I love the traditional soaps that I have used over the past 15 years and I have taken steps to ensure that I always have access to them. Nevertheless, I have really enjoyed some of the newer soap offerings that have hit the market. The new vendors are really innovating, particularly when it comes to scent and post-shave feel. I thought that I could share my experiences and maybe learn from your feedback.
The Razorock soaps that I picked up on sale are excellent. The performance of Dead Sea, SMdF, and Mudder F. are top notch and the scents are wonderful. Razorock is very easy to lather and the soap to water ratio has a fairly wide window. For people that are interested in trying scented soaps, Razorock represents an easy transition from traditional soaps and creams.
I also had the opportunity to try Stirling Executive Man. The scent of SEM is something that should be experienced. You get a lot of soap for the price. If you are used to traditional soaps, creating a lather with Stirling may require some practice. I got it on my second attempt. Once you dial in the soap to water ratio, the lather you do get is quite good. I would say that the RazoRock soaps that I mentioned may win in terms of post-shave feel, but Executive Man probably has the more memorable scent. The protectiveness and slickness of the lathers are not sufficiently different to enable me to readily distinguish between them.
More recently I tried Wholly Kaw's King of Oud Tallow formulation. I don't like the scent of King of Oud, but Wholly Kaw is the King of post-shave feel. The positive effect on my skin was noticeable for many hours. The lather is very, very dense and slick, but not high volume. If hydrated properly it looks like a shiny cream. Creating a lather with WK is similar in difficulty to creating a lather with Stirling.
Barrister Man Le Grand Chypre is the most challenging of the soaps to lather; it has a very narrow window of tolerance for the soap to water ratio. It creates a low volume lather that is extremely slick; the residual slickness is far superior to most everything that I have seen. With regard to density of the lather and the post-shave feel, however, BM is are not on par with Wholly Kaw.
Ariana & Evans Amber Rose is the soap that I tried most recently. The scent is unbelievably good and the presentation/packaging of the soap is quite beautiful. Master Chef's understand the concept of balance in spicing food and A&E understands this in creating scents! This soap has the second best post-shave feel after the Wholly Kaw's Donkey Milk formulation. It is as easy to lather as Razorock's soaps and creates a more cushioned lather than either WK or BM. I would say that the slickness of the lather was a little less than WK and significantly less than BM, but the volume makes up for that to some extent.
Keep in mind that I don't have that much practice with these soaps. It is always possible that I underhydrated or overhydrated the lather without realizing what I had done.
I do have an order for Shannon's Soaps and another for Mystic Waters in the mail. Those will cover the scents of natural landscapes and flowers and give me enough soap to bargain with Charon.
I look forward to your feedback.
The Razorock soaps that I picked up on sale are excellent. The performance of Dead Sea, SMdF, and Mudder F. are top notch and the scents are wonderful. Razorock is very easy to lather and the soap to water ratio has a fairly wide window. For people that are interested in trying scented soaps, Razorock represents an easy transition from traditional soaps and creams.
I also had the opportunity to try Stirling Executive Man. The scent of SEM is something that should be experienced. You get a lot of soap for the price. If you are used to traditional soaps, creating a lather with Stirling may require some practice. I got it on my second attempt. Once you dial in the soap to water ratio, the lather you do get is quite good. I would say that the RazoRock soaps that I mentioned may win in terms of post-shave feel, but Executive Man probably has the more memorable scent. The protectiveness and slickness of the lathers are not sufficiently different to enable me to readily distinguish between them.
More recently I tried Wholly Kaw's King of Oud Tallow formulation. I don't like the scent of King of Oud, but Wholly Kaw is the King of post-shave feel. The positive effect on my skin was noticeable for many hours. The lather is very, very dense and slick, but not high volume. If hydrated properly it looks like a shiny cream. Creating a lather with WK is similar in difficulty to creating a lather with Stirling.
Barrister Man Le Grand Chypre is the most challenging of the soaps to lather; it has a very narrow window of tolerance for the soap to water ratio. It creates a low volume lather that is extremely slick; the residual slickness is far superior to most everything that I have seen. With regard to density of the lather and the post-shave feel, however, BM is are not on par with Wholly Kaw.
Ariana & Evans Amber Rose is the soap that I tried most recently. The scent is unbelievably good and the presentation/packaging of the soap is quite beautiful. Master Chef's understand the concept of balance in spicing food and A&E understands this in creating scents! This soap has the second best post-shave feel after the Wholly Kaw's Donkey Milk formulation. It is as easy to lather as Razorock's soaps and creates a more cushioned lather than either WK or BM. I would say that the slickness of the lather was a little less than WK and significantly less than BM, but the volume makes up for that to some extent.
Keep in mind that I don't have that much practice with these soaps. It is always possible that I underhydrated or overhydrated the lather without realizing what I had done.
I do have an order for Shannon's Soaps and another for Mystic Waters in the mail. Those will cover the scents of natural landscapes and flowers and give me enough soap to bargain with Charon.
I look forward to your feedback.