Phoenixkh: An Old Man's Continuum....

[cajunrph]

This brings me to an honest question:

"Have you ever finished a soap/cream/croap?"

Samples do not count!
Hmmm I can actually respond yes to this, but only one and that was my first soap a puck of VDH shave soap.

Yes and no, I had just a bit left in my TOBS Lavender cream that dried up like a brick, it was such a small amount I could have used it up on the next shave, but I didn't truly use it up. With the current crop of creams and soaps, not even close to finishing one. The trick may be like @Guido75 does and use one exclusively till the ring of despair shows up. I think the soft PAA or Southern Witchcraft Croaps would be the easiest to use up.

 

[T Bone]

Have you ever finished a soap/cream/croap?

In about 2.5 years, I've killed:

• tube of Speick cream
• a stick of Mama Bear soap
• a tub of Captain's Choice cream
• a stick of La Toja

And I'm pretty damn close to finishing a tub of Southern Witchcraft soap, with a tub of AoS cream not far behind.

 

[blethenstrom]

In about 2.5 years, I've killed:

• tube of Speick cream
• a stick of Mama Bear soap
• a tub of Captain's Choice cream
• a stick of La Toja

And I'm pretty damn close to finishing a tub of Southern Witchcraft soap, with a tub of AoS cream not far behind.

Sounds like you are doing great! I guess the big "trick" is to not rotate your soaps too much. I am still working on my first tub of my first shave soap I made. BSS #1 and I have like 160 shaves on it so far and still no circle of despair in sight.

 

[Guido75]

Killing soaps sounds easier than it is (for me at least - I am not one of those heavy loaders). Since December 2021 I have managed to 3017 the following full soaps:

De Vergulde Hand (75gr)
Haslinger Sandalholz (75gr)
Dutchy Bergamot (75gr)
Proraso Green (150ml)
Alpha Men 2.0 (100ml)
B+M Leviathan (113gr)

And I am close to finishing Ach Brito's Lavanda.

My current soap is Mike's Natural Barbershop and after 102 shaves with it my guestimate is that I am half way through the tub (and I have three refills in reserve!!). My plan was as John @cajunrph stated to use this soap until gone, but I am playing with the idea of killing some samples in between. I bought that sample tube from Goodfellas Smile somewhere in 2022. Great soaps and I would like to get rid of some shelf fillers too. Hardcore 3017 is using the same soap until gone - I see others alternating between two soaps. I am part of both the 3017 group as well as the Soap of the Month Club to eliminate that variable for me (I have plenty variables per shave left so this gives me some peace of mind at least).

Cheers,

Guido.

 

[Jay21]

I’m about to finish a puck of Arko, which I started on March 5. I haven’t used it every day, but it looks like I will get about two months of daily shaves out of it. Is that about how long they last for you?

 

[blethenstrom]

Killing soaps sounds easier than it is (for me at least - I am not one of those heavy loaders). Since December 2021 I have managed to 3017 the following full soaps:

This has been my experience as well. Soaps lasts a long time and at times it almost gets frustrating. I guess it does not help that I use a synthetic brush the great great majority of time. I also does not scoop soap nor bowl lather. Soaps lasts a really long time.

 

[blethenstrom]

I’m about to finish a puck of Arko, which I started on March 5. I haven’t used it every day, but it looks like I will get about two months of daily shaves out of it. Is that about how long they last for you?

I still have about half of my first (out of 15 sticks) of Arko left. I am probably not the best person to answer that question. I am sure someone has finished an Arko tub or stick around.

 

[T Bone]

Sounds like you are doing great! I guess the big "trick" is to not rotate your soaps too much. I am still working on my first tub of my first shave soap I made. BSS #1 and I have like 160 shaves on it so far and still no circle of despair in sight.

Yeah, when I bought soaps/creams to go with my first brush, I'd already seen posts of multi-lifetime soap supplies and wanted to avoid that myself, so I only bought the Speick, La Toja, and 3 Mama Bear sticks. And I'm very glad too - I didn't think I'd want scented soaps, but I liked Mama Bear dragon's blood the best because of the scent. So I still only keep 3 in my shave drawer at a time to minimize rotation. And no skimping - load it like you hate it!

I'm hitting my Proraso the hardest now to get to those other 2 original Mama Bear sticks (yeah, I still have those lol), but the Proraso looks barely touched still.

Sorry for the journal derail, @Phoenixkh!

 

[Jay21]

I still have about half of my first (out of 15 sticks) of Arko left. I am probably not the best person to answer that question. I am sure someone has finished an Arko tub or stick around.

I mug load and lather because that’s the best way I can get yogurt lather. It’s known to be a little more consuming of soap, but I’m not sure how much.

 

[Guido75]

I’m about to finish a puck of Arko, which I started on March 5. I haven’t used it every day, but it looks like I will get about two months of daily shaves out of it. Is that about how long they last for you?

Two months would be an average on the slightly lower side yes, but harder soaps like Arko, Tabac or Vergulde Hand could be three to four months. Mike’s is 6 months by my calculations. Tabarko is likely to be the same.

 

[Jay21]

Two months would be an average on the slightly lower side yes, but harder soaps like Arko, Tabac or Vergulde Hand could be three to four months. Mike’s is 6 months by me calculations. Tabarko is likely to be the same.

I guess I’m not too far off. Thanks for the info.

 

[T Bone]

Soaps lasts a long time and at time it almost gets frustrating. I guess it does not help that I use a synthetic brush the great great majority of time. I also does not scoop soap nor bowl lather. Soaps lasts a really long time.

Coming from carts and gel ($3-4 a can IIRC), there was some sticker shock from the price of shave soaps - Arko, La Toja, Speick, and others were reasonable, but artisan tubs started at $15, and big name hard soaps costing $50 or more!! I didn't realize at the time how many months they all last.

I also use only synthetic brushes, tub load, and face lather.

 

[cajunrph]

I’m about to finish a puck of Arko, which I started on March 5. I haven’t used it every day, but it looks like I will get about two months of daily shaves out of it. Is that about how long they last for you?

Are the pucks less mass than the sticks, I shoved the stick into an old cleaned hair paste jar I have, I haven't made a dent in it and I've used it quite a bit.

I'd already seen posts of multi-lifetime soap supplies and wanted to avoid that myself

That don't make us bad people. Haha.

 

[Jay21]

Are the pucks less mass than the sticks, I shoved the stick into an old cleaned hair paste jar I have, I haven't made a dent in it and I've used it quite a bit.

I think pucks are 90 g and sticks are 75 g. I like the lather thick, so I’m sure I’m using more than many other shavers. At about $5 a puck, I’m not worried about conserving it.

 

[cajunrph]

I think pucks are 90 g and sticks are 75 g. I like the lather thick, so I’m sure I’m using more than many other shavers. At about $5 a puck, I’m not worried about conserving it.

I have so many I need to use some up, a boar is helping grind through some of them, I'd imagine some of my PAA soaps are half used up now.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I just took all the photos for my upcoming sale. I'll post it on Wednesday, so I can get anything purchased then to the PO on Thursday.

I'll be selling the extra razor heads from my Timeless experiment.

A Ti scalloped cap and the scratch and dent SS 0.68OC base plate.

A SS scalloped cap and SS 0.68SCL base plate, both scratch and dent.

A small grouping of aluminum razors. Both new and unused.
An ATT Windsor Pro Aluminum razor with all three base plates and razor stand.
RR Lupo Aluminum
2 Leather travel cases.

I have a few other razors I'm not using. I considered selling my Merkur Progress razors: Standard and XL... but I think I'll hang on to them for a while.

I almost listed my ATT Windsor SSRH even though I had an excellent shave with it just the other day.... But I thought better of it. I think it's almost a match for the shaves I get with my Rocnel 2022 Elite. I'm going to use the Elite later today and see if I'm remembering correctly.

I'm hoping the proceeds will cover the cost for the 1953 Y2 President I have on hold at the moment. We'll see. I think I have things priced right for a quick sale.. but you never know.

The two Vintage razors I ordered just showed up: a Gillette Canada Regent Long Comb 1933 and a Gillette 1934 NEW Short Comb Red and Black (referring to the case, not the razor). I plan to have Chris Spencer @ Back Roads Gold re-plate them, though the Short Comb is in much better shape than the photographs indicated. I'll send off my 1953 Y2 SuperSpeed while I'm at it..... I know you guys won't believe me..... with good reason, but I'm fairly confident the President will complete my small family of Vintage Razors.

I might as well list them.

Gillette Vintage Razors
1. Canada Pre-War Tech 1933 but I'm not sure exactly when this one was manufactured (PIF-ed by @Balin / Andrew... Thanks again, Andrew
2. Flat Bottom Tech (England) #77 1940s?????
3. Canada Regent Long Comb 1933
4. 1934 NEW Short Comb Red and Black
5. SuperSpeed 1953 Y2 TTO (PIF from @luvmysuper , Thanks, Phil)
6. President 1953 Y2 (Reserved for Future Purchase) TTO

Non-Gillette Vintage Razors

7. Souplex (Metal in travel case) I don't know if this razor has another name... But it's the metal one, not one of the Bakelite razors.
8. Schick G4 blue handle injector
9. Schick G8 partial ribbed ivory handle

I'm already for Vintage April... a year away, Wednesday. <eg>

 

[Phoenixkh]

My Canada Shaving Soap is so far gone, it no longer flakes off... It breaks into larger pieces when I try to scrape it. I've been mashing the chunks with a wood pestle in my CaYuen shaving bowl, then adding water and letting it soak, as is my routine, while I shower. It's a bit more difficult to know how much soap I'm putting in there and I've been making ummmm too much lather.

I have a couple back-ups but I'm trying to decide if I want to start using a new one or pick another of my great soaps and 3017ing that one. I do have a Baume.be I bought on BST and it's about 3/4 gone now... It's a lovely, unscented cream. It lathers up very nicely.... I'd have to look to be sure, but I know I have an almost full tub I just started using when that used set of Pre-shave and Unscented Cream showed up on BST at a pretty good price. I just checked Amazon and I had only ordered the one Cream.

OK, decision made... I'll use up the Baume.be next and I might use some of their gel Pre-shave and see how it compares now that I had a pretty extensive track record with the PAA Cube 2.0.

 

[rsp1202]

OK, decision made... I'll use up the Baume.be next...

I'll be interested in hearing about the Baume as it's a cream I've considered adding to my all-soap lineup.

 

[BigAlVista]

I just used Felce Aromatica this morning.

Great scent.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I'll be interested in hearing about the Baume as it's a cream I've considered adding to my all-soap lineup.

I've used it a lot in the past and quite like it... It makes a very rich and slick lather and has a nice post shave feel. Their pre-shave is also excellent, if you use one.