Arturro Barbiere Vetiver shaving soap

Tags

8/10, arturro barbiere, shaving soap, soft soap, vetiver

So this is a follow up on my latest review. That one was the unscented version of Arturro Barbiere’s shaving soap, which I thought was quite nice for an unscented soap.

Here we have the Vetiver version of the shaving soap. The vetiver is a quite pleasant scent; it has the nice deep earthy scent that I think of when I think of vetiver (which I’ve only ever really encountered in shaving soaps mind you), as well as perhaps a very slight bit of a fresh green note that I haven’t noticed in many other vetiver scented products.

It was strong enough that it was noticeable throughout the shave, but I definitely would have preferred if it had a bit more “oomph” to it.

As for the performance of the soap itself, as far as I could tell it was identical to the unscented version. Which shouldn’t exactly be a shock to anyone. Relatively soft, it has a nice wide sweet spot with regards to the amount of water you can use and still get a good shave out of. Works reasonably well with very little, but does improve if you add it to what I would consider to be a moderate amount of soap. You don’t need a lot, but you’re probably not going to be able to accidentally overshoot it all that much.

All in all, a good balance of lubrication and protection, and good moisturization properties to boot.

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

All said, I’m going to give it an 8/10. It provided a very pleasant shave, although I definitely would have liked it better if it was a bit stronger.

• Cost: They come in either a 100g plastic tub for about $9 USD or a 150g tin for around $12 USD, depending upon the exchange rate at the time. Purchases are made either via e-mail at arturrobarbiere@interia.eu, or via the contact form on his website.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: coconut oil, stearic acid, vegetable glycerin, distilled water, shea butter, beeswax, potassium hydroxide, natural fragrance oil.

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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.

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.

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

Barrister and Mann – Ferox shaving soap

Tags

9/10, Barrister and Mann, citrus, grapefruit, herbal, rosemary, sage, shaving soap, tea tree, thyme, vetiver

I’m pretty sure that Barrister and Mann’s formulation doesn’t change between their scents, with the exception of the fragrance portion. The Ferox performed quite like I expected: it’s a rather thirsty soap, kind of. I mean, if you only use a bit of water, it’ll be ok, but if you use a fair large splash, it’ll be great. It’s not quite as thirsty as Mike’s Natural is, but almost. Anyways, it works up into something really slick, nice and thick, with great moisturization properties.

The scent is quite nice. If I had to pick one word for it, it’d be “invigourating”. It’s a blend of grapefruit, sage, thyme, rosemary, tea tree, and vetiver. The grapefruit gives a nice tartness and pep, which is tempered nicely by the herbal elements, and supported by the earthiness of the vetiver. It was designed to be a “springtime” scent, and I think it fits that bill.

The strength was pretty decent. It came on reasonably strong, and didn’t fade much during the course of the shave.

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

I’ll happily round this one up to a 9/10. It’s quite an enjoyable shave, and although perhaps a little stronger would have been nice, but I’ll generally prefer a middling-strength scent that doesn’t fade much to a strong one that disappears quickly.

• Cost: A 3.75 oz puck of Ferox goes for $12, or you can get it included as one of 6 1/2 oz samples for $10. Also, they’re the only soap-maker I know that takes Bitcoin, if that’s your gig.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: 1966 Gillette Tech
• Blade: Merkur Super
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua, Glycerin, Potassium Ricinoleate, Sodium Ricinoleate, Citrus grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Salvia officinalis (Sage) Oil, Thymus zygis (Thyme) Oil, Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Oil, Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tree) Oil, Andropogon zizanioides (Vetiver) Oil, Coconut Milk, Potassium Kokum Butterate, Sodium Kokum Butterate, Unrefined Shea Butter, Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Cocoate, Lanolin, Allantoin, Silk Protein, Tocopherol Acetate.

Czech and Speake – no. 88 shaving soap

Tags

6/10, bermagot, cologne, Czech and Speake, floral, geranium, Rose, sandalwood, shaving soap, vetiver, wood

As with a lot of soaps or creams based off of Colognes, I find it’s best to go straight to the horse’s mouth for a description rather than try and describe what it smells like myself:

No.88 has a fresh, woody top note of reviving and uplifting bergamot, the richness and warmth of geranium, rose otto, cassie and exotic frangipani. Combined with dry base notes of vetiver and sandalwood, this modern classic has a full-bodied, sophisticated sensuality.

Anyways, I found it reasonably pleasant, although not enough so that I’d buy the cologne. The strength was fairly lacking, not at all strong to begin with, and faded to nothingness by the end of the shave.

The lather, however, was very good; nice and thick, very good glide, reasonably wide sweet spot for acceptable water content, and some decent moisturization.

• 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 5/10 Scent Strength
• 9/10 Lather Quality

Overall, I think I’ll round down and give no. 88 a 6/10. The scent is just too weak to make it worth-while, especially considering that we’re talking a shaving soap that’s supposed to be based around a cologne.

• Cost: The sample I used was from Garry’s Sample Shop for $7.50. A set of three 25g travel-sized refills goes for £18, or £65 if you want the matching anodized aluminium travel dish, although I think that only comes with a single refill puck; a full 90g puck goes for £21, or £95 if you want its matching aluminium dish.

Gear Used:

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

Ingredients: Sodium tallowate, water, potassium palmitate, potassium stearate, sodium palmitate, sodium stearate, sodium cocoate, potassium cocoate, glycerin, palmitic acid, stearic acid, cocos nucifera, fragrance, lecithin, petrolatum, zea mays, tocopheryl acetate, CI 77891, CI 77499

Jabonman Vetiver-Tangerine-Litsea Cubeba shaving soap

Tags

8/10, citrus, Fruit, jabonman, shaving soap, tangerine, vetiver

I really liked the smell of this shaving soap; the earthiness of the vetiver paired really nicely with the sweetness of the tangerine, and a bit of the tartness of the Litsea Cubeba (which for anyone who like me didn’t know, is a largely lemony-scented essential oil). Combined, they reminded me a lot of lemongrass, but a bit deeper and a bit sweeter.

The strength was good; it came on nice and strong at the start, with a bit of fading during the shave, but not too much.

Lather-wise, I found it better than I found the last Jabonman soap I tried. A few other posts about the soap seem to indicate that one of the keys is putting a bit of elbow grease into building the lather. It ended up with something nice and thick, with some decent glide. Decent moisturization, which this time I can’t attribute to the lanolin, as this formulation doesn’t contain any.

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

This one merits an 8/10. I just kind of wish the sample I had had enough for a few more shaves.

• Cost: Apparently it’s about 10.50 Euro a puck, plus shipping and handling. Jabonman doesn’t have a website, but if you e-mail the manufacturer, Manual Garcia at magafe_es@yahoo.es, he can give you an accurate price list. But he does rely upon google translate, so you might want to avoid convoluted language.

Gear used:

• Brush: Wee Scott
• Razor: Gillette Old Style with WWI US Service Set
• Blade: Shark Super Stainless
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: (Note: I’m not positive that this listing is for this scent, but it’s the closest I was able to find on-line) Palm stearic, coconut oil, argan oil, almond oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, rosehip oil, shea butter, glycerine, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, water, aloe vera, rhassoul (a moroccan clay), aromas

Queen Charlotte Soaps – Vetiver shaving soap

Tags

6/10, Queen Charlotte Soaps, shaving soap, vetiver

The soap lathered up much in the same way that other samples I’ve tried did. I would have preferred a thicker cream, and QCS is, IMHO, too easy to over-dilute. I usually end up having to fiddle with the lather more than most soaps, to get the balance of water just right to get enough glide with a reasonable amount of thickness. Still, I’m able to get a good shave out of it, just not what I consider a great shave.

Just a quick reminder, I revamped the lather quality scoring system, any former 8/10s or below have been bumped down a point.

The vetiver scent was pretty good. A fair bit earthier than some others that I’ve come across, which I rather liked. But it just wasn’t strong enough, I had to strain to even pick out the scent while shaving, other than the occasional whiff here or there.

• 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 7/10 Lather Quality

So that’ll work out to be a 6/10 overall. Good enough, I suppose, but there’s
better options available.

• Cost: QCS Samples come in a 5 pack for $10, but with a surcharge for certain scents, so this sample shown one costs $2.50. Or you can get a puck of the stuff for $15 (extra for a tub or wooden bowl).

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: Saponified tallow, water, saponified castor oil, shea butter, glycerin, saponified stearic acid, cocoa butters, coconut oil, essential oil(s), saponified avocado oil, palm oil, olive oil, aloe vera extract, kaolin clay, lanolin, vitamin E.

RazoRock Nervous Wreck – Vetiver Shaving Soap

Tags

8/10, Discontinued, RazoRock, shaving soap, soft soap, vetiver

Edit: This scent has been discontinued.

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Next up we’ve got RazoRock’s Nervous Wreck (Vetiver), from their “Linea Officina Artigiana”, aka their Artisan Workshop Line.

The lather is, well, just wonderful. For my initial pass, I would have preferred a bit more glide, but as is so often the case, it was merely a matter of me misjudging the amount of water needed. A few splashes more, and voila! Nice and slick. While still managing to remain thick and luxurious. And after the shave? The face just felt wonderful; good moisturizing properties too.

The scent was a nice pleasant earthy Vetiver, with a fair bit of sweetness too it too to mellow it out a bit. I found it quite nice. Stength-wise, it was so-so; it was noticable but weakly so once lathered and applied to the face. Reasonably strong while still in the jar mind you, but not all that much there during the shave. Only a little bit of fading though.

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

I’m giving it a total of 8/10. It gave a great shave, and smelled good, but I definitely would have liked a bit more oomph to the aroma. Decent bang for your buck however.

• Cost: $9.99 for 150 mL

Gear used:

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

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

Mama Bear Soaps – British Leather

Tags

6/10, cedarwood, citrus, cologne, floral, Glycerin, leather, Mama Bear Soaps, musk, Rose, shaving soap, vanilla, vetiver, wood

Mama Bear’s British Leather is, from what I can recall, a fairly decent re-creation of English Leather, the classic cologne scent (it’s been a while since I’ve smelled that). As per usual, my nose isn’t up to picking out unique scents amongst an aroma this complex, but they say that it is a “mix of bergamot, lemon, orange with notes or rose, honey, orris and ferns” with base notes of “cedarwood, leather, vetiver, musk and vanilla.” I see no reason not to believe them there. It’s a reasonably nice scent, and I’d bump it up a couple points if you’re a big fan of the cologne.

Strength-wise it doesn’t really cut it though. It’s easy to pick out when smelling the soap itself, but when lathered up and applied to the face, there’s pretty much nothing.

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.

• 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 7/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

6/10 overall. The scent really isn’t strong enough to enhance the shaving experience.

• Cost: $9.99 for a bowl worth. For some reason the samples aren’t currently available, although I suspect that’s an oversight that will be rectified once they get back from vacation in a few days.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Lord Platinum
• 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.