Home Made Soap - cast your vote!

Wife's SOTD

Vie long horse
Futur (3)
Astra SP (1)

Used sample 1 on the left leg and pit, number 2 on right leg and pit.

I whipped up the lather, again no issues with a wet brush and no blooming. Started a little foamy but soon settled down with continued mixing in the bowl and soon got the thick lather that I got when testing it last night.

The wife commented on how number 1 went on nice and creamy and had no problems with the shave at all. Number 2 looked a little less creamy than 1 but suspect that's down to me whipping it up?

Post shave she said alls good and skin feels soft and smooth.

Number 1 just nudged it according to her.
 
OSP said:
What he said.

Seriously though, thanks for the lovely structured write up. I forget - have you tried my soap before?
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Most welcome, thanks again for the opportunity to test the soaps :)

As it happens, I'd not tried your soaps until these samples...I'm happy to say that on the basis of these two test soaps, I will be trying more :)

EDIT - Updated my post with results of sample 2.

OSP said:
Its main ingredient is tallow, but that is the only animal based ingredient, other than the lanolin which has been left out of this one.
Which soap did you try? You mentioned both one and two but not which one you shaved with?
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Interesting that it's tallow base, explains the lovely rich lather :) Good job on not getting the usual soap residue!

I've used both now, neither leave that soap ring or residue in the sink, not a big factor, but something I noted very quickly. With the quality of the post shave sans lanolin, I can only imagine how good this could be with added lanolin :)
 
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First time using the sample in anger as opposed to testing this morning.

For no reason other than thats the bowl i picked up, i used number 2.

Easy to load with a wet brush and a nice lather formed with no real trouble. I could have built it for longer but was rushing a little due to the need of the bathroom by the kids.

Worked well on delicate skin and no real difference from other shop bought soaps.

Post shave I could feel that it was soap and not a cream I'd used but under no pressure to use cream or balm straight away and the skin felt soft and supple.

Number 2
TOBS pure badger
Bonsa Slant
Feather (1)
Witch hazel
Original Astral creamIMG_20150917_070952_1_1.jpg
 
Well another fine shave with No 2 this morning - Scent wise I prefer No1, but lather, glide, cushion all seem comparable between the two samples.
As i said before if you wish to make another batch of No 1 - I'd deffo buy some from you - I'd be more than happy to have a nice big tub of that stuff in my rotation. IT's creamy thick lather is superb
 
I used 1 today after trying 2 yesterday. I switched from a horse/boar brush to synthetic and it seemed to be a bit less work to build the lather, though that could be the brush or my incompetence. I'll switch round again tomorrow and try 2 with the synthetic.

Again, the lather was good and lasted for 4 passes easily. This one seemed pretty thirsty as well, though obviously the synthetic doesn't hold water for long.

I'm hopeless with scents, so asked my 6 year-old daughter. Cinnamon, she said. I'm not getting that, but I guess it's something with some spice in it. I think I preferred the scent of 2, though that wasn't as strong, but both are pleasant.

I remember the tight feeling I had with the tea tree sample and there's none of that, my skin felt good afterwards and the sink wasn't a gunked up mess.

I'll go back through the thread and see if I can find the questions we're supposed to be considering. Did they get lost in the change, or are they still there?

I'm with BraveBlades, I'd buy this, no question.
 
My samples arrived this afternoon, I had already shaved today so I just did a test lather with both soaps. Using a Kent Infinity synthetic for consistency I followed James' advice to use a very wet bush for loading the soap. So without shaking I loaded each sample for 10 seconds and lathered them in the palm of my hand. Both samples produced a huge volume of what I can only describe a lovely thick, creamy, silky lather that I can't wait to actually apply to my face and shave with. If I had to make a choice between the two I would say that sample 2 produced the more voluminous and luxuriant lather.

As for scents I consider myself completely incompetent in this department, both the samples have a pleasant scent and I can detect a base of lavender in both. Sample 1 to my nose has a spicy undertone but sample 2 being a far cleaner and fresher scent. Again, to choose between the both I would prefer sample 2 for the clean / fresh aroma. I did not detect any lingering soapy smell as per the previous batch of soap containing lanolin.

To compare these samples with the previous batch containing lanolin I also hand lathered a sample of what I thought was the barber shop version. This still has a lingering soapy smell. It lathered really easily and produced a similar quality lather as the samples without lanolin. I suspect that the beneficial effect of lanolin will be in the post shave.

I will shave with both these samples over the next few days and report accordingly.


Sample 1


Sample 2 IMG_1096.JPG
IMG_1098.JPG
 

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Got mine today, Thanks v much James. I think it's the oils in the soap that have leached some of the envelope ink, but as it didn't go deep, was very easy to scrape off. Going to take a brush to one of them later tonight.
Initial thoughts, the texture seems little changed with the absence of Lanolin.
The scents:
1. Lavender with a woody & soapy background, quite complex.
2. Lavender with sharp citrus background, less complex.
I think #2 has the more intense scent and at this stage is my preference.
Let's see.
 
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I got the same results with No.! this morning as I had with No. 2 yesterday. Wtd's lather looks like what I got from these soaps but I don't think it compares well to other soaps. I got nothing like SS's lather!
 
Just fresh from using sample no 1.

I soaked the soap in a little water while I showered then used a fairly wet brush and loaded lightly for 60 seconds, then face lathered.

I would say it was a little too much water as it was a little foamy but working it into my face it soon got less airy and thicker. I wonder if the size of the sample meant there wasn't enough surface area to get a good load using this method so I'll try less water in the brush next time.

Plenty of lather for 3 passes and you will see below what was left.

The soap was very slick with plenty of glide. As I was using a tech I can't really comment on the protection but it seemed good.

The scent was nice and still what I consider homely, kind of like a bar soap type scent to me that seems familiar. It was probably about a 6 out of 10 for strength but it is present throughout the shave. Not quite dark like the beaudelaire I have.

Overall a good performer and with the right scent I'd buy some.

As I say the lather was more airy than I would like but I think a bit less water and it would be more dense like the lather I prefer.

VGVUJqR.jpg


Also I should add post shave feel was good and not drying at all.
 
That's one thing to bear in mind.

I obviously use big bars of the stuff, so maybe the smaller sample sizes mean you need less water in the brush! I also use huge brushes, between 30 and 38mm.

In the past I've found samples tend to not give enough surface area to perform well, as when I buy the full product it works lovely.

Maybe try less water than I suggested next time.

This is great info so thanks so much to you all!
 
Hi

I moved onto number 1 today, and the scent is very different to 2 (to my nose). I can't place it exactly but it seems a touch more .... Spicy. It's nice!

Given the instructions on here I used more water than I usually would, and loaded my brush for a bit longer. The result was LOADS of lather. Absolutely tons of it! The lather is very good but not as thick as others I have used, with microscopic bubbles in it. I found this with MWF too ... and plenty of people love that!!! Maybe (given the instructions today), I'll go back to using less water and see what impact this has on the lather.

I had enough lather for about 8 passes, and face feel is good. No drying of the skin, but again maybe not the wow factor of say MWF. It would have been interesting to try the version with lanolin to see if the face feel post shave could match MWF!

If you sold this I am sure it would sell!
 
MPH said:
Hi

I moved onto number 1 today, and the scent is very different to 2 (to my nose). I can't place it exactly but it seems a touch more .... Spicy. It's nice!

Given the instructions on here I used more water than I usually would, and loaded my brush for a bit longer. The result was LOADS of lather. Absolutely tons of it! The lather is very good but not as thick as others I have used, with microscopic bubbles in it. I found this with MWF too ... and plenty of people love that!!! Maybe (given the instructions today), I'll go back to using less water and see what impact this has on the lather.

I had enough lather for about 8 passes, and face feel is good. No drying of the skin, but again maybe not the wow factor of say MWF. It would have been interesting to try the version with lanolin to see if the face feel post shave could match MWF!

If you sold this I am sure it would sell!
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Clearly what works for me doesn't always work for others. I guess just do what you normally do or have to do, your choice. And see if you an get a good lather.
 
OSP said:
Clearly what works for me doesn't always work for others. I guess just do what you normally do or have to do, your choice. And see if you an get a good lather.
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Its always facinating trying to "learn" a new soap and find a way to make it work to its best. I live in a VERY hard water area, but soften my water and i was very impressed by the amount of lather generated by your Soap. I have struggled to get a decent lather from a few soaps, but yours is easy. If by altering my technique I thicken the lather just a bit, it will be a very impressive Soap.
 
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