La Toja shaving soap

Those who remember, I used this stick as a "reality check" when I was using the De Vergulde Hand shave stick (DVH). The lather was sub-par to the DVH and I always highly regarded the LaToja as a great stick. That one shave changed my opinion on the stick. This is why I found important to use it for 30 days so that way, I can really conclude that I had a bad shave or the stick is really inferior to other products.

The first time I bought the stick, I was in Australia. I got it from Vintage Scent and it took a while to get to me. It's nothing against Vintage Scent as the stamp recorded at the post office clearly indicated that it was in the mail the next day that I bought it. It just took a long time to get to me but only the postal service can be blamed for this. I got the stick I found it to have a strong coffee scent. I was surprised as that scent is not the one that I always see being described when I read a review. I used it a few times (11 times to be exact) and thought, yes, it makes good later (the first 10 times) and then, wow (11th time), what happened? The water changed!

That's right, the first 10 times I was in Melbourne and I am now in Montreal so the water is not the same. I did not encounter such a difference with my products from one city to another until now.

I also decided to buy another one of those as I was wondering if the scent was off. I got one from Italian Barber and the scent is fairly identical to what I remember(and leftover stick from the Vintage Scent). Today, the old LaToja that I have doesn't have a strong scent anymore. It's still there but not nearly like the new one I got.

This 30 days of shave with LaToja made me realise that water plays a huge role in this stick. I had to work a bit harder to get the lather to be like I want it. Also, I noticed that my blades were getting duller quicker. It's not a bad product, I can get good lather out of it. It's simply not as good as recent sticks that I tried like Wilkinson Sword, Tabac, Speick and even De Vergulde Hand. It's unfortunate but that's how it is I guess.

I did a superlather test with some kiss my face lime. It was fantastic (always is with that shave cream). The uberlather was pushed this stick to the next level, the glide was awesome. Without a shave cream or glycerin, the LaToja is no match against Wilkinson Sword stick.

Bottom line, it's a good soap if your local water allows you to work this one easily. In Melbourne I could, in Montreal it's more difficult. This is why I will pass next time. They can't all be fantastic and great!

This is my favorite shave stick, and it sits in my medicine cabinet above the sink I use for shaving. I really like the container design with the cap for storage. I get quality lather from this, in large amounts too. The downside would be it is pricier than some of the budget shave sticks out there ( Arko, Palmolive). I also like the really unique scent of La Toja. I can't really make a comparison scent wise. I will re-order this when it runs out. Thumbs Up!

La Toja is up there with Palmolive in terms of value. I normally don't like using sticks. However, this stick is easy to apply and with a little brush loading as well it is a lather bomb. The lather is slick and protective. Along with MdC, La Toja seems to be a fairly moisturizing soap which is surprising considering neither contain tallow. I didn't care for the scent at first but have come to really like it now.

The lather was creamy, shiny, moist, thick, had the desirable yogurt like appearance, loads easier than any soap I've tried so far, which has been many, in stick form or grated in bowl and loaded with brush with just a few swirls.

Arko is great, La Toja is better.

I have 2 shaving sticks I love. One is Sir Irisch Moos. The other is La Toja. Beautiful fool-proof lather that is quickly applied. Moist your face, rub the soap in good. Now take a whet brush and make quick circular motions. Dip brush in water if more moisture is needed. Always start out a little dry: it is easy to add water, but pretty hard to remove it. Lather smells nice and natural. Stable lather, creamy. Good glide, good protection, what is not too like?Oh, and the price is good too.Also handy as a travel solution!

An excellent performer, one of the best soaps out there.

This stick is near the top of my heap. If I could get the bowl that's only sold in Spain I'd be really happy. The best thing about this product is the lather itself. Slick, protective, and easy to generate. I have a medium beard and a stick is often easier for me to use with a two-day stubble. This product is easier to apply than most sticks I've used because it's just a little softer than many. Not real soft, just a bit softer. So it's not really necessary to wait for a two-day stubble. The scent is very favorable, but not in-your-face, as it were. I'll be buying more of this, for sure.

Price: For such a small shave stick, La Toja is too expensive.

Quality: Bad.

Scent: Somewhat neutral scent.

Lather: Amazing looking lather until I applied the lather to my face. The lather didn't provide any protection against the blade. It didn't soften my beard. It felt as if I was shaving without any lather. Painful experience.

Efficacy: I am NOT allergic to lanolin but my face felt as if it was on fire. As I shaved I could feel every whisker being pulled. Lots of razor burn and a few nicks. I don't know how La Toja is made nor I know the ingredients of the soap but whatever it is my face didn't like it. I washed my face and applied aftershave balm with no alcohol. Hours later my face still felt as if on fire. So I washed my face again and applied witch hazel, that stopped the burning.

Moisturizing: Face felt dry and tight afterwards.

I used the same gear and prep except I changed the soap and I had a great comfortable shave. So La Toja takes the blame.
La Toja has many fans, unfortunately I am not one of them.

It comes in a plastic holder, with some holes in it, to dry the soap after use. It is easy to get enough soap on the face, and my Omega 00065 created a nice, creamy lather. The razor glided well and had no problem in mowing down the whiskers. Good, close shave. Skin feels good afterwards, probably the spa ingredients. Like the scent a lot, not strong, but a nice fresh smell.
Worth a try.

I got to try La Toja as a part of the Canadian Traveling box, I'm so very glad that I did.

The price of this soap is quite good and well worth it as this is a top shelf soap. I would also say that La Toja is of a very good quality and would easily rank it along side tallow-soaps such as Tabac and MWF. The scent, ahhhh the scent. This could very well be my favorite scent in a soap, clean and fresh with a sort of a brisk feel to it. I have before described it as an autumn morning after an overnight frost. I think I can also detect a bit of salt to the scent as this soap does contain mineral salts. The lather is thick, rich, wonderfully slick happiness, again up there with it's tallow brethren. It's an effective soap as with even a few days growth I felt no drag, and no irritation. The mineral salts also help in its moisturizing, my face felt supple and soft even 12 hours after a shave.

Overall I would recommend that everybody have a stick of this for their rotation.

I was sent a a La Toja shave stick in exchange for a puck of Williams. May be the most one-sided trade since Seward's Folly.

Since I didn't pay for it, I can't rate the price, but I understand it's available cheaply in Spain.

It's a quality product, well presented with a foil wrap around the bottom half, a vented plastic tube, and a good, basic knurled plastic base. It's simple without looking chintzy.

I like the scent, yet I'd say it smells like a masculine dish soap. This is a workmanlike product, and it smells like one.

The lather is abundant, easy to come by and extremely satisfying. Face lathering in the traditional shave stick manner leaves enough lather for a three pass shave in the smallish Tweezerman, and with a larger brush the quantity of lather starts to become almost silly. It isn't the longest lasting stuff in the world, but it lasts long enough, and if it does dry on the face there is plenty more for freshening it up.

It provides a good level of protection and glide. While not as cushiony as some of my favorite tallow based products, La Toja works well, and the shave doesn't feel raw. It does a decent job of softening the beard if left on for a minute or two, based on the feedback I got from the feel of the razor and the sound of the shave.

After I wash it off, my face doesn't feel dried out. I wouldn't call this a substitute for a balm or moisturizer, but it's good enough that I can just go to an alcohol splash and call it good.

Thanks to Jose for sending it to me. I feel guilty that I got something this good for a puck of Williams...and he threw in a tube of La Toja shaving cream, too. Gracias.

This is a great soap stick. I got it off ebay for about 7 euro delivered which is expensive enough I suppose considering it's fairly cheap in spain or portugal. Still I wanted to try it and it did not dissapoint. Its a hard stick so it will last for a while. Great scent, lathers as good as any soap i've tried and comes with a very handy container for travel. It does not leave my skin dry at all. Using this every day for last week with speick aftershave lotion and skin looks and feels great.

Got this thrown in with a puck of MWF that I picked up from one of our members.
I use MWF exclusively at home, and didn't find any other tallow soap to even come close.
I used this for the first time this evening - pleasantly surprised by the performance and moisturizing qualities this big little shave stick provides!
So much so that I will likely use this as my travel stick, rather than grate the MWF into a 35mm container.
Makes for a refreshing change while traveling, and I wasn't surprised at all to find that it has coconut acid, like my other favorite non tallow soap - Trumpers Coconut.
All in all, a great balance of tallow like performance in the nicest travel container around.

I don't like shave sticks, so I grate La Toja into a small plastic container. A miniscule amount makes a mountain of lather. Absolutely my favorite soap of all time in a rotation that includes Cella, Tabac and other really good soaps.

My dad has all his life this soap. So when I started La Toja was the one to use. I still use it when on travel.For my everyday shave I prefer La Toja cream tube,which is more moisturizing.

I used to make the lather straight on my face. After washing with hot water I rubbed the bar against the stubble and started swirling the brush.

Some times in the morning I was so lazy to switch the boiler on that I shaved with cold water,and the lather was good and abundant.

It is so cheap for the quality it has....and don´t forget that old barber´s saloon scent!!!

I have purchased a stick of this shave soap and I must say it truly is one of the best deals in shaving I think. The packaging with the holes are great. I am a fan of tallow based soaps and was very skeptical when using this product but have to say, it lathers better than any other shave stick I have used (Valobra, Palmolive). It is very slick and moisturizing and the scent is very clean, reminds me of Musgo Real but a bit lighter. Leaves my face feeling pretty moisturized and had some sea salt minerals. Over all a great shave stick and great for travel.

I have this soap in stick and cream , smell very good, make a nice leather but dry very quick

This was my first shave stick and got it from Erwin just in time for a week trip away.

I love the concept of shave sticks now. Call me easily amused but I love the feel of rubbing the stick into the whiskers and love watching the soap turn from little bubbles to a full blown lather.

This container is perfect for travelling and the scent to me ( I'm pretty bad at describing smells ) is spicy.

A great travel companion but has got me loving sticks so much that I'm thinking of either trading in my pucks for sticks or turning them into sticks.

A GREAT shaving stick. This is definitely the stick I find myself reaching for most often. I'm constantly impressed that it isn't Tallow based as well. The little tube that it comes in is great, it smells great, lathers something incredible, and I find it somewhat moisturizing. It's just GREAT!

I just tried La Toja shave stick today. I didn't think it was possible for a product to shoot up to the top of a rotation so quickly, but it just happened.

The scent is nice, kind of powdery (in an old school, good way) but what I love about this soap is the lather I got. It took a bit to figure out the ratio, but when I hit the sweet spot, the lather just exploded.

This is one of the slickest, most effective lathers I've ever experienced, and there was lots and lots of it. I did four passes and a couple touch ups and, seriously, another guy could have come in and shaved start to finish with what was left.

Since I don't do the "rub the shave stick on your face" thing, loading the brush with a more slender stick of soap (than, say, Tabac) was complicated at first, but it worked.

I got mine in a trade, but I've checked the online prices (once I realized how I want to get it in bulk) and you really have nothing to lose to just TRY IT.

So, try it!