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- #61
Passaround - Natural Ireland soaps - all three varieties
- Thread starter Rory1262
- Start date
I didn't know whether there were any other differences you noticed between the soaps.
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- #63
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- #64
I picked up the soaps from Bob on Saturday morning. No beer was involved. In Minnesota, beer at 8:00AM is only appropriate if you’re ice fishing. Or it’s St. Patrick’s day.
I’m 3 shaves in on the Seaweed and Stout.
No fish smell. But once, just for a moment, I caught a whiff of low tide mixed with flat Guinness. That might inspire thoughts of fish!
Very much a momentary thing. Scent is clean, with a bit of an earthy element. Fairly mild in strength.
Following David’s recommendations, I basically doubled the size of the sample I thought I would need. Maybe the size of a quarter. Success! Probably my best experience with using samples. Thanks @dfoulk! Ended up being at least enough for 4 shaves, and let me play a bit with water volumes.
I’ve been using Grooming Dept. Coattails the last few weeks for reference. Coattails produces some of the creamiest lather I’ve ever seen.
I’ll have to finish this later, as it’s time to go to work!
I’m 3 shaves in on the Seaweed and Stout.
No fish smell. But once, just for a moment, I caught a whiff of low tide mixed with flat Guinness. That might inspire thoughts of fish!
Very much a momentary thing. Scent is clean, with a bit of an earthy element. Fairly mild in strength.
Following David’s recommendations, I basically doubled the size of the sample I thought I would need. Maybe the size of a quarter. Success! Probably my best experience with using samples. Thanks @dfoulk! Ended up being at least enough for 4 shaves, and let me play a bit with water volumes.
I’ve been using Grooming Dept. Coattails the last few weeks for reference. Coattails produces some of the creamiest lather I’ve ever seen.
I’ll have to finish this later, as it’s time to go to work!
Mark (Hoka Hey) beat me to the punch. We handed off the soap last weekend, but I was able to get a couple more shaves in with the Natural Ireland.
I used both the Seaweed and Stout and the Natural again and came away thinking that this is a very nice soap. If I was to buy it, I would probably stick to the Natural just because of the issue I had with the scent of the soap upon opening the container. (Of course, there was no fishiness when I handed the soap over to Mark. I'd hoped that he might experience the same thing - as proof that I'm not crazy - but it wasn't there on Saturday.)
I did enjoy the scent of the soap while shaving and the creaminess of the lather. In general, I would certainly consider this soap if I ran across it again.
Thanks @Rory1262 for organizing the passaround and for letting me know about this soap.
I used both the Seaweed and Stout and the Natural again and came away thinking that this is a very nice soap. If I was to buy it, I would probably stick to the Natural just because of the issue I had with the scent of the soap upon opening the container. (Of course, there was no fishiness when I handed the soap over to Mark. I'd hoped that he might experience the same thing - as proof that I'm not crazy - but it wasn't there on Saturday.)
I did enjoy the scent of the soap while shaving and the creaminess of the lather. In general, I would certainly consider this soap if I ran across it again.
Thanks @Rory1262 for organizing the passaround and for letting me know about this soap.
You're not crazy Bob as I did get a faint fish like scent that I attributed to the seaweed. Not unpleasant at all to me as the scent was fairly soft and enjoyable. Another review that I read the user stated that the scent reminded him of being on a small fishing boat, which apparently brought back some fond fishing memories.
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- #68
As hoped, here is a word from Majella, the maker of Natural Ireland, on the functional properties of seaweed.
She believes strongly in its benefits, noting that seaweed has been used in Ireland for hundreds of years in skin care through seaweed baths. It contains vitamins and minerals that help repair and hydrate skin; hydration is a key benefit.
She encourages coming to Ireland and having a seaweed bath to realize the true scent of seaweed and thus the sea!
She believes strongly in its benefits, noting that seaweed has been used in Ireland for hundreds of years in skin care through seaweed baths. It contains vitamins and minerals that help repair and hydrate skin; hydration is a key benefit.
She encourages coming to Ireland and having a seaweed bath to realize the true scent of seaweed and thus the sea!
I have a moisturizer with Seaweed. It's fantastic.
I’ll try and get a write up posted tomorrow. Spent most of the weekend prepping gardens, and brain shut down yesterday. Body today.
Hoka Hey provided me with the tracking number. ETA Thursday. Unfortunately, I have a week planned away from my shaving den, so I won't get to go through all of the soaps immediately. Hopefully I will get in at least one shave on Thursday. I may not be able to get through all of the soaps until after Memorial Day. If that timeline doesn't work for the folks after me or for @Rory1262 , let me know and I'll just forward the parcel to @SGWB upon receipt and place myself at the end of the list, or forfeit my spot altogether, whichever y'all decide.
My apologies about the bad timing, I guess I didn't do enough calendar mathematics when I was looking at the pass-around rotation list.
My apologies about the bad timing, I guess I didn't do enough calendar mathematics when I was looking at the pass-around rotation list.
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- #72
@Rory1262 - Sounds like the best plan. I’ll await @SGWB to send me his delivery address.
Current list:
01. dfoulk (finished)
02. bobmsp (finished)
03. Hoka Hey (finished) (sent to Jim Dandy, ETA thurs 05/17)
04. SGWB - bumped up. Will be sent by JimDandy
05. Grundi
06. ShavePastor
07. Shavefan
08. JimDandy
09.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Current list:
01. dfoulk (finished)
02. bobmsp (finished)
03. Hoka Hey (finished) (sent to Jim Dandy, ETA thurs 05/17)
04. SGWB - bumped up. Will be sent by JimDandy
05. Grundi
06. ShavePastor
07. Shavefan
08. JimDandy
09.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
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- #76
I have the soap in my possession. Barring an act of God, tomorrow I expect to post first impressions and results from my morning shave.
On first opening the parcel, I was not impressed with the soaps' packaging. The thin tins are already dented from shipping and the threads on one tin are not engaging as well as they should. This is an aspect of the product that Natural Ireland should improve. I would not be surprised if the threads on a tin would fail before I could get through an entire tin. The soaps are a little on the softer side, but firmer that most croaps, very similar to a large number of the American artisan soap makers The Natural Shaving Soap has a pleasant woody citrus scent. Mild, but definitely there. The Luxury Seaweed and Luxury Irish Stout & Seaweed have much stronger scents out of the tins. The woody citrus is overpowered by a not quite fishy, but in the same ballpark, aroma. The Irish Stout layers a malty scent on top of that. These are not scents I enjoy.
For my shave, I scooped about half a teaspoon of the Natural Shaving Soap and pressed it into a Yuzu Tenmoku style Japanese rice bowl (A knock-off I picked up for a few bucks on eBay). This is my usual MO for samples as it gives me ample surface area for loading my brush. I used Vitos menthol pre-shave, a Rudy Rudy Vey beehive brush with 24mm Shavemac 2-band silvertip knot, an iKon OSS razor head affixed to a Facon stainless steel handle, and a fresh Feather blade.
![IMG_20180522_071645767[1].jpg](https://xfdata.badgerandblade.com/attachments/617/617397-52a9b113d05231ef10ed4867eb08dd6b.jpg "IMG_20180522_071645767[1].jpg")
I shook all of the excess water from my well hydrated brush, touched the tips to the water in my sink (this gives me a controlled and consistent amount of water for loading) and proceeded to load from my bowl. The soap loaded easily in about 20 or 30 seconds. I don't really count time when loading my brush. This was plenty of soap for a 3-pass shave.
![IMG_20180522_072122122[1].jpg](https://xfdata.badgerandblade.com/attachments/617/617398-168341a066b2f93ab68af88d9a0a9712.jpg "IMG_20180522_072122122[1].jpg")
I wet my face and proceeded to face later. This is not a particularly thirsty soap. The lather came together very quickly. I did dip my brush tips a couple of more times to see if it could take more water, which it did. The lather did not explode in volume nor collapse in a bubbly mess. But, just from working the brush against my face, I cold tell it was wonderfully slick. I do have moderately hard to hard water, and there are many well-regarded soaps that fail to produce a slick lather for me. Irish Naturals, did not fail this test. The lather was very slick, and more importantly, left a robust residual slickness for buffing. I have used slicker soaps, but but not by much. It was a little thinner than I prefer, but lather thickness is less important to me than slickness and postshave. The woody citrus scent faded a little, but was was still present and pleasant throughout the shave.
3 passes later and I had a close BBS shave. I did have a few weepers on my neck, as to be expected with a fresh feather blade. The alum block gave me significant feedback on my neck, as to be expected with a fresh Feather blade.
After the shave I squeezed the remaining lather out of the brush to better gauge its density and cushion. I had about enough left over for 4th pass, not that I would ever risk a 4th pass. The lather was a little bubbly, but it was the dregs from the middle of the brush, and it would still form soft peaks. The lather on my face, on the other hand was not noticeably bubbly. Pressing the lather between my palms, it demonstrated noticeable resistance. The consistency was sort of a soft whipped-cream. This may not have been the most cushiony lather, but it was perfectly sufficient for my needs.
![IMG_20180522_073350420[1].jpg](https://xfdata.badgerandblade.com/attachments/617/617402-2fa4c5954998c50f4eeb6f94fb673e5b.jpg "IMG_20180522_073350420[1].jpg")
The one area where this soap may fall short for me is in moisturizing. Once I had rinsed off the alum, applied a splash of Clubman Vanilla, and a dollop of Suavecito tea tree post-shave balm, my face felt a little tight. I applied a second dose of balm, and it was right as rain. I did leave the alum on longer than usual while taking pictures, so I will reserve final judgement for later in the week. I'm curious to see if the seaweed varieties feel different post-shaving. Looking at my bowl, I probably have enough soap there for 2 or 3 more shaves. Only time will tell if I manage to test all three soaps.
For my shave, I scooped about half a teaspoon of the Natural Shaving Soap and pressed it into a Yuzu Tenmoku style Japanese rice bowl (A knock-off I picked up for a few bucks on eBay). This is my usual MO for samples as it gives me ample surface area for loading my brush. I used Vitos menthol pre-shave, a Rudy Rudy Vey beehive brush with 24mm Shavemac 2-band silvertip knot, an iKon OSS razor head affixed to a Facon stainless steel handle, and a fresh Feather blade.
I shook all of the excess water from my well hydrated brush, touched the tips to the water in my sink (this gives me a controlled and consistent amount of water for loading) and proceeded to load from my bowl. The soap loaded easily in about 20 or 30 seconds. I don't really count time when loading my brush. This was plenty of soap for a 3-pass shave.
I wet my face and proceeded to face later. This is not a particularly thirsty soap. The lather came together very quickly. I did dip my brush tips a couple of more times to see if it could take more water, which it did. The lather did not explode in volume nor collapse in a bubbly mess. But, just from working the brush against my face, I cold tell it was wonderfully slick. I do have moderately hard to hard water, and there are many well-regarded soaps that fail to produce a slick lather for me. Irish Naturals, did not fail this test. The lather was very slick, and more importantly, left a robust residual slickness for buffing. I have used slicker soaps, but but not by much. It was a little thinner than I prefer, but lather thickness is less important to me than slickness and postshave. The woody citrus scent faded a little, but was was still present and pleasant throughout the shave.
3 passes later and I had a close BBS shave. I did have a few weepers on my neck, as to be expected with a fresh feather blade. The alum block gave me significant feedback on my neck, as to be expected with a fresh Feather blade.
After the shave I squeezed the remaining lather out of the brush to better gauge its density and cushion. I had about enough left over for 4th pass, not that I would ever risk a 4th pass. The lather was a little bubbly, but it was the dregs from the middle of the brush, and it would still form soft peaks. The lather on my face, on the other hand was not noticeably bubbly. Pressing the lather between my palms, it demonstrated noticeable resistance. The consistency was sort of a soft whipped-cream. This may not have been the most cushiony lather, but it was perfectly sufficient for my needs.
The one area where this soap may fall short for me is in moisturizing. Once I had rinsed off the alum, applied a splash of Clubman Vanilla, and a dollop of Suavecito tea tree post-shave balm, my face felt a little tight. I applied a second dose of balm, and it was right as rain. I did leave the alum on longer than usual while taking pictures, so I will reserve final judgement for later in the week. I'm curious to see if the seaweed varieties feel different post-shaving. Looking at my bowl, I probably have enough soap there for 2 or 3 more shaves. Only time will tell if I manage to test all three soaps.
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- #79
I had my 4th shave with the Natural Irish this morning and finished off the approx 1/2 teaspoon sample. 4 very good shaves. I have to walk back an earlier observation, the soap does not dry me out. It probably isn't moisturizing enough for me to use it through Winter, but I use several other 3-season soaps. I would not be ashamed to add this soap to my collection.
Based on the weight of my sample, I estimate that a full tin would get me about 80 shaves. Thats about 3 months of shaves for me for $14 before shipping. I don't have many datapoints for comparison, but it seems a reasonable price for a very good soap scented with only essential oils, without artificial fragrances.
This is another thing that should not be overlooked. They list all of the component essential oils on the label. I applaud that choice. Too few soapmakers do it. I have reactions to some soaps. I can't tell for certain what it is I'm alergic to. But, if soapmakers would list their scent components I could figure it out and know what to avoid.
Based on the weight of my sample, I estimate that a full tin would get me about 80 shaves. Thats about 3 months of shaves for me for $14 before shipping. I don't have many datapoints for comparison, but it seems a reasonable price for a very good soap scented with only essential oils, without artificial fragrances.
This is another thing that should not be overlooked. They list all of the component essential oils on the label. I applaud that choice. Too few soapmakers do it. I have reactions to some soaps. I can't tell for certain what it is I'm alergic to. But, if soapmakers would list their scent components I could figure it out and know what to avoid.
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