Soaps that have surprised/underwhelmed you
- Thread starter jhclare
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- West Yorkshire
Nice to see you back again, Count Arthur.
Tried erasmic yesterday, ended up being disappointed thin lather that would vanish pretty quickly.
Best soap for me hmm id say p160 tipo duro, can be hand moulded to fit any container, dirt cheap at £17 a kilo has a nice almond scent and because it's tallow based the lather is thick, luxurious and never dries out.
Eshave mandarin wasn't special for me until i face lathered with it, that caught me by surprise as that too worked out very nice.
Best soap for me hmm id say p160 tipo duro, can be hand moulded to fit any container, dirt cheap at £17 a kilo has a nice almond scent and because it's tallow based the lather is thick, luxurious and never dries out.
Eshave mandarin wasn't special for me until i face lathered with it, that caught me by surprise as that too worked out very nice.
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- 726
Musgo Real, OK it's a cream not a soap but I couldn't get it to work unless I use a big dollop and even then it's only average. I can't understand the love and praise this stuff gets.
Institut Karite soap, I was expecting a lot from this after trying other French soaps like L'Occitane but it was a dud for me, the lather was more like a cold cream and left my face a bit irritated.
Erasmic tallow stick. Even before the reformulation this didn't work for me, the lather dried so fast I didn't get a chance to finish a pass without relathering.
Crabtree and Evelyn sandalwood soap. Thin, fast drying lather and doesn't even smell like sandalwood.
Wilkinson Sword bowl soap. Words cannot convey my dislike for this stuff.
There's a couple of others I didn't like but that's more down to the scent than lathering ability and that of course is subjective. Boots, Arko and De Vergulde Hand come to mind.
MWF? Great stuff, I was expecting problems after reading about it, but it's always worked great for me.
Institut Karite soap, I was expecting a lot from this after trying other French soaps like L'Occitane but it was a dud for me, the lather was more like a cold cream and left my face a bit irritated.
Erasmic tallow stick. Even before the reformulation this didn't work for me, the lather dried so fast I didn't get a chance to finish a pass without relathering.
Crabtree and Evelyn sandalwood soap. Thin, fast drying lather and doesn't even smell like sandalwood.
Wilkinson Sword bowl soap. Words cannot convey my dislike for this stuff.
There's a couple of others I didn't like but that's more down to the scent than lathering ability and that of course is subjective. Boots, Arko and De Vergulde Hand come to mind.
MWF? Great stuff, I was expecting problems after reading about it, but it's always worked great for me.
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- Little Feckwittering-on-the-Moor
Underwhelmed by:
Wilkinson Sword Blue Bowl - it's fit for one thing only, lubricating woodscrews. So it's in my toolbox now.
An Australian soap I got a sample of - it was called something like Moonwalker or something like that - it has all the lathering properties of cheddar cheese. Tried it with boar, badger, mix, hot water, cold water, mineral water, soft water, hard water, pre-soaked with hot, pre-soaked with cold, grated - no dice, no lather.
Impressed by:
Palmolive stick - at first I wasn't sure - but after a few proper goes, I can see why it gets the love. Cheaper than growing a beard (gets consumed noticeably faster than the WS stick though)
Tabac - before I bought it I was convinced there was a lot of smoke being blown up collective ringpieces about it - then I tried it and now I'm a hoarder
Wilkinson Sword Blue Bowl - it's fit for one thing only, lubricating woodscrews. So it's in my toolbox now.
An Australian soap I got a sample of - it was called something like Moonwalker or something like that - it has all the lathering properties of cheddar cheese. Tried it with boar, badger, mix, hot water, cold water, mineral water, soft water, hard water, pre-soaked with hot, pre-soaked with cold, grated - no dice, no lather.
Impressed by:
Palmolive stick - at first I wasn't sure - but after a few proper goes, I can see why it gets the love. Cheaper than growing a beard (gets consumed noticeably faster than the WS stick though)
Tabac - before I bought it I was convinced there was a lot of smoke being blown up collective ringpieces about it - then I tried it and now I'm a hoarder
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- 3,833
Intend popping in to town tomorrow to pick up a stick of erasmic & palmolive, so will have more to say about them over the weekend, but for now.....ToBS Sandalwood. Yes it does was it says on the tin (well, wooden bowl) and lathers well and quickly, the downside is why they bother advertising it as scented as it disappears as you are applying it!
J
joe mcclaine
Guest
Ecosse said:
We can't get it here. I got mine (the delux version), Williams and AV Musk in a trade for some Palmolive sticks with a fella from Shave My Face.
The scent wasn't for me but the soap performed as well as people said.
- Thread Starter
- #27
Funny how we all have different experiences. So many variables, techniques, skill levels.... this is what makes reviewing anything shave related very difficult.
For example, Pete says.....
This I don't get, I find it milder on my skin than Cade, maybe Cade's perfume oils disagree?
Big + 1
Big + 1.
You know what, I'm going to give this another go.... it'll be a kind of project for me!
John
For example, Pete says.....
Pete said:
This I don't get, I find it milder on my skin than Cade, maybe Cade's perfume oils disagree?
Big + 1
Big + 1.
You know what, I'm going to give this another go.... it'll be a kind of project for me!
John
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- Kent "Invicta"
The only soap that has truly underwhelmed me from the start was the Wilkinson’s Blue Bowl, to the extent that if I hadn’t stumbled upon B&B I would still be using a Mach3 and Gel.
The feeling of being underwhelmed for me has been in the progressive accumulation of soaps and creams that I’ve purchased or sampled and how each new one has either been ditched or has relegated other soaps that were once my favourite or bench mark soaps.
Tabac and Cade where my first high end soaps and rightly so, but after acquiring Speick and Valobra soap sticks they have been accumulating dust on the shelf.
MDC is a very nice soap and ticks all the boxes, but I can’t justify the price/performance ratio when compared to Institut Karite which for me gives as good a performance.
I’ve found that all of the Mayfair collective, Harris, Trumpers, Taylors and Truefitt soaps are, with a very slight variation much the same in performance, scent aside.
This is the same for the above for their creams, not that there bad, quite the contrary price and scent aside, but I for one cannot use Taylor’s creams as they all seem to result in giving me irritation. If I was to restrict myself to one cream it would be Truefitt & Hills Ultimate Comfort as it performs constantly for me.
If I could go back to the beginning and offer myself a recommendation to soaps, it would be not to think that the higher the price the better performance, tallow included isn’t everything (although it is nice) and before you buy a high end soap in a bowl get Palmolive, Speick and Valobra sticks to start with.
I’m going to catch my breath and have a cup of tea, sorry if I’ve rambled on.
The feeling of being underwhelmed for me has been in the progressive accumulation of soaps and creams that I’ve purchased or sampled and how each new one has either been ditched or has relegated other soaps that were once my favourite or bench mark soaps.
Tabac and Cade where my first high end soaps and rightly so, but after acquiring Speick and Valobra soap sticks they have been accumulating dust on the shelf.
MDC is a very nice soap and ticks all the boxes, but I can’t justify the price/performance ratio when compared to Institut Karite which for me gives as good a performance.
I’ve found that all of the Mayfair collective, Harris, Trumpers, Taylors and Truefitt soaps are, with a very slight variation much the same in performance, scent aside.
This is the same for the above for their creams, not that there bad, quite the contrary price and scent aside, but I for one cannot use Taylor’s creams as they all seem to result in giving me irritation. If I was to restrict myself to one cream it would be Truefitt & Hills Ultimate Comfort as it performs constantly for me.
If I could go back to the beginning and offer myself a recommendation to soaps, it would be not to think that the higher the price the better performance, tallow included isn’t everything (although it is nice) and before you buy a high end soap in a bowl get Palmolive, Speick and Valobra sticks to start with.
I’m going to catch my breath and have a cup of tea, sorry if I’ve rambled on.
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- 1,083
The one I've tried that really surprised me was arko .I like it's citrus smell. And it performs so well.
I also love Tabac , don't understand why some people don't like the smell.
The Wilkinson’s Blue Bowl is pretty s***e .
I also love Tabac , don't understand why some people don't like the smell.
The Wilkinson’s Blue Bowl is pretty s***e .
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- 726
jhclare said:Funny how we all have different experiences. So many variables, techniques, skill levels.... this is what makes reviewing anything shave related very difficult.
For example, Pete says.....
Pete said:
This I don't get, I find it milder on my skin than Cade, maybe Cade's perfume oils disagree?
You know what, I'm going to give this another go.... it'll be a kind of project for me!
John
Likewise I'll be giving IK another go but I think there might be just too much shea butter in it.
Sometimes it's better to give up and move on to another, there are a lot of other good soaps out there. Good luck with the woolfat. :shave
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- 992
Ok heres my list:
Love it:
Kent/MWF:great stuff and my fav soap.I even made a shavestick from a puck of it which worked wonderfully.
Kells original.As Ian I simply love it and performs much better than any of the most "prestigious" shave brands.
Art of Shaving/Valobra:great soaps and nice scents,specially the AOS sandalwood and lavender
Never had a problem with the Harris soaps but the scent of the Arlington,Lavander and Almond are pretty far away from being pleasant for me.
I also love all shavesticks but a couple:TOBS and New Erasmic which are both really bad.However Palmolive,La Toja,Wilkinson,Lea,Arko,Boots are nice soaps and like their scents.
Rubbish (at least for me):
T&H and TOBS soaps:gosh,I cant believe that I did spend my money in them.They smell great for sure (TOBS sandalwood is really nice) and the T&H does too but really poor performances:not protective lather at all and really thin,no matter if I try them with boar,badger,soft water,hard water....simply bad.The Cyril R Salter is another creation from Culmak which smells exactly the same than the T&H (different formulation though) and its 100 times better than it.
Mama Bear/QED/Saint Charles Shave/The Shave Den soaps;some of them smells wonderful,but come on!,how can you even think about shaving with one of those?Regular lather but I find them really not protective at all,too much clay in some cases.With the The Shave Den soaps you never know what you gonna get since theres not two batch that are the same so Ill rather not risk my money.The Gentleman Quarter soaps or the Honebee Spa soaps are much better for the same price and Kells being the best ones.
Love it:
Kent/MWF:great stuff and my fav soap.I even made a shavestick from a puck of it which worked wonderfully.
Kells original.As Ian I simply love it and performs much better than any of the most "prestigious" shave brands.
Art of Shaving/Valobra:great soaps and nice scents,specially the AOS sandalwood and lavender
Never had a problem with the Harris soaps but the scent of the Arlington,Lavander and Almond are pretty far away from being pleasant for me.
I also love all shavesticks but a couple:TOBS and New Erasmic which are both really bad.However Palmolive,La Toja,Wilkinson,Lea,Arko,Boots are nice soaps and like their scents.
Rubbish (at least for me):
T&H and TOBS soaps:gosh,I cant believe that I did spend my money in them.They smell great for sure (TOBS sandalwood is really nice) and the T&H does too but really poor performances:not protective lather at all and really thin,no matter if I try them with boar,badger,soft water,hard water....simply bad.The Cyril R Salter is another creation from Culmak which smells exactly the same than the T&H (different formulation though) and its 100 times better than it.
Mama Bear/QED/Saint Charles Shave/The Shave Den soaps;some of them smells wonderful,but come on!,how can you even think about shaving with one of those?Regular lather but I find them really not protective at all,too much clay in some cases.With the The Shave Den soaps you never know what you gonna get since theres not two batch that are the same so Ill rather not risk my money.The Gentleman Quarter soaps or the Honebee Spa soaps are much better for the same price and Kells being the best ones.