Czech & Speake No 88 Shaving Soap

Bottom line, this soap will get smashed due to it's price. There are many, many products out there that will perform as well or better for a fraction of it's asking price. Poraso for one. Having said that I droped the one ounce Puck into my mug and without much effort I was rewarded with thick lather. This soap did as well as Poraso but better in that it rinsed cleaner between shaves for the second and third passes. Overall a stellar product- value wise not so good.

This is a tallow soap made by Valobra in Italy. It is a superb product overall, lathers magnificently, and if you happen to like the scent it's a great addition in your den. Myself I did not like the scent and ended up PIFing the puck.

The (optional) case it comes with is nice but terribly expensive.

I had purchased Czech & Speake No. 88 3x25 gr travel dish version 2 weeks ago. After the test drive I must say I love the soap actually. It gives a smooth shave but with some issues. Let's check these on topics one by one.

Price: The price that I paid was £7($11) plus £4($6) shipping. It did not hurt me but the original price is little high from other good soaps.(I have no word for black bowl)

Quality: Its quality is top notched. Valobra does a fine job if he really makes. For packaging, it looks like marble and it represents the soap.

Scent: I fall in love the scent. I think their notes come from terebinth(turpentine) oil, bergamot with some rosey essences. IMHO it smells like BITTIM Soap(their color looks a like and I use it for pre-shave)

Lather: This part is a bit tricky. The lather dries little quickly. My first try is a disaster. However there is a right water ratio which you have to learn. For example when I was on my 3rd pass, the lather was started to evaporate until I swirled the lather in the bowl with adding water again. But I think this problem will have solved on face lathering.

Efficacy: It gives a great feeling. The razor glides on your face smoothly. In my first use I prefer a little used(dull) blade and there was no pulling or cuts,nicks. After this I had gone with Feather as I can see real tallow difference. Perfect BBS guaranteed.

Moisturizing: Well, I have a normal-to-oily skin and I had no drying issue. I prefer Alum or alcohol free AS.

I've used the Czech and Speake Shaving Soap No.88 for several years now and enjoy it immensely. However, I am not going to be using it anymore. C & S has now priced itself way out of my market. I used to buy it here in the US for about $34, but now it costs several dollars more. Good soap -yes, but certainly not worth the price.

But this is not surprising. If you've ever looked at the items C & S offers online, you will know why. A small porcelain cup with brass holder for the bathroom costs about $350. One can buy quite a lot of Dixicups for that amount of money. Other items are also comparably priced.

Now I have one of C & S's black glass shaving bowls and no soap for it. Sure, there are other soaps, but none that fits it perfectly. Too bad there isn't a wholesale outlet for purchasing the soaps.

Quailrunner

OK - I'll admit it. I am a huge fan of the No 88 scent! Based on the folks that I've spoken to; this is basically a love it or hate it type of situation. So, please view this opinion from the camp that LOVES it....

That said:

At $39, this soap probably has to be the worst soap value that I can remember purchasing. If you have the scratch to buy it in it's (pictured) black glass bowl; that combination will set you back a total of $89 plus shipping!

Now that the 'elephant in the corner' has been exposed; let me tell you about this very nice shave soap:

It comes double-wrapped in some type of embossed parchment paper and the smell of the soap is readily evident when you open the shipping box. Never have foam packing peanuts smelled so nice!

At 90 grams, it's a fairly average sized "puck" that fits into my uber-classy Gladware dish.

The soap is a tallow-based soap. Light gray in color with the "Czech & Speake No 88" logo deeply embossed in the top of the soap round.

At first I use my SMF #1 brush and a bit of warm water and the lather explodes out of this soap. It smells fabulous (again, if you like #88 to begin with). The smell is definitely THERE, but not overpowering. I find that it is the consumate amount of scent for "layering" with the EdT.

While not as hard as Tabac, it seems hard enough to last quite a while. I've shaved with it three times now (4 passes each) and there is still a slight hint of the logo stamp on the top of the soap.

The lubrication is very nice (as nice and basically any other soap I've used). It does provide a great shave due to what I suspect is the shea butter in the mix. However, for the price - Honeybee Spa soap will give you at LEAST this good a shave - just not with the #88 scent that I adore.

Consider this review "taking one for the team." I bit the bullet so you don't have to... This is in no way a castigation of the product, simply the product's price point.