Col. Conk soap issue

[jlmiller556]

Hi all,

I bought this sampler on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Col-Ichabod-C...=UTF8&qid=1375718895&sr=8-3&keywords=col+conk

And I have tried to use the soap let last 3 weeks, in a rotation with others (TOBS, and Poraso green) the Col dose not seem to have a long lasting lather and not a lot of lube to me.

So my questions are

1. Am I doing it wrong?
2. should I use a pre shave cream?(I have the proraso stuff)
3. or try and super lather it with some kind of unscented tube stuff?

I do like how the Col. Amber smells, and the Bay rum also.
So let me know your thoughts please.
Have a nice day.

 

[JayEddie]

I had trouble with Conk as well. More difficulty with the lime than the Bay Rum. I found that putting the lime into a soup mug and lathering right on the puck to give me better lather.

 

[bassopotamus]

It isn't your fault. Col Conk is a mediocre soap at best, and you already have experience with a couple really good ones, so it is bound to disappoint. It was my first soap, and after I tried other stuff, I never used it again. There are tons of other bay rum soaps out there. see this thread:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/354453-Bay-Rum-Shaving-Soap

I'm not sure about the Amber. There was a thread about this a while back too, and the consensus was there is no agreed on definition of what constitutes an Amber scent, so even if you find something called Amber, it may or may not actually smell like the Conk.

 

[jlmiller556]

OK, so the soap and not me!

Thank you

 

[bassopotamus]

OK, so the soap and not me!

Thank you

Some people really like it, but when Conk has been discussed in the past, the consensus seemed to be that it's main virtue is that it is cheap and the Amber smells good.

 

[Havok305]

I tried a couple shaves with Conk and PIF'd it to a friend. Many great soaps out there, Barrister & Mann, Mike's Natural Soaps, Mamma Bears, Proraso, etc. I'd recommend samples.

 

[Whiskey Badger]

I find Conk to be a great soap in its price range, and I love the Amber. Its a staple for me. I have never had a problem with the lasting ability of Amber. I will say Almond sometimes used to fizzle away a bit back when I was considerably slower with my straights, but i fixed that with just using more water.

I soak my brush in warm water (but never had problems with it in cold or hard water) and give it a shake (not a wring out), load the brush for about 10 seconds, and face lather on a wet face (but have had good results in a bowl too). I re-wet my face before I re-apply for aditional passes and never had to reload the brush. Usually I get a great, slick feeling when i wet re-wet my face and rub the water over the soap left behind. I can easily get enough staying lather for 3 passes and leftover to wash my face like this.

I don't know what your lather process is, but you may bennefit from adding more water and/or more product.

 

[California Cajun]

Hi all,

I bought this sampler on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Col-Ichabod-C...=UTF8&qid=1375718895&sr=8-3&keywords=col+conk

And I have tried to use the soap let last 3 weeks, in a rotation with others (TOBS, and Poraso green) the Col dose not seem to have a long lasting lather and not a lot of lube to me.

So my questions are

1. Am I doing it wrong?
2. should I use a pre shave cream?(I have the proraso stuff)
3. or try and super lather it with some kind of unscented tube stuff?

I do like how the Col. Amber smells, and the Bay rum also.
So let me know your thoughts please.
Have a nice day.

My first "retro shaving" soap was a puck of Colonel Conk Bay Rum and I seem to remember liking it. It is also one of the least expensive brands. But I was having so many shaving problems that it might not be as good as I remembered. If dissatisfied, buy a higher end soap. You get a lot of bang for your buck with just about every soap considering how many shaves it delivers.

 

[Warpiper]

I got the bay rum and didn't think it had much of a scent, none in the lather that I could tell. I was using proraso before hand and I didn't think the col lathered as well or was as slick. I use a miso bowl to make lather in and I did notice that if the bowl is at room temp that the lather is a little thicker than if I made lather in a warm bowl.

 

[inspiringK]

OK, so the soap and not me!

Thank you

I enjoy using Conk and get great shaves from those soaps. The lime does seem to be bad for whatever reason, but both the Bay Rum and the Almond should work well for you. Maybe try something different with your lathering technique. Try less product, then try more product, try less water, then try more water.

I don’t really consider price to be much of a determining factor when buying soaps – unless there is a big jump in initial purchase cost like with C&S or MdC – so when I buy Conk it isn’t because it is cheap. I am quite familiar with how good soaps perform and have found Conk to hold its own among them. To give you an example, I only use one soap at a time until I finish the puck, but I have a number of soaps lined up in a drawer and ready to use for when that soap is finished. In my lineup, next up is DR Harris Arlington, then a choice of soaps including Proraso, Valobra, Speick, Vitos Super, QCS and more. Conk Bay Rum is part of that lineup and I think it’s performance is on par with (at least some of ) the others

 

[PugslyCat]

I always found Col. Conk soap to perform about like VDH soaps. I believe other threads actually say it's made by VDH for Col. Conk. That being said, I like some of the scents and haven't had any problems with it. I'll buy it if I can get a good price and have a big enough Amazon order to get free shipping. It's certainly not a bad soap but it isn't one of the prestige soaps around B&B.

 

[pjdevos]

Personally I don't like the shave I got from Col Conk. I now use it a a pre shave soap. Nothing wasted.

 

[Cholli]

Generally I have problems with glycerine soaps. The leather is fluffy and shaving is no fun. Above all it burns my skin like hell.

 

[mpmartinez99]

Fragrance wise, Conk soaps are good. In terms of performance, they are simply ok. Once you try enough soaps, you start to appreciate others while taking what you can from those that aren't great. I never get a great shave with Conk, but like the frags enough to keep them around and use them when I get bored.

 

[njpaddy]

Conk's Bay Rum is one of the worst soaps I ever tried. As a fan of bay rum, I even hated the scent. SRD and Ogallala glycerin soaps are superior in performance and scent and probably cheaper (by oz) than Conk.

 

[01HDFXD]

I recently bought a Col. Conk scuttle, and our friends at West Coast Shaving generously tossed in a puck of Col. Conk amber soap. I tried it today for the first time (I normally use Cella). It was also the last time. I worked and worked and worked and could barely get a decent lather going. I know from my normal results with Cella that it probably wasn't my technique, so I tossed it (the puck, not the scuttle ). I thought the scent was decent, but not nearly as pleasant (to my taste) as the almond scent of the Cella.

 

[Larsson_Power]

Conk soaps work great.. load the soap longer. I have never had any problems. Except with the lime.. hate the scent

 

[D E Windsor]

Unlike some of the gents, I have had great luck with Col. Conk soap. If you load you brush well it will make a very acceptable lather whether face or bowl lathering. I agree that the Amber scent is the best of the lot for nice fragrance. I guess the pendulum will always swing both ways for the Col.

 

[plywood99]

Conk soaps are made by Vanderhagen and are basically the same (40% moisturizers recipe) with different fragrances added. Of the soaps I've used the VDH stuff was my least favorite, but it was also the one I spent the least amount of time trying to use.
Personally I think putting that much moisturizing product into a "soap" is detrimental to the soap's performance.

 

[Confederate Colonel]

Col. Conk Almond is about the only soap I use, so I can't offer any comparisons. One thing that I have noticed makes a big difference is water hardness. We are on well water here, and before we added a water softener, nothing gave a good lather unless I loaded the brush with a whole lot of soap. With the soft water, boiling water, and just a small amount of soap, I get a great lather almost every time.