- Joined
- Wednesday August 5, 2009
- Location
- West Yorkshire
I mentioned this soap in a shave of the day recently, and thought I'd share my enthusiasm in a proper review.
Up until last Sunday, I only knew this as "the light blue soap that I got from a chap at the farmers market in Settle two years ago who I haven't seen since", which is a bit cumbersome, but, lo and behold, he was there again so I bought another cake and picked up a brochure. Contact details:
TOC Aromatherapy by Maggi Dearmer
(Peartree, Holmside Lane, Durham DH7 0DY)
(Tel: 0191 371 9167)
(email: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:mdearmer@btinternet.com">mdearmer@btinternet.com</a><!-- e -->)
and here's a list of the farmers' markets:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tocaromatherapy.blogspot.com/">http://tocaromatherapy.blogspot.com/</a><!-- m -->
On the stall were a couple of dozen soaps of varying colours and degrees of opacity, but it's likely that all the non-shaving soaps are glycerin based. There's just the one shaving soap, which costs £6.95 for 180g which seems quite reasonable, or £12 in a shallow pottery bowl. The latter didn't appeal much to me, and besides, the ordinary cake happens to fit very nicely into an old Taylor's cream tub or a Tabac bowl.
The ingredients list is rather unusual and wholesome sounding:
"Spring Water, Goats Milk, Honey, Evening Primrose Oil, Macadamia Oil, Blackseed Oil, Shea Butter, Sodium Olivate, Vitamin E, Aloe Vera Gel, Sandalwood, Frankincense, Fennel, Bergamot, Bay, Tea Tree, Petitgrain, Lime".
The scent certainly meets with my approval, and, more importantly, my wife's: it's very clean and fresh, but subtle, and doesn't interfere with any aftershaves or colognes if I feel so inclined (incidentally, there is also a balm available, apparently). I utterly loath the smell of goats milk, and am pleased to report that I can detect no trace of it.
My other favoured soaps are Tabac and Palmolive whose exceptional lathering properties are well known, and yet the vegetarian TOC soap gives nothing away to them. It's as easy to knock up plenty of lather with this as it is with Tabac, and it's good stuff: cushioning, protective and very long lasting. Talking of which, I'm not yet halfway through the first cake despite regular and generous use, so longevity is good.
This soap is a confirmed favourite of mine, and I'm hoping that maybe one of my fellow northerners will come across it at a market, take a fancy to the scent and give it a go.
Up until last Sunday, I only knew this as "the light blue soap that I got from a chap at the farmers market in Settle two years ago who I haven't seen since", which is a bit cumbersome, but, lo and behold, he was there again so I bought another cake and picked up a brochure. Contact details:
TOC Aromatherapy by Maggi Dearmer
(Peartree, Holmside Lane, Durham DH7 0DY)
(Tel: 0191 371 9167)
(email: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:mdearmer@btinternet.com">mdearmer@btinternet.com</a><!-- e -->)
and here's a list of the farmers' markets:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tocaromatherapy.blogspot.com/">http://tocaromatherapy.blogspot.com/</a><!-- m -->
On the stall were a couple of dozen soaps of varying colours and degrees of opacity, but it's likely that all the non-shaving soaps are glycerin based. There's just the one shaving soap, which costs £6.95 for 180g which seems quite reasonable, or £12 in a shallow pottery bowl. The latter didn't appeal much to me, and besides, the ordinary cake happens to fit very nicely into an old Taylor's cream tub or a Tabac bowl.
The ingredients list is rather unusual and wholesome sounding:
"Spring Water, Goats Milk, Honey, Evening Primrose Oil, Macadamia Oil, Blackseed Oil, Shea Butter, Sodium Olivate, Vitamin E, Aloe Vera Gel, Sandalwood, Frankincense, Fennel, Bergamot, Bay, Tea Tree, Petitgrain, Lime".
The scent certainly meets with my approval, and, more importantly, my wife's: it's very clean and fresh, but subtle, and doesn't interfere with any aftershaves or colognes if I feel so inclined (incidentally, there is also a balm available, apparently). I utterly loath the smell of goats milk, and am pleased to report that I can detect no trace of it.
My other favoured soaps are Tabac and Palmolive whose exceptional lathering properties are well known, and yet the vegetarian TOC soap gives nothing away to them. It's as easy to knock up plenty of lather with this as it is with Tabac, and it's good stuff: cushioning, protective and very long lasting. Talking of which, I'm not yet halfway through the first cake despite regular and generous use, so longevity is good.
This soap is a confirmed favourite of mine, and I'm hoping that maybe one of my fellow northerners will come across it at a market, take a fancy to the scent and give it a go.