Wholly Kaw fans

[Duke of Buckingham]

How does WK compare with Tabac? Is it better?

I'd say comparable to Tabac. I've got many soaps I'd put in my A-list, and of these probably around 10 that I'd call A+. I think both WK and Tabac deserve this top tier billing.

I've only got the one Wholly Kaw soap, La Fougere Parfaite. It smells just like an indie/niche scent manufacturer had a go at recreating Brut: incredibly well balanced and natural smelling. If you love Brut, this will be your favourite soap.

Perhaps Tabac is easier to lather. . . perhaps it has a fraction more cushion. . . but for me, it falls down on its harsh scent and lack of post-shave. I reach for the WK more often, but it's not an everyday soap for me.

Although I wear cologne, I've come to realize that I'm not a huge fan of cologne-inspired soaps. I also prefer milder scented soaps. It's me being awkward, both are classics.

 

[Bogeyman]

I'd say comparable to Tabac. I've got many soaps I'd put in my A-list, and of these probably around 10 that I'd call A+. I think both WK and Tabac deserve this top tier billing...

If after shave face "feel" is important then WK buries Tabac. As well, Tabac has a cloying scent that quite frankly I now find revolting after some years of usage.

 

[muzichead]

It would seem from most everything I've read about Tabac, it has a lot in common with The Veg!! Its either an you love it or hate it with no middle ground...

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

To me, Tabac performs well (in spite of the fact that I hate, hate, hate the smell), but it is not in the league performance wise with WK.

That said, I'm not a fan of most of the WK scents I've sampled. I like King of Oud's scent just fine and I like Dance of A okay. I've not sampled every WK soap but I have sampled at least ten of them.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cino]

Tabac grows on you. I've come to like it. I had my first WK shave this morning. Awesome lather but it takes more time to hydrate. Tabac is more intuitive to me. That's just one shave though.

 

[guitarslinger]

So, maiden voyage shave today with wk fern concerto menthol.

It smells just like Pinaud citrus musk mixed with menthol. And boooyyyy does it pack a menthol punch. It’s sub zero in Indiana. Big mistake to shower shave with this soap. I had it all over my face and chest. Did my cold water wake up me rinse. I just about screamed , it was so cold. Great soap.

 

[FloorPizza]

Maybe it's just me, but I had a difficult time finding the sample purchase page on WK's web site. For those having similar difficulties, you can find it here.

 

[koolkankat]

King of Oud and Padre Leone.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

 

[Anomaly1985]

Wholly Kaw is a top tier artisan. So many soaps are available it is easy to get lost in the vastly saturated market of competitive soapmakers. With Wholly Kaw, the thought of selling a tub has never entered my brain. I have found a comfortable place with this soapmaker. Most of their lineup mesh well with my nose. I could use their offerings and not have a complaint in the scent, lather, cushion, slickness, post-shave department. Particularly, Fougere bouquet will always be in my den no matter what.

Pasha Pride ~ citrusy oud with Sharp leather accords
Dances with Agumes ~ Creamy Citrus with distinct Aldehydes & Musk
King of Bourbon ~ Peppery bourbon with hints of vanilla


Look forward to trying the spice vitae and Italian holiday.

 

[Cino]

Pasha's Pride looks like something I'd like to try. I just have so many soaps. So so many.

 

[Southsider]

I would pick one from the new Buffala base. Based on my experience with a number of WK soaps it is my opinion that the new base is markedly better than the old one. This limits your choices to the first 4 soaps which are listed on the website (look for Buffalo milk in the ingredients). I have been using King of Bourbon and really like the scent--a rich creamy vanilla scent.

 

[Anomaly1985]

Spice vitae reminiscent of Cuero Oscuro with more sweetness & coffee. Tiptoeing on the same vine.

Italian holiday ~ raspberry, leather, and amber. Very nice.

 

[Leverspro]

I'm really enjoying a Maggard sample I bought called Lav sublime. But I don't see it offered on the wholly kaw site.

 

[bobmsp]

I'm really enjoying a Maggard sample I bought called Lav sublime. But I don't see it offered on the wholly kaw site.

Lav Sublime has been a seasonal soap for WK. Don't know if they'll bring it back this spring/summer.

 

[Badlander13]

Spice vitae reminiscent of Cuero Oscuro with more sweetness & coffee. Tiptoeing on the same vine.

Italian holiday ~ raspberry, leather, and amber. Very nice.

Evening @Anomaly1985,
Are you saying you got your puck and have tried it out? I’ve been waiting to hear feedback about Spice Vitae and Italian Holiday. Scent notes never completely click for my brain as compared to the smells.

 

[RayClem]

Shipments of Spice Vitae were delayed. According to the WK Facebook page, the soap took an inordinate amount of time to cure. I plan to let the soap sit open for another few days, in case it needs a little more cure time. However, I did use Spice Vitae for today's shave.

I will preface this review by stating that I use WK soaps because of the performance, not the scent. I now have nine WK soaps and one sample. The only scent I rate as 10/10 is King of Oud. When I smell Spice Vitae off the puck, I find the smell to be rather unusual. It is not a bad smell, but it is certainly not an inviting one. After lathering, the scents open up (especially the coffee) making for a more balanced accord. However, I still only rate it 5/10 on scent preference. The scent notes are: Saffron, Pink Pepper, Coffee, Cardamom, Honey, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Oud, Benzoin, Vanilla, Frankincense, Labdanum, Musk and Cassie absolute. Sri descibes the scent as a blend of essential oils, resins and aroma chemicals creating a symphony of notes appropriate for Fall and Winter.

Spice Vitae is one of the new Bufala soaps that contains Water Buffalo Milk in addition to donkey milk. It loads and lathers quite easily, even in my hard water. I loaded a little too much soap with my 26mm silversynth brush. Thus, I had to go back and add a lot of extra water to properly hydrate the soap. It is a rather thirsty soap. Once properly hydrated the lather is like Greek Yogurt. It has outstanding slickness (both primary and secondary), and outstanding cushion/protection. The postshave conditioning is excellent and no additional post shave product is needed (I use plain witch hazel). However, I am not convinced the post-shave is better than the Donkey Milk formula without the Water Buffalo Milk. Bufala is still a top tier soap base.

Because I had produced extra lather, I did a four pass shave. Normally, my sensitive face gets irritated if I go beyond three passes, but the slickness and cushion are so good, I did not get any irritation. There was no stinging when the witch hazel was applied.

Tomorrow I plan to use the Italian Holiday scent from the Bufala base. Off the puck, I like Italian Holiday better than Spice Vitae, but I will need to see how the scent opens up when lathered. However, it is unlikely to replace King of Oud as my favorite WK scent.

 

[Badlander13]

Thanks @RayClem! I appreciate your review. I took away that the SV scent is a complex dark scent that’s predominantly coffee?

 

[FloorPizza]

The only scent I rate as 10/10 is King of Oud

That's really good to hear. I have samples of the King of Oud and Jamestown Gentleman on the way.

At this point in time, I don't think I'll ever buy a full tub of a soap ever again. There are just too many soaps out there to try. I'm just gonna buy samples from now on. It's usually a bit higher of a price per ounce to just buy samples, but the only way I can ever see myself actually getting through something now is if it's in a sample size.

But I can't feel too bad about it, as I've just finished a ten year stint of nothing but Tabac; I 3017'd about 40 sticks of that stuff now.

 

[RayClem]

I should probably purchase nothing except samples, but I do not like using them. The larger surface area of a tub of soap allows you to evaluate the scent more easily. Also, unless the soap is really soft, it is difficult lathering a sample. So, even though I probably have enough soap to shave for the rest of my life, I continue to purchase new tubs of soap. I cannot imaging using the same soap every day, even if it was one of my favorite soaps.

 

[RayClem]

Here is my evaluation of Wholly Kaw Italian Holiday which is one of the new Bufala base soaps. I will not review the performance as it is similar to Spice Vitae I evaluated above. I do prefer the scent of Italian Holiday better.

According to the WK web site, the scent notes are: leather, raspberry, honey, coffee, clary sage, amber, olibanum and woody finish to round out the base.

This is a very well blended scent. My nose picks up the scent of cucumber, even though that is not one of the notes in the accord. The scent strength is moderate. The scent is quite pleasant, but there is nothing compelling about the scent to elevate it to one of my favorites. I would rank it 7 out of 10 on scent preference according to my nose. Unlike Spice Vitae which is more suitable for cold weather, I would consider Italian Holiday to be a year-round scent.

As for performance, Bufala is one of my top-tier soap bases. As stated in the earlier post, it is similar in performance to the donkey milk formula, but I would not necessarily claim it to be better. Since I consider the donkey milk formula to be nearly perfect in performance, improving that formula would have been difficult.