Gents, I mentioned in another thread about artisan soaps I would be doing a one week test drive of this limited edition shave soap from Declaration Grooming. It is really exactly a test drive since I have used it on and off since I got it a few months ago. The goal here is to use it steady for one week and see if it fits the bill of something I will re-purchase later. And that bar is set very high these days in the old toiletry locker. I have been at this traditional shaving now for nearly fifteen years. I tend to only buy oddities, limited editions, etc in the search for things new. Most soaps bore me rather quickly. It is not that they are bad. I am just like to mix things up all the time.
Anyroad, I will keep the razor and blade the same. I have no idea why you'd ever want to change up that variable when evaluating a shaving lather. To wit, a Edwin Jagger Chatsworth in gen-u-ine faux ivory with Polivilver ruskie blades. The blade current has three shaves and will be changed. I got some roughness this morning and I suspect a premature death of the blade. So a new one tomorrow for the next four shaves. Brushes will run the gamut of B&B 2009 limited Kent(this morning), Savile Row 3824, DaVinci 293, Vie Long horse in white mane.
Since one shave is under the belt. Lets start there. Firstly the soap is nicely if not fancifully packaged. Fine with me. We are talking performance not beauty but it is very satisfactory in this regard. Nice sized plastic jar with minimalist labels that give a nice, understated image to the product.
Ingredients: Look at the photo below. To me, this is a veg soap base all the way. Yes, it has bison tallow and lamb tallow but they are well down the list.
Latherability: I do not like using a negative to enforce a positive but it applies here. This soap is stupid easy to lather. Look at the photos. The first one showing the brush is a fairly wet soaked brushed bruskly whipped over the cake for maybe 20-25 seconds. No kidding. I am usually a lather till it dents type of shaver since stingy lather is a nuisance to me most of the time. The next photos show it after about two minutes of face lathering. The last one shows what's left after three full passes. Mind you, the Kent is only a 22mm brush and a good heavy coating was already on my face in the second photo. I squeezed up the remainder after first and last past to show amounts. Impressive is an understatement.
Shave/glide/slickness: Or whatever you want to call them. I never really understood what the difference was between glide and slickness anyway. Pretty good. Like most veg forward soaps this one blew right up to a snow white lather. Unlike most veg lathers it was not pillowy nor did it tend to drying up halfway through the pass. This has been a hallmark of 99% of veg based soaps I have used. The only other two who do not do this to me are Provence Sante and Institut Karite and even then, I would want to reevaluate since I have not used either in years.
It was stable, fairly rich feeling and maintained a good cover throughout the pass. I did notice however I needed to really slow it down on the strokes since I was noticing the roughness I spoke about in the hardware section. Not sure if it was balde, lather or both but I tend to think both. This is common for me with veg forward soaps. I was not able to blade buff with this like I do Wholly Kaw, Mystic Waters, or some others. Don't get me wrong, it was pile better than most of the veg soaps I have tied. I always take the leftover lather and mix it into the water I used for the hot towel treatement and shave water and then liberally splash this on my visage and blade buff or j-hook the rough spots on the jawline and cheek hollows. I didn't really feel like I should do it since I felt it was not smooth enough. Again, the week will tell.
Scent: Now here is an unmitigated yes. This has just the touch of gaminess DG speaks of when you talk to them about such things as scent. But it has completely dissipated and we are now left with only the wonderful santal fragrance. Is it mostly sandalwood? Yes. It is mostly woody? Yes. Uh, yeah, contradictory. It really does mix up well. I like to think of this as a mans scent. The kind you give uncle Roger when you are trying to set him up in wet shaving. A comforting, sandalwood/cedar/woodsy scent that could 't offend anyone. I cannot imagine the average bloke not liking it.
Overall, this is one of the best veg forward soaps I have used in a long time. The additions of the two tallow fats is a GOOD thing. I think it enriches the lather in way veg soaps alone simply cannot attain. We will see how it fares through the week. Sorry for the grainy photos. Shot on cell phone and I am not good at it.
After loading and first face lathering
After second pass.
After third pass. Squeezed up. Not bad, eh?
Anyroad, I will keep the razor and blade the same. I have no idea why you'd ever want to change up that variable when evaluating a shaving lather. To wit, a Edwin Jagger Chatsworth in gen-u-ine faux ivory with Polivilver ruskie blades. The blade current has three shaves and will be changed. I got some roughness this morning and I suspect a premature death of the blade. So a new one tomorrow for the next four shaves. Brushes will run the gamut of B&B 2009 limited Kent(this morning), Savile Row 3824, DaVinci 293, Vie Long horse in white mane.
Since one shave is under the belt. Lets start there. Firstly the soap is nicely if not fancifully packaged. Fine with me. We are talking performance not beauty but it is very satisfactory in this regard. Nice sized plastic jar with minimalist labels that give a nice, understated image to the product.
Ingredients: Look at the photo below. To me, this is a veg soap base all the way. Yes, it has bison tallow and lamb tallow but they are well down the list.
Latherability: I do not like using a negative to enforce a positive but it applies here. This soap is stupid easy to lather. Look at the photos. The first one showing the brush is a fairly wet soaked brushed bruskly whipped over the cake for maybe 20-25 seconds. No kidding. I am usually a lather till it dents type of shaver since stingy lather is a nuisance to me most of the time. The next photos show it after about two minutes of face lathering. The last one shows what's left after three full passes. Mind you, the Kent is only a 22mm brush and a good heavy coating was already on my face in the second photo. I squeezed up the remainder after first and last past to show amounts. Impressive is an understatement.
Shave/glide/slickness: Or whatever you want to call them. I never really understood what the difference was between glide and slickness anyway. Pretty good. Like most veg forward soaps this one blew right up to a snow white lather. Unlike most veg lathers it was not pillowy nor did it tend to drying up halfway through the pass. This has been a hallmark of 99% of veg based soaps I have used. The only other two who do not do this to me are Provence Sante and Institut Karite and even then, I would want to reevaluate since I have not used either in years.
It was stable, fairly rich feeling and maintained a good cover throughout the pass. I did notice however I needed to really slow it down on the strokes since I was noticing the roughness I spoke about in the hardware section. Not sure if it was balde, lather or both but I tend to think both. This is common for me with veg forward soaps. I was not able to blade buff with this like I do Wholly Kaw, Mystic Waters, or some others. Don't get me wrong, it was pile better than most of the veg soaps I have tied. I always take the leftover lather and mix it into the water I used for the hot towel treatement and shave water and then liberally splash this on my visage and blade buff or j-hook the rough spots on the jawline and cheek hollows. I didn't really feel like I should do it since I felt it was not smooth enough. Again, the week will tell.
Scent: Now here is an unmitigated yes. This has just the touch of gaminess DG speaks of when you talk to them about such things as scent. But it has completely dissipated and we are now left with only the wonderful santal fragrance. Is it mostly sandalwood? Yes. It is mostly woody? Yes. Uh, yeah, contradictory. It really does mix up well. I like to think of this as a mans scent. The kind you give uncle Roger when you are trying to set him up in wet shaving. A comforting, sandalwood/cedar/woodsy scent that could 't offend anyone. I cannot imagine the average bloke not liking it.
Overall, this is one of the best veg forward soaps I have used in a long time. The additions of the two tallow fats is a GOOD thing. I think it enriches the lather in way veg soaps alone simply cannot attain. We will see how it fares through the week. Sorry for the grainy photos. Shot on cell phone and I am not good at it.
After loading and first face lathering
After second pass.
After third pass. Squeezed up. Not bad, eh?
