Gents, My time with the 2nd round box has come to an end. I did not test many soaps because I was extremely busy over the weekend with work. I tried to two sample only soaps. #24 was a great performer and wow a little goes a long way. I was not too big on the scent though. Too bad this one is no longer made because it would find a place in my cabinet. #124 was a little disappointing though. I found the soap to be an average at best performer and it took quite a while to get a good lather out of it even using a quality badger brush. The shave again, was OK and there were no qualities of the soap that made it any better than my two go-to soaps TOBS and HTGAM. And, for the price of a jar of this soap I could buy a decades worth (or more) or the aforementioned soaps, and have an array of scents to never bore me.
I also gave #179 a shot and the scent was great but again an average performer at best. Again, a pretty high price point for an OK soap.
Finally, my takes. All three were from makers I had not tried before and I was almost sure they would be added to the collection as soon as I did the smell test. #379 Maggards Orange Menthol. I have a Maggard razor but never tried the soap. I found the soap to smell great and it was an above average performer in slickness and after shave smoothness. Took a little to get the right consistency but not bad. This will be a weekend soap for me, one that I use when I have a few extra moments. #253 Strop Shoppe Peppermint (regular, non-tallow version). A great wintery soap with a strong peppermint smell. Reminds me of candy canes and hot chocolate around Christmas time. I did not lather this soap, I made the choice solely on smell alone. I will give it a go next week sometime. Finally, what was thought to become a birthday soap, #310 Dapper Dragon Soaps (Cinnamon Bun). My wife got the box delivered at her office and she opened it before she left work! I recently got her to start using a DE and she has a nice collection of HTGAM soaps but fell in love with this scent immediately. She shaved with it yesterday and said it did a good job, but not as good at the HTGAM that she has been using. Considering she has let me take this hobby to the MAX, I gave in and she is keeping this one. It will go good with some HTGAM Autumn Factor A/S and maybe will go well with some Lucky Tiger because I think the Cinnamon and Orange will pair well together.
I also snagged a Beer Soap sample and a Spring Street from LASS as well.
I will post a pic of the takes this evening.
I addition to my normal soap adds, I threw in a ton of samples from Douglas at HTGAM, so enjoy!
I have had much fun with the box and wish I had a few more days to test lather, but time got the best of me this week.
**Sidenote - The box is completely full, we may want to look at taking out a few of the birthday soaps that have been in there for a long time. A few are getting pretty ragged looking and obviously no one is really interested in them. They are taking up some precious box space at this time.
I also gave #179 a shot and the scent was great but again an average performer at best. Again, a pretty high price point for an OK soap.
Finally, my takes. All three were from makers I had not tried before and I was almost sure they would be added to the collection as soon as I did the smell test. #379 Maggards Orange Menthol. I have a Maggard razor but never tried the soap. I found the soap to smell great and it was an above average performer in slickness and after shave smoothness. Took a little to get the right consistency but not bad. This will be a weekend soap for me, one that I use when I have a few extra moments. #253 Strop Shoppe Peppermint (regular, non-tallow version). A great wintery soap with a strong peppermint smell. Reminds me of candy canes and hot chocolate around Christmas time. I did not lather this soap, I made the choice solely on smell alone. I will give it a go next week sometime. Finally, what was thought to become a birthday soap, #310 Dapper Dragon Soaps (Cinnamon Bun). My wife got the box delivered at her office and she opened it before she left work! I recently got her to start using a DE and she has a nice collection of HTGAM soaps but fell in love with this scent immediately. She shaved with it yesterday and said it did a good job, but not as good at the HTGAM that she has been using. Considering she has let me take this hobby to the MAX, I gave in and she is keeping this one. It will go good with some HTGAM Autumn Factor A/S and maybe will go well with some Lucky Tiger because I think the Cinnamon and Orange will pair well together.
I also snagged a Beer Soap sample and a Spring Street from LASS as well.
I will post a pic of the takes this evening.
I addition to my normal soap adds, I threw in a ton of samples from Douglas at HTGAM, so enjoy!
I have had much fun with the box and wish I had a few more days to test lather, but time got the best of me this week.
**Sidenote - The box is completely full, we may want to look at taking out a few of the birthday soaps that have been in there for a long time. A few are getting pretty ragged looking and obviously no one is really interested in them. They are taking up some precious box space at this time.