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Ogallala Bay Rum Shaving Soaps

Pros: price, scent, performance
I don't seem to have gotten any of the issues with lathering this stuff that others seem to.

Here's my process:
1) Place the sample puck I got into an old RazoRock container.
2) Fill container with warm edging on hot water
3) Take a 15-20 minute shower
4) Go back to soap and dump bloom water (or rub on face)
5) Load using wet but not dripping boar brush (badger if I'm feeling lucky)
6) Lather on face (or in bowl if I'm feeling lucky), adding water as needed

It works for me every time. The lather I get as a result is rich and slick, more often than not needing more water added as I lather. Slickness and protection are great, and I've never gotten a bad shave from this. Not the absolute best I've ever used, but I have no real complaints.

Love the scent too, of course.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
5.00 star(s)
Pros: Price, lather, slickness, scent, ease of use
I was also hesitant about testing this product after reading mixed reviews and with the concern that there was a reformulation.

I will tell you that I can't get enough of these soaps. I purchased the sampler pack and had one of the pucks in a rotation among my other soaps and creams, but I decided that I like the product so much I've entered two Ogallala soaps into the rotation simultaneously instead of using them one at at time.

While its the scents that I really go for here, the slickness and the lather are excellent, and I don't fail to get a nice smooth shave every time. It also leaves my skin soft and moisturized with little chafing or razor burn, and without any drying soap reaction.

The tip here is to be sure to load the brush well to deliver a proper lather (as outlined quite well on manufacturer's website).

I mean I just used the Bay Rum / Sandalwood soap with a 10-day old Lord Stainless blade and I'm sitting here wishing I could go back and shave again. What a lovely soap and lovely scent.

I issued less than 10s in some of the categories knowing that there are a world of soaps out there, but these are great soaps. Jeez Louise. Its like catnip.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
Price: This stuff is really reasonable.

Quality: No complaints. Therefore it gets a 10

Scent: Gave it a 9, but the smell is a 10. I knocked it a point because it's a litlle weak. I don't mind it though because I'm following up with A/S of the same scent. It does smell edible though.

Lather: I must be doing something wrong. Unlike the OP, I was unable to keep it all in the bowl. It lathered great for me.

Efficacy: I docked it 2 points for this, but don't take that seriously. I've used it as I'm LEARNING to straight shave. I can't help it I love the smell of this stuff.

Moisturizing: Feels great to me. I'm supple.

You can microwave this stuff. About 40 seconds worked for me. After that, I poured it up in my bowl that fits in my brush stand. Mine is glycerine based. I usually get opinions from my wife on A/S and soap. THis time, she doesn't get a vote. This combination smells so good, I'll sleep by myself. I didn't have a problem with disappearing lather, or any negatives listed above. This is in bowl until it wears out and I have to order another.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
Let me start by saying that I love the bay rum, limes, and peppercorns scent. I'll also admit that I usually use tallow-based soaps or creams. Now that the caveats are done...

I really like the soap. I've had the puck for a little while (couple months) while I was finishing off a puck of Tabac. So, I don't know if the formulation has changed since I bought it.

It lathers fairly easily. Not as easily as Tabac, but without too much effort. The scent is great. It makes for a really nice "good morning." I also had the disappearing lather, however. It wasn't a problem with the shave. The shave was just fine. I found it a little troubling since I use the lather as a guide for where I have and haven't passed. Of course, I am used to Tabac and MWF (what I've been using for some time). This means that my point of reference for glycerin based soaps is nill.

It actually moisturized pretty well for me. Not as well as some, but far better than others. I felt the cost was really good. The initial cost is pretty cheap, and you always get free samples. Most importantly, OBR is run the way I feel companies should be run: a dedicated person who really cares about his product and his customers. I'd pay more to support that. Luckily, I don't have to :rolleyes:.

In the end, I'd recommend it with some cautions (as noted above).

Edit: Looks like the lather problem was operator error. If you have any lather problems, check out this post:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=439&

Strange how my lather problems went away. Anyway, I'd not recommend it with the only caveat being to read that post!
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
3.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
I had my first shave today with the lemon peppercorn shave soap sample and it was a pleasure. Given the comments above, I must have new version.

The soap whipped up to a beautiful fluffy lather (tho maybe not quite as fluffy as one of the 3 Ts) and the scent was fantastic (and comes out much more once the soap is wet). I believe the scent is a mixture of EOs and FOs, but I'd have to confirm with the label later. The shave was cushiony and up to my usual standards. The soap is soft-ish and glycerin based. More extensive testing is required, but so far, I'd say it's up to the quality of our other favorite soapers.

The scent on my skin seemed a close cousin to SCS Bay Rum w/ Twist EDT altho not quite as sweet and not as long lasting.

EDIT: I shaved today with the lemongrass and my skin, unfortunately, experienced a burning sensation due to some sensitivity. I also experienced some "disappearing lather" in spots, but I still got a great shave and would still recommend these soaps without a second thought.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
I have the three versions of the soap:

Bay Rum Soap
Bay Rum, Lime & Peppercorn Soap
Bay Rum, Sage & Cedar Soap


I won't disagree about the lather comments. It is easy to lather (very foamy like, not thick) but it does not stick around. The scent is what I enjoy about these soaps. I use this soap in combination with an unscented cream since it has many other good things going for it. In combination with their aftershave and cologne, it makes for a great Bay Rum day.
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
2.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
3.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
..I bought the ogalla soap based on some members liking the After Shave and Cologne..
And the scent IS wonderful - earthty - spicy - all that one can expect from a classic like BayRum..
But thats all it is in this soap - a nice scent.

When lathering you get heaps of... foam.. No other word to describe it.. very light, airy fluff.. That with a crackling sound just dissapears.. Just 30 seconds after you apply this fluff to your face its gone... without a trace.. well it leaves your skin rather slippery, but its unusable as a shaving soap.. Maybe a base for superlather..

I have tried all my skills in Lathering - less water, more water, more soap, whipping in bowl, directly on face, I even got a boar brush to try.. but alas - same result.. I did once get a sticky goo when I used almost no water and swirled the soap for like 5 minutes.. It too was useless..

I soo much wanted to like the Ogalla - but NO!!

So gents - save your money.. It may be a nice scent, but thats all there is..
Price
0.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
0.00 star(s)
Quality
2.00 star(s)
Efficacy
0.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
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
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
3.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
3.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
2.00 star(s)
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