Item Description
When I first got this soap, I lathered it up I was literally scared to shave with it. Really airy/frothy lather and a significant lack of lather lifespan made me worry about getting a good shave. But I figured I'd at least try it. Lathered up the face once, then had to relather b/c most of the first lather I put on disappeared.
So after lathering...and relathering, I started to shave. Picked up my trusty HD and cringed w/the expectation of hair being pulled and razor skipping. Made the first downward swipe from my sideburn and regardless of the definitely mediocre presentation of the lather I got virtually no hair pulling/razor skipping/irritation AT ALL. Felt my bare skin where I'd just shaved and there was still a super slickness to my skin. Not at all like some creams where you don't DARE make another pass on a patch of bare skin w/out relathering. Shaved my first pass w/good success, especially if I splashed a bit of water on my face where some lather had gotten especially thin.
Lathered up for my second pass and noticed two things. 1) The lather actually looked better than the first pass and didn't dry as quickly and 2) I got a better lather by building it on my face instead of the bowl. Finished my shave, rinsed off, then finished my post shave routine. One other thing I noticed about this soap is that the scent doesn't linger around afterwards, AT ALL. This may be good for some who want part of their morning to be bay rum but not the rest of it. Others may wish the scent stuck around a bit.
The second day I used this stuff, I filled the entire tupperware tub that the soap was in w/hot water and let my brush soak in the same tub (I use little glad throw away tubs for my soaps) and then dumped out the water gave my brush a couple of good shakes, charged my brush really well w/about 20 swirls and then proceeded to take my time and build a good lather directly on my face. Much better lather presentation, lasted a bit longer, but my skin was no slicker than my first shave w/it.
This is definitely a good soap for people that like to blade buff at the end of a shave. No need to relather w/this stuff, the most you'd have to do is wet the skin where you're buffing a bit more and that's it.
I only have 2 real complaints about this soap, and they're both kind of double edged swords if you know what I mean.
1) This stuff makes your skin so slick that if you're the type to pull parts of your skin taut to shave it, you might not be able to w/this soap. It makes your skin too difficult to hold onto to do this.
2) While the lather obviously has some staying power problems, I found this soap to be a bit difficult to wash off. The lather rinsed fine, but I had to do a couple of warm water rinses in order to get the slick layer of soap or whatever off of my skin. Keep in mind, I'm not saying it left my skin oily or anything, but when you wash it off you can definitely tell when you've gotten it all off b/c your skin is no longer slick.
I bought a full puck of the original bay rum, and I got a generous sample (about a half puck each) of the other two scents. I liked the original bay rum the best, the one w/limes & peppercorn second and the cedar & sage last. But YMMV as I'm not a big cedar fan.
So, if you're the kind of person that needs a soap that creates a really good looking lather I'd stay away from this soap. But IF you're the kind of person that can deal w/a not so good looking lather, but a really slick soap w/good scents, this might be your ticket.
Gave it a 5 in moisturizing b/c I think the moisturizing properties of this soap are fairly neutral. While it didn't moisturize my skin, it didn't dry it out either.
Gave it an 8 in price b/c while it's not the cheapest at just under $5, the pucks are bigger (3.9oz) and the owner is very responsive w/questions and has excellent customer service. The packaging is also a nice cardboard box (better than shrink wrap IMO) w/ingredients listed. Plus I always get at LEAST one sample from the guy when I order. I would've given price a 9, but they've moved to flat rate shipping ($7.95 ConUS) which is good for the guy buying multiple items and a hindrance for those that just want to try one item.
Oh yeah, one last thing. I don't think these are hard milled soaps, but at the same time I don't believe they're glycerin based. Because of this, these soaps CANNOT be melted. Almost ruined my cedar & sage sample by trying to.
~Joshua
So after lathering...and relathering, I started to shave. Picked up my trusty HD and cringed w/the expectation of hair being pulled and razor skipping. Made the first downward swipe from my sideburn and regardless of the definitely mediocre presentation of the lather I got virtually no hair pulling/razor skipping/irritation AT ALL. Felt my bare skin where I'd just shaved and there was still a super slickness to my skin. Not at all like some creams where you don't DARE make another pass on a patch of bare skin w/out relathering. Shaved my first pass w/good success, especially if I splashed a bit of water on my face where some lather had gotten especially thin.
Lathered up for my second pass and noticed two things. 1) The lather actually looked better than the first pass and didn't dry as quickly and 2) I got a better lather by building it on my face instead of the bowl. Finished my shave, rinsed off, then finished my post shave routine. One other thing I noticed about this soap is that the scent doesn't linger around afterwards, AT ALL. This may be good for some who want part of their morning to be bay rum but not the rest of it. Others may wish the scent stuck around a bit.
The second day I used this stuff, I filled the entire tupperware tub that the soap was in w/hot water and let my brush soak in the same tub (I use little glad throw away tubs for my soaps) and then dumped out the water gave my brush a couple of good shakes, charged my brush really well w/about 20 swirls and then proceeded to take my time and build a good lather directly on my face. Much better lather presentation, lasted a bit longer, but my skin was no slicker than my first shave w/it.
This is definitely a good soap for people that like to blade buff at the end of a shave. No need to relather w/this stuff, the most you'd have to do is wet the skin where you're buffing a bit more and that's it.
I only have 2 real complaints about this soap, and they're both kind of double edged swords if you know what I mean.
1) This stuff makes your skin so slick that if you're the type to pull parts of your skin taut to shave it, you might not be able to w/this soap. It makes your skin too difficult to hold onto to do this.
2) While the lather obviously has some staying power problems, I found this soap to be a bit difficult to wash off. The lather rinsed fine, but I had to do a couple of warm water rinses in order to get the slick layer of soap or whatever off of my skin. Keep in mind, I'm not saying it left my skin oily or anything, but when you wash it off you can definitely tell when you've gotten it all off b/c your skin is no longer slick.
I bought a full puck of the original bay rum, and I got a generous sample (about a half puck each) of the other two scents. I liked the original bay rum the best, the one w/limes & peppercorn second and the cedar & sage last. But YMMV as I'm not a big cedar fan.
So, if you're the kind of person that needs a soap that creates a really good looking lather I'd stay away from this soap. But IF you're the kind of person that can deal w/a not so good looking lather, but a really slick soap w/good scents, this might be your ticket.
Gave it a 5 in moisturizing b/c I think the moisturizing properties of this soap are fairly neutral. While it didn't moisturize my skin, it didn't dry it out either.
Gave it an 8 in price b/c while it's not the cheapest at just under $5, the pucks are bigger (3.9oz) and the owner is very responsive w/questions and has excellent customer service. The packaging is also a nice cardboard box (better than shrink wrap IMO) w/ingredients listed. Plus I always get at LEAST one sample from the guy when I order. I would've given price a 9, but they've moved to flat rate shipping ($7.95 ConUS) which is good for the guy buying multiple items and a hindrance for those that just want to try one item.
Oh yeah, one last thing. I don't think these are hard milled soaps, but at the same time I don't believe they're glycerin based. Because of this, these soaps CANNOT be melted. Almost ruined my cedar & sage sample by trying to.
~Joshua
