for $6.45). Also, it’s one of those brands that is more likely to be available locally, especially at places that specialize in organic foods (both in Canada and the US).

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Big Ben Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Aqua, Myristic Acid, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Allantoin, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Arnica Montana (Arnica) Flower Extract, Hydrastis Canadensis (Golden Seal) Root Extract, Equisetum Hyemale (Horsetail) Extract, Alchemilla Vulgaris (Lady’s Mantle) Leaf Extract, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Leaf Extract, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Extract, Saponaria Officinalis (Soapwort) Root Extract, Nasturtium Officinalis (Watercress) Leaf Extract, Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Oil, Hydroxyethylcellulose

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).

Wickham Soap Company – Super Smooth Shaving Soap – Club Cola

Tags

9/10, caramel, citrus, Cola, shaving soap, vanilla, Wickham Soap Company

Offering up a brand new product out of England, we have Wickham Soap Company for the next review. The sample I recieved came in a little box, the product filling the box one of the softest soaps that I’ve come across. Probably still a bit too firm to truly be considered a cream. “Super Smooth” indeed.

Thus, it was easy enough to scoop out a little bit from the box to test it out. I was quite pleased with the results. It was very forgiving for the amount of water needed; while it definitely needed a bit more than a splash, it would have been difficult to over-water it, as long as you give it enough elbow grease. A very wide “sweet spot” for good performance before it starts thinning out appreciably. Great glide, great protective lather, great performance really, with some really solid lather stability to boot. And it ended up leaving my face feeling rather pleasantly moisturized after the fact as well.

The scent is described as being “An uplifting scent that has top notes of a citrus lemon nature, while the mid and base notes are that of vanilla and caramel.” All in all, I’d say that sounds rather accurate; I found it rather pleasant. The strength could have been better, once lathered and applied I’d say it is a fair bit shy of my ideal strength, although still reasonably noticeable, and with a relatively slow rate of fading.

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

Overall, I’d say this is an easy 9/10.

• Cost: The sample shown was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of this review. You can get your own 25g samples for £3.95, of a full 160g tub for £14.50.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless
• Bowl: Hand painted by myself (Yes, I know it’s ugly).

Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Potassium Cocoate, Potassium Lardate, Potassium Apricotkernelate, Water, Glycerine, Parfum