LEA Shaving Stick

Not impressed with Lea. New formulation, with tallow and lanolin looks good on paper. Clean ingredient list, but the product does not live up to it.
The lather is weak. Not slick or moisturizing enough. The scent is ok, soapy, something like washed-up Arko. I don't recommend it, there are more better alternatives to it.

I'm referring to the "New" Vie-Long shaving stick. I ordered one recently and it arrived today. I have already used up half of a new formulation Lea stick, so I have a strong comparison point.

The Vie-Long stick has the same ingredients, the same scent, the same shaped stick and the same shaped packaging. Though obviously re-branded.

I was disappointed in Vie-Long for not even adding their own scent, to individualise the product.

Fortunately I'm not disappointed in the purchase of the stick, as the shave it offers is very, very good.

I think the Vie-Long product's packaging looks a little more sophisticated, but there is no difference under the hood.

While reviewing the Valobra shave stick. I saw that many considered it to have a short lifespan. It wasn't the case for me, I guess I had an older stick as suggested by Marco. Also, Marco said that Lea was a fast melting stick as it's soft. I got no doubts this is true and I am now very curious to see how fast this stick will actually melt.

The one thing that I did notice was that the diameter of the stick seems smaller than Arko, Wilkinson Sword, Palmolive, etc. The fact that the diameter is smaller, the stick would melt quicker as the soap does not have the same surface when you apply it.

I did not, however, found it to be soft. It's not hard like the Derby Shave stick or even LaToja but it's not very soft either.

The scent is similar to a laundry detergent to my nose but not a chemical one like the Barbus Shave Soap. It's clean, slightly lemony. It's all right but not stellar IMO (not offensive either). This shave stick requires more water than Latoja (as an example). I often dip my brush twice or 3 times in the water to build the lather that I want. I found the product to be harder than I thought and not melting that quickly.

I would guesstimate at this stage a good 100 shaves.

I then proceeded to do a Uberlather and Superlather with the stick, the results were interesting if I can put it this way. LEA already has a bit of glycerin, adding a few drops did not change the consistency, performance or the lather. Well, if it did, I did not notice it to be better or worse. The Superlather on the other hand, 1 pump of Kiss my Face lime and wow! Super tick, very similar to the the top contenders in this experiment.

I had to re-visit some sticks and soaps in order to rank this one properly. I mean, if I'm comparing everything and what's in between, I want to place it in the right spot. So, I started with what I thought would be comparable and worked my way up (and down) to the right stick. I think that I will need to do that from this point to be sure that I properly rank the product against the other that I tested already.

Overall, I think it's a good product, much better than LaToja but it doesn't beat my top contenders.

For all of this to make sense, follow this link: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/310894-Shave-Sticks-Review-Project

So I added this to a recent order along with the Lea ASB just to give em a whirl. I've used the ASB several times and found it about average so it didn't inspire me to check this shave stick with any urgency. Well, I can say that I wish I would've tried it sooner because I was pleasantly surprised by the results. I found the presentation decent and the scent was pretty light and clean smelling. I found nothing nasty about the aroma at all and if anything it is hardly perceptible. The lather was very nice and stayed fairly moist. I had a comfortable shave with it. I had enough lather for 3 passes, but may have had to reapply if I wanted a fourth full pass. I will definitely pick more up if ordering with the same company again.

This is a great travel soap. Nice container, good glide, benign scent, and carries very easily.

No complaints whatsoever, just wish it was a little more common here in the states. Great travel soap.

Regards.

J

This is one of my favourite soaps, and my preferred travel soap.

Three sticks for about 2 €, it doesn't get much cheaper than this; plus it's a good soap, lubricating, lathers well and I appreciate the scent.

It's in my usual soap/cream rotation, with La Toja (cream + soap), Proraso, and my own homemade soap.

Try it!

This is another shaving stick available in Spain. It is vegetable-based (like La Toja), and also comes in a nice clear plastic tube, which makes it excellent for travel.

Price: I have been told that these retail for around €1.50, which makes them slightly cheaper than La Toja, and a whole €1 cheaper than the 'Gal for men' stick. This is great value, considering that this product works just as well as the more expensive Gal stick.

Quality: The stick comes in a sturdy plastic tube, which protects it well. However, as with the 'Gal for men' shaving stick, it lacks any foil-wrapping, which makes it difficult to handle. However, again, this allows the use of the sides of the stick, if one desires to use it that way.

Scent: Soapy best describes the scent. Reminds me of the changing rooms in swimming baths. The scent is not horrible, but actually not too bad. It does mute a little once lathered up.

Lather: The stick lathers great. It does take a little more effort than the La Toja stick, but works around the same as the 'Gal for men' stick.

Efficacy: It provides great cushion and glide, and works well, though I had to reapply towards the end of the shave, to get a little better lather. However, it does work well.

Moisturising: It doesn't really dry up the skin, at least for me.

To summarise; the stick works well, and in fact, I prefer it to the 'Gal for men' stick I also reviewed, especially as its cheaper. The scent is not bad, and overall, it gives a great shave. It is the sort of product for people who just want a shave with no fuss. I would certainly buy one if the opportunity presented itself, though I must say, the La Toja stick again beats this one, simply because it lathers easier, and smells better.