This got my interest that they changed formula. I did some digging and I found an old ingredient list here on B&B by @Luc from 2008. This is what it had back then.Hopefully, but I have low expectations. I've lathered other soaps in the past with too much water but they still retained their scent and moisture properties. I did a quick search on Colonel Conk reviews, and it seems they changed their formula not too long ago and others have experienced what I have. I guess the reviews I read earlier were about their older formula, which was quite good.
- Triethanalamine
- SLES (a variation of Sodium Lauteth Sulfite)
- DI water
- Propylene Glycol
- Soap Flakes
- Stearic Acid
- Tatrasoddium EDTA
- Polysorbate-20
- Color
- Fragrance
Here is the new one from their website. Please make sure that is what you have on yours.
It is interesting because they went from a much more chemically intense detergent based shave soap to an actual "real soap" and they made it worse in the process. The old one uses the staple SLES detergent and a bunch of other things and yes they do make it lather like crazy. Usually companies goes from a "real soap" to a detergent based soap. Not the other way around.
However, when they did the new formula they list Sodium Palm Kernelate first, which is saponified Palm Kernel Oil which is low in both Stearic and Palmitic Acid. Now the second ingredient is Palm oil which is high in Palmitic acid, but it does not seem like this soap have high enough stearic/palmitic acid percentage in it to make a great lathering soap. Also I do not find any Coconut oil and they probably should have at least a bit. Also no castor oil to help with lather stability. It is a dual lye soap, but I think that this will not be a good shave soap. Sorry.... I can and I do make a better shave soap than this and I am certainly no soap expert.
I did an estimate of what their ratios could have been based on the position on the ingredient list. The most important value for shave soap the the "Creamy" properties. This is how well this gives you a nice thick lather. The "bubbly" is the bubbly type lather. You want a little of that, but not too much. The "bubbly" is fine, but the "creamy" needs to be in the 55,60 or even higher to have a great lathering soap. I hope all this made sense.