Your hits and misses for 2018?

Hits:

Camelot shave stick, its smells like soapy soap used to smell. Performance is Arko grade stuff.

Wickham's interpretation of Old Spice, forgot the name.

Borderline: TOBS lime stuff, performance is awesome, scent less so.

Garbage grade: New formulation Nivea for man shave gel, this used to be a reliable gel, what have they done to it? No slickness at all but why?
Donated to the boss.
 
Hits:
Barrister & Mann: 42 and Reserve Lavender
Cattie's Bubbles: Purple Grapefruit and Waterlyptus
Noble Otter: Noir Et Vanille
Palmolive: Cream
Soap Commander: Respect
Stirling: Electric Sheep
TOBS: Lavender,Lemon and Lime and Peppermint
Wickham: Classic 24 and Magnum
So So :
Henri Et Victoria: Chesnut L'Orange
 
Last edited:
just off the top of my head, some new ones that will definitely be a permanent part of my collection are..
Ariana & Evans
Australian Private Reserve
Declaration Grooming (Icarus base)
Eleven
First Canadian
Shannon's Soaps
West of Olympia
all have 'top tier' written all over them
 
I think we're way too early to decide on hits and misses of 2018 - there's another 4 months left where I'll probably buy loads of crap!!

But I'll play.

Hits
Straight razors - comes up twice here. I bought my first straight, then my second and third, and learned how to straight shave. And it's fun!
Naniwa 12k - helps a lot and easy as pie to use.
Stirling soaps - I have two and they are sooooo luxurious
Gillette Aristocrats- I own two, bought this year, and they are stunning.
Fine Accoutrements Aftershaves - I own 3 courtesy of @Benz3ne through our BST and they will be getting replaced when they run out. Stunning.

Misses
Not much here really, but I guess if I have to choose...
Buying straight razors - bought one, bought two more. Have lost interest in buying any others. They work very well, but as long as they're in good condition they just shave really well.
Strong scents to soaps - a number of soaps I've bought have been moved on. P&B Whitechapel and Oberon, TOBS Sandalwood cream, and something else that i can't remember right now, have all caused irritation to my skin during or after shaving. It's definitely just my face though. Not meant to be a comment about the quality of these items.
 
BIG hit today! My Grooming Dept. Yuzu arrived and it's PERFECT in every way. Love, love, love the scent. Lingers just enough, too.

You may get the impression I'm excited about this soap......
 
Hits....SV soaps which are everything a soap should be.
Miss....Le Pere Lucien Pushkar. Found it difficult to lather and lasted about 2 weeks.
 
Revised hit list for September:
- Boellis 1924 ++++ luxury, slick, perfumey, lingers
- Grooming Dept. Yuzu ++++ love it, citrus
- SV Felce ++++ mild but great scent
- WK King Of Oud ++++ oriental, great linger
- Grooming Dept. Neroli di Bois ++++ subtle autumnal, great linger
- T&S Madagascar ++++ great lather, strong spicy scent
- T&S Sicily +++ great lather, herby thyme scent
- B&M Reserve Cool +++ good scent and lather
- LPL Oud Santal +++ very nice scent+linger but just OK lather
- WK La Fougere Parfaite +++ mild, everyday
- SV Mirta +++ mild, pleasant floral,
- Eufros Geo +++ mild, pleasant floral, fainter linger
- Eufros Ylang Ylang +++ mild, pleasant floral, fainter linger
- Eufros Tierra Humeda +++ autumnal, earthy leaves, medium
- Grooming Dept. Magnolia +++ strong, occasional
- LPL Abricot +++ very apricot
- DG Yuzu, Rose, Patchouli +++ mild, pleasant floral
- Mitchells Wool Fat +++ enduring, original
- Via Barberia Herbae +++ medium strength nice floral
- SV Dolomiti +++ enigmatic, mild
- Pannacrema Vetiver +++ good vetiver
- Pannacrema DFS ++ interesting scent but prefer Vetiver
- GFCC Caribbean Lime ++ fresh and excellent lather
- Via Barberia Fructi ++ mild-medium fruity
- Wickhams 1912 Cashmere ++ weakish floral, classy female perfume
- Wickhams 1912 Magnum ++ floral/spicy with a heavier perfume
 
Hits for me this year so far have been:

Barrister and Mann - Cologne Russe and Cheshire and the Latha range.
Shannon's Soaps
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk soaps
A&E goats milk soaps
Fuzzy face soaps
Fine soaps
 
Miss: Blackland Dart - don't like the finish or sadly, the shave
Hit: Hone Type 15 - hate the matt modernity looks but the best shaving razor I've yet used
Hit: Wickham's English Rose and Parma Violet soaps - amazing scents and performance
Miss: Zenith Synthetic brush - scrubbier than an unbroken boar and oh so disappointing in every way
Miss: FaTip Testina Gentile - crap finish and a poor shave for me
Hit: Razorock Mamba w/Radio Knob handle - amazing value for such a well-finished SS razor and a very good shave once the right angle is found
Miss: TOBS Sandalwood scents - disappointing but the soap is actually a rather good performer as is the pre-shave but there's a bit of old folks' home stale urine about the pong though I'll still use them up over time
Miss: TOBS Mr Taylors AS and Cologne scent - It has changed, how very dare they do this as t'was my favourite and although the new whiff is still pretty good, it's nae a patch on the old
Miss: ZaZa blades - sheer pish
Hit: Gillette Platinum and 7 o'clock black Indian blades
Hit: Wickham's Parma Violet AS balm - just heavenly and very effective to boot
 
A massive hit for me has been the Vitos Extra Super shaving soap. I've had it less than a week, shaved with it just three times, but it's better than all the soaps I've had so far. A 1kg block of it for £10.80. May not be the absolute best out their in terms of performance, but I don't think it can be beaten on value in my opinion.
 
Back
Top Bottom