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Boellis Panama 1924 an in depth review & thoughts

So a couple weeks ago I received email notification something was available again that I had my eye on for quite a while, the Boellis Panama 1924 Coffret. It had been out of stock for over a year, it looks really nice and it would be something I would have for the rest of my natural days, so yeah I wanted one. I kicked the idea around for a while of just ordering the 250g soap, but that coffret sure looked nice, I always kept an eye out on BST threads but no luck.

So email read, I followed the links through the ordering process and it was ordered within 2 minutes, yay me! This was a Christmas present to myself, it is a luxury item, I do not and will not hold cost as any type of factor in my review, cost has nothing to do with a soaps performance it's just a measure of will I pay x amount for product y.

Follow through after my actual review for some other thoughts on this shaving thing we do, I could easily create a seperate thread in any number of other sub forums but I'll put it here for my soap forum brethren!


The (In Depth) Review:

When I receive a new soap I use it for roughly a few days, nothing too stringent. My system has changed as I'm at the point I've used all the bases I care to try. I wanted to try this soap for a while however there really isn't a ton of information on it, other than "wow it's really good!" So I decided to attempt a feat only possible by those possessing nerves of steel and the willpower to bend steel with a glance, use 1 soap, the new soap, for a full 2 weeks :a47:....not sure if I'm going to survive this. and here, it arrives
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Presentation out of the box (and many layers of bubble wrap removed), well presentation is just pretty. Living up to the billing as a luxury item.


The Gear for the next 2 weeks:
So another Christmas present to myself was finally pulling the trigger on a Declaration knot. Timeless Bronze, Gillette Platinum blades changed every Monday, and the B3 Declaration knot in an Elite Razor turned handle. That is the brush pictured, yes it's all that and a bag of chips....I used only 2 aftershaves, Pitralon classic (German) and the Musgo Real classic, and last but not least my handy dandy Symmetrical Pottery Dottie lather bowl.
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The Beginnings:
So day 1 I soaked my brush during the shower as is my usual daily prep, got dressed and started my 1st shave. My standard load is 30 seconds for nearly all of my soaps, it is a happy medium for lather for a face and head shave, very few soaps I go longer. For this 1st attempt I loaded 40 seconds and switched over to my lather bowl and started to build. This soap is thirsty, that was apparent quickly and lather is easy to make and with a 40 second load it just made a stupid amount of lather, like it was everywhere. Got a good shave, average for the caliber of soaps I use which is still good, but it didn't knock my socks off, yet.

Next 2 or 3 shaves were similar experiences, lather quality got a bit better each day, 1 day a bit too dry, another a bit too wet, still dialing it in. By Thursday/Friday of week 1 I hit the sweet spot and had one of those memorable shaves. Like this is one of the best shaves I've ever had.

Typical proto lather:
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The lather after I dialed loading back to 30 seconds:
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Final product ready to roll:
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Week 2 begins:
So now that I got through week 1, I can start giving opinions and observations. I started week 2 with my soap dialed in and I was hitting my mark on a daily basis. Every shave was like one of those memorable ones, I'll get back to this later. Upcoming is how the Boellis Panama 1924 compares to my other tier 1 soaps, Wholly Kaw, Sudsy Soapery, Tallow & Steel, L&L, B&M Reserve base and PannaCrema Pure 2 O (I like this better than Nuavia). So here are my take away's from my 2 weeks with this soap:
- it is top tier slickness, not THE slickest but definitely top tier
- residual slickness is one of the 2 best I have ever used. I can blade buff with zero worry about irritation whatsoever. Certainly top tier
- lather itself is thick, creamy, definitely not airy. A face and head shave takes appx 35 min start to finish (everything cleaned up) and the lather held up to perfection for the full duration
- this soap has a wide water band and can hold a ton of water
- Boellis is considered an Italian croap, I find it to be pretty darn firm - much firmer than Cella for instance. I would put it in the firmness category as Stirling. Granted I have only had this 2 weeks but it SEEMS like this stuff will last a long time. When I first started I formed a bit of a hump in the middle of the coffret and after 2 weeks of daily shaving it's still noticable. One could easily get away with a 20 second load for just a face shave.
- post shave evaluation - this is the most difficult for me this time of year. I live in the northeast on the coast. It's windy, daily, all day every day - it's currently 20 degrees, 20 mph sustained wind gusting 30+ and snowing it's buns off. It's been like that for a few days minus the snow. My skin gets very dry no matter how much lotion, body butter or whatever I put on it. That being said, I found the post shave equaling some of the other soaps in my top tier, namely L&L, Sudsy and B&M Reserve soap base. So by default I can say it is top tier for me in the post shave department. I get more accurate results in spring and summer. Is it the best? No, there can be 1 soap to rule them all (Wholly Kaw donkey), but this soap certainly ranks in my top tier without a doubt.


Final Thoughts:
Boellis Panama is considered a luxury soap. In my short but daily experience I would actually question that to a degree. The 250g bar/brick/box thing of soap will run you $45-$50 depending where you purchase it from. I would buy it from the $45 source, knock it in half which leaves you 2 125g which equates to $22.50 each, there is no shortage of artisans/soapers selling soaps higher than that price so in the grand scheme of things it's actually right in line with other tier 1 (of mine) offerings and seemingly a good value at the apparent quick loading and slow usage of the soap. The Coffret that I purchased, yes that is a luxury item, but a 1 time purchase. So grab a buddy and go halfers of the 250g block of soap!


The after after thoughts:
I pose this question to you, how do you pick a soap? Is it scent/performance combo, if scent plays a large role do you buy the matching aftershave and balm to carry the scent? Do you choose a soap with some thought on matching the soap/splash/balm to a fragrance?

I fall in the latter camp, I am super picky with soap scents because I wanted the experience to carry through - meaning - the soap had to smell good enough that it was a scent I would carry through my day/evening by matching up a splash and balm to a fragrance. So my bar is set very very high for a soaps smell. If I didn't have a fragrance to match a soap's scent I fell in love with then I would find one. A monkey wrench was thrown into the mix when I discovered vintage Avon aftershaves with obviously no matching soaps. I came to the realization a while ago soaps scents don't necessarily last, rare ones do and I can count them on 1 hand, but it's the aftershave that carries a few hours. So I would occasionally just buy a random after shave to see if I liked the scent. It's how I discovered Pitralon, one of the best aftershaves I've run across scent not playing a factor, your face just feels amazing afterwards, and a few others.

So what's my point here? What does all this have to do with Boellis Panama shave soap? The Boellis has a light almond scent (not Cella sweet) so it's essentially neutral with anything you want to use afterwards. For this 2 weeks I used 2 of my best aftershaves for face feel, Musgo and Pitralon, and I thought it would be an agonizing 2 weeks with an arguably uninteresting (smelling) shave soap. I was wrong. The beauty of an unscented shave soap, or a neutral smelling one like Boellis, leaves the options only limited to the aftershaves you own. I won't say run out and buy an unscented soap, but if you are like me and have my pairing ocd, and have an unscented soap, I challenge you to use it straight for a week or two and see just what after shaves you reach for. You will learn quickly what your favorite scents are not just what you can pair. I have already identified a few soaps that will not be making a return, and I have also came to the conclusion I don't need to chase limited soaps and stockpile. I can just get the aftershave. Will I go cold turkey and use only unscented or neutral like Boellis? No, if a soap is readily available I'll grab a tub as needed but I certainly won't be going nuts because a soap I really like was a limited run, can't find it, omg!! And as I mentioned before, using a soap like this leaves the options endless and I can use something that won't clash with some really super aftershaves I own that have no matching soap. As a matter of fact, I don't even need to find a soap that's close to those aftershaves. The other aspect of this is, if a soap base flat out sucks - looking at you Penhaligon's - I can just use my Boellis which has made a spot in my top tier, and use the aftershave and/or fragrance - still looking at you Penhaligon's lol! FYI Blenheim Bouquet is the most divine smelling summer scent ever devised. I don't like the cream and the veggie soap is gawd awful, unusable, which left me in a bad spot. No worries now!

I also now believe there is something to be said for sticking to 1 soap for more than a day or two. Any soap can generate lather, but are we getting the best lather out of that soap? Not likely. It'll pass for a shave but it won't be operating on all cylinders. I think I will adopt a soap for a week strategy, maybe not the same scent but a single artisan for the week to get the most out of my lathers because my shaves improved daily until I found the sweet spot with Boellis and at that point, every shave had that "one of my best ever' feels to it.

Hope you that stuck through enjoyed the read!


The Post Script:
Included in my Boellis Coffret package was a carded sample of the Boellis Daytona EdT, holy cow it was love at first sniff. I immediately purchased the after shave and EdT. The duration quality was impressive and it just smells classy! Anybody into fragrances knows when they smell that one that smacks you in the face and screams buy me! Boellis samples are non existent in the US, trust me I looked, so if I purchase any future it will be blind.

So here's a guessing game, I would only ask that people who would actully potentially purchase the EdT at $125 try to guess - I will send the remaining carded sample of Boellis Daytona EdT to whoever can guess what I think the slickest soap is? (not residual slickness, actual slickness while you shave) Post your guess in the thread and I'll check it.
 
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Always seem to fall in line with your takes. Scent has long only been able to detract from soap preference, have come to place the emphasis on glide and cushion recently supplemented with postshave (thanks to dfoulk). While certainly blessed with soap (one could characterize as soap poor), been contemplating trying to work with 2 vendors supplies of their best bases scentfree adding the scent of my choice each day whilst lathering. You may well have influenced following thru with this post.

BTW both Boellis scents are outstanding: 1924 and Daytona. Would love to have that sample though!
 
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Great review, @DEdestroyer77!! I think giving this soap 2 weeks straight is an excellent idea and the lather pics look amazing!! 2 weeks gives you a good chance to dial in the soap.

I Coloniali Mango was going to be my guess, but I'll give that to @danlaw since he posted first, and go with Tabac.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Amazing review and thoughts. I see this for $95 so that made me fall out of my chair. Will probably read this review again later to fully digest it but wanted to say great post!
 
Good review, @DEdestroyer77! I know what you're saying about reviewing a soap with many shaves to really dial it in. You really have to vary the hydration up and down and figure out what works best for you. Shaving once with a soap and making a judgment on that would be like using a blade once and judging the blade on that alone. Personally, I like measuring mass so that I can easily reproduce optimum lathers.
 
Excellent review @DEdestroyer77! Which vendor did you buy it from? just curious.
I bought it from Italian Barber. I knew Bullgoose had them a long time ago and checked to see if Phil had them but alas he didn't. I didn't think to check Smallflower or I could have saved a few bucs but, I wouldn't have gotten my sample of the Boellis Daytona EdT that I am really, really digging so it is what it is.
 
Well mr Danlaw did his homework because he quoted a post I made:

I Coloniali Mango slickest soap ever, it just is

And it is, it just is. L&L comes in second at 9.5/10 slickness and Wholly Kaw in 3rd at 9/10. I Coloniali is so slick it's like shaving with air
 
Good review, @DEdestroyer77! I know what you're saying about reviewing a soap with many shaves to really dial it in. You really have to vary the hydration up and down and figure out what works best for you. Shaving once with a soap and making a judgment on that would be like using a blade once and judging the blade on that alone. Personally, I like measuring mass so that I can easily reproduce optimum lathers.
I have read some of your threads with interest. I laugh to myself sometimes, I bowl lather. Always have and always will. I laugh to myself because your details are so, well, detailed and when I am lathering I have reached the point I do it by feel. As you are swirling you can feel the resistance of the soap and you eventually reach a point where you splash in that last little bit of water and the very next swirl just feels different like the brush is just gliding in the bowl instead of 'pushing something' around in there. That's when I know I hit the sweet spot. I've always been a wing it kinda guy :001_302:
 
The Panama 1924 soap’s performance is top tier for me as well. I stick with cella because I get very close in terms of shave quality for a fraction of the price. I also tried the Panama 1924 cream which is not almond scented but rather has the same tobacco vanilla scent as the edt. Confusing. The cream’s performance was weak but I love that scent! If they made the soap with the scent of the edt I would happily pay up for it.
 
I have read some of your threads with interest. I laugh to myself sometimes, I bowl lather. Always have and always will. I laugh to myself because your details are so, well, detailed and when I am lathering I have reached the point I do it by feel. As you are swirling you can feel the resistance of the soap and you eventually reach a point where you splash in that last little bit of water and the very next swirl just feels different like the brush is just gliding in the bowl instead of 'pushing something' around in there. That's when I know I hit the sweet spot. I've always been a wing it kinda guy :001_302:

Cool! :thumbup1: My mass measurements are in order to quantify and rank optimum lather compositions and help myself in the process, but measurements aren't necessary for making great lather, as you know very well. You can do it by look and feel and experience.
 
The Panama 1924 soap’s performance is top tier for me as well. I stick with cella because I get very close in terms of shave quality for a fraction of the price. I also tried the Panama 1924 cream which is not almond scented but rather has the same tobacco vanilla scent as the edt. Confusing. The cream’s performance was weak but I love that scent! If they made the soap with the scent of the edt I would happily pay up for it.
I do love my Cella, I've said before I do get my best head shaves from it for whatever reason. And I do understand the cost factor. That being said, I would bet my last dollar 150ml of the Boellis would last much longer than the 150ml tubs of Cella so that would be a consideration on why I would challenge the price factor. More up front but lasts longer in the long run
 
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