Join us for a week with your favorite/mystery/misbehaving soap (Jan 18 - Jan 24 2010)

[Mink]

This thread continues Sullybob's weekly soap ritual. We'd like you to stick with one soap this week that is your favorite, one you want to get to know better, or one that needs a decision.

Please tell us what you're shaving with, what the results were, but mostly, what makes the soap unique to you. There are so many soaps to choose from and this feedback helps everyone.

Please join us!!!

 

[Evbo]

A week of #88! I'm' in, yo.

 

[Mink]

Day 1, Shave 1
(actually, late Sunday night)

Mühle 41R w/ Crystal(2)
GoldenNib Best Badger (20mm)
Tabac SS
Shower
Pinaud Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum

I don't think I can get a closer shave than what I got tonight. Tabac makes the stiffest, fullest lather I've ever seen. I noticed in my second pass that the razor was feeling "sticky", so I washed off the lather, added some water to the bowl and reapplied. The stickiness went away, but I noticed after my 3rd pass that my skin was drying out. With a shea butter soap, my skin would have been soft and hydrated. So, I have some things to figure out with this soap, but the lather is nothing short of remarkable.

 

[cfriend]

I maaaaay be in on this, with Provence Sante Green Tea. I purchased three pucks of this in the B&B group buy, and have yet to use it. I say maaaaaay because I can never say what I'll use in the morning... until the morning.

 

[kingfisher]

C'mon, Christian, take the leap! This would be good for you. It will help you to learn your new soap better right off the bat. I understand your hesitation; I don't think I've ever used the same product more than two days in a row since I started traditional wet-shaving about in April of last year.

Anyway, I'm in, and I started this morning. Hardest part was deciding which soap to choose. Ultimately, I grabbed Mama Bear's Spicey Lime and lathered her up.

NOS Atra with Gillette cartridge blade
MB Spicey Lime
Omega Boar brush
two passes plus touch-up
SCS Extract of Limes AS milk
C&S Oxford and Cambridge EDC

I loaded up the brush and then put in quite a bit of water right off the bat. this led to a very bubbly looking protolather that worried me some. I worked it gently for a long time until everything was better incorporated, and it looked better, but was still matte. I added a bit more water and worked it until it looked good.

Going on it seemed a little thin and the first pass was a tiny bit rough.

Interestingly, the lather for the second pass was heavenly. I'm not sure why, but just having it sit there during the first pass improved it greatly. Evaporation? More time for the mix to meld together? I don't know.

good news is that since I'm using the same soap tomorrow, I can experiment with the water ratio and the mixing time to see if I can find that "sweet spot" for the first pass instead of having to wait until the second.

Day one is in the books!

 

[beginish]

I am in, too, and am devoting the week to Gold-Dachs.

Monday Shave:

CF Pre-Shave
Rooney Heritage Beehive
Sara's/Ayars Lather Bowl
Gold-Dachs Soap
40's Super Speed with Shark
Trumpers Coral Skin Food

I've used G-D off and on over the last 9 months or so, but always face lathered and never more than every few weeks. In fact, I haven't touched it since November. Reading posts and reviews, G-D is a love it/hate it kind of soap. The scent can be great or make you run screaming from the room. More concerning is the experience many have in which the soap can cause a burning sensation in some users, which has been attributed to its perceived higher pH than the average soap. Not surprisingly, this has also been the characteristic that garners raves for its ability to soften a beard.

Personally, I love the scent, and have not had a problem with a burning sensation. I may be tempting fate here by using it 7 days in a row, but here goes. I bowl lathered it for the first time with the very soap-friendly, small knot Rooney Heritage Beehive. Surprisingly, it was very easy to lather, and after loading the brush for a full minute, produced a lot of dense, high quality lather after adding only a small amount of water. I lathered up, working it into my beard for a full minute, and set to work with a mild 40's Super Speed and thrice-used Shark. Taking the time afforded by today's holiday, a three pass shave with touch up yielded a nice, smooth face. Trumpers Coral Skin Food nicely complemented the herbal Gold-Dachs scent.

So, Day 1 was a big success. I will try another bowl lather tomorrow with the larger-knotted Heritage Victorian.

 

[jgjoneslaw]

I'm in. I'm going to be using Prairie Creation's Old Spice Tallow Soap.

Day 1.

Gillette Slim
Super Iridium Blade
EJ Best Badger

I wanted to use this soap this week because it has gotten such strong opinions and with the controversy surrounding the lack of orders being filled I figured I should be thankful for my puck and take advantage. This soap is unique to me in that I seem to have to add a lot of water to it in order to get it to lather. I face lather and most soaps if I add some water to the puck before I hop in the shower that is sufficient. But with this soap it is WAY too dry and I find it almost impossible to build lather on the soap directly. Today I dripped quite a bit of water into the breech of the brush before lathering and got a very nice lather but still a little thin. It was very protective though and I had a four pass shave with no irritation and my skin feels excellent. I think I am going to keep playing with the water ratio and see just how much I can add to this soap.

 

[jkh]

I will be using Trumpers Rose this week. Great soap, but for some reason is an every once and a while soap for me. I'm not sure why? The performance and lather is top tier and the rose scent is intoxicating.

Whatever the case, had a marvelous shave this morning with Trumpers Rose.

 

[Bulldawg]

I'm a week too late. L'Occitane was my mystery/misbehaving soap but I traded it after the week of French soaps. I do have a sample of Aqua Di Parma I used once that didn't quite live up to the hype. Perhaps it was an IO error. I'll use that for the rest of the week.

 

[tlanning]

Ok, but Its been years since I've used ANYTHING FOR more than 2 days in a row.
I'm over a New Years resolution, (a bet with the wife) that I would not add anything in the way of soap or cream for a solid year--I made it but with 16 true favorites wasn't to tough. However, I'm making up for lost time. Used Irish Moos for the third time this am and L'Occitane the day before, another new one I love. I've got cella coming and looking forward to that. The bet consisted of one more and I'm thinking DR harris or an AOS--any suggestions?

When did this start? If today, I'll stick with the Moos. If I can start tomorrow, I'll use the L'Occitane Should be fun.

How about some suggestions on the Harris adverses the AOS.

 

[kingfisher]

You can start tomorrow with the Cade if you want to. But once you choose a soap, you have to stick with the entire week.

 

[markb]

Hmmmm... May jump in this tomorrow with my AOS Lemon. Such a great soap. Don't use it as much as I should..

 

[jones2289]

I'll start tonight with Tabac. I never have a hard time getting what seems like excellent lather, but I always end up with a horrible shave. I almost always have razor burn, and oftentimes, my entire face just stings during the shave, almost like an allergic reaction.

I've never been allergic to anything so far in life, not even a rash from soap, so I wouldn't think that would be the problem. Anyway, I'll stick with it for a few days and see what happens.

 

[DougK]

I'm in with Williams and documenting my shaves over in this thread. Hopefully I will have finally mastered this soap by the end of the week; I've never used it for more than a couple of days at a time.

 

[Trendkill]

Shave 1

AOS Unscented
Simpsons Duke 2 Best
Trac II
Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel

Very nice shave with good cushion and glide. Good start to the week.

This is going to be the first of many "week of" shaving soaps. You can follow my progress using the following link.

Soap Journal

 

[markb]

Okay, beginning tomorrow I think Im going to spend the rest of my week alternating between the AOS Lemon & Cella soaps.

 

[Sullybob]

I'm in guys, sorry I'm late for the party.

Day one.
Pre de Provence lathered with a B&E
Shark/Slant
Clubman
EDT Baux

I am pretty impressed with this soap. It was one of the first soaps that I bought when I started wet shaving, I only used it a time or two because shortly after I bought it I also picked up a puck of AOS Sandalwood. The AOS is long gone and I didn't get out the PDP again until we did the week of French soaps. I think that I paid around $12 or $13 for a 150 gram puck. I think that this soap is able to compete with much higher priced soaps, one way or another I'll know if that thought is correct by the end of the week.

I really loaded up my brush and did a combination of face and scuttle lathering, I easily had enough soap for a four pass shave with touch ups and my face felt really great. Tomorrow I may use a boar brush for fun.

....

How about some suggestions on the Harris adverses the AOS.

I was thinking of doing something like that. Maybe next week can be a head to head week.

I'll start tonight with Tabac. I never have a hard time getting what seems like excellent lather, but I always end up with a horrible shave. I almost always have razor burn, and oftentimes, my entire face just stings during the shave, almost like an allergic reaction.

I've never been allergic to anything so far in life, not even a rash from soap, so I wouldn't think that would be the problem. Anyway, I'll stick with it for a few days and see what happens.

I had the same issues with Tabac burning my face also. If your face burns before you start to shave I would have some concerns about continuing to use Tabac.

 

[markb]

 

[kingfisher]

Okay, beginning tomorrow I think Im going to spend the rest of my week alternating between the AOS Lemon & Cella soaps.

I think you're missing the point. You're supposed to choose just ONE soap and use it for the entire week.

 

[Evbo]

Day 2 w/the #88. I'm finding that it's best to start out with a damp, almost-dry brush. Swirl it around on the puck for at least a minute to pick up as much soap as possible, paint some "proto-lather" on my face, then back to the puck. Swirl again for at least a minute, add a few drips of water to the brush, then back to my face. This method is proving to yield a rich, stable, protective lather.

Smells good, too.