Wickham Soap Testers

Re: Dandyism v2

Received my samples of hard soap v2 Dandyism and Imperial Tonic yesterday, thanks again Darron I'm enjoying testing these out, it'll take me a while to get through all the samples I've had so far.

The full details of my setup are shown in My SOTD link.

I enjoyed the scent (I can't describe scents), it reminds me of bath salts from the 70's, fresh and lively, uplifting for a good start to the day. Certainly stronger than other Wickham soaps I've tried but still no where near overpowering. It did make the bathroom smell "proper".

The soap actually performed better than it felt during the shave, I have no complaints about its performance. It coped with a worn out Feather blade without blinking an eye (if soap had eyes, that is).
To be honest though I prefer the Super Smooth to the hard soaps. I know the hard soaps are targeted as a less expensive product but personally I would spend a little extra and go for the Super Smooth. SS feels a lot creamier and thicker, maybe a little overprotective in that it could get in the way of a close shave, but SS has that luxury feel to it.

I'm looking forward to the Imperial Tonic tomorrow.
 
Today I did a test lather of the "1902" hard soap Darron just sent me.
Scent was mild, I got a faint barbershop scent with a little caraway seed, my wife couldn't pick out any particular scents but thought it smelled nice.
It took longer to load the brush than other soaps I have.
Palm-lathered and I needed to dip the tips in water a few times to build the lather. Nice thick slick lather though. Much better than the last (v1?) formulation of the 1902.
I'll use it for Monday's SOTD and give it a proper run-out.
 
i've had 2 shaves with the Dandyism hard soap now - as for the scent, i can get rose and possibly some other floral notes, maybe fruit? I quite like it but it's not as distinct as the Spice Trade or the Rose or the BayRum. It doesn't quite have it's own personality but it's not unpleasant either.

I face lathered the 1st time and bowl lathered 2nd - both times got a good lather from the soap, swirling for 30 seconds or so, adding water as needed. I didn't find it temperamental or difficult and the lather was thick and stable. The shaves were good, i found the razor agreeably sticking to my face on the 2nd pass (is that glide?). I did cut myself on the 1st shave - bit of razor bounce which is unusual for me and on both shaves had redness around my neck after the shave. I found my skin was a little tight but not overly so and nothing that a bit of balm wouldn't fix.

Overall, it is a good soap - not as good a performer as the ss and i'm sure you're working on this already. As a cheaper alternative to ss it is a great way of expanding your customer base. If you just produced an unscented version of the hardsoap it would be a good way of focussing on the product without giving yourself the headache unnecessary extra work (lots of batches of scented versions). I prefer the ss, and as fancontroller mentioned above, i enjoy the luxury of with it - the after skin care is as good as it gets.

will be back with my opinion of the Rose hardsoap in a few days after i have tried the soap from the other thread!

Phil

Getting a sandalwood scent fom the brush now, is that in there?
 
Re: Imperial Tonic

First time use with Imperial Tonic (v1?) and have to agree with Paul (pjgh ) that the scent had a child-like curious sweet fragrance. This was the strongest scent I've had from Wickham's and although not overpowering the sweetness was so strong that it reminded me of a old-fashioned sweet-shop and I felt sticky. The actual lather wasn't sticky it's just how it made me feel; even so it was pleasant just not my cup of tea. I felt the same about the Cola scent but I know a lot of people did like that. As always YMMV.

The soap I think did not perform as well as yesterday's Dandyism. I used a Rapira Ruby blade and ATT R2 which I was expected to give a very close smooth shave but it felt a bit rough which might be down to the lack of protection from the lather; it could have also been the razor/blade combination, I'll have to see tomorrow with another soap.

The lather seemed to have less creaminess than I would expect and while it didn't dissipate it didn't live up to my expectations. Again I would still go for the Super Smooth even if pricier.
No problems with skin conditioning, a little but no too much which is just fine by me.

Thanks for opportunity of testing this Darron, again an interesting and enjoyable experience.
 
Dandyism

Once again, thank you Darron for the opportunity.

To me, it's very feint in scent. I'm one of those noses that picks up spice, woods and musk. I'm not big on herbs, which I think is the basis of this scent. That whiff of something is there, though.

Lathering was again not great. First go, I did it exactly like I did with Imperial Tonic and again I got a limp and thin lather. I tried again with a much longer loading period and tried lathering up to just the top of it being dry and applying to a wet face. Again, the lather fell quickly leaving a thin smear.

I couldn't get it to play right, but my very smooth Durham Dorset setup did its thing.

Post-shave felt okay, not as taut and irritable as Imperial Tonic. Hmmm ...
 
pjgh said:
Dandyism

Once again, thank you Darron for the opportunity.

To me, it's very feint in scent. I'm one of those noses that picks up spice, woods and musk. I'm not big on herbs, which I think is the basis of this scent. That whiff of something is there, though.

Lathering was again not great. First go, I did it exactly like I did with Imperial Tonic and again I got a limp and thin lather. I tried again with a much longer loading period and tried lathering up to just the top of it being dry and applying to a wet face. Again, the lather fell quickly leaving a thin smear.

I couldn't get it to play right, but my very smooth Durham Dorset setup did its thing.

Post-shave felt okay, not as taut and irritable as Imperial Tonic. Hmmm ...
Click to expand...

Paul what is the water like in your area? Soft or hard maybe?
 
pjgh said:
I'm in a soft water area.

I double-checked technique against a hard soap version of Spice Trade each time, which lathered up just perfectly. I tried Imperial Tonic with a badger and Dandyism with a synthetic.
Click to expand...

How odd as the formula is pretty much the same as V1 with just a liitle extra lye discount. I will do some more testing here by altering water ph levels to see if I can come up with poor lather.

Thank you for feedback paul and sorry that your having troubles with it.

D. :D
 
Tried the Dandyism Hard Soap v2 today...
Took a bit of lathering but ended up with a nice creamy mountain, face lathered with a Simpsons Commodore X3L in best. Certainly the 'slip' issue I'd noticed with the v1 is gone and overall I had a good shave. I'd say if anything it was a bit light on cushion - I could certainly feel the blade especially on my neck and there's a wee bit of irritation there (in fairness I was using a 4th shave GEM in a MMOC [emoji23] ). Scent wise I quite liked it, flowery scents aren't really my thing but this was OK.

Overall a big improvement on the v1, I got a nice smooth shave with a pleasant scent.
 
Giving some time and space to get this right, I had another go with Dandyism and Imperial Tonic ...

I do like the scent of Imperial Tonic. Curious and engaging. Anyway, the lather. Again, sorry Darron but I just cannot get this to work. I can get a lather which would equal many soaps out there, but no of the standard I'm used to with the other hard soaps I've tried from your stable.

Bowl lathered, when I got to the meringue stage, I tamped it down, tamped again ... and again, left it a short while (since I usually find the second pass off the brush is better) and gave it a go. Good, but on the dry side, deliberately so as not to have a thin lather. Just a drop of water and carry on with a face lather, it loosened up but remained thin. No cushion. That was Dandyism first, washed off and Imperial Tonic given the same treatment. Alas, something irritable to me in there and quite airy still, which dropped quickly.

I resorted to Spice Trade which "just worked" ...

... and had a great shave with a curious contraption that I most definitely needed a thick, protective lather with good slip: http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/thread-28438-post-394443.html#pid394443
 
I have been enjoying the samples which I have received. In addition to passing on my thanks, a few notes from me:

* sugar rice - well this transported me back to my youth when burning incense sticks was the height of cool. I was unsure about it at first based on the scent of the dry soap but it was much milder - and rather nice - on the brush. The new Rapira blade I had in use was pretty rough and the soap provided decent protection, and performed very well indeed with a better blade.

* spice trade - I have a soft spot for soft soaps and for Old Spice, and this combination has been a delight. The lasting lather is luxuriant and the protection and glide which the soap gives is spot on. A lovely side-kick to the Bay Rum in super smooth which I also enjoy very much.

* I misread the label on the imperial tonic 'hard' soap, mistaking it for 'hand' soap. Now my wife enjoyed the cleanness of the scent of this one and really liked it for its moisturizing qualities; hands left softer than doing dishes with Fairy liquid! And as a shaving soap it performs very well with protection and lubrication that we've come to expect from Darron's soaps. (Special request from Mrs Whitehall - when you do a moisturizing hand soap she'll be happy to lend herself to the testing pool!)

* dandyism is a great name for a bold and confident soap. Again, performing well across a range of blades and shaving systems (SE and DE) and providing good scent and cushion.

Before closing, a note on the strength of the scents. I noted a few months ago that I would have preferred something stronger running through the shave but I have come to like the sophistication of these soaps and their subtle complexity during the shave.

Nicely done, Darron. It's been a treat to join you on the journey. Thank you.
 
i've had 2 shaves with the Rose hardsoap now - using an old type and my executive, a cheap boar brush and a polsilver stainless on outing 6 and 7. 2 lovely close shaves, no redness or irritation - i didn't even use a post shave balm. just an aftershave and done. The scent is a good'un - strong but not overpowering and stays for the duration of the shave. i got a thick creamy lather both times and face lathered after loading the brush for 30 seconds or so (i live in a hardwater area). i like this soap and don't think it needs any improving. I think you have a good soap here, a worthy companion to the ss. have you finalised your recipe/have a release date in mind?

well done Darron and thank you for the chance to try your soaps :)
 
I have been testing Dandyism and Imperial Tonic over the past few days. I squashed the samples into individual tubs to load for face lathering.
First shave was with the Dandyism which I loaded with a Omega 98 boar. Amazing lather, I couldn't find a noticeable difference between this and the super smooth. Nice and thick with superb cushioning.

To be honest, I was in too minds about the Dandyism scent, but the the more I use it the more I'm starting to like it.

The Imperial Tonic has a great scent. I'm crap at describing scents so all I'll say is I really like it and It lathers just as well as the Dandyism.


Thanks for opportunity to test the new soaps. As far as I'm concerned, they tick all the boxes for me. Great scents, fantastic lather with great slip and cushioning. Some soaps leave my skin dry post shave, not so with these. Skin felt nice and soft.

Great work Darron, another winner.
 
I recently received a couple of samples from Darron, both were V2 of the hard soap. The scents I received were English Rose and Sheridans. I must apologise for my absence from the forum lately but work and family have been monopolising my time/focus recently.

However its become apparent to me that all traditional shavers are enablers, and just as I've recently converted a couple of colleagues to "Shaving like real men", Darrons gift bag landed on my doorstep to reignite my interest in collecting and trying more software rather than trying to use up what I already own [emoji6]

I started DE shaving earlier this year and BraveBlades generously sent me a large slice of the Super Smooth Bay Rum. It instantly became one of my favourites. So much so that I purchased samples of the other scents from the range.

My previous conclusion about Super Smooth was that it was great for me as it lathered easily, protected and nourished my face and smelt great. I would recommend it to anyone, and especially to a beginner like me as it renewed my confidence after a horrid shave with a triple milled soap at the beginning of my journey .

First impressions of the hard soaps were that they were malleable like super smooth and I easily pressed my sample of Sheridan's into an empty tin. The shaving experience was no different to my earlier Super Smooth experiences. When I eventually use up all of my SS I would have no hesitation in replacing them with this hard soap.

The fragrance of Sheridan's was pleasant but felt different to that of the Bay Rum. The only way I can think of expressing it is that in the hard soap it didn't feel like part of the soap, more like an aftershave bottle had broken in my washbag and got onto the soap. More manufactured than natural.

This isn't a criticism, and would in no way stop me buying these soaps, I'm just interested to know if all fragrances would be like this in the hard variants or just the Sheridan's? (I intend to use the English Rose this week if I can find an empty tin)

PS As an enabler I cannot wait for my colleagues reactions after they try my Wickham Soaps, One has already expressed his interest in my SouthSea Spray [emoji3]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom