CBL is a great soap and Chris is a stand up guy as well. Have a tub of Black Rose Oud and is smells amazing, very different from most Rose scents and the soap has a shiny quality to it which is neat.
fans of CBL
- Thread starter Dave in KY
- Start date
Recently, I saw a new soap being talked about on here named "CBL Premium." As I have tried quite a few new artisans over the past year, I figured I would give it a shot. I was especially fired up, since the artisan is from a California desert town named Hesperia where I rode motorcylcles in my youth. There aren't a lot of things coming out of Hesperia, California, so I was intrigued to see a shaving soap making the rounds from those parts.
On the website, I noticed that the soap goes for about $18 for 4 ounces and there are many interesting scents to ponder. I went with the only 2 ounce puck they had, since I like trials. It was called "Blueberry Muffin," but I didn't care, since this trial for $9 was all about the quality of the soap.
It arrived a few days ago, and through the packaging, it did smell like blueberry muffins. When you lather it, though, the scent was very sweet like blue raspberry bubble gum and it was strong in my opinion. Same with the lemon scented sample thrown in. Very strong. I wouldn't order these again, purely for the scent, but I know when I find the one I like from them, then it will be strong and I like that.
The soap is a croap and on the soft side of that. As such, it is easy to load with probably too much soap. The reward, though, is a soap that produces a very think and voluminous lather. I could have worked it even longer to make it slicker, I think, but I was happy very quickly and got on with the shave.
As for the shave, I used my favorite set up, which is a Timeless .95 TI with a Feather blade. The soap offered great protection, enough slickness and residual slickness to provide a terrific shave with no irritation. It is not the slickest soap, but makes it for it with being so protective. Also, the residual slickness is fine and dandy in my book.
When I find a scent that I truly enjoy in this soap, then I think I will shave with it quite often. I am not an expert in soap, but I know what I like. This is a great combination of a lot of things and I really enjoyed it.
If I were you, then I would give this a try. I have tried almost all of the ones talked about on this site and I think CBL Premium is as good or better. The price is not great, but very fair, and the quality of the soap makes for a wonderful shave. It lathers very easily and I noticed that cleaning my brush afterwards took no time at all. I don't know what that means, but it was great that all the soap came out of my brush right away.
I read somewhere that this artisan will soon "kick up his game" in terms of packaging, which would be a nice bonus. Generally, these things don't matter to me too much until you notice it lacking.. I am sure he will find his way like they all do.
Here is a link for you guys. I am not a shill for the artisan, but I think his name is Chris. I don't even know anything about him other than he lives where I used to race and ride motorcycles. Good enough for me.
Take care...Derek
On the website, I noticed that the soap goes for about $18 for 4 ounces and there are many interesting scents to ponder. I went with the only 2 ounce puck they had, since I like trials. It was called "Blueberry Muffin," but I didn't care, since this trial for $9 was all about the quality of the soap.
It arrived a few days ago, and through the packaging, it did smell like blueberry muffins. When you lather it, though, the scent was very sweet like blue raspberry bubble gum and it was strong in my opinion. Same with the lemon scented sample thrown in. Very strong. I wouldn't order these again, purely for the scent, but I know when I find the one I like from them, then it will be strong and I like that.
The soap is a croap and on the soft side of that. As such, it is easy to load with probably too much soap. The reward, though, is a soap that produces a very think and voluminous lather. I could have worked it even longer to make it slicker, I think, but I was happy very quickly and got on with the shave.
As for the shave, I used my favorite set up, which is a Timeless .95 TI with a Feather blade. The soap offered great protection, enough slickness and residual slickness to provide a terrific shave with no irritation. It is not the slickest soap, but makes it for it with being so protective. Also, the residual slickness is fine and dandy in my book.
When I find a scent that I truly enjoy in this soap, then I think I will shave with it quite often. I am not an expert in soap, but I know what I like. This is a great combination of a lot of things and I really enjoyed it.
If I were you, then I would give this a try. I have tried almost all of the ones talked about on this site and I think CBL Premium is as good or better. The price is not great, but very fair, and the quality of the soap makes for a wonderful shave. It lathers very easily and I noticed that cleaning my brush afterwards took no time at all. I don't know what that means, but it was great that all the soap came out of my brush right away.
I read somewhere that this artisan will soon "kick up his game" in terms of packaging, which would be a nice bonus. Generally, these things don't matter to me too much until you notice it lacking.. I am sure he will find his way like they all do.
Here is a link for you guys. I am not a shill for the artisan, but I think his name is Chris. I don't even know anything about him other than he lives where I used to race and ride motorcycles. Good enough for me.
Take care...Derek
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Great review!! 
Thanks for the review.
I recieved some of Chris's soap as a gift when he was just dabbling in it. It is very slick and easy to lather.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
If Chris re-releases the Rosa Bourbonia, rose lovers should grab that one. This soap is sold in 3 rather than 4oz size due to the cost of the rose oil scent. It is a vivid reminder of my rose growing days. The performance is top notch as is the scent.
Chris makes some excellent soaps. Wonderful scents & the performance is elite, IMHO!
Great report!
My favorites of his are the Roasted Oatmeal Stout and the Barbershop currently.
Just got his Morning Blend and Blueberry Muffin to try out.
Seriously something unique about his beer and wagyu bases. Great shave every times for me.
My favorites of his are the Roasted Oatmeal Stout and the Barbershop currently.
Just got his Morning Blend and Blueberry Muffin to try out.
Seriously something unique about his beer and wagyu bases. Great shave every times for me.
Could you please compare the barbershop's scent to any of the bugger brands? Mike's, Maggard, Stirling, anything similar?
Thanks!
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Great review thanks!
Performance-wise, it’s elite for me, blows soaps like Mike’s and Stirling out of the water.
Scent wise, to me, it’s not as strong talc as GIT (which is on the edge of bearable for me), much more of a smooth barbershop with a slightly dark/spicy note. Definitely classy though, scent lasts a while in the skin after the shave which I like.
I am looking forward to ordering a few pucks now that I love the quality of the soap. Will definitely take into consideration your comments on the beer element. I think he offers a few with beer in them. If you come across any other scents that knock your socks off, then I would love to hear about them. I think I will ride with CBL for awhile.
Thanks...Derek
CBL soaps are great IMO! Chris is a nice guy as well being a prominent member of another shaving fourm and his soap base is very good. Favorite scent so far has been Black Rose Oud which is a Dark Woodsy Rose kind of scent that is masculine and far from being a " Grandma floral".
The TabacVeg sounds interesting as well as Carnation. Its awesome to see artisans coming up with new unique scents as well as trying to upgrade and re formulate soap bases as well, really keeps artisans on their game.
The TabacVeg sounds interesting as well as Carnation. Its awesome to see artisans coming up with new unique scents as well as trying to upgrade and re formulate soap bases as well, really keeps artisans on their game.
There has been a release of 6 new scents. I just ordered the Patchouli and can’t wait to give it a try.
If you’re a fan of CBL Premium Soaps, then you already know that Chris is a master of his craft and CBL Soaps are among the best artisan soaps produced today. Chris has done it again, creating a unique formula that is unlike anything being made today.
CBL Tonsorial is the culmination of years of work attempting to re-create vintage Tonsorial soaps from a bygone era. Making soap is a science, and having the ingredients is only half of it, the rest is in how you cook it. Chris has figured out, what he believes, is the method that Williams used to make their soap back in the day. Many folks seek out Vintage Williams and it is highly prized for its creamy lather. If you’ve ever used vintage soap like Williams or Old Spice, then you have an idea of what to expect from CBL Tonsorial. (Except Chris’ soap is even better!)
The ingredients in CBL Tonsorial are as follows: Tallow, Stearic Acid, Water, Coconut Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Glycerine. Real, simple, basic ingredients!
This is designed to be a stripped down, inexpensive, no frills soap, but that doesn’t mean that this is substandard in any way. It does everything a basic shave soap needs to do (and more). This is a hard, dense puck, and produces lather very quickly. The lather it produces is extremely creamy….. both looking and feeling. In fact, the face feel of this soap is one of my favorite aspects of it. It really is unique in that regard. It’s pleasantly slick as well. Slickness, for me, is the most important attribute a soap can have. (If it’s lacking in slickness, then I don’t want to use it.) This soap has all the slickness you’d want in a soap. I’d go so far as to say it’s even slicker than Stirling.
Sounds great so far, right? What brings this soap back down to earth is the post shave feel. Since it is lacking all the expensive fats/oils/butters it doesn’t have the ultra-good post shave feel that many of the expensive artisan soaps have. Instead, it just leaves your face feeling the way your skin is supposed to feel, not overly moisturized, but not dry either. I know a lot of people use some soaps and say their skin feels great afterwards, so they don’t need to follow up with an aftershave. You will want to follow up with an aftershave with CBL Tonsorial, but that’s OK.
The fact that it doesn’t use a lot of expensive ingredients brings CBL Tonsorial down to the reasonably priced realm and competitive with the other bargain soaps out there. Chris will be selling these for around $9 for a 3oz tub.
In the past, I have recommended that everyone needs to try Vintage Williams, at least once, to experience that type of lather. Granted, it is a little expensive, usually found on ebay for about $10 for 50g (1.75 oz), sometimes more. Chris’ soap gives you everything I’d want you to experience from Vintage Williams, and so much more for about half the cost. Honestly, as a whole, CBL Tonsorial is at least on par, if not better, than vintage Williams in every way.
***********PIF Alert***********
Now, please don’t just take my word for it. I’m a CBL Soap Fanboy for sure, and love everything Chris produces. But I want to hear what you think about his new Tonsorial soap formula. The Beta pucks are out for testing, and the production tubs will be out very soon. I have purchased a few extra Beta pucks to PIF in exchange for an honest review of the soap in this thread. I will give away 4 Beta pucks. These pucks are 2-3oz in size, and should easily last you a month of shaves (probably many more).
If you are interested in trying the soap, let me know below. I will select 4 winners in a week’s time (around November 1st). You will have your choice of two scents: Money or Jeri’s Tonic. Let me know in your post which scent you are interested in testing. In exchange you must give an honest review of the soap in this thread!
Money: Expect a light linen or cotton scent with metallic ink notes. Some have described the scent as “fresh” or “clean”. (To me, it literally smells like a fresh, new stack of dollar bills.)
Jeri’s Tonic: Literally made with Jeri’s Hair Tonic. It’s a little on the light side, scent wise, but it’s still a light clean soapy barbershop scent.
(I just want to add, that I was not solicited by CBL Soaps for this review, and I have not received anything from CBL Soaps for doing this. I just love this soap and want to spread the word about how good it is!)
CBL Tonsorial is the culmination of years of work attempting to re-create vintage Tonsorial soaps from a bygone era. Making soap is a science, and having the ingredients is only half of it, the rest is in how you cook it. Chris has figured out, what he believes, is the method that Williams used to make their soap back in the day. Many folks seek out Vintage Williams and it is highly prized for its creamy lather. If you’ve ever used vintage soap like Williams or Old Spice, then you have an idea of what to expect from CBL Tonsorial. (Except Chris’ soap is even better!)
The ingredients in CBL Tonsorial are as follows: Tallow, Stearic Acid, Water, Coconut Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Glycerine. Real, simple, basic ingredients!
This is designed to be a stripped down, inexpensive, no frills soap, but that doesn’t mean that this is substandard in any way. It does everything a basic shave soap needs to do (and more). This is a hard, dense puck, and produces lather very quickly. The lather it produces is extremely creamy….. both looking and feeling. In fact, the face feel of this soap is one of my favorite aspects of it. It really is unique in that regard. It’s pleasantly slick as well. Slickness, for me, is the most important attribute a soap can have. (If it’s lacking in slickness, then I don’t want to use it.) This soap has all the slickness you’d want in a soap. I’d go so far as to say it’s even slicker than Stirling.
Sounds great so far, right? What brings this soap back down to earth is the post shave feel. Since it is lacking all the expensive fats/oils/butters it doesn’t have the ultra-good post shave feel that many of the expensive artisan soaps have. Instead, it just leaves your face feeling the way your skin is supposed to feel, not overly moisturized, but not dry either. I know a lot of people use some soaps and say their skin feels great afterwards, so they don’t need to follow up with an aftershave. You will want to follow up with an aftershave with CBL Tonsorial, but that’s OK.
The fact that it doesn’t use a lot of expensive ingredients brings CBL Tonsorial down to the reasonably priced realm and competitive with the other bargain soaps out there. Chris will be selling these for around $9 for a 3oz tub.
In the past, I have recommended that everyone needs to try Vintage Williams, at least once, to experience that type of lather. Granted, it is a little expensive, usually found on ebay for about $10 for 50g (1.75 oz), sometimes more. Chris’ soap gives you everything I’d want you to experience from Vintage Williams, and so much more for about half the cost. Honestly, as a whole, CBL Tonsorial is at least on par, if not better, than vintage Williams in every way.
***********PIF Alert***********
Now, please don’t just take my word for it. I’m a CBL Soap Fanboy for sure, and love everything Chris produces. But I want to hear what you think about his new Tonsorial soap formula. The Beta pucks are out for testing, and the production tubs will be out very soon. I have purchased a few extra Beta pucks to PIF in exchange for an honest review of the soap in this thread. I will give away 4 Beta pucks. These pucks are 2-3oz in size, and should easily last you a month of shaves (probably many more).
If you are interested in trying the soap, let me know below. I will select 4 winners in a week’s time (around November 1st). You will have your choice of two scents: Money or Jeri’s Tonic. Let me know in your post which scent you are interested in testing. In exchange you must give an honest review of the soap in this thread!
Money: Expect a light linen or cotton scent with metallic ink notes. Some have described the scent as “fresh” or “clean”. (To me, it literally smells like a fresh, new stack of dollar bills.)
Jeri’s Tonic: Literally made with Jeri’s Hair Tonic. It’s a little on the light side, scent wise, but it’s still a light clean soapy barbershop scent.
(I just want to add, that I was not solicited by CBL Soaps for this review, and I have not received anything from CBL Soaps for doing this. I just love this soap and want to spread the word about how good it is!)
Nice PIF and thanks for the review. Respectfully not in.
I'm in for the Money scent. I have a puck of vintage Williams Tonsorial that I found at a local estate sale. I would love to compare the two side by side.
Thanks for hosting this PIF and for your advocacy of Williams and Aqua Velva. I have the vintage Williams and Aqua Velva Sport because of the many posts that you have made on these products. Both prove that a great shave doesn't have to be expensive.
Thanks for hosting this PIF and for your advocacy of Williams and Aqua Velva. I have the vintage Williams and Aqua Velva Sport because of the many posts that you have made on these products. Both prove that a great shave doesn't have to be expensive.
