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

Petal Pusher Fancies – Ciderhouse 5 (Scent off entry)

Tags

7/10, Apple, apple cider, Discontinued, Fruit, petal pusher fancies, shaving soap, spice

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”

---

Next up is the next scent off entry, and the 2nd shaving soap that I’ve tried from Petal Pusher Fancies; Ciderhouse 5. As per usual, here’s what the other judges had to say about it.

I really wanted to give this one top marks for the scent. When I did the initial sniff tests of all of the soaps sent out, I liked this one the most, by a fair margin. A wonderfully delicious and accurate apple cider scent, perfectly fitting for the season. However, unfortunately, once it came time to lather it up and actually shave, I found the scent didn’t transfer to the lather very well. It came across weak, and faded from there.

The soap itself performed much like the previous soap I’d tried from them; a bit fiddly, but still fairly easy to get a great shave, great thickness and glide, with some decent moisturization.

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

Anyhow; relatively weak scent, but it smells really really nice. Feel free to make your own determinations based upon just how strong you tend to like your shaving soap scents. I’m giving it a 7/10 overall.

• Cost: The soap is available in a 3 inch tin that nets you about 3.5 oz, for $9.95.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’clock Black

Ingredients: Water, Stearic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Pure Kokum Butter, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Castor Oil, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Sweet Almond Oil, Pure Essential Oils & Fragrance

Prairie Creations tallow cream: Bondage Nights

Tags

8/10, berry, cotton, Fruit, leather, linen, melon, musk, Prairie Creations, shaving cream, vetiver, wood

For my 2nd review of a Prairie Creations product (the first here), I’ve got some of their tallow based shaving cream. Now, one of the nicest things about this company is that they’ll custom create your soap or cream, with the ability to pick not only the scent you want, but how much of it they’ll be adding. As anyone who has followed my reviews probably can guess, I went with the heavily scented option.

The initial impressions of the scent are fruity and woodsy, and rather complex. Since my nose in inadequate at picking out distinct notes, here’s what they have to say about the scent:

The bold and daring night-time and masculine fragrance for the newly invented adventure hero, a sensual top notes of melons and berries leading to heart notes of leather, linen and cotton, and finally ending with deep woods, vetiver and musks.

I’d say that the melon and the berries are indeed the most obvious; after that, it’s a rather complex mix. While it isn’t something that I’d like as a cologne, it works well for a nice pick me up during the morning shave.

The strength was indeed heavily scented; it came on rather strong and only faded a little during the shave. I’ll be rounding up a bit for this, but I think it deserves top marks for the strength. Which is of course a warning for those of you who don’t like their soaps or creams quite as strong as I do, you might want to go for the regular of even the weak scented versions.

Performance wise, it’s rather good. To start off, the consistency is a rather thick cream, but not quite firm enough to be considered a “croap”.  It provided some great glide, although it didn’t work out quite as thick as I usually prefer. Lather stability was good once you had enough water, and the moisturization was also decent enough.

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

All in all, I’d recommend trying this out. It’s a clear 8/10.

• Cost: A 4 oz jar will set you back $12 (they’re now being sold in larger jars than the one I have shown).

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Travel Tech head on an Ikon wave handle
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless

Ingredients:

Liquid Used : Aloe Vera Juice
Oils Used : Castor Oil, Jojoba, Tallow
Other Ingredients Used : Fragrance, Glycerin, Kaolin Clay, Liquid Germall Plus, Raw Silk Fibers, Stearic Acid, Tocopherols

Al’s Shaving Products – Scent of the Month: Zenyatta Aranciata Shaving Cream

Tags

8/10, Al's Shaving Products, citrus, floral, Fruit, Orange, petitgrain, shaving cream, SOTM, wood, ylang ylang

Next up we’ve got another Scent of the Month from Al’s Shaving Products.

The sweet citrus blend of the orange orange and the petitgrain are most immediately perceptible in this scent, supported by the base of the woodsy scents; the ylang ylang softening up the scent a bit. I do rather like it; I was pondering between a 8 or a 9, but as the girlfriend also appears to have quite enjoyed it, a 9 it is.

The strength could have been a bit better, although I know that’s sometimes hard to do with citrus aromas. It came on at what I’d say is about medium/strong strength, and only faded a bit from there.

As for the lather; despite the fact that the fragrance changes can apparently have a slight difference in performance, overall it’s the same great product. Great balance of glide and thickness, being a bit on the thirsty side to get there. Good moisturization, and good lather stability.

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

Anyhow, I’ll be giving this a 8/10 overall.

• 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: Travel Tech head on an Ikon wave handle
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless
• 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.”

Edwin Jagger – Lime and Pomegranate Shaving Cream

Tags

9/10, citrus, Edwin Jagger, Fruit, Lime, pomegranate, shaving cream

Edwin Jagger’s Lime and Pomegranate shaving cream is a relatively new scent, having replaced the old Sea Buckthorn scent, which I liked fairly well in the soap form.

The lather was very nice; it lathered up very easily into a nice thick cream, with a good amount of glide. Just a bit of extra water was needed for the mix, but it seemed to have a fair amount of tolerance for variation. Good moisturization properties too.

The scent was wonderful; sweet and tangy, I found it invigorating. It’s a great summer-time aroma.

Unfortunately, it fades far too fast; starting off at a reasonably decent strength, it doesn’t stay there for long, and I found that I was only able to really enjoy the scent for the first few strokes of each pass.

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

Overall, I think I’m still willing to fudge the numbers a bit and give this a 9/10; if the scent lasted longer this would probably be a serious contender on the top ten list. As it is however, it falls too short.

• Cost: I picked up the 75 mL tube from shaveabuck for $16, Maggard Razors also sells samples of this scent, either on its own ($2.25), or for a bit cheaper per unit as part of one of their sample packs; also available in a 100 mL tub for $22.

Gear used:

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

Ingredients: Aqua (water), Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palmitate, Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palmitate, Sodium Cocoate, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Potassium Myristate, Cetyl Palmitate, Parfum (fragrance), Punica Granatum Seed Extract, Potassium Laurate, Sodium Myristate, Sodium Silicate, Sodium Thiosulfate, Limonene, Linalool.

eShave White Tea shaving cream

Tags

7/10, citrus, eshave, Fruit, shaving cream, spice, white tea

Although I’ve had a puck of their Mandarin soap kicking around forever, this is my first review of an eShave product; I can say that thus far I’m reasonably happy with what I see.

The scent is a sweet aroma that is immediately reminiscent of something familiar but for some reason can’t quite seem to put a name to it. A little bit fruity, and a bit of a fresh green scent? A glance at the ingredient listing reveals it’s scented with Tarragon, Orange & Lemon peel extract, Star Anise, Litsea Cubeba and Peppermint.

It’s pleasant, a nice light scent probably best suited for a spring or summer shave. It is a rather light scent, which I’m sure most of you know I’m not too much of a fan of, but it has good staying power without too much in the way of fading.

The lather produced was good; I did find that it had some lather stability issues at the lower water content levels, but adding enough water to even that out did thin out the lather noticeably. So a bit of a balancing act between those two aspects; the slickness was good regardless, and it provided a good amount of volume for only a bit of product. It did however have what I’d say quite good moisturization properties.

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

All in all, a few minor quibbles with the lather, and the scent could have been a bit stronger, but overall it’s still pretty nice. 7/10.

• Cost: Disclaimer: I was provided this sample free of charge along with an order by Seth over at Men Essentials; a 4 oz tub goes for $22, also available as one of the scents in their assorted mini kit, 1/4 oz x 4 creams and 4 balms for $17.

Gear used:

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

Ingredients: Purified Water (Aqua), Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Fatty Acid, Glycerin (Glycerine), Essential Oils (Tarragon (Artemisia Dracunculus), Orange (Citrus Aurantium Dulcis peel extract), Lemon (Citrus Medica Limonum peel extract, Star Anis (Illicum Verum), Litsea Cubeba (Litsea Cubeba), Peppermint (Mentha Piperita)), Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Limonene, Linalool, Benzyl Benzoate.

Honeybee Soaps – Piña Colada

Tags

8/10, coconut, Fruit, honeybee soaps, pina colada, pineapple, shaving soap

Honeybee Soap’s Piña Colada shaving soap is a tasty smelling little concoction.

Needless to say, I’d suggest not nibbling on the soap, but it smells nice; fruity and tropical, pineapple and coconut (a bit of a focus on the coconut). It does a pretty good job of replicating the drink. The strength was fairly decent; not strong per se, but a nice and steady level.

The lather’s the usual from Honeybee soaps; use a fair bit of water and some elbow grease and you’ll wrest a decent balance of thickness and glide out of the soap. Nothing to write home about moisturization-wise.

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

Overall I’m happy with this soap; I’ll round it up to a 8/10.

• Cost: Samples are $1.59 per ounce, full 3.5 ounce pucks are $4.49, or $5.99 for 4 ounces in a plastic tub.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Lord Super Stainless

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.

Madame Scodioli – Ill Repute shaving soap

Tags

6/10, clove, Fruit, Madame Scodioli, mandarin, mint, pennyroyal, shaving soap, spice

Step right up folks and see the amazing Ill Repute shaving soap, hand-crafted by Madame Scodioli, the amazing bearded lady! Seriously, that’s the shtick of this particular etsy shop, products purportedly made by the bearded lady of a traveling circus.

The lather wasn’t really what I’d say is good. It seemed to be a case of lubrication or thickness; pick one. I couldn’t quite get a good balance of the two, even after a fair bit of experimentation with the amount of water used (although I think I did find an in-between spot that didn’t really have what I’d consider a good amount of either). While the base of the soap seems to be a typical melt-and-pour with some tinkering, in this case I don’t think the tinkering improved the performance. This coupled with the fact that I did start to feel a bit of a burning sensation by the end of my 2nd pass, and trust me, I have far from sensitive skin. Apparently that was a really bad problem when they first came out; it’s since been reformulated, but it doesn’t look like it’s eliminated the issue entirely.

The scent on the other hand was pretty nice. It’s described as their “own version of citrus and mint, Ill Repute is pretty and flirty with a hint of menace underneath”. The sweetness of the mandarin and the mintiness of the pennyroyal is given a subtle bit of zing with the cloves. All in all, it came together fairly well. It wasn’t extremely strong, but kept at a nice steady level throughout the shave.

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

Overall, I think I’m going to be rounding down on this one: 6/10. While the scent is pretty good, I don’t think it’s nearly good enough to justify using it instead of something else that manages to pull off a great lather and a nice scent.

• Cost: The 6 oz bar of soap is available for $8, and can also be found in a round puck.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Yuma Safety Razor
• Blade: Asco Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Saponified oils of coconut, palm and safflower, shea butter, glycerin (kosher), sorbitol, sorbitan oleate, soy bean protein, wheat protein, red kaolin clay, white kaolin clay, and fragrance oil.

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.

New York Shaving Company – Tonsorial shaving cream

Tags

7/10, amber, barber shop, citrus, floral, Fruit, iris, lavender, lemon, lime and mandarin, musk, New York Shaving Company, shaving cream, wood

My initial impression of New York Shaving Company’s Tonsorial cream was of a “barbershoppe” scent, which for those of you like myself who might have to look up the word Tonsorial, seems to be exactly what they were going for. They describe it as follows:

Warm and masculine, this scent opens with a citrus fusion of lemon, lime and mandarin. It emerges with lavender and iris, finishes with a warm musk and amber woods.

Personally, I think the notes that I pick up the most would be the amber and the citrus, but it’s a nice blend of all of the above. It’s fairly reminiscent of Taylor of Old Bond Street’s Shaving Shop, but without quite straying away from a clean scent to a sterile scent, as I mentioned in that review.

Strength-wise, it is indeed a lightly scented cream, however it does stay fairly steady throughout the shave, without any significant fading.

The lather was exactly what I recall from the review last week, so I’m just gonna copy it here: 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, it kinda looks like I like this cream almost exactly the same as I did the other New York Shaving Co cream I tried last week. So, overall rating’s the same too; 7/10.

• 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.”