Tag Archives: green tea

Seattle Sundries – Smooth Shave Soap

02 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in American, Seattle Sundries

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Seattle Sundries - Smooth

So, about a month ago, I got a message on reddit from the esteemed LeiusureGuy. You know, that fellow who literally wrote the book on wetshaving? It read, and I quote, “If you should want to give a review to what seemed to me a pretty bad shaving soap, try Seattle Sundries. Indeed, if you want a free puck of their soap, let me know.”

Well, how could I possibly pass up an offer like that?

And he was right, it was indeed pretty bad. The lather was nice and slick, good lubrication. … Oh, I’m sorry, did I say lather? I think I meant “collection of bubbles”. Because I wouldn’t really call what was produced lather, and even if it did start out as lather, is sure as heck didn’t stay that way. Seriously, no stability at all. I’d estimate that the lather had about a half-life of under 5 seconds. Needless to say, by the end of each pass, there really wasn’t much there at all.

Anyhow, if I wanted something that only provided lubrication, I’d be using a shave oil or something like that. Once again, the perils of a soap maker thinking that a shaving soap is no more complex than taking some regular soap and throwing some clay into the mix.

The scent at least was nice. The “smooth” scent is made up of essential oils of coriander, lime, and petitgrain, with some green tea on top. All together, it turns into a rather pleasant scent, which I’d consider to fit the “barber shop” type aroma. The strength was pretty decent, and at least didn’t fade as fast at the lather does.

  • 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
  • 7/10 Scent Strength
  • 3/10 Lather Quality

All told, yeah, I’d recommend against it. If they put the effort into doing the research into what actually makes a good shaving soap, a new formulation with this scent might be worth it, but for now, I’ll give this a 3/10.

  • Cost: As mentioned, I got this one for free for the purpose of the review. You could pick it up for $9.50 for a 2.5 oz tin.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Bentonite Clay, Green Tea, Shea Butter, Vitamin E Oil, Coriander Essential Oil, Lime Essential Oil, Petitgrain Essential Oil

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RazoRock Boston Tea Party Green Tea Soap

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Italian, RazoRock, Soap

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RazoRock - Boston Tea Party

Edit: This soap has been discontinued

We were merry, in an undertone, at the idea of making so large a cup of tea for the fishes. – Joshua Wyeth

Personally, I think there’s a bit of a mis-match in the name of this soap, as I would have expected a black tea scent out of something named after the Boston Tea Party. But, instead we’ve got a green tea scent.

Update: Apparently I’m somewhat wrong! There was indeed some green tea thrown overboard at the Boston Tea Party, accounting for about 22% of the volume of the tea “used”.

It’s a nice fresh light scent, rather reminiscent of green tea with a little bit of something else I can’t place, something I think I’d say is in the “aquatic” family of scents.

It’s a bit hard to describe in part because it’s a light scent, and I’m sure most people reading this review are aware that I prefer my soaps to be reasonably strongly scented. This one isn’t all that strong in the tub, but once lathered, it’s really only barely noticeable while you shave.

As for the lather quality, well, as far as I can tell the only difference between this and RazoRock’s Caprician Lemon was the scent, both gave quite a spectacular shave. Very easy to lather up, with just a smidgen of water, it’ll produce a wonderfully thick lather with a lot of glide, and superior moisturization properties. Seriously top-notch.

  • 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
  • 5/10 Scent Strength
  • 10/10 Lather Quality

So, overall I’m giving it a 7/10. A great lather, but not enough scent. There’s plenty of other soaps out there that provide both, or at least a better balance of the two.

  • Cost: $10 for a 125 mL tub. I should note that this line seems like it is often plagued by availability issues. As it’s all still made in small batches by one artisan soapmaker in Italy, the popularity of the soap seems to be outstripping the supply.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Tallow, Water, Cocos Nucifera, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance (Green tea), Potassium Carbonate

Mama Bear Soaps – Mountain Waters

20 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by in American, Mama Bear Soaps, Soap

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Mama Bear - Mountain Waters

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.

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

Gear used:

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.