So I bought this shave bowl ages ago. Either I got it reasonably cheap (<$20) or in a lot... can't recall, but I never tried to use it.
It was wrapped in yellow cellophane wrapper and in a wood shaving bowl not unlike the one that Kent Sells MWF in.
Starting pruning down my collection of vintage soaps this month, and this one got listed for sale and no interest, so I had to decide what to do with it. I didn't feel it would fetch its worth on eBay (it's a huge puck, 2x the size of most shave bowls), so I figured I'd rather use it. I tried to open it to discover the cellophane had basically fused with the soap. Maybe 25% of it was able too be pealed off... the rest I had to get off by shaving/sanding the outer layer of soap on a DMT. While doing this, it occurred to me that this might not be a shave soap. I'd seen hotel body soaps from some pricier hotels on eBay that were puck shaped and in bowls that looked like shaving bowls, but larger.
Given that I figured I better try it out and see if it's a body soap or shaving soap, and not expecting much I hit it with my brush.
This is the best shaving soap I've ever used. It actually beats Speick stick and vintage Williams. It lathers up perfect and easier than a cream... heck it's easier than canned goo. Almost just loading the brush created plenty of absolutely perfect lather. I started face lathering and realized I wasn't doing anything, the lather was perfect already.
And the puck still has scent. It's kind of an old english leather scent.
I can't find a word about this soap anywhere... and the name makes me think hotel... so maybe it is a hotel soap and just coincidentally is an amazing shaving soap.
I have found body soaps with this imprint from Woolworths. Specifically a Soap on a Roap. Possibly Ambassador was a fragrance/men's line that Woolworths sold in the past, and that's where this came from... no clue as to who made it for them, however.
Whatever it is, the stuff is fantastic.
It was wrapped in yellow cellophane wrapper and in a wood shaving bowl not unlike the one that Kent Sells MWF in.
Starting pruning down my collection of vintage soaps this month, and this one got listed for sale and no interest, so I had to decide what to do with it. I didn't feel it would fetch its worth on eBay (it's a huge puck, 2x the size of most shave bowls), so I figured I'd rather use it. I tried to open it to discover the cellophane had basically fused with the soap. Maybe 25% of it was able too be pealed off... the rest I had to get off by shaving/sanding the outer layer of soap on a DMT. While doing this, it occurred to me that this might not be a shave soap. I'd seen hotel body soaps from some pricier hotels on eBay that were puck shaped and in bowls that looked like shaving bowls, but larger.
Given that I figured I better try it out and see if it's a body soap or shaving soap, and not expecting much I hit it with my brush.
This is the best shaving soap I've ever used. It actually beats Speick stick and vintage Williams. It lathers up perfect and easier than a cream... heck it's easier than canned goo. Almost just loading the brush created plenty of absolutely perfect lather. I started face lathering and realized I wasn't doing anything, the lather was perfect already.
And the puck still has scent. It's kind of an old english leather scent.
I can't find a word about this soap anywhere... and the name makes me think hotel... so maybe it is a hotel soap and just coincidentally is an amazing shaving soap.
I have found body soaps with this imprint from Woolworths. Specifically a Soap on a Roap. Possibly Ambassador was a fragrance/men's line that Woolworths sold in the past, and that's where this came from... no clue as to who made it for them, however.
Whatever it is, the stuff is fantastic.
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