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Did the "Scottish Pine" get a scent boost ? if so , i will purchase one 
Sharon's new soap - a test drive
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Mr. Limbo - the soap is a bit in limbo at the moment. I have two f/b - one very happy, one less so. I have another sample out with blackrat who received it today, and will be shaving with it soon, but will no doubt need a bit of time to reach a conclusion.
I have made two small batches which I will be listing soon, one in Eucalyptus and Tea Tree and one in French Lavender. The soap takes at least 4 weeks or so to cure, so no Scotch Pine for the time being. I do have it in the soft soap, and will increase the scent in the hard soap when next I do it, whether that be in the old recipe, or both.
I have made two small batches which I will be listing soon, one in Eucalyptus and Tea Tree and one in French Lavender. The soap takes at least 4 weeks or so to cure, so no Scotch Pine for the time being. I do have it in the soft soap, and will increase the scent in the hard soap when next I do it, whether that be in the old recipe, or both.
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Hi,
So I came in off the bench as the substitute tester for Sharon's new soap. I got a cake of Eucalyptus and Tea tree soap. If I had seen this soap on a list I probably wouldn't have chosen it (before my test) as I tend to go for citrus fragrances in general.
I know these tests are subjective but I wanted to give Sharon an as even handed report as I could so I nicked the method off the 365 shaves web site.
The Kit
The razor was my Ikon slant fitted with a Feather blade
The brush was a Bluebeard's Revenge Corsair Super Badger. This is my best brush for hard soaps.
The Method
Following a hot shower I loaded my brush for exactly 30 seconds with the Eucalyptus and Tea Trea soap (ETTS) and applied it to my face, then just occasionally dipping the brush ends lightly into hot water I worked the lather into a creamy lather.
This was followed by a 3 pass shave and an extra touch up pass if needed, cold rinse,
followed by alum block, a further cold rinse and Lucky Tiger aftershave lotion. Once this had dried a light splash of Floid aftershave and I was done.
The Result
A very comfortable shave and out of three shaves, one BBS and two very close
Back to Back Lather Test
It can be difficult to remember exactly how another soap is when you are trying to compare especially if you haven't used the other soap for a few days/weeks. So one after the other I made up lather from the test puck of ETTS, Mitchell's Woolfat Soap and Stirling Soap's Lime on the back of my hand (see below).
Discussion
I have borrowed the score system others have used and rate Nanny's ETTS as follows:
Lather
This was easily enough for a 4 pass shave and very creamy after exactly 30 seconds. It compared with both MWF soap and Stirling's Lime here. 8/10
Scent
Again, not a scent I would have chosen before hand, but I quickly grew to like this. It was very refreshing at early O'clock in the morning and even cleared my nose. 7.5/10
Glide
ETTS scored well here, my benchmark is TOBS' Luxury cream which is a tough act to beat 7/10
Cushion
Same for this category as well with the same benchmark 7/10
Skin Care
My favourite in this category, up until now, has been MWF, Nanny's ETTS is at least as good. It left my skin with a great feeling that lasted most of the day 9/10
Protection
Last but not least, protection. I don't think I can be accused of using a mild set up. Chaps, I'm afraid I have to disagree strongly here. I actually rated this above average 8/10. No nicks, no hot feeling, no weepers but instead that cleansing almost cold feeling of a close shave, maybe that was the tea tree. In short, for me, very good.
Conclusion
Three very good shaves with a soap that equals most of the commercial creams and soaps I have and in some aspects easily beats them. I guess the bottom line here is, would I buy it or not? Yes I would and it would be the tea tree and eucalyptus version. Sharon I think you've got a winner here.
Nanny's Test Soap
MWF Soap
Stirling Lime
Cheers,
BR
So I came in off the bench as the substitute tester for Sharon's new soap. I got a cake of Eucalyptus and Tea tree soap. If I had seen this soap on a list I probably wouldn't have chosen it (before my test) as I tend to go for citrus fragrances in general.
I know these tests are subjective but I wanted to give Sharon an as even handed report as I could so I nicked the method off the 365 shaves web site.
The Kit
The razor was my Ikon slant fitted with a Feather blade
The brush was a Bluebeard's Revenge Corsair Super Badger. This is my best brush for hard soaps.
The Method
Following a hot shower I loaded my brush for exactly 30 seconds with the Eucalyptus and Tea Trea soap (ETTS) and applied it to my face, then just occasionally dipping the brush ends lightly into hot water I worked the lather into a creamy lather.
This was followed by a 3 pass shave and an extra touch up pass if needed, cold rinse,
followed by alum block, a further cold rinse and Lucky Tiger aftershave lotion. Once this had dried a light splash of Floid aftershave and I was done.
The Result
A very comfortable shave and out of three shaves, one BBS and two very close
Back to Back Lather Test
It can be difficult to remember exactly how another soap is when you are trying to compare especially if you haven't used the other soap for a few days/weeks. So one after the other I made up lather from the test puck of ETTS, Mitchell's Woolfat Soap and Stirling Soap's Lime on the back of my hand (see below).
Discussion
I have borrowed the score system others have used and rate Nanny's ETTS as follows:
Lather
This was easily enough for a 4 pass shave and very creamy after exactly 30 seconds. It compared with both MWF soap and Stirling's Lime here. 8/10
Scent
Again, not a scent I would have chosen before hand, but I quickly grew to like this. It was very refreshing at early O'clock in the morning and even cleared my nose. 7.5/10
Glide
ETTS scored well here, my benchmark is TOBS' Luxury cream which is a tough act to beat 7/10
Cushion
Same for this category as well with the same benchmark 7/10
Skin Care
My favourite in this category, up until now, has been MWF, Nanny's ETTS is at least as good. It left my skin with a great feeling that lasted most of the day 9/10
Protection
Last but not least, protection. I don't think I can be accused of using a mild set up. Chaps, I'm afraid I have to disagree strongly here. I actually rated this above average 8/10. No nicks, no hot feeling, no weepers but instead that cleansing almost cold feeling of a close shave, maybe that was the tea tree. In short, for me, very good.
Conclusion
Three very good shaves with a soap that equals most of the commercial creams and soaps I have and in some aspects easily beats them. I guess the bottom line here is, would I buy it or not? Yes I would and it would be the tea tree and eucalyptus version. Sharon I think you've got a winner here.
Nanny's Test Soap
MWF Soap
Stirling Lime
Cheers,
BR
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Thanks very much Blackrat for your very detailed investigation and report. I love the pictures.
I think I'm happy enough to sell this as is for the time being, though may tweek the recipe in the future. I hope to get to list the ETT tomorrow and the French Lavender later next week.
I think I'm happy enough to sell this as is for the time being, though may tweek the recipe in the future. I hope to get to list the ETT tomorrow and the French Lavender later next week.
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soapalchemist said:
Hi Sharon,
I'm no chemist and can't give much advice here, but I've noticed that all artisan soaps fall short in that regard (TBH, so do many high street products!), more or less. You could perhaps investigate ingredient list and tinker about with Tabac and Speick as those are two most protective soaps I've tried.
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Thanks Helveticum; are they both tallow soaps?
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soapalchemist said:
They are indeed. Actually, I can send you pics of ingredient lists if you want.
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Yes please.
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If the price of extra protection is the addition of poly-hexa-tetra-silico-whatnot-hydroethlamine, then I, for one, would prefer just to shave more cautiously with something closer to 'natural' soap.
Not suggesting, of course, that any commercial soaps have undesirable ingredients, but I like minimalism in things I put on my face.
Not suggesting, of course, that any commercial soaps have undesirable ingredients, but I like minimalism in things I put on my face.
If the two-penny-worth of another tester is still considered useful now that the soap has hit the market, I have finally got around to trying out the lumpy chunk of trial batch 290913 FLV that was thrown in my recent order. Still at the one-shave point now, but initial impressions are very positive.
My reference is always DR Harris Almond soap, and I would say that it's a chunk better in terms of protection, though perhaps less good in terms of glide. That said, I found it to be quite water-hungry, and wasn't happy that I'd got quite the best texture on the first outing.
Further details will follow just as soon as I have generated them...
My reference is always DR Harris Almond soap, and I would say that it's a chunk better in terms of protection, though perhaps less good in terms of glide. That said, I found it to be quite water-hungry, and wasn't happy that I'd got quite the best texture on the first outing.
Further details will follow just as soon as I have generated them...
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Thanks for the feedback DJC; at the moment this is only available in Eucalyptus & Tea Tree, but the French Lavender should be available over the coming week. I have a slight tweek that may improve glide in future batches.
Right - now time for a slightly more considered response. For context, the setup that I'm using is a closed comb MÜHLE head and an old-style Ikon bulldog handle with a feather blade.
Lather creation and stability. Nothing to complain about here - certainly better than most in my fairly hard water. Easy to create a thick lather, and it lasts. Lovely texture, and easy to apply in a uniform layer.
Glide. Now that I've sorted the mixture out this is pretty good - better than most soaps, certainly, but less good than eshave creams, which hit essentially perfect in my mind. Slight tendency to drag.
Cushion / protection. Very good, but the odd thing is that although it's good, it looks and feels like it's going to be even better, which requires care! My feel on this is that the appearance of safety comes down to being able to apply the layer so uniformly. Perhaps this is why some people have found a lack here?
After shave skin feel. I'm not highly discerning here - it's comfortable!
Closeness of shave. For my money, this is the key selling point - beautifully close with nothing more than the minimum of occasional minor damage associated with my wielding a blade when having just woken up.
So I'd say it's good - glide is the area for work in my opinion, but it's not going to stop me buying it in the mean time...
Lather creation and stability. Nothing to complain about here - certainly better than most in my fairly hard water. Easy to create a thick lather, and it lasts. Lovely texture, and easy to apply in a uniform layer.
Glide. Now that I've sorted the mixture out this is pretty good - better than most soaps, certainly, but less good than eshave creams, which hit essentially perfect in my mind. Slight tendency to drag.
Cushion / protection. Very good, but the odd thing is that although it's good, it looks and feels like it's going to be even better, which requires care! My feel on this is that the appearance of safety comes down to being able to apply the layer so uniformly. Perhaps this is why some people have found a lack here?
After shave skin feel. I'm not highly discerning here - it's comfortable!
Closeness of shave. For my money, this is the key selling point - beautifully close with nothing more than the minimum of occasional minor damage associated with my wielding a blade when having just woken up.
So I'd say it's good - glide is the area for work in my opinion, but it's not going to stop me buying it in the mean time...
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Thanks again DJC; citrus and Sandalwood is not something that's ever occurred to me, but I will have a play around and put it on my to do list. In terms of Citrus Scents, I have one in the soft soap which is my personal favourite right now, called Lemon, Basil and Mandarin, which is lovely. So I may try a batch in that next time, and will see if adding Sandalwood produces any improvement.