2nd round Soap Pass-Around

[Demaskee]

Update: Brad is going to take 4 soaps from the box and donate them to the D.R. to make more room in the box (yes one of them is the infamous BDay soap). If you find yourself in a situation where you can't fit your contributions in the box, hit me up and we'll see what we can cull from the herd. If the box still has soaps from the first pass by the time it comes back around to me, I'll do a PIF of some sort, or possibly send them to Brad to donate further.

Hopefully we won't have to do this too often, but like I said earlier, there are far worse situations to be in

 

[justadivebum]

I actually got the idea from another member who is sent a couple hundred blades to. He moved to Mexico and handed the gear out to young men in his new home town. He got scarce on here once he moved so I decided to give it a go in the D.R. I truly enjoy it David. We get a little crazy here with out shave gear and massive amounts of software and hardware and forget that too some a simple shave is a luxury out of their reach. We forget that a shave is a "coming of age" event for many and signifies the transition from boyhood to manhood. I have posted on the BST a few times looking for cheap gear to send down and it has been nice to be able to pick up gear that would otherwise go by the wayside for cheap. I respect the forum and cannot solicit anything for charity but I do what I can when I can.

I hope to move down there in retirement (I have quite a ways to go) and this is one thing I hope to do is start a full blown charity. This forum has made me realize that sometimes we get too caught up in our Western ways and that we fail to realize that what we take for granted is something pretty spectacular for so many others. I have even gone as far as naming my future charity (Shave a Life).

- Brad

Brad,

Way to go on the charity thing, that's a nice thing to do and seems like a worthy cause for unwanted shave gear. I'd be all for something like that as a destination for some aging soaps. I likely have some things on hand here as well. Maybe post a thread next time you're sending a package.

As far as your takes go, I have the Strop Shoppe Peppermint soaps in the Special edition tallow version and it's excellent. I've been thinking about the Limes and Peppercorn Maggard soap but lime soaps sometimes don't agree with me and lite my face on fire. I'll have to take a look at what scents they have and add them to my list of soaps to try down the road. I know they do samples as well so maybe I'll go that route. I'm interested in the how the performance is on the Dragon soap so once you give it a try maybe put a review up here if you haven't already.

 

[calhoun1]

So what are the birthday soaps that are being removed? So we can see what the fuss was about!

 

[dfoulk]

So what are the birthday soaps that are being removed? So we can see what the fuss was about!

I'd recommend that the four soaps that are removed for donation be listed in this thread so that those guessing can match them up to their numbers. Probably shouldn't call out the Birthday soap by name but you'll certainly be able to guess which one it is.

 

[dfoulk]

Update: Brad is going to take 4 soaps from the box and donate them to the D.R. to make more room in the box (yes one of them is the infamous BDay soap). If you find yourself in a situation where you can't fit your contributions in the box, hit me up and we'll see what we can cull from the herd. If the box still has soaps from the first pass by the time it comes back around to me, I'll do a PIF of some sort, or possibly send them to Brad to donate further.

Hopefully we won't have to do this too often, but like I said earlier, there are far worse situations to be in

This is an excellent solution, well done gentlemen.

 

[AndroiDad75]

I offered to donate any soaps he would like removed to a charity in the Dominican that I donate excess shaving gear to. It would go to help some worthy young men get a clean shave so they can more easily transition into the workforce and it helps them gain confidence in themselves. Some of the great men on this forum have already helped me and together we have donated over 30 razors, brushes, and shave soaps that they no longer wanted and it has went to a worthy cause.

I love this idea. I am glad it was the solution we went with.

I will toss a sample of it in the box for you before I ship it out!

Thank you sir!! You didn't have to do that, but I do appreciate it.

 

[justadivebum]

Not a problem at all.

 

[SilentTuba]

Excellent work on the donations! I love the idea!

As for a few other ideas being tossed around, I must admit, I'm not a fan of the "only new purchased soaps in the box" rule. All of my contributions have been purchased specifically for the box, but honestly, I see no harm in someone contributing a brand new puck of soap if they have an extra one laying around. Earlier in the pass there was a stick of Irisch Moos in the box. Are we going to discourage someone from (very generously) contributing a classic discontinued soap like that, because they didn't buy it just for the box? I just got two bars of Mike's in yesterday, that I intend for my own stash. Would anyone really have an issue with it if I decided to toss one of them into the third pass? I don't plan on doing that, but if I decide to, what's the harm?

 

[mbkintner]

We could also consider moving the contents into smaller containers once a significant portion of the soap is used. The "black broken container" would be a great example of this.

 

[AndroiDad75]

I am open to whatever Jason wants to do.

I offered to donate any soaps he would like removed to a charity in the Dominican that I donate excess shaving gear to. It would go to help some worthy young men get a clean shave so they can more easily transition into the workforce and it helps them gain confidence in themselves. Some of the great men on this forum have already helped me and together we have donated over 30 razors, brushes, and shave soaps that they no longer wanted and it has went to a worthy cause.

That said, the box is completely full but I can get it all to fit with a little bulging so I can easily ship it to Android75 as is. The decision is up to Jason and/or the group.

- Brad

Excellent work on the donations! I love the idea!

As for a few other ideas being tossed around, I must admit, I'm not a fan of the "only new purchased soaps in the box" rule. All of my contributions have been purchased specifically for the box, but honestly, I see no harm in someone contributing a brand new puck of soap if they have an extra one laying around. Earlier in the pass there was a stick of Irisch Moos in the box. Are we going to discourage someone from (very generously) contributing a classic discontinued soap like that, because they didn't buy it just for the box? I just got two bars of Mike's in yesterday, that I intend for my own stash. Would anyone really have an issue with it if I decided to toss one of them into the third pass? I don't plan on doing that, but if I decide to, what's the harm?

Tim, I couldn't agree more. I bought all new soaps for the last pass, and this pass, save one, but as you said it was never used. I think we have a good rule of new/never used soaps and limiting like that would exclude generous options like the Moos.

 

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Excellent work on the donations! I love the idea!

As for a few other ideas being tossed around, I must admit, I'm not a fan of the "only new purchased soaps in the box" rule. All of my contributions have been purchased specifically for the box, but honestly, I see no harm in someone contributing a brand new puck of soap if they have an extra one laying around. Earlier in the pass there was a stick of Irisch Moos in the box. Are we going to discourage someone from (very generously) contributing a classic discontinued soap like that, because they didn't buy it just for the box? I just got two bars of Mike's in yesterday, that I intend for my own stash. Would anyone really have an issue with it if I decided to toss one of them into the third pass? I don't plan on doing that, but if I decide to, what's the harm?

You bring up some good points, Tim. As with many rules, there would/could be reasonable exceptions (I'm thinking the Irisch Moos here). re: the Mikes on the third pass: are those two Mikes bars the same scent? If not, would you be planning on putting the scent you prefer into the box? Based on what others are saying, it sounds like some folks have done the opposite: it sounds like some folks have contributed not-so-popular scents of good soaps to the box (now, of course I do understand that the popularity of any given scent (or even soap, for that matter) is subjective, but I assume we all understand the point I'm driving at here). Also re: the hypo Mikes on the third pass: don't soaps lose their scents gradually over time? Why not contribute a newly-purchased unit to the box rather than one that has been sitting around for x amount of time? That would give the soap the best chance as possible to be new rather than old, I would think, and therefore as close to its peak performance as possible.

Of course, all of this discussion is for naught if we really don't care whether folks' contributions are in the spirit of the rules of this passaround. I'd like to believe that everyone here really is contributing soaps to the box that are their favorites (base soap & scent), but it sounds like that hasn't been happening 100% of the time. We either care about this or we don't. By all accounts, it sounds like we can easily not care that this happens sometimes b/c the box is filled with lots of awesome soaps.

As I said before, my idea for the "purchased specifically for the box" rule was just a thought, and I sincerely appreciate hearing everybody's input on that thought. I still think it's a good rule (with a nod to the fact that there may be appropriate exception(s)), but I defer to Jason's preference (and/or the group's preference), as this passaround is Jason's baby.

At the end of the day, most participants are participating in this wonderful passaround as was originally intended (if not in an even more generous manner), and that is worthy of commendation and thanks.

 

[SilentTuba]

You bring up some good points, Tim. As with many rules, there would/could be reasonable exceptions (I'm thinking the Irisch Moos here). re: the Mikes on the third pass: are those two Mikes bars the same scent? If not, would you be planning on putting the scent you prefer into the box? Based on what others are saying, it sounds like some folks have done the opposite: it sounds like some folks have contributed not-so-popular scents of good soaps to the box (now, of course I do understand that the popularity of any given scent (or even soap, for that matter) is subjective, but I assume we all understand the point I'm driving at here). Also re: the hypo Mikes on the third pass: don't soaps lose their scents gradually over time? Why not contribute a newly-purchased unit to the box rather than one that has been sitting around for x amount of time? That would give the soap the best chance as possible to be new rather than old, I would think, and therefore as close to its peak performance as possible.

Both bars are the same scent, Orange, Cedarwood and Black Pepper. The reason I bought two (I'm not normally the type to hoard soaps), is that Mike's soaps are often not in stock. In fact, since I first got a bar of Mike's Orange (in January, during the first pass), this is the first time I've seen that scent be in stock, so I got two. Even if I wanted to buy a fresh one for round 3, that may not be possible.

As far as losing scent, yes, but I think it takes a good long time for an unopened soap to lose its scent. My first bar of Mike's, which has been open and in use since January, has just as much scent as the two bars I just got. I don't see that being an issue at all.

I will also admit, that one of my adds to the box this go around was one where I ordered two scents, kept one, and put the other in the box. I did enjoy both scents, though, so still felt pretty good about putting it in the box.

Again, this is all hypothetical, especially regarding the Mike's....right now, I have no plans to part with either of them!

 

[AndroiDad75]

Of course, all of this discussion is for naught if we really don't care whether folks' contributions are in the spirit of the rules of this passaround. I'd like to believe that everyone here really is contributing soaps to the box that are their favorites (base soap & scent), but it sounds like that hasn't been happening 100% of the time.

See, I don't think we can make that assumption. I also don't think that is what we have been hearing from the pass. Is there some soaps in the box that some have felt are "birthday" soaps? Sure. Does that mean it isn't a soap someone truly liked? Can you really make that leap without knowing who/why they put it in? I was able to figure out who the maker is for one of those birthday soaps and I would have been interested in smelling it as I know their soaps are wonderfully slick. In fact, I grabbed one of the makers in the last pass. On top of that, the maker sells the scent, or at least did, as I am not sure which scent it is, so there must have been a demand for it at some point. So is it unbelievable that someone truly loved it? I mean there are soap makers who make Bacon scented soap, cannabis scented, and a whole other slew that I would probably consider "birthday" soap that someone else doesn't. In fact, they still sell these scented soaps so someone must like them...

I just hate labeling someone's contributions to the box as being "outside" the spirit of the passaround, when we don't know truly why they added it. We can only make assumptions and I've learned long ago assumptions can be a negative thing.

All that being said, I am glad we are putting something in place where if a soap has been making the rounds and has been sampled a ton, or is one that doesn't seem to be garnering a ton of interest, that we PIF it after so long to make room.

Although, with the nature of Jason's post, I would have been very interested to smell the "birthday" soap for myself as I am sure everyone has different interests in scents. For instance, I have no desire to have a soap smell like beer, but there are a ton of people who do.

Brian, this was in no way a knock against you, or your idea, it's just my thoughts that we should make sure not to label someone's addition because our assumption may be way off target.

 

[justadivebum]

Rob I actually left the birthday soap in the box just in case seine wanted to smell it. It's pretty beat up but it's there.

 

[justadivebum]

The soaps that were removed were: no # stirling Bonaparte. The puck was smashed and trashed and brown apart; 137 Mama Bear Amaryis the double wall container was broken and I could not get it easily from the inner container without throwing it in the microwave; 69 Razorock brain freeze the soap has been in since I had it last. Two smashed samples were also removed. 234 the infamous birthday soap remains just in case someone wants to try it and ruin a good brush!

 

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

S...

Brian, this was in no way a knock against you, or your idea, it's just my thoughts that we should make sure not to label someone's addition because our assumption may be way off target.

I'm right there with ya', Rob, really. And I take no offense, so don't worry. The nature of this matter is that it requires assumptions --- both good and bad --- and what you say about assumptions is totally true --- I'm just going off what others have said (which is, of course, an assumption. ). There's at least one soap in the box, by my follow-along record-keeping, that multiple folks have not been able to lather well (in fact, by my records, everybody who has given this soap a try has yielded only poor results). Now, is this soap really somebody's favorite? Maybe it is --- sure. But I do find it odd that 3 - 5 folks have not been able to get a good lather out of it; that raises my suspicions, if I'm honest about what's going through my head.

And I have been careful to not identify any particular soap number or board username, in deference to the inherent nature of assumption.

 

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

SaintAndrewsAlumnus,
Did you make any picks from the box?

??

 

[MrSmith]

Yeah it's been rather quite 'round these parts. I was going to *bump* this thread yesterday, but figured maybe Monday would reawaken those who have recently been in possession of the box.

Just for kicks. I used the Jabonman last night at had a fantastic shave. The lather was thick and cushion filled. Had good glide, but I probably could have worked a little more water into the lather. The shave was superb and left me with a smile.

 

[justadivebum]

Forgot to post tracking info. Here it is

 

[justadivebum]

Just noticed it shows delivered today!