shavefan
I’m not a fan
I bought this soap last August and it pretty much immediately became one of my all time favorite shave soaps...
Caveat: I am not a professional reviewer. Skin types differ, scent preferences differ, shave hardware differs, water hardness differs. Take what follows with a big grain of salt, as usual YMMV...
Hardware: Gillette Slim Adjustable razor, Feather blade, Mach3 cart., B&B Essential boar brush
Price: $42.00 5.3oz/150g
Ingredients: Sodium Cocoate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Rapeseedate, Sodium Sunflower Seedate, Aqua/Water/Eau, Coco Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Erythritol, Ricinus Communis Oil, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Copernica Cerifera Cera, Cera Alba, Fraxinus Ornus (Manna Ash) Sap Extract, Dryopteris filix-mas Root Extract, Galactoarabinan, Shorea Stenoptera Seed Butter, Parfum/Fragrance, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Sucrose Cocoate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch, Xanthan Gum, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Tocopheryl Acetate, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Citric Acid, Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, Citronellol, Coumarin, Limonene, Linalool.
The LE soaps are packaged very nicely in laser engraved aluminum tins...
Scent: SV's description; The Aromatic Fern fragrance blends with the aromas of natural additives, creating a fresh and intense note.
I get; bright, green, fougere. Very refreshing and a bit sharp. Not earthy, but not sweet or cloying either. Scent longevity on the skin is fleeting, about 30 minutes. They do offer a AS lotion which I have not tried.
Lathering: This is an extremely easy soap to lather and it has a very wide 'water to soap ratio' range. I can make it thick, thin, anywhere in between to suit my preference, and the lather holds up, no matter what. This is a triple milled soap so is fairly hard, but not so hard as say Volobra soap. I experimented a bit with 'blooming' but I've not realized any benefit of doing so, so I now never bloom it. The picture above was taken today, and like I mentioned earlier, I've owned this soap for about 7 months and I estimate I have 30 or so shaves (conservatively) so far and the puck is about 80% full still. This includes scraping a bit off to send a sample to another B&B member...
about 123g after 30 or so shaves and scraping a sample from the puck... (OK, deduct a gram to account for the stray badger hairs)
The shave: Felce's lather is very nice, rich, slick, and comforting. Face feel is outstanding. Both glide and slickness are in my top tier. I can still feel the lubrication and slickness even after a quick rinse and running my hand across my face. As a result, I found touch ups over the same spot in the same pass are easy and comfortable. ATG passes on my neck are no problem (this is the torture test for me) and again, in top tier category for me. Closeness of shave is outstanding given the protection, consistently providing a no effort BBS. Soap residue rinses clean. I found no issues with razor clogging, even with my Mach3.
Immediate post shave: Excellent, one of the few soaps that I feel does not necessitate a post shave product.
LT post shave: Again excellent. Face feel & comfort over the long term never gets dry or tight. Really nice LT post shave comfort. outstanding job!
Summary: So, as you can tell, I really like SV Felce 4.3. So much so, that since this first purchase, I've also purchased Manna 4.3 and their Flying Mango/Asylum Shave Works collaboration. That says a lot for me, It is rare that I enjoy a shave soap so much that I buy more before finishing the old... One member in another thread commented that SV 4.3 would be a great 'beginners' soap, and I couldn't agree more. I can hardly find any faults with SV 4.3 and given its ease of use, it would be a great entry into the world of non canned goop. However, the performance bar will be set pretty high right off the bat.
Another B&B'er is sending me a sample of SV's latest Optunia 4.3, and scent permitting, I may find a fourth SV tin gracing my den...
Caveat: I am not a professional reviewer. Skin types differ, scent preferences differ, shave hardware differs, water hardness differs. Take what follows with a big grain of salt, as usual YMMV...
Hardware: Gillette Slim Adjustable razor, Feather blade, Mach3 cart., B&B Essential boar brush
Price: $42.00 5.3oz/150g
Ingredients: Sodium Cocoate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Rapeseedate, Sodium Sunflower Seedate, Aqua/Water/Eau, Coco Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Erythritol, Ricinus Communis Oil, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Copernica Cerifera Cera, Cera Alba, Fraxinus Ornus (Manna Ash) Sap Extract, Dryopteris filix-mas Root Extract, Galactoarabinan, Shorea Stenoptera Seed Butter, Parfum/Fragrance, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Sucrose Cocoate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch, Xanthan Gum, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Tocopheryl Acetate, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Citric Acid, Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, Citronellol, Coumarin, Limonene, Linalool.
The LE soaps are packaged very nicely in laser engraved aluminum tins...
Scent: SV's description; The Aromatic Fern fragrance blends with the aromas of natural additives, creating a fresh and intense note.
I get; bright, green, fougere. Very refreshing and a bit sharp. Not earthy, but not sweet or cloying either. Scent longevity on the skin is fleeting, about 30 minutes. They do offer a AS lotion which I have not tried.
Lathering: This is an extremely easy soap to lather and it has a very wide 'water to soap ratio' range. I can make it thick, thin, anywhere in between to suit my preference, and the lather holds up, no matter what. This is a triple milled soap so is fairly hard, but not so hard as say Volobra soap. I experimented a bit with 'blooming' but I've not realized any benefit of doing so, so I now never bloom it. The picture above was taken today, and like I mentioned earlier, I've owned this soap for about 7 months and I estimate I have 30 or so shaves (conservatively) so far and the puck is about 80% full still. This includes scraping a bit off to send a sample to another B&B member...
The shave: Felce's lather is very nice, rich, slick, and comforting. Face feel is outstanding. Both glide and slickness are in my top tier. I can still feel the lubrication and slickness even after a quick rinse and running my hand across my face. As a result, I found touch ups over the same spot in the same pass are easy and comfortable. ATG passes on my neck are no problem (this is the torture test for me) and again, in top tier category for me. Closeness of shave is outstanding given the protection, consistently providing a no effort BBS. Soap residue rinses clean. I found no issues with razor clogging, even with my Mach3.
Immediate post shave: Excellent, one of the few soaps that I feel does not necessitate a post shave product.
LT post shave: Again excellent. Face feel & comfort over the long term never gets dry or tight. Really nice LT post shave comfort. outstanding job!
Summary: So, as you can tell, I really like SV Felce 4.3. So much so, that since this first purchase, I've also purchased Manna 4.3 and their Flying Mango/Asylum Shave Works collaboration. That says a lot for me, It is rare that I enjoy a shave soap so much that I buy more before finishing the old... One member in another thread commented that SV 4.3 would be a great 'beginners' soap, and I couldn't agree more. I can hardly find any faults with SV 4.3 and given its ease of use, it would be a great entry into the world of non canned goop. However, the performance bar will be set pretty high right off the bat.
Another B&B'er is sending me a sample of SV's latest Optunia 4.3, and scent permitting, I may find a fourth SV tin gracing my den...
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I hate reading these high praise reviews for SV's Beta 4.3 soaps. Makes me want to break my 2018 Sabbatical. 
Oh, wait a minute ... I just remembered, I already have this one sitting in a drawer. I was going to wait until I used up my original puck but it's looking like that might never happen. These darn triple milled soaps last so long. Looks like a Felce Aromatica Beta 4.3 it going to be on deck tomorrow morning.
