Item Description
I daresay that most of us have plenty of soaps appropriate for preparing ourselves for a visit to a house of ill repute. Rose, lavender, and violet scents abound. But what if your day’s agenda includes capping a burning oil well, or capturing a dangerous criminal? Will your present soaps really prepare you for a day of such “macho” pursuits? Would John Wayne use your soap?
Grandpa’s Wonder Pine Tar Soap may be just what you need.
I saw this in a catalog and just had to buy a few bars. It claimed to be good for shaving. This stuff has been made in Kentucky since 1878. The boxes I got proudly proclaim “125th anniversary.” The box is a fun read, so I’ll quote from it.
The bar of soap itself is black as sin. It says on the front of the box “Lathers White” and I guess the lather does look white if you look at it against the jet black soap. However, if you look at the lather on the razor it is a dirty brown.
The aroma is, shall I say, unique. It reminds me of a road crew laying hot asphalt. I guess that’s the natural scent of pine tar. The box says “no fragrance added” and I can believe it.
The soap comes in bath soap size bars so I lathered up right on the bar. It created a decent lather on the bar, so on to my face. The smell was a bit of a shock, but I steeled myself and did it. I lathered up, and after stropping my straight razor came back to the mirror to see that many of the bubbles had popped in the lather and it was considerably thinner in many places. So another swipe with the brush to build the lather, and off to the shave.
It did give a good shave. After shaving and my customary splashes with cold water and witch hazel, my face felt a little tighter than usual. I thought it was going to be drying on my face from that feeling, but as the hours passed the dryness failed to materialize. My face stayed soft, similar to shaving with a soap with shea butter.
The soap shaves well, if you don’t mind having to relather once in a while.
I thought about giving it a zero for scent. The aroma is so very different that it may transcend bad, go around the corner past infinity to good, and attain the realm of something really, really different. So I gave it a 10.
It may be worth a try, just so you can say you did it. I’ve placed one of my bars in a glass Anchor-Hocking tub as part of my regular rotation.
The other bars … well I have a teenaged daughter and I think I’ll put one of the jet black, smelly bars in the bathtub soap dish for her enjoyment!
Grandpa’s Wonder Pine Tar Soap may be just what you need.
I saw this in a catalog and just had to buy a few bars. It claimed to be good for shaving. This stuff has been made in Kentucky since 1878. The boxes I got proudly proclaim “125th anniversary.” The box is a fun read, so I’ll quote from it.
The bar of soap itself is black as sin. It says on the front of the box “Lathers White” and I guess the lather does look white if you look at it against the jet black soap. However, if you look at the lather on the razor it is a dirty brown.
The aroma is, shall I say, unique. It reminds me of a road crew laying hot asphalt. I guess that’s the natural scent of pine tar. The box says “no fragrance added” and I can believe it.
The soap comes in bath soap size bars so I lathered up right on the bar. It created a decent lather on the bar, so on to my face. The smell was a bit of a shock, but I steeled myself and did it. I lathered up, and after stropping my straight razor came back to the mirror to see that many of the bubbles had popped in the lather and it was considerably thinner in many places. So another swipe with the brush to build the lather, and off to the shave.
It did give a good shave. After shaving and my customary splashes with cold water and witch hazel, my face felt a little tighter than usual. I thought it was going to be drying on my face from that feeling, but as the hours passed the dryness failed to materialize. My face stayed soft, similar to shaving with a soap with shea butter.
The soap shaves well, if you don’t mind having to relather once in a while.
I thought about giving it a zero for scent. The aroma is so very different that it may transcend bad, go around the corner past infinity to good, and attain the realm of something really, really different. So I gave it a 10.
It may be worth a try, just so you can say you did it. I’ve placed one of my bars in a glass Anchor-Hocking tub as part of my regular rotation.
The other bars … well I have a teenaged daughter and I think I’ll put one of the jet black, smelly bars in the bathtub soap dish for her enjoyment!
