Lol, this is too funny!
Truly horrid and it left me with the stench of walking through a pine forest after the first snowfall of winter.What a horrid shave. I’m sorry you had to endure that for shave science.
Well I got a couple shaves in from my tub of Venture soap. I had some emergency orders come in the shop Thursday morning so we've been pulling 14 hour days and will be at it all weekend. I plan on posting a pic heavy head 2 head comparison between CC Venture and my favorite soap very soon (note, I didn't specify shaving soap). Stay tuned for that, I'll get it posted as life permits. In the meantime, I wanted to knock down an initial review as I power eat a footlong Subway sandwich at my desk and wait for a vat of muriatic acid to stabilize (I run a metal plating shop).
First off, I need to get a few things out of the way. 1) I received the soap for free, I didn't pay for it, so take this review as you see fit. 2) I have well water and a whole house filter and water softening system, ie. I have very soft water. 3) Ive got a total of 4 shaves on this soap, 2 from a sample and 2 from this tub. So again, take it for what its worth. 4) I suck at reviewing anything. Either I like something or I don't. 5) Both shaves took place at 4:15AM and I didn't have my camera ready and likely lacked the higher functioning power to use it.
I received 5 ounces of soap in an oversized tub. I like this touch because it gives lots of room for lathering on the soap. The Venture scent is prevalent but not overpowering. If you are a fan of Creed Aventus, Venture to my nose is the best take on it. Its better than Fine or Sterlings version (both of which are quite good).
I used a Brad Sears 28mm flat top badger for both shaves. This is my favorite brush and its as close to gel tipped as you can get without being gel tipped.
I let the brush soak while showering, shook the brush dry, and proceeded to load. Both shaves I loaded for 20 seconds and this resulted in enough lather for 5 passes (I use 3). I wet my face and face lathered. I had to dip the tips of the brush in warm water twice while building the lather.
So here's the deal for me with this soap. Its different than other soft soaps I've used. It doesn't lather the same way. I noticed this with the first two shaves from samples, but chalked it up to being samples. Most croaps, Proraso and Cella being common, quickly build a "Hollywood" lather. You know how with Cella you can load a bit, then swish the brush in a lather bowl with a bit of water and all at once BAMM you have that mythical exploding lather? Its cool and looks pretty...well...Captains Choice didn't do that for me. Granted I was face lathering, never-the-less, the lather never exploded with volume. Which in my book is great if the lather that it produces is dense, slick, and protective. Captains Choice lather was all three. It wasn't Hollywood pretty, but it produced one of the densest lathers Ive experienced from a soft soap and actually reminded more of the lather produced by a tallow based triple milled puck. Im sure with enough effort and water I could build CC into a photogenic lather, but at 4:15AM that wasn't my goal.
This isn't to suggest CC was difficult to lather. Quite the opposite, the lather produced from 20 seconds of loading a dryish brush followed by face lathering was fairly effortless. As an example, the lather was easier to achieve than my favorite artisan, Mikes.
In another post I said that CC was comparable to Valobra soft soap and a notch better than Cella. I need a few more shaves with this but I may have to rethink that one. After a handful of shaves my thought now is that its better than Valobra croap.
I followed both shaves up by splashing on some A/S. Post shave feel was on par with most soaps. I don't use the current crop of artisans so I cant compare it to the butter heavy new soaps on the market. I certainly felt nothing out of the ordinary, good or bad.
Bottom line. This is a darn good soap. I'm in the middle of 3017ing a puck of AoS tallow and Venture didn't for one moment make me think...meh....typical croap….thin lather.....bubbly. Quite the opposite, I am impressed. I don't bother with average soaps or creams any more. Venture has found a place on my shelf. When I get around to 3017ing it, it will be replaced.
Stay tuned for the head 2 head against my favorite soap!
Thank you Scott for the opportunity to try your product. I appreciate it.
Great photos! Bay rum is my other "least favorite" CC scent. I had another horrid shave with the North Soap and Aftershave yesterday. I had been using the scuttle a lot lately, but this contest prompted me to trot out the CC lather bowl. I've got to say I am really enjoying using the lather bowl a lot. I've used it every shave for over a week now. Maybe the scuttle deserves a few month's vacation.My WORST soap arrived on Monday (Bayrum). It smells awesomely horrible too, haha! I used the soap this morning with my horrible, heavy, WORST shaving bowl and a brass/aluminum El Druida brush that weighs over 8 ounces.
I don't know what that other gentleman was doing with his CC soap but I found it to be one of the slickest WORST soaps out there. I had massive issues with holding that heavy brush as I was building my lather! Fantastic scent and performance and this soap exhibits a very good post-shave.
Thank you so much, Scott for being the WORST soap artisan out there and for sending me one of your horrible soaps...I thoroughly loved it!!
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Thank you! It was extremely fun to berate and love a product at the same time! Yes, CC lather bowls are top notch. Thanks again to Scott for running this super fun contest; it turned out to be the WORST!! Have a wonderful week!Great photos! Bay rum is my other "least favorite" CC scent. I had another horrid shave with the North Soap and Aftershave yesterday. I had been using the scuttle a lot lately, but this contest prompted me to trot out the CC lather bowl. I've got to say I am really enjoying using the lather bowl a lot. I've used it every shave for over a week now. Maybe the scuttle deserves a few month's vacation.