Gentlemen's Best Signature Line Shaving Soap

I don't leave reviews that often but i felt the need to rate Rays Gentlemens Best. With the help of this soap i am starting to realize i prefer soaps over creams. His Signature serirs has a very manly scent. The Chilled version has a citrus smell to it. I love the wood bowls it comes in. I highly recommend this product.

I may have made a mistake when i used Gentlemen's best as my first real soap. It makes rich mounds of lather that don't dry easily and gives me a shave like i never thought i would get.

The smell of GB signature series awakens my girlfriend in the morning with a smile when i kiss her good bye and i catch myself smelling my hands until the scent fades.

Before I get into the actual review of the product, I will tell you that I'm friends with Ray. I struggled with my opinion of this product for a while. Because he's a friend, I wondered if I liked this because of my friendship, or if I really like it based on merit. So, While I was wrestling with those issues, I came to a realization about a week ago (I'm over 3 weeks into my experience with it). The fact that I've used only one other soap since I got the Gentlemen's Best Signature Series soap helped me realize that the soap is THAT good. There's no way that I'd continue to use this product out of a friendship with someone that has no way of knowing if I actually was using it or just telling him what he wanted to hear. I have a LOT of really good soaps in my shave den, and I just keep reaching for this one every day... I think there might be something wrong with me

For reference, I'm very stingy with my numbers in ratings feeling that 10s are reserved for the top 1% of products and 5s are for middle of the road products. I've given products that I really like a 78%, which I consider to be a nice score. I try to avoid hyperbole, but I know I'm not perfect in that regard either. With that frame of reference, let's begin

Price: At first glance, I thought the $22 was too expensive for this soap (before I used it ). Then I got a chance to use it, and realized that this soap is every bit as good as any soap on the market. After 3 weeks of almost exclusive use, I'm just starting to notice some signs of use. It's a cold process veggie based soap, so I'm still not sure about longevity. However, The performance, the scent, plus the fact that Ray (I'm assuming he does this himself) uses a laser to engrave his nice wood bowls more than justifies the price. Whatever potential value concerns there might be in the soap and bowl is MORE than made up for with a $8.50 refill. I have paid $30+ for refill pucks before. Price = 9

Quality: This soap performs every bit as well as ANY product that is currently on the market. It took me a little bit of time to work out the soap to water ratio, but in fairness, I was breaking in a new boar brush at the time. I'm not sure how to separate quality from efficacy, but here's my thoughts. It has a great scent (complex which is surprisingly so for a small start up business with their first attempt), it performs exceptionally well, and comes in a nice wood bowl. What more can you ask for? Quality = 9 because it's not quite to the level of Penhaligon's old formula English Fern, but it's very nice

Scent: This is obviously very subjective, but it just so happens that I really like this scent. I'm picking up on sweet orange, Oak Moss, and Bergamot... I'm sure there are other components, but I'm not a hound dog... There is a complexity to the scent that is reminiscent of DR Harris's Arlington. NOTE: THIS DOESN'T SMELL LIKE ARLINGTON AT ALL. It just has complexity that reminds me of it. It is an "up close" scent that my wife really enjoys as well. Scent = 10

Lather: Pics are needed

After loading



Lathered up and ready to go


Note the tall self supporting peaks and the consistency of yogurt. This soap lathers up just like you would expect from a top notch product. Lather = 10

Efficacy: I told my brother one time, "you don't shave with your eyes". I feel that a lot of times guys judge a product based on how good the lather looks. Via PM, I discussed with one member how he was disappointed because he had a product that lathered up really well but shaved terribly. You won't have that problem with this. Some of you guys might know that I don't care for Tabac (from a performance perspective - I actually like the scent), so it may come as no surprise that I think the GB blows it away. However, hopefully it will serve as a way for some to judge my standards. Loads of cushion and super slick... Efficacy = 9

Moisturizing: We are having an unnaturally cold winter, and I'm using this stuff daily and not having any issues with my face drying out. In fact, my face feels great, moisturized, and healthy. More so than just about anything else I've tried. Moisturizing = 9

Conclusion: This product is THAT good in my humble opinion. I love the scent and the performance has not surprised me at all. Some of you know that Sue manufactures this stuff for Ray, and she should be commended on executing his vision and formula. She has nice stuff anyway, but I think this is better than anything else of hers that I've tried. Like I asked in the title, is this an AD killer? I have used a lot of stuff, but I've not used anything this consistently since starting my wetshaving journey (started with Tabac and Proraso Cream early on). It is exceptional in my opinion, and well worth adding to any shave den.

I feel like I've been fair with this review based on the merits of the product itself, but bear in mind that he and I are friends and weigh my opinions with that understanding. Also, bear in mind that I'm working on my 4th week of SOTDs with only one variable: the razor. Every shave has been consistently Gentlemen's Best Soap, AS, and EdT with my Semogue LE '09 boar brush



Discussion thread for this review found HERE

I'll cut to the chase, I've used this shave soap exclusively for two months now.

The quality of the shave is unparalleled.

I wasn't too impressed with the initial lather I got so I came back to the B&B, found a few details that helped me lather it better. Lather is good to great when worked a bit. Re-lather on the face with a little water on the brush is easy.

The scent has women around me asking what it is and where it can be found... Fellas... get the hint... The ladies like it!!! I personally like the clean scent. Reminds me of laundry off the line in the country... (not cow country either)

I have used this soap almost every day since the beginning of December and I'm not quite half way through it. Its yield makes it a great value.

Quality/ price/ scent/ lather/ moisture... All of it right on the money!!! A must have in your mug or bowl

I was lucky enough to receive a Shave Stick of Ray ( Thirdeye's ) Gentlemen's Best Shave Soap.

I must admit that I'm not that fond of non-tallow soaps. I find that they tend to not lather as well and dry out too quickly ( though that my be my lathering skills ). Really in terms of non-tallows, La Toja is the only one in my every day rotation with the Col Conk range sometimes seeing very infrequent use.

Firstly let me say I love the scent of the GB. I'm not really good at describing smells, but too me it's spicey with hint of citrus. Not overpoweringly so , probably less than say Tabac or La Toja and certainly not as citrusy as Arko.

Fantastic "old style" scent.

The lather itself is very nice. Not quite as thick and lush as a tallow soap but definitely a nice cushioning and slick lather. I've been using it while learning straight shaving, and I was hesitant to change from my "standard" Tabac, , but it was not a problem at all.

Change to a DE, again not an issue in the world, nice lather, cushiony and slick !

It's a much softer soap than the triple milleds like Tabac or MWF so I'll be interested to see how many shaves the stick lasts me for.

All in all this will now join my rotation along with the ( much more highly regarded ) tallow soaps .

I have no reservations about recommending this soap and supporting a fellow B&B member

This is a fantastic soap at a fantastic price. The selling point for this soap (and the entire Gentlemen's Best Signature Series) is the fantastic scent.

Gentlemen's Best describes this scent as a mixture of Sweet Orange, Bergamot, Oak Moss with a base note of Sandalwood. It opens with the crisp snap of citrus then drys down to a wonderfully warm, up close scent. This description applies well to the entire line.

Price - I often say you get what you pay for. When it comes to Gentlemen's Best you get much more than the price would indicate. This is a little over $20 in the wooden bowl and is well worth the coinage.

Quality - This is a fantastic soap. Though not a hard triple milled soap and not a tallow based soap it performs with the very best of them.

Scent - I summed this up in the beginning. I describe the scent as what I'd imagine a wealthy refined gentlemen would wear. This soap smells like it should be exclusive to the worlds millionaires. I've gotten many compliments from women of all ages (as young as 19 and old as late 30's) and they always ask where to get it. This is a very nice refined scent.

Lather - It is extremely easy to achieve a great lather with this soap. Its softer nature makes it easy to lather. This would be a fantastic soap for someone making the transition to soaps from creams. That said, any veteran of soaps would appreciate this fine shaving soap as well.

Efficacy - This is a very effective shaving soap. Plenty of rich, creamy lather while providing the glide you need for a smooth shave.

Moisturizing - This soap always leaves my skin feeling smooth and healthy. I have normal skin (not dry or oily) so I can't say how it would work for someone with either of those skin types though I suspect it would perform wonderfully!

Take a look at my other reviews and you'll see I rate GB nearly as high as GFT (one of my absolute favorites)! This is a hit!

I received a order from Ray Fournier (Third Eye) at Gentlemens Best just shortly after he opened. I purchased the Shave Soap, Cream, and AS in his "Gentlemen's Best" signature line. I have not used the cream but for one shave... so a review on that will come later. I waited to finish Tabactober, and I am now sorry I did.

Price: The price of the wooden bowl is 22.50. A bit more then Tabac in a ceramic, but well worth it. A replacement puck sells for 8.50

Quality: The soap seems well made, and well-packaged.

Scent: This is where the soap makes marks in my view. Citrusy(is that a word) with hints of Sandlewood. Has a hint of powder as well. Overall a very pleasent smell.

Lather: The lather is Fantastic. Nice and thick, whipped up with a 4 swirl on the puck with a rooney 1/3. 2 Minutes in the bowl and mounds of thick peaked lather. Very easy to lather !!!!! Has moved me away from creams because of the ease

Efficacy: Throughout the shave, the lather provided a lot of cushion and glide. It worked very well. I have used it with both a DE and a Str8, both with the same great results

Moisturising: No drying at all. Skin felt smooth and hydrated after the shaves


Overall a great product. Works great with DE's and Straights. If you have shaving problems with this soap, it has to be technique as it can't be the lather. I highly recomment this product.