- Joined
- Wednesday August 5, 2009
- Location
- West Yorkshire
Arran Aromatics Bay Citrus Shaving Soap
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.arranaromatics.com/productInfo.asp?productCode=BC010" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.arranaromatics.com/productIn ... Code=BC010</a><!-- m -->
This was an impulse buy from the factory shop near Brodick, Isle of Arran, and it cost me £8 for 100g. The soap comes in the form of a snow-white round bottomed cake of the usual sort, and it's comparatively hard. From the back of the box: "Shave soap formulated to maximize performance with plant extracts of bay, lemon and mint. Herbaceous notes of lavandin merge with a woody spice heart of patchouli, bay and nutmeg enhanced with soft notes of cedar and vetiver". The ingredients declaration:
"Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Gluconate, Pentasodium Pentatate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Butylphenyl Methylpropionol, Linalool, 3-Methyl-4(2,6,6-Trimethyl-2-Cyclohexen-1-yl)-3-buten-2-one (Alpha Isomethyl-Ionone)"
Over to you, Henk.
The smell of the soap is very pleasant in a fresh woody sort of way, which is what sold me on it. As regards performance, I'm afraid I can do this review in four words: this soap is dismal. Apply a brush and it immediately produces profuse, bubbly lather; work it for a while in a bowl or on the face and it never becomes any denser or more stable: this stuff seems to be almost effervescent, not to say evanescent. I finally managed to get a very ordinary shave with it by using the brush with almost all the water shaken out of it, but even then the lather deteriorates quicker than one can shave. I'll try a superlather technique with a fair proportion of cream sometime, but as a standalone this soap is a failure and to be avoided in my opinion.
The following ought really to go in another section, but there isn't much to say. At the same time I bought a bottle of Arran Aromatics Vetiver Post Shave Soother, a white somewhat oleaginous balm. The scent is so faint as to be near non-existent (good), and it does its job perfectly well, used in very small quantities - too much feels far too greasy. 250ml for £5, and it should last for a very long time indeed.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.arranaromatics.com/productInfo.asp?productCode=BC010" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.arranaromatics.com/productIn ... Code=BC010</a><!-- m -->
This was an impulse buy from the factory shop near Brodick, Isle of Arran, and it cost me £8 for 100g. The soap comes in the form of a snow-white round bottomed cake of the usual sort, and it's comparatively hard. From the back of the box: "Shave soap formulated to maximize performance with plant extracts of bay, lemon and mint. Herbaceous notes of lavandin merge with a woody spice heart of patchouli, bay and nutmeg enhanced with soft notes of cedar and vetiver". The ingredients declaration:
"Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Gluconate, Pentasodium Pentatate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Butylphenyl Methylpropionol, Linalool, 3-Methyl-4(2,6,6-Trimethyl-2-Cyclohexen-1-yl)-3-buten-2-one (Alpha Isomethyl-Ionone)"
Over to you, Henk.
The smell of the soap is very pleasant in a fresh woody sort of way, which is what sold me on it. As regards performance, I'm afraid I can do this review in four words: this soap is dismal. Apply a brush and it immediately produces profuse, bubbly lather; work it for a while in a bowl or on the face and it never becomes any denser or more stable: this stuff seems to be almost effervescent, not to say evanescent. I finally managed to get a very ordinary shave with it by using the brush with almost all the water shaken out of it, but even then the lather deteriorates quicker than one can shave. I'll try a superlather technique with a fair proportion of cream sometime, but as a standalone this soap is a failure and to be avoided in my opinion.
The following ought really to go in another section, but there isn't much to say. At the same time I bought a bottle of Arran Aromatics Vetiver Post Shave Soother, a white somewhat oleaginous balm. The scent is so faint as to be near non-existent (good), and it does its job perfectly well, used in very small quantities - too much feels far too greasy. 250ml for £5, and it should last for a very long time indeed.