A HUGE Areffa FanBoy!

[huck1680]

Gentlemen
Received my order of Areffa soaps a couple of weeks ago and have been experimenting with them for the past while. They are SUPERB! When I read the contents I saw "Saponified Bear Tallow"...ok. Not sure what to expect at that point. However, after reading some of the reviews here I had no reason to be apprehensive and being Ukrainian, I'm more than happy to support a small business especially one in the middle of all the crap that's currently going on.
As I said they are superb soaps, they lather beautifully with my boars and synths. I do bowl lathering and the synths are better at building the lather but the boars are close. They also supplied me with a sampler of their "Crazy Pumpkin" which also has a great scent.
Now that's another thing...the scents of the various soaps. Smelling them in their tubs is a bit different from what they actually smell like when lathering and shaving. Maybe that's just me. Anyway these are wonderful soaps which will add to anyones shaving experiences.
Cheers!

 

[SharpieB]

Agreed!

I have 7-8 of Alesia’s soaps and aftershaves and they are all fantastic. They smell amazing, perform great and are relatively inexpensive. And made in Ukraine.

Highly recommended!

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Would you recommend any particular scents?

 

[purecro]

Yes great products, totally agree with all the above!

I have Discoverer with matching aftershave, Kentucky Bourbon with matching aftershave, Golden Sunrise (yet to have been used) and the Unforgiven. I liked them all. I also have the Blackest Night, which I have used and liked. I like them all to be honest, really so. I have more but haven't used them as they are the smaller samplers so I can't comment on that.

Based on her site Kentucky Bourbon is one of her best sellers right now, I have seen alot of Discoverer on the forums, I was going to say it was the most popular but her site shows different. I think they are all good imho.

 

[huck1680]

Would you recommend any particular scents?

Discoverer, Golden Sunrise, Crazy Pumpkin...actually I like them all. They do change a bit scent-wise when you lather them up, I found. Just great soaps to use.

 

[SharpieB]

Would you recommend any particular scents?

As @huck1680 mentioned above, Discoverer and Golden Sunrise are excellent.

A few more that I really like… Chervona Kalyna, Red Viburnum, More then Ritual and Time Dragon.

Discoverer and Time Dragon would be safe blind buys scent-wise IMO.

 

[APBinNCA]

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME, I JUST ORDERED A BUNCH OF OTHER SOAPS! Sorry, thanks for continuing to support them. I can hardly believe that I can get two sets for $60 shipped, that's with aftershave!

Does anybody have any experience with both the soap and the "cream soap?" I can see that the cream has the expected ingredients, it just seemed strange to have the option for the same scent.

 

[purecro]

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME, I JUST ORDERED A BUNCH OF OTHER SOAPS! Sorry, thanks for continuing to support them. I can hardly believe that I can get two sets for $60 shipped, that's with aftershave!

Does anybody have any experience with both the soap and the "cream soap?" I can see that the cream has the expected ingredients, it just seemed strange to have the option for the same scent.

Yes if I am understanding you correctly the Kentucky Bourbon is a "cream soap" its softer, a croap like a TOBS Sandlewood for example, similar to that, I would say a touch harder, not by much but in the similar type to give you an example. When going from the puck, it takes longer for the Kentucky Bourbon to dry when loading your brush directly than the Discoverer I have.

The Discoverer I have is a harder soap than the Kentucky Bourbon so looking at the site the sku's are differnent for "Discoverer shaving soap bear base" vs "Discoverer shaving cream soap bear base" so my guess is that the cream base will be softer like the Kentucky Borubon is.

I know you know this stuff better than me but I am going off what I experienced as I am not sure what ingredient does what or even so scent sensitive as I can't tell like top notes smell of this, middle note of that, bottom note of this, just a general sense of if I like it and general smell, at best.

Yes its really good value and really good stuff as well imho. I do hope you like it.

 

[huck1680]

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME, I JUST ORDERED A BUNCH OF OTHER SOAPS!

Because...that's what we do. For me all the soaps are soft-softish. You can swirl the brush right on the soap or scrape some into a bowl and lather that way. Kinda the same consistency of "Executive Man" by Stirling but not as hard as Mitchells at all.

 

[Roman Totale XVII]

I recently 3017’d a tub of Golden Sunrise - very soap good indeed. I have a Phantom of Kyiv and one other I forget the name of to go.

 

[jesseix]

I have a partial tub of Discoverer that I got in a lot that I haven’t gotten around to using yet. I’m trying to kill off a tub or two but I do really want to give it a try sooner than later.

 

[Tanuki]

@flask28 passed me a sample of Golden Sunrise. A fine, fine soap!

 

[APBinNCA]

The Discoverer I have is a harder soap than the Kentucky Bourbon so looking at the site the sku's are differnent for "Discoverer shaving soap bear base" vs "Discoverer shaving cream soap bear base" so my guess is that the cream base will be softer like the Kentucky Borubon is.

I know you know this stuff better than me but I am going off what I experienced as I am not sure what ingredient does what or even so scent sensitive as I can't tell like top notes smell of this, middle note of that, bottom note of this, just a general sense of if I like it and general smell, at best.

That's what I was looking for, experience. I wanted to make sure something wasn't lost in the English translation, but it sounds like it is accurate. Knowing what ingredients to look for is just a trick to verify that something is actually a cream, normally they have myristic acid which is missing on the ingredients list.

 

[purecro]

That's what I was looking for, experience. I wanted to make sure something wasn't lost in the English translation, but it sounds like it is accurate. Knowing what ingredients to look for is just a trick to verify that something is actually a cream, normally they have myristic acid which is missing on the ingredients list.

Ah now I can look for that down the road if any other product has it in there so I know what to expect.

 

[Guido75]

@Mr. Shavington, I have Discoverer and Phantom of Kyiv. Of the two Discoverer is nice and fresh. Phantom is harder to describe - more woody and darker.

Discoverer might very well be the best soap I have ever tried. From her website: “Discoverer is addressed to a charming man, traveler and philosopher, modern knight and gentleman” - after reading that I just had to press BUY NOW.

 

[huck1680]

Discoverer might very well be the best soap I have ever tried. From her website: “Discoverer is addressed to a charming man, traveler and philosopher, modern knight and gentleman”

Yeah I know what you mean considering I asked her not to mention me at all...!

 

[SharpieB]

Steel Credo… that’s another I own that is excellent. Scent is similar to DSquared2 Green Wood for Men.

 

[mcee_sharp]

Where might a fellow Canadian most efficiently procure such a fine product?

 

[SharpieB]

Where might a fellow Canadian most efficiently procure such a fine product?

Direct from Areffa in Ukraine. Shipping is about 2-3 weeks but I have never had a problem. Haven‘t had to pay duties or tax either.

 

[purecro]

Anyone from the USA, same as above post, took 2-3 weeks, got here via USPS, no isuses, ordered directly from Areffa in Ukraine, never had any issues.