Kell’s Original Hemp Blend Shaving Soap – Black Tea

Tags

8/10, amber, bermagot, black tea, cedarwood, citrus, floral, Fruit, Glycerin, Jasmine, kell's original, lemon, musk, Orange, shaving soap, tea

Kell’s Original Black Tea is one of those ones were it’s probably best just to start off by giving you the listing of how they describe the scent:

This smoky, sexy and sophisticated fragrance is reminiscent of roasted tea leaves with strong overtones of tobacco. With surprising top notes of Italian Bergamot, Sicilian Lemon and Southern Orange, the blend winds down with Black Tea Leaves, Star Jasmine, White Cedarwood, Amber Crystal and a rich musk. This is a bold and unusual scent sure to intrigue.

So, as you can see, it’s a fairly complex scent. I’m not going to lie, had someone asked me to sniff it and give a description, I’m not sure that “tea” would have popped up. But, knowing that’s what they’re going for, I can see how it hints at that. I’m not entirely sure that I pick up everything listed there, in particular I don’t get all that much of a citrus impression at all, be it lemon, orange, or bermagot. As an aside, I think I would greatly enjoy a shaving soap that manages to capture the essence of Earl Grey, a classic blend of black tea and bermagot.

Anyways, it’s a complex scent, but it’s rather enjoyable; I found it to be somewhat invigorating, it’s just spicy enough to give a little bit of a kick to the senses. It comes on just shy of “strong”, but manages to avoid fading noticeably from there.

As is expected now from Kell’s Original, the lather is quite nice. It’s provides good performance in thickness, glide, and moisturizing properties, provided that you remember to use enough water! Quite voluminous as well, a fully loaded brush will provide far more lather than is needed for a typical 3-pass shave.

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

All-in-all, 8/10. I’d definitely recommend at least trying out a sampler. Also available with aloe, although I haven’t tried that formulation.

• Cost: The sample puck used was $2 for 1 oz, also available are 2.7 oz cakes for $5.25, 4oz in a tin for $8, or a 2.5 oz shave stick for $9.

Gear used:

• Brush: Ecotools Kabuki Finishing Brush
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner)

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The Shave Den – Signature scent shaving soap

Tags

7/10, bay rum, bermagot, citrus, Glycerin, shaving soap, the shave den

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.

• Cost: A one ounce sample goes for $2.50, or $6.99 for a full 4 ounce puck (an extra $2 if you want a tub with it).

Gear used:

• Brush: Ecotools Kabuki Finishing Brush
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’clock Black
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

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.

Honeybee Soaps – Hydrogen

Tags

7/10, amber, Apple, citrus, floral, Fruit, Glycerin, grapefruit, honeybee soaps, hydrogen, peach, raspberry, sandalwood, shaving soap

Hydrogen from Honeybee Soaps is a rather complex scent; mostly fruity with a few woodsy undertones. Honeybee describes it as “Apple, grapefruit, peach and greenery mix with soft floral middle notes, rounded off with base notes of sandalwood, amber and raspberry musk.” It’s a light and fresh, and I really rather quite like it. I’d be a good summer fragrance methinks. I’m pretty sure that’s not what H2 smells like however.

Unfortunately, when I said light, I mean too light. It’s not strong enough for my liking, just barely above the threshold where it’s noticeable when first lathered on; by the end of the shave it faded to the point where your get a sporadic whiff.

As for the lather, it’s what I’ve come to expect from Honeybee soaps; use a lot of water and a bit of elbow grease, and you’ll get a nice balance of thickness and a good amount of glide.

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

Overall a nice decent all-around soap. A tad stronger (ok, probably about 3-4 times the fragrance level) would have been nice though. 7/10.

• 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: Ecotools Kabuki Finishing Brush
• Razor: 1966 Gillette Tech
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’clock Black
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

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.

Mama Bear Soaps – Tangerine and Tulip

Tags

6/10, citrus, floral, Fruit, Glycerin, Mama Bear Soaps, shaving soap, tangerine, tulip

Mama Bear Soaps Tangerine and Tulip is a pleasant enough scent, IMHO. It’s a bit heavier on the tulip than the tangerine. Reasonably nice, but not one of those ones that I have any compulsion to just keep sniffing.

The strength of the aroma is ok. It’s of middling strength when lathered up, but at least didn’t fade noticeably during the shaving.

As for the lather, here’s the Mama Bear boilerplate review: Lathers up nice and thick to begin with; be sure to add a decent amount of water to get enough glide, but not too quickly as it’s easy to over-shoot the mark and be left with something too runny; if you’re using a scuttle, the heat will cause the lather to break down between passes, but a few extra drops of water and a quick stir will fix that up nicely. Gives a perfectly nice shave.

As an aside, I’ve also amended my scoring for lather, since I’ve been giving out too many 9’s. So it got split up into 8s and 9s, and everything below it got bumped down, including this one. Hence the fact it’s getting a 7 instead of a 8 now.

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

6/10 overall. It’ll definitely do the trick, just don’t expect much in the way of tangerines.

• Cost: $9.99 for a tub worth, or the samples can be had for $1.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech
• Blade: Shark Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Safflower, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soybean protein (conditioner), Wheat protein and fragrance either natural or synthetic.

savor – Formula N shaving soap

Tags

7/10, floral, Fruit, Glycerin, Mango, mint, papaya, savor, shaving soap, tropical

AKA, wherein Greg reviews a shaving soap that was never intended to be applied on anything above the waist.

Formula N is a nice fruity scented shaving soap. They bill is as “a completely natural blend of essential oils and floral waters. Like a tall glass of fresh-squeezed juice papaya and mango juice with a sprig of sun-warmed mint and a fresh bouquet of flowers nearby.” I’m not going to argue with that, it’s definitely got a strong tropical vibe to it. Anyways, it’s not exactly a “manly” scent, nor was it intended to be, but I really do rather like it.

Strength-wise, it’s not too shabby. It’s not overtly strong when lathered up and applied to the face, but you don’t see much in the way of fading during the shave either.

The lather is pretty much exactly what I expected out of it. Your typical glycerin-based melt-and-pour. Does the trick good enough, as long as you can get the water balance right (to get enough glide while maintaining viscosity). Which you should be able to do easily enough once you’re used to these soaps.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 8/10 Scent Strength
• 7/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

I think it’s safe to say this is a good 7/10. Decent enough shave, nice scent, good strength, and not all that expensive? Yeah, why not.

• Cost: The 85g / 3 oz puck shown will set you back $4.50.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’clock Black
  
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ok, and here’s a bit of an issue. The ingredient listing on their website is different than the ingredient listing on the package. So, I’ll give you both.

Ingredients according to the website: coconut oil x palm oil x castor oil x safflower oil x glycerin x purified water x sodium hydroxide x sorbitol x sorbitan oleate x soybean protein x wheat protein x natural fragrance x color

Ingredients according to the packaging: Coconut oil, palm oil, safflower oil, sodium hydroxide, sorbitol, goat’s milk, sorbitan oleate, soybean protein, wheat protein, color, natural fragrance.

Not massive differences, just the addition of the goat’s milk, and the switching of the order for the color and the natural fragrance.

Man Cave Soapworks – Mountain Man shaving soap

Tags

6/10, basil, cologne, Glycerin, juniper, lemon, Man Cave Soapworks, patchouli, sandalwood, shaving soap

Mountain Man is billed as a “woodsy mix of basil, juniper, lemon, sandalwood and patchouli”. All in all, I didn’t find it too bad, but it’s definitely far too sweet of a scent for something that I would consider calling “Mountain Man”. Frankly, the sweetness was enough to mostly drown out the other scents.

Strength-wise, it wasn’t all that good. There was just enough there that you caught a bit of a whiff while shaving, but to actually get a good appreciation of what it smelled like you needed to go straight to the puck of soap.

And the lather, eh. It did the trick, nothing special. It’s your typical melt-and-pour shaving soap.  It provides a perfectly reasonable shave, with a decent balance of thickness and glide. Nothing to write home about, just a nice solid shave, which left the face feeling nice.

• 7/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 7/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

So, anyways, I’ll give this one a 6/10. Not bad in any aspect, but it doesn’t particularly stand out at all, IMHO.

• Cost: A 4 oz puck in the jar as pictured goes for $8, with just the refill being $4.50.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Vintage Gillette Travel Tech
• Blade: Shark Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerin (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Organic Shea Butter, Bentonite Clay, Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner), fragrance

The Shave Den – Winter Pagoda shaving soap

Tags

6/10, amber, Glycerin, musk, shaving soap, the shave den, wood

The Shave Den’s Winter Pagoda is fairly sweetly scented. And that’s about it; other than the sweetness, it’s not all that distinctive. It’s supposed to be “frost and white woods with sweet amber and light musk”, but to be honest, it’s hard to really make out any of the individual scents. Maybe a bit of the musk, but overall, it’s kind of bland. Vaguely pleasant, but boring.

And that’s when sniffing the soap itself. Once applied to the face, there’s not much there at all.

For the lather, the usual caveats for the Shave Den apply; load your brush very heavily, and then add your water gradually, and you’ll should be able to hit the sweet spot with a good balance of lather thickness and glide. It’s easy to overshoot though, and can be tricky to get just right.

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

So, overall, meh. 6/10 I guess. There’s definitely better stuff out there.

• Cost: A one ounce sample goes for $2.50, or $6.99 for a full 4 ounce puck (an extra $2 if you want a tub with it).

Gear used:

• Brush: Ecotools Kabuki Finishing Brush
• Razor: Merkur Progress
• Blade: Croma Diamant
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

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.

Mama Bear Soaps – Mountain Waters

Tags

6/10, blackcurrant, citrus, cologne, Glycerin, green tea, mama, Mama Bear Soaps, musk, shaving soap

Mama Bear’s Mountain Waters is their take on Creed’s Silver Mountain Water scent. The overall impression is freshness; a nice combination of citrus, green tea, and blackcurrants, with a hint of musk.

It is however, fairly weak. Just barely noticible when lathered up and applied to the face, and even that fades a fair bit during the shave.

As for the lather, here’s the Mama Bear boilerplate review: Lathers up nice and thick to begin with; be sure to add a decent amount of water to get enough glide, but not too quickly as it’s easy to over-shoot the mark and be left with something too runny; if you’re using a scuttle, the heat will cause the lather to break down between passes, but a few extra drops of water and a quick stir will fix that up nicely. Gives a perfectly nice shave.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 7/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

6/10 overall. Not nearly strong enough of a scent to really make the shave more enjoyable.

• Cost: $11.99 for a tub worth, or the samples can be had for $1.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Merkur Progress
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Safflower, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soybean protein (conditioner), Wheat protein and fragrance either natural or synthetic.

Man Cave Soapworks – Gatsby shaving soap

Tags

6/10, amber, cologne, Glycerin, Man Cave Soapworks, musk, shaving soap, spice

Gatsby from Man Cave Soapworks is a pleasantly spicy, masculine scent, which is complex enough that I can’t really describe it in much better detail than that. So, I’ll rely on what the proprietor Carrie says about it:

A throw-back to 1920’s Jay Gatsby with base notes of warm, sophisticated rum and amber. Afterthoughts of hazy musk and bay leaves make this blend irresistable. A nice, clean barber’s soap that’d make Daisy Buchanan swoon…

Seems accurate enough to me. It’s a nice scent, and I think I might order one of the solid cologne sticks that they produce in the same scent.

Strength-wise, it was so-so. You could make it out a bit when lathered up, but certainly not strongly.

And the lather itself is typical of many melt-and-pour shaving soaps that I’ve come across. It provides a perfectly reasonable shave, with a decent balance of thickness and glide. Nothing to write home about, just a nice solid shave, which left the face feeling nice.

• 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 7/10 Scent Strength
• 7/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

So, I’m giving it a 6/10. Stronger scent would have been nice, but I’m not complaining too much here.

• Cost: A 4 oz puck in the jar as pictured goes for $8, with just the refill being $4.50.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Shark Super Stainless

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerin (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Organic Shea Butter, Bentonite Clay, Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner), fragrance

Kell’s Original Hemp Blend Shaving Soap – Sandalwood

Tags

7/10, Glycerin, kell's original, sandalwood, shaving soap

So, the first review post of the new year was my last shave of the previous year, Kell’s Original Hemp Blend, Sandalwood.

It seems to me that the Kell’s Original version of sandalwood is both a bit sweeter, and a bit spicier than the others I’ve tried thus far. I think the combination works quite well actually.

Strength-wise, however, it could have used a bit more oomph. Once lathered up, your lost most of those nice little details mentioned above. It dulled into a kind of vaguely woodsy scent that you had to strain to notice.

As for lather itself, Kell’s continues to not disappoint. Which isn’t surprising, since other than the fragrance, I’m pretty sure that the only variation in the soaps are between their three different blends (hemp, help/aloe, ultra aloe), and I’ve only been using the one type. It’s still a fairly thirsty soap, which takes in the water and puts it to good use making a lot of a nice thick frothy foam, with plenty of glide. It doesn’t thin out excessively, and after the fact, left the face feeling quite nice.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 8/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

Unfortunately, I think the weakness of the scent is enough to drop the overall rating down to a 7/10. It just doesn’t do much to add to the shave at all.

• Cost: The sample puck used was $2 for 1 oz, also available are 2.7 oz cakes for $5.25, 4oz in a tin for $8, or a 2.5 oz shave stick for $9.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
• Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner)