Is this the Valobra Soft or Hard?
My Guess... 3017
- Thread starter johnniegold
- Start date
Is this the Valobra Soft or Hard?
The soft, menthol.
Ah, no experience with it myself. I thought the hard Valobra was a step above DR Harris though.
Keep trying with the Valobra Menthol. It'll give you a good lather when you figure it out.
IME Valobra soft is a very good soap. Valobra hard is excellent.
It is.
Today is going to be the day I complete the Willy challenge. This little 50 g of soap put up a good fight but will go down in 31 shaves. Granted I used a synthetic brush which tends to go easier on a soap vs a boar but the combination of the synthetic brush and modern Williams gave me fantastic lather. I lathered right in the bowl he last few times which seemed help the lather come together faster than my minute or so load then palm or face lathering which I did for most of February. Can't find much wrong with this soap aside from it only seeming to like a synthetic brush, solid A- soap that I will absolutely replace.
Tomorrow back to PdP sage
Tomorrow back to PdP sage
My Soap Commander Love is no more. Used the last of it this morning, started 09-29-2017 and ended today, 03-04-2017. Shaving at least 6 days a week. 5 months +, wow. It was a 6 ounce tub though. Onto the next on my list, a Wilkinson stick.
The little blue Wilki stick is one of my favorites. A fantastic performer that doesn't get anywhere near the attention here that it should.
I agree. It's a great soap. Compare the ingredients list to tabac...
It's been back to the Trumper's Lime since March 1. It is so old and sat out loose in a drawer for years so there is no scent left. The shaves however have continued to be very good, and much better than I remember when I got this puck in a lot off BST several years ago. Back then, though I was using them for only a day at a time in a big and random rotation. Clearly my technique has greatly improved, but there is no question that using the puck everyday keeps it well hydrated, and this is clearly the key. I started using this puck in Jan but took time off for the Feb Williams challenge. Just for grins I weighed it yesterday and it was 2 grams heavier than when I started. Clearly this hydration won't occur with only random usage.
Arlington (80+%) 8 Oct 2012 to 13 Jan 2013 Note there were 4 travel shaves and about 10 shaves finishing a tub of Mr. Taylor's Cream.
TFS Rose (32g) 14 Jan 2013 to 31 Jan 2013
Valobra stick (51g) 1 Feb 2013 to 6 March 2013
Haslinger Coconut (60g) 7 March 2013 to 26 April 2013 60g/50 shaves (1.2 avg)
Arlington Cream (weight tbd) 27 March to 10 Aug 2013 Used to make superlather. Especially nice with AOS Unscented
AOS tallow unscented added (75g) 8 May to 18 July 2013 61 shaves, taking out the days I was traveling
QCS Vostok 19 July 2013 to 4 Sept 2013 (44 shaves)
Valobra Menthol 5 Sept 2013 to 12 Oct 2013 33 shaves. The rest were travel days.
Tabac 13 Oct 2013 to 31 Dec 2013 77+ shaves. There were 2 or 3 left that got moved to the Frankensoap tub.
AOS Sandalwood (new formula) 1 Jan 2014 to 14 April 2014 92 shaves
Trumpers Violet 15 April 2014 to 12 June 2014 55 shaves/75 grams of soap
Pre de Provence 13 June 2014 to 19 Dec 2014 174 total shaves
LaToja cream 20 Dec 2014 to 31 Jan 2015 43 shaves (partial tube)
Martin de Candre 1 Feb 2015 to 30 June 4015 209g/123 shaves (1.7 avg)
AOS Lemon (old) 1 July 2015 to 18 Sept 2015 77grams/69 shaves
Speick 19 Sept to 31 October 2015 46grams grated/42 shaves
Marlborough 1 November 2015 to 14 March 2016 103 grams/122 shaves (avg 0.85)
LaToja stick grated 15 March 2016 to 18 April 2016 44grams/35 shaves
LaToja Manantiales 19 April to 14 May 2016. 14 grams/22 shaves
Gold Dachs. 15 May 2016 to July 16. 28 grams/ 35 shaves. 25 grams went to the shower!
QCS Tangerine 17 July 2016 to 12 October 2016 90 grams/ 75 shaves
Malaspina lavender 13 October to 26 Dec 2016 90 grams/68 shaves
Badger 27 Dec to 11 Jan 2017 89g/15 shaves 5.9g/shave! A record for me.
Trumper's Lime 12 Jan 2017 to 1 Feb 2017 (stopped for the challenge)
Lilac Willy (Williams Challenge) 2 Feb 2017 to 28 Feb 2017 26 shaves total
Trumper's Lime 1 Mar 2017 to ???
TFS Rose (32g) 14 Jan 2013 to 31 Jan 2013
Valobra stick (51g) 1 Feb 2013 to 6 March 2013
Haslinger Coconut (60g) 7 March 2013 to 26 April 2013 60g/50 shaves (1.2 avg)
Arlington Cream (weight tbd) 27 March to 10 Aug 2013 Used to make superlather. Especially nice with AOS Unscented
AOS tallow unscented added (75g) 8 May to 18 July 2013 61 shaves, taking out the days I was traveling
QCS Vostok 19 July 2013 to 4 Sept 2013 (44 shaves)
Valobra Menthol 5 Sept 2013 to 12 Oct 2013 33 shaves. The rest were travel days.
Tabac 13 Oct 2013 to 31 Dec 2013 77+ shaves. There were 2 or 3 left that got moved to the Frankensoap tub.
AOS Sandalwood (new formula) 1 Jan 2014 to 14 April 2014 92 shaves
Trumpers Violet 15 April 2014 to 12 June 2014 55 shaves/75 grams of soap
Pre de Provence 13 June 2014 to 19 Dec 2014 174 total shaves
LaToja cream 20 Dec 2014 to 31 Jan 2015 43 shaves (partial tube)
Martin de Candre 1 Feb 2015 to 30 June 4015 209g/123 shaves (1.7 avg)
AOS Lemon (old) 1 July 2015 to 18 Sept 2015 77grams/69 shaves
Speick 19 Sept to 31 October 2015 46grams grated/42 shaves
Marlborough 1 November 2015 to 14 March 2016 103 grams/122 shaves (avg 0.85)
LaToja stick grated 15 March 2016 to 18 April 2016 44grams/35 shaves
LaToja Manantiales 19 April to 14 May 2016. 14 grams/22 shaves
Gold Dachs. 15 May 2016 to July 16. 28 grams/ 35 shaves. 25 grams went to the shower!
QCS Tangerine 17 July 2016 to 12 October 2016 90 grams/ 75 shaves
Malaspina lavender 13 October to 26 Dec 2016 90 grams/68 shaves
Badger 27 Dec to 11 Jan 2017 89g/15 shaves 5.9g/shave! A record for me.
Trumper's Lime 12 Jan 2017 to 1 Feb 2017 (stopped for the challenge)
Lilac Willy (Williams Challenge) 2 Feb 2017 to 28 Feb 2017 26 shaves total
Trumper's Lime 1 Mar 2017 to ???
Well I made it through reach of the B&M samples to evaluate scent and skin reaction which went well. Like them all and none made a significant enough impact to buy them based on scent which is also good because two of them are discontinued.
I seemed to get better performance using this soap as a stick, probably because I was getting more soap on my face.
So I rummaged through my soap storage box and under sink and found all the samples I could and mashed them together. Thus begins my Frankensoap 3017!
There's the mentioned B&M, some Mickey Lee, CRSW, First Canadian, an unknown test batch sample and a little bit of another one which the name escapes me. All together it is a net 105.8g of soap. Wowsers it's been awhile since I took on a full size product. [emoji51]
Wish me luck!
I seemed to get better performance using this soap as a stick, probably because I was getting more soap on my face.
So I rummaged through my soap storage box and under sink and found all the samples I could and mashed them together. Thus begins my Frankensoap 3017!
There's the mentioned B&M, some Mickey Lee, CRSW, First Canadian, an unknown test batch sample and a little bit of another one which the name escapes me. All together it is a net 105.8g of soap. Wowsers it's been awhile since I took on a full size product. [emoji51]
Wish me luck!
Best of luckWell I made it through reach of the B&M samples to evaluate scent and skin reaction which went well. Like them all and none made a significant enough impact to buy them based on scent which is also good because two of them are discontinued.
I seemed to get better performance using this soap as a stick, probably because I was getting more soap on my face.
So I rummaged through my soap storage box and under sink and found all the samples I could and mashed them together. Thus begins my Frankensoap 3017!
There's the mentioned B&M, some Mickey Lee, CRSW, First Canadian, an unknown test batch sample and a little bit of another one which the name escapes me. All together it is a net 105.8g of soap. Wowsers it's been awhile since I took on a full size product. [emoji51]
Wish me luck!
Wow, used it for the last two days and my upper lip is red and irritated. It lit me up. Same straight razor, same brush. I'm going to give it a few days off and try a new soap. If I go back to it I will probably grate it in a mug.
I used the Wilki stick in stick form for a while and them mashed it into a puck. Sticks are ok but have never been my favorite. I generally only use them for travel and prefer loading on a brush at home. In stick or puck form I had excellent results with the Wilkinson Sword stick I 3017'd a couple years ago. As always ymwv with these products.
Another few shaves with the Valobra, and lather quality has been steadily improving.
I am a habitual bowl lathered, but tried face lathering for the first time yesterday, and got the best lather yet.
Will continue face lathering the Valobra for a while, and see how things go.
I am a habitual bowl lathered, but tried face lathering for the first time yesterday, and got the best lather yet.
Will continue face lathering the Valobra for a while, and see how things go.
Started wet shaving about a year ago and have gone through some samples and a few 2 oz tubs of cream and bounced around with soaps/creams i do have, but decided i'm a 3017er. Currently have 6 soaps/creams and around 4 or 5 very small misc samples which for me, is too much! So I started my 3017 journey on monday with lucky tiger liquid cream. Love the scent but wish it was a bit stronger. Performance has been ok. Nothing special but i expect it will improve as i will be using it everyday.
3/6/17 - ???? Lucky Tiger Liquid Cream
3/6/17 - ???? Lucky Tiger Liquid Cream
Always wondered, for travel, do you just bring a cart razor? I rarely check a bag even on long vacations so i dont have a way to bring my blades with me
I only use carts for travel. Fusion Proglide or Hydro 3. So much easier when traveling light. I am fortunate though in I can pick up a cart and get great shaves with ease. DE''s for home use. Carts are great too.
I don't pack anything and usually visit the local barbershop when I travel. Developing world simple pleasures.
@HalibutCBass try loading on the soap itself and use a wet brush. My almond gave me some wonderful lathers that way, nice scent too. I had a mild reaction to it but airing it out solved that problem. It's a great soap once you dial it in. I have a brick of menthol waiting it's turn. Might just bring it out this summer.
@HalibutCBass try loading on the soap itself and use a wet brush. My almond gave me some wonderful lathers that way, nice scent too. I had a mild reaction to it but airing it out solved that problem. It's a great soap once you dial it in. I have a brick of menthol waiting it's turn. Might just bring it out this summer.
Last edited:
