Crabtree and Evelyn sandalwood soap

When I first received this soap from my wife, I could not get it to lather. I tried it on and off for almost a year being frustrated every time I went to use it. Then one day I grabbed my cheap boar (I had tried both badger and boar with no success) and things changed. I had my usual bad lather, but then I went back to the soap to load the brush again, and WOW!

The lather from the soap was so creamy and thick, it was probably one of the best I had ever gotten from any soap! (That includes QED, Mama Bear's, Tabac) This is now my main soap I use and I love it. Good job C&E!

All you need is some patience, but once you figure it out..you will be richly rewarded!

After reading all of the comments, I realized the reason the acronym YMMV is used so often on here...

I can see where sandalwood purists would be disappointed with the scent. It is more of a clean, soapy mild scent with just a touch of sandalwood or an almost almond-like smell. I bought it for that reason - the other C&E soaps were too sharp for my liking first thing in the morning. I like a more gentle aroma surrounding me.

As for the lather, I was STUNNED to hear people saying they have a hard time lathering this soap. I have a Rooney's finest and it seemed like the soap erupted into lather the second the brush touched it. Technique probably makes a difference here. I tend to use a decent amount of water and this soap LOVES, CRAVES, D-E-M-A-N-D-S water and lots of it.

As for the moisturizing, YMMV yet again. My first impression with the soap was wow, what a lather beast. My second impression was holy cow, a soap with some substance. No doubt I feel a richness to the soap like many creams. I feel a moisturizing effect and none of the dry skin others mention. Just goes to show how personal grooming products are and how they vary based on a person's "chemistry."

I agree the soap could be a little slicker and provide better glide. For $8 a puck, I don't expect to have to add a dab of cream to make a super lather. Since I already had some glycerin, I applied that to my face and the results were better, though I don't have a hard time picturing this soap causing many a razor to skip. Still, with proper care, it can perform quite well.

Time will tell with more uses, but with a little adjustment and experimentation I can see this being a very pleasant go-to shave. I dare say I get better results with this soap by itself than with high quality creams by themselves (I've been making a super lather with VDH deluxe and either JM Fraser or Jermyn St) More experimentation required, but the shaves have been similar.

All in all, a workhorse of a soap. I would call this a blue collar luxury product and am glad I tried it on a whim while picking up a bottle of West Indian Limes

All of this, except the scent part, is the same as my other C&E reviews so bare with me.

Price - I got this along with the other scents, sandalwood and Nomad for less than $30 total since they had buy 2 get 1 and 20% off so the price was beyond excellent for 3 soaps in bowls.

Quality - I think it's a very nice quality soap and the bowl it comes in is also well made.

Scent - The scent is definitely sandalwood and isn't super strong that it will make you wince. I think C&E got a good balance here and it lingers for a while afterward but I don't think it'll clash with anything.

Lather - I let this soap sit with some water in it then mix lather in my scuttle with that water and soap and I get a good amount of lather every time. Pretty easy to lather for me and it doesn't dry off even in the time it takes me to strop my str8.

Efficacy - Lather lasts for a long time in the scuttle and doesn't disappear. Slick and gives me a nice clean shave.

Moisturizing - I don't know that there is that much moisturizing in the soap but I have oily skin naturally and my face still feels soft after using it so it works for me.

lather dried really quick i will never buy this soap again besides the smell thats the only thing thats good about it i think thats my opinion

I tried this soap for the first time last night and I would have to agree with things stated in the prior comment regarding this soap, good and bad. Not altogether a negative experience but it did lack the cushion and moisturizing properties of the top of the line soaps and close attention was required as far as lathering. I would use it again though.

Price: 8 for a puck and 18 with a nice teak bowl.
Quality: Nice hard soap. I got the bowl with this one and it is very handsome and cleanly produced.
Scent: The sandalwood is definitely there but it is on the sweeter side. I don't really detect much chemical odor unlike the Nomad. Enjoyable.
Lather: Thick and easy to produce.
Efficacy: Nice slick lather but still not much cushion.
Moisturizing: I actually got good moisture from this one.

I've used the Nomad also, but this one I think is better. If it had better cushion (this is the non tallow) it would probably be a wonderful soap.

I've used this soap for about a year now, on and off. I find it just OK, although it certainly isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination.

The scent is average, a little woody and spicy, but the (what I am assuming is) the smell of the soap itself rounds out and slightly covers the scent more than I like. I personally prefer my sandalwood products unabashedly woody and spicy whatever their take on 'sandalwood', a la QED or Taylor cream. If you want something softer, this might be an option. Maybe it's just my nose.

Scent issues aside, I just don't get the best shaves from this. It was my second hard soap (after Williams), and it seemed great at the time, but after using Tabac and QED lime (admittedly a melt n' pour variety) this no longer measures up. The lather dries out and thins up more quickly on my face than the aforementioned products, and it isn't as slick either. I still get a respectable shave, but I definitely feel it more.

It is fairly well priced though, I think I picked it up for around $8 locally. It was a while ago, I can't really remember. For a few bucks more, I'll take Tabac though.

A nice soap. Gives a good shave and is quite protective against nics and cuts. I find it lubricates resonably well, I don't experience much skipping at all, unless I make the lather too think...it is a bit of a thirsty soap.

I have started face lathering with soaps using my new omega boar brush and as I keep adding water, this soap performs quite well.

The scent is fantastic. A bit too harsh when you smell the puck but when lathered up, its subtle and very nice, although a tad bit too smokey for my liking, I would have preferred a slightly sweeter sandalwood.

The price is great. I paid full price ($10 per puck) before C&E cleared them out at 50% off but even then I think $10 for a 100gram hard puck is fantastic value. I milled the soap into a stainless steel container and after many uses, it has barely put a dent in it, so value is great.

It doesn't dry out my skin or add anything, pretty neutral.

I bought 3 refill pucks of this soap for about 5 bucks each so can't complain about the price. This soap lathers up beautifully with my Omega Professional boar. The scent is lovely and I get a good shave from it and it doesn't dry my skin. A decent product.

The one thing that I have found with C&E soaps is that the efficacy is a bit lacking. If thr efficacy was improved this would be a top soap to shave with. The sent of all soaps are great and the moisturizing properties are also effective.

As a note; being a new shaver still I noticed that combining the soap with a cream--the results are great. I'm sure the same is true with any soap but it seems the cream is what brings the combo to the top. The cream alone is another review .

I have used this soap for 20 years along with an old boar hair brush and a sensor razor.

I recently made the jump to a Merkur Futur razor and a Shavemac 177 brush. I shave my head too so it does take some work to get a decent lather with this soap.

I agree with the comments about lack of lubrication. I hadn't noticed with a sensor, but with the Futur it chatters horribly on my face. I will try it again once I get my hands on a stiffer brush, but with the Shavemac it is more work than I care for. I recently tried Proraso cream for the first time and the lather I get is fantastic compared to the C&E soap. Now that I have something to compare it to, I do find that the soap leaves my face feeling dry.

The scent is fine and quite subtle, but I think I will put it aside for now and enjoy shaving with creams instead.

A good soap, did not get the irritation experienced by some. Scent is very light once lathered. Does the job well, though must say that I think it being discontinued (???) is not going to be such a big deal. I won't cry when it is gone, haha.

- Aaron

As the first soap I bought as a DE newbie, I thought this was a pretty good soap. I had no trouble getting lots of thick lather with my C&E BBB and the razor seemed to like gliding through it, and my wife and I both love the scent.

The only drawback for me is the fact that my face is too sensitive for it and after the second pass, it starts to burn. However, I haven't given up on it and still use it occasionally - mixed with an unscented cream (currently KMF) to dilute the essential oils, I can tolerate it as a once-in-a-while shave soap and will probably keep it in a rotation.

I’m mixed on this soap. I think it is a good value as the puck is large and hard milled. The scent is nice but a bit too sweet IMHO. I’m able to get a very thick lather but the lubrication is only so so. I feel that this soap not as good as many creams that I have used. In addition, it is not as good as other pucks. In fact I think the inexpensive Colonel Conk Almond does a better job overall than this soap. I probably would not buy it again. With that said, I don’t think that it is a terrible product, but there are better ones out there.

Disclaimer: Not only is this my first hard milled soap (I have mostly used glycerin) so I have no Idea what the T’s feel like but I prefer a nice bowl lather with a cream and my Essential.
I put up my Essential for the first time sense it arrived and got out the trusty C&E BBB, after building a good paste on my brush I starting making lather in my bowl . In a few quick swipes around I had gobs of thick lather that I quickly applied to my face, a little dry but I thought it was ok, the shave was marginal at best- all the while the razor was not very cushioned. Second pass I added more water and the difference was night and day, I was completely impressed and had another great pass (ATG even). This soap did a great job for me after I figured out the ratio.
As to the scent, the smell is very strong and on par with any Sandalwood I’ve experienced, and the lather seems to have a hint of sandalwood that I enjoyed very much. I believe I will be using this soap again.

While I agree that this soap is unfairly maligned, I do feel that the lather requires a great deal of work to create and that its lubricity is less than other similarly priced soaps. Tabac and Cade are within its price category and they are both superior in terms of both lubricity and ease of lather creation. Although, C&E Sandalwood is well worth the price, I feel that there are better options in this price category, Tabac & Cade are good examples.

I feel that comparing this soap with creams is unfair and not a valid comparison. Soaps act differently than creams and require more work (although not all that much) to create a rich, wet lather.

I used to be very critical of this soap, but with a little bit of effort I was able to get amazing results. Basically, I had to learn how to properly make lather for this soap, the soaps and creams I had previously used did not require the effort. That's why I followed this procedure:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136

I just bought a puck of this (on sale at 50% off as my understanding is that they are retiring the sandalwood range or at least parts of it). I bought this for two reasons - nostalgia, as this was my very first shaving soap and two, the price was right - for $12.50 I got a soap in one of the nice C&E wooden bolws.

On to the review:

Price - even at $8.00 for a nice large replacement puck or $25 for a puck in a wooden bowl, this represents good value. For comparison purposes, two pucks of Williams costs me around $6, a puck of TOBS runs around $15 and a puck of Trumper or Harris around $18 - $19.

Quality - this is clearly a quality soap with lots of good ingredients. The packaging is better than most and the bowl is quite nice for the price - not the nicest out there, but not bad either.

Scent - I like the C&E sandalwood - it is a dry woody scent with burnt/toasted notes. While I find the shaving cream version of the sandalwood to be too strongly scented, the soap is just right for me. The scent is present upon opening the bowl and during the shave, but dissipates quickly. While I find the Floris sandalwood to be an all-season scent, I associate the deeper/toasty notes of the C&E variant to be more fall/winter - there are other notes as well, so I don't consider this a "pure" sandalwood, but in this case, I don't think this is a bad thing.

Lather - this soap loads up and lathers well. I face lather and had no issues getting 3 passes with nice thick, creamy lather. I did have to dip the tips of my brush and work up the lather a bit between passes, but this is common. I used this with a couple of good soap brushes (one in pure and one in Simpsons best hair) and had no problems making good lather right out of the box. If you can make good lather with any hard soap, this one shouldn't pose any issues for you.

Efficacy - I put the shave at slightly above average. Unfortunately, this soap doesn't provide the glide of many of the higher end soaps. I don't notice this on the with and across the grain passes, but do notice a lack of glide on the against the grain pass and when doing some touch up with water. I notice this with many of the veggie soaps (including the reformulated Trumpers soaps), the absence of my beloved tallow is noticeable when it comes to performance. Still, I will happily use this soap as it does give good shaves - I suspect that the use of a pre-shave oil (which I don't use) would go a long way in addressing this issue.

Moisturizing - again, this is where the abscence of tallow becomes noticeable. I don't look to my soaps to moisturize, however, this soap does seem to leave my skin drier/tighter than others. This isn't an issue in the spring/summer, but could be an issue during dry winter months or for folks with dry skin.

Over all, I think this is a good, but not great soap. If you're curious, now's the time to buy a puck if you have acess to a B&M store - you can likely find a refill for around $4 - $5 or the soap in the bowl for arond $12 - $13 - if you choose the soap in a bowl, you're basically getting the soap for free, as the bowl alone is worth at least that much.

I've compared this soap to the C&E Sienna cream. Before this soap I thought the cream was better (due to the reviews in B&B), but I was willing to try the soap. Compared with each other I have to confess that I prefer the soap. Lather looks and feels better. Firm peaks, well moisturized

The only downside of this soap is the scent. It's not bad, but it's not that good either. Together with this soap I purchased the aftershave balm and the difference is huge. Those two combined and the scent is awesome! This soap/asb combo will definatly get alot of use in my routine.

I got this shaving soap as a gift from my wife. At first I was not too impressed, however, it certainly has grown on me since using it. It lathers very well especially if you use a larger bowl rather than a small cup. I found it very easy to shave with and the smell was just fantastic. Lingers on for quite a bit. What I especially love about this shaving soap is that it must contain some ingredient that really opens up the pores and the hair just sticks right out since I found I got an especially closer shave than other shaving soaps. On the downside, due to my having very sensitive skin, it does irritate a bit my skin but having said that I still plan to use it since it gives me such a wonderful, professional shave. No doubt this is a top-notch, high-quality product.