What's new

My Review of Noble Otter Orbit

Hey everyone, just finished off a tub of this soap and thought I'd share my thoughts and a review on it. This isn't going to be as detailed as my usual reviews as I've already gone a bit into depth on NO Two Kings. Also I find that nowadays, as long as reviews let me know that performance is good, I only really care about the scent. Reading scent notes and descriptions gives me a slight idea but not a complete one. So I hope to help people in that regard, because it can be super hard to understand whether I'd like a product based off its description.

Performance:
Overall, as always, Noble Otter is a great performing soap. Its a typical US artisan croap that allows you to make a mild indentation with your finger if you press into it but not really cream in the sense you could squirt it out of anything. Think Candle consistency. Its a mid brown colour, I assume this is from the inclusion of clay in the ingredients but it hasn't discoloured any brushes and it lathers up mostly white. It is an easy to load soap, not requiring much swirling off the tub to load the brush. Works well with either synthetic or natural brushes in my experience. 10 seconds of swirling is more than enough. As for lathering, it works up into a dense, slick lather almost instantly. There isn't really a 'foamy' stage like there is with some other products. It takes a good bit of water but is not a finnicky product. It will be pasty but usable if there isn't enough water and just gets wetter and sloppier if you add a little too much. Slickness is excellent. There is almost 0 chance that anybody would find this product not slick enough. Effortless razor gliding with this soap. Residual slickness is also excellent. I can take many swipes of the razor after the inital stroke very comfortably. At most, I'll wet my hand and add the water to the area where I'm touching up to 'reactivate' the slickness. Post-shave is great too. I find the soap leaves my skin soft and smooth. It cleans off very well too, not leaving any residue on my face, skin or brush after a simple rinsing. Overall, its great. I find it hard to believe anyone would have an issue with it in any area. Is it the best? I don't know. But its certainly a good product, made with great natural ingredients (the only synthetic chemical in the product being the synthetic cooling agent or synthetic menthol).

Packaging:
Probably the best packaging around. The otter on the label is placed into different outfits to suit the theme of the soap. In this case he is wearing an astronaut suit. The packaging also has the ingredients and main scent notes on it, so you don't need to go looking them up if you have a large soap collection. It is a plastic tub and the labels are clearly waterproof and well applied. It is well presented and the soap inside is safe. This is not going to be the tub that shatters.

Scent:
I would say that this is a 5/10 in strength and one of the strongest NO scents I've used.
The scents of Noble otter in my opinion are a little misleading and hard to decipher. Many of the scent notes in the description are difficult to pick up and the scents themselves are well blended and quite sophisticated. I would describe it as a vetiver and eucalyptus forward scent with the vetiver providing a 'fresh-green' scent that is not particularly 'dirty' if you know what I mean. Thats to say its not a pungent haitian vetiver type scent that has large earthy tones but is still very much clearly vetiver. Perhaps the best way to describe it is as the vetiver top note. The eucalyptus joins this as the next most easily detected scent note being a very sweet, minty eucalyptus that provides the top end of the scent. Its more like the eucalyptus in DRH than proraso. Finally the mid notes are made of the cedarwood, sandalwood and rose. There is no ashyness or smokyness to the scent. Rather a soft woody aroma from the cedar, a general floral vibe from the rose (I don't really pick up specific rose notes as much as a generic floral scent) and a mild creaminess from the sandalwood. Its mostly cedarwood, though its not a very sharp cedarwood. Apparently, there is bergamot in the scent notes as well....I'd never know if it didnt say, I don't pick it up at all.

Overall, much like the name implies, 'orbit' invokes scent notes of a high altitude. Much like walking around on a crisp early summer day in the blue mountains here in Australia. The vetiver is a lighter, brighter scent that is not an earthy vetiver but somehow more atmospheric. I would even argue that the notes come together to make something 'ozonic'. Its fresh, bright (but subdued). You're just in between Earth and space...in Orbit.

The synthetic coolant is also very nice. Cold but not too cold that it causes discomfort. There's no vapor, so no watery eyes or runny nose. Just a nice, pleasant cooling sensation. It also lasts for a good 30min to an hour post shave. I would also add, that in all the NO scents that I pick up traces of clay scent. I don't know if this is from the vetiver or the cedar...but there is an ever so mild clay like scent. I actually don't mind it and I think it adds to the overall scent but something to keep in mind.

I'd rate this as a great soap, with great performance and with a great, fresh summer scent. What do you guys think?
 
For those of you with sensitive skin, beware that Orbit contains a synthetic cooling agent. It does not irritate skin as much as menthol, but I do experience minor irritation when using it. It should not be an issue for most people.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
Noble Otter really is an excellent performing soap. You've inspired me to pull out Plunder for my next shave.
 
Noble Otter really is an excellent performing soap. You've inspired me to pull out Plunder for my next shave.
I was considering that over Orbit but really don't like smoky notes so I passed. Next NO if I get another one will be noir et vanille. How would you describe plunders scent?
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
I was considering that over Orbit but really don't like smoky notes so I passed. Next NO if I get another one will be noir et vanille. How would you describe plunders scent?

Plunder is NO's take on Bay Rum. It's fairly true to the pimento racemosa scent. It's not really that smoky to my nose. If you like Bay Rum, you'll like Plunder. Do you have any experience with any other Bay Rum shave soaps?
 
Plunder is NO's take on Bay Rum. It's fairly true to the pimento racemosa scent. It's not really that smoky to my nose. If you like Bay Rum, you'll like Plunder. Do you have any experience with any other Bay Rum shave soaps?
Col Conk Bayrum is the only one I've used so far. Was planning on Oogallala for the next
 
Great writeup - haven't used Orbit, but I do have NO's Northern Elixer and it's one of my favorite menthol soaps. No tears, no temporary blindness, no lung-searing vapor off the glacier, no Botox-like facial paralysis (CFG's Cryogen is my baseline 10+ for approaching near-lethal menthol - Northern Elixer is a 2 on that scale). Big fan of NO and you've inspired me to try this one! :001_smile
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
Noble Otter arrived today. I ordered Neon Sun and Noir et Vanille. They sent me Barrbarr and Twas the Night. So...bit of a mixup, but great scents nevertheless.
 
In regards to Orbit I will have to give it another spin to define it more as I agree that the scent is so well blended that I find it harder to distinguish any real standout notes. I did find the synthetic cooling agent to be very subtle and maybe only noticeable on my lips. Eucalyptus is also subtle too. Overall I feel this review captures the scent well enough. I have heard some people describe this one as an aquatic but I think I have a bit of a different opinion of what an aquatic should smell like but that's just me.

Noble Otter arrived today. I ordered Neon Sun and Noir et Vanille. They sent me Barrbarr and Twas the Night. So...bit of a mixup, but great scents nevertheless.
We don't get any christmas scented soaps in Australia which is a shame because I would really like to try this one but I can definitely vouch for Barrbarr, its so neutral and can be used day or night, summer or winter. Neon Sun is probably up there as my top scent for Noble Otter and definitely leans into the 80's vibe but isn't so dated that it's not wearable today. I have Noir et Vanille but I haven't used it yet and hope the scent changes upon use because from the puck its a bit of a swing and a miss for me but I hear its very popular and many people like it so take that with a grain of salt.

I hope your order gets sorted soon and have many great shaves ahead.
 
In regards to Orbit I will have to give it another spin to define it more as I agree that the scent is so well blended that I find it harder to distinguish any real standout notes. I did find the synthetic cooling agent to be very subtle and maybe only noticeable on my lips. Eucalyptus is also subtle too. Overall I feel this review captures the scent well enough. I have heard some people describe this one as an aquatic but I think I have a bit of a different opinion of what an aquatic should smell like but that's just me.


We don't get any christmas scented soaps in Australia which is a shame because I would really like to try this one but I can definitely vouch for Barrbarr, its so neutral and can be used day or night, summer or winter. Neon Sun is probably up there as my top scent for Noble Otter and definitely leans into the 80's vibe but isn't so dated that it's not wearable today. I have Noir et Vanille but I haven't used it yet and hope the scent changes upon use because from the puck its a bit of a swing and a miss for me but I hear its very popular and many people like it so take that with a grain of salt.

I hope your order gets sorted soon and have many great shaves ahead.
Some people have said that the synthetic menthol doesn't feel cold but just makes their skin tingle which I guess is a downside. Unfortunately, it appears that it just doesn't work with everyones skin. I would never describe this scent as an aquatic. Its not even close or kind of. Sad to hear that you don't like the scent of Noir et Vanille. I personally think it would sound good but thats kind of the problem, what I think and what I get are too often different.
 
Some people have said that the synthetic menthol doesn't feel cold but just makes their skin tingle which I guess is a downside. Unfortunately, it appears that it just doesn't work with everyones skin. I would never describe this scent as an aquatic. Its not even close or kind of. Sad to hear that you don't like the scent of Noir et Vanille. I personally think it would sound good but thats kind of the problem, what I think and what I get are too often different.
You could be right about that synthetic menthol. It's something I will have to pay attention to more next time I use it. I feel the same way as Firefighter as some people have described it as Aquatic too but I am just not getting that at all, its a bit more pungent and earthy where as I would assume an Aquatic to be bright and perhaps almost cologne like.

In regards to Noir et Vanille it didn't help that the aftershave had leaked on its way to me and upon opening the box it hit me like a punch in the face. It definitely lingered on for a long while after that. The soap was a little dry as the soap had shrunk a tiny bit leaving a little space between the soap and the inside of the container. That's one thing I have noticed about these containers. although they are by far my favourite container by far the lids seem to get loose over time for some reason, well at least they do in my house. The same thing happens to all three of my spearhead shaving co soaps which use similar containers. I will have to give it a try by maybe scraping some off the puck some day perhaps the scent will open up more and grow on me. I know when I got it I wondered if it had turned or something because I know its a favourite of many. I guess I was hoping it would be a bit sweeter smelling and lean more into the vanilla fragrance but what I am getting is likely the strong Black tea scent that just makes it smell like an old tea bag or an musky old leather bag. haha, sorry my nose sucks for scents sometimes.

Orbit is definitely nice enough though and I will certainly be using it more now that it's becoming warmer here in Sydney. ;)
 
Top Bottom