I don't see too many people mention much about APR. Their ingredient list looks good and their scents look to be well thought out. The price is a bit on the high side, but looks to be inline with many other soaps people consider to be top tier. Their Fenchurch looks the most interesting to me. Anyone have experience with them and how their soap compares to others such as GD, DG, WK, B&M, etc.?
Australian Private Reserve - A Guide to APR scents
- Thread starter Ringer
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How long do you want me to go on? 
APR makes fantastic soap. The old base (F1) is a high structure lather soap that is pretty hard in the container and take some time a d patience to lather correctly. Ot is the slickest lather I can make from soaps in my den though (and that includes most of the top artisans except one or two). The scents on the old base I have tried are all excellent, but they are subtle and don't smell like what you would expect off the descriptions. I own Alfredus Choice, Mycroft, and Winterfall in this base and love them all.
The F2 base is a softer soap that makes more of a low structure lather. A good comparison in terms of lather is Ariana and Evans. I have only ordered Violetta but I really enjoy it. These scents may be a little more loud and proud but also match the descriptions pretty well.
APR is one of my top 3 or 4 soap makers. The only knock on them (if you can call it that) is that the owner is reputed to have a relatively prickly or even unlikable personality, but I ho mostly don't care much about that. I buy their soap from Maggards or WCS and have not had any issues. I am always considering adding more APR scents to the collection.
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APR makes fantastic soap. The old base (F1) is a high structure lather soap that is pretty hard in the container and take some time a d patience to lather correctly. Ot is the slickest lather I can make from soaps in my den though (and that includes most of the top artisans except one or two). The scents on the old base I have tried are all excellent, but they are subtle and don't smell like what you would expect off the descriptions. I own Alfredus Choice, Mycroft, and Winterfall in this base and love them all.
The F2 base is a softer soap that makes more of a low structure lather. A good comparison in terms of lather is Ariana and Evans. I have only ordered Violetta but I really enjoy it. These scents may be a little more loud and proud but also match the descriptions pretty well.
APR is one of my top 3 or 4 soap makers. The only knock on them (if you can call it that) is that the owner is reputed to have a relatively prickly or even unlikable personality, but I ho mostly don't care much about that. I buy their soap from Maggards or WCS and have not had any issues. I am always considering adding more APR scents to the collection.
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I think APR's sales went south after a pretty nasty exchange between the owner and a customer. I know I'd never buy anything from someone that treats his customers like he did!!
Public Service Announcement - Australian Private Reserve
Public Service Announcement - Australian Private Reserve
Yep.
This is enough for me to stay away. To many other great options out there.
I hadn't read that B&B thread until just now, but I've read enough of his posts on reddit to know that he's not someone I care to give my money to. I don't care how good his products are... I'll just suffer through and try to get by with my WK, GD, etc. I know, I know, it'll be rough, but I'll man up and get through life without any APR stuff.
I bought Ozymandias from Maggard before I knew any of this. It’s an excellent performer and a nice scent.
Disclaimer: I regard both the man behind APR and the man who makes the soap base as good friends...but the lather (from today's shave) is pretty impartial 
I only have Violetta that was highly recommended by @steffenapelz for a bold and stronger scent. In spite of a dominant violet scent note, this is not a girlie smelling soap and it is going to get lot of use during Indian summers here. I might be splitting hair but it is no GD or WK although it is firmly an 'A' grade soap for me.
I read about the soap maker's spat with customer very recently, while I am not to judge anyone heavy handed but I sense that customer had it rough. While I have no personal experience with APR but when 2 emails sent to them for international shipping information (wherein I would have spent almost $ 140) remained unanswered I wrote them off as a professional company and took my money elsewhere.
People in the US/EU are lucky, to be able to get their hands on so many alcohol based splashes/perfumes.
Here in Australia it costs 100's of $ to send alcohol abroad and similar problems of getting anything into the country...hence all the issues with people outside of Australia wanting APR splashes, but not wanting to spend the funds (understandably so of course - who wants to pay 400$ shipping on an 100$ or even an 400$ order). And it is not only the costs - the paperwork involved in shipping alcohol orders is also very time consuming.
That's why many (in the US/EU) commonly available items are often hard to find here locally and then sold with a considerable markup. Similarly APR (and others of course) cannot send small order abroad anymore, but only sell large orders to stores, who can then distribute in their respective markets without such issues.
The communication issues with small (1 or 2 man) artisan producers is common every where. At one point they have to decide, whether to answer the same email for the 100th time, or to simply write disclaimers on the webpage and get on with producing the goods we all want (or demand???) from them.
There are often many many sides to a story...
Here in Australia it costs 100's of $ to send alcohol abroad and similar problems of getting anything into the country...hence all the issues with people outside of Australia wanting APR splashes, but not wanting to spend the funds (understandably so of course - who wants to pay 400$ shipping on an 100$ or even an 400$ order). And it is not only the costs - the paperwork involved in shipping alcohol orders is also very time consuming.
That's why many (in the US/EU) commonly available items are often hard to find here locally and then sold with a considerable markup. Similarly APR (and others of course) cannot send small order abroad anymore, but only sell large orders to stores, who can then distribute in their respective markets without such issues.
The communication issues with small (1 or 2 man) artisan producers is common every where. At one point they have to decide, whether to answer the same email for the 100th time, or to simply write disclaimers on the webpage and get on with producing the goods we all want (or demand???) from them.
There are often many many sides to a story...
I’m a fan. I’ve made a goal of buying the LE soaps and now think I’ll add the splashes as well.
Great products.
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I was unaware of the unfortunate exchange with APR and a customer. While it's hard to know the full story, still seems like the particular post in question from another forum was uncalled for. People are right. There are so many good soaps out there and vendors that strive for complete satisfaction that I'd rather just stay away from this one for now.
Sad commentary! Traditional wet shavers are a relatively small market, so best to keep on our good side!!
I just ordered Fenchurch and the new Torchwood yesterday...looking forward to using even if the owner is not Mother Theresa. I also just ordered some Murphy&McNeil where several dollars of my order went to an Autism Charity.
It's unfortunate. I prefer not to weigh in other than to say it's unfortunate.
One of, if not my favourite soap base. The scents are also very imaginative and complex. But have not yet smelled one i don't enjoy. They draw the user in to a very happy place. My favourite to date would be Skye Fall, followed by Florian.
The splashes are also superb and have great components that really make the face feel nice after a shave. They are just pure class. Period.
I haven't tried the EdT/EdP ranges yet but they get amazing kudos locally.
They will forever be a stable part of my den.
The splashes are also superb and have great components that really make the face feel nice after a shave. They are just pure class. Period.
I haven't tried the EdT/EdP ranges yet but they get amazing kudos locally.
They will forever be a stable part of my den.
Focusing on the products, I have Bombora and it's up there with my favorites Haslinger, SV, Valobra and Mitchell's Wool Fat. I've only used it a couple of times because it's very Summery. I'll put it in the rotation once the weather gets hot. I have Florian AS and it's nice too.
I just bought the Florian from Maggard’s. Looking forward to trying it out.
It’s a great scent. I’ll be grabbing the splash shortly.
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I have 2 tubs of APR (Mycroft & Fougere Bourbon Rose) both are the older formula. To be honest i am not very impressed with either the base or the scents. Have sniffed all of the APR scents available at Maggards and most of them smell strange and kind of thrown together IMO although a few do smell very nice.
As for performance i know they updated their base which is a good thing, the vol.1 is not bad but for the price (around $27) you would be much better off with GD or WK IMO.
The transaction between APR and the customer in question is a tragic for everyone and really hurts APR as far as potential customers are concerned. The guy that had the issue posted pics of his APR collection and he MUST HAVE BEEN one of the biggest APR supporters as he must have spend several thousand dollars with this particular artisan, this is what makes this situation so tragic ad it was not just some guy that bought 1 tub instead was a very loyal customer and supporter of this brand. This is not quite as bad as the whole PAA debacle but surely reflects poorly on this particular artisan.
With all this taken into account, i cannot recommend APR unless on the BST if someone wants to give it a shot. I dont want this to sound completely negative but there are TONS of other artisans with good reputations to take any chances.
As for performance i know they updated their base which is a good thing, the vol.1 is not bad but for the price (around $27) you would be much better off with GD or WK IMO.
The transaction between APR and the customer in question is a tragic for everyone and really hurts APR as far as potential customers are concerned. The guy that had the issue posted pics of his APR collection and he MUST HAVE BEEN one of the biggest APR supporters as he must have spend several thousand dollars with this particular artisan, this is what makes this situation so tragic ad it was not just some guy that bought 1 tub instead was a very loyal customer and supporter of this brand. This is not quite as bad as the whole PAA debacle but surely reflects poorly on this particular artisan.
With all this taken into account, i cannot recommend APR unless on the BST if someone wants to give it a shot. I dont want this to sound completely negative but there are TONS of other artisans with good reputations to take any chances.
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