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- #21
Yeah, sorting by clicking on the column headings doesn't usually work perfectly, but it seems to get most of the way there. It's not my fault. It's a website software or BB code thing. Maybe it will be fixed someday.
Lather Optimization Updates
- Thread starter ShavingByTheNumbers
- Start date
Yeah, sorting by clicking on the column headings doesn't usually work perfectly, but it seems to get most of the way there. It's not my fault. It's a website software or BB code thing. Maybe it will be fixed someday.
Well done! Thanks! 
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UPDATE! Barrister's Reserve comes in at #4, behind Stirling Soap Co. and Barrister and Mann (classic):
Lather Optimization Guide
Barrister's Reserve shaving soap was evaluated using a sample that was generously donated by @Tokyospike. (Thanks, Spike!) The lather builds up more slowly than others, which surely contributes to its greater density compared to others. As with other soaps, minimizing lather-building time made the slickest lather. Barrister's Reserve is not as water-soluble as other soaps, so it takes around 45 seconds to mix in the soap within the optimum lather-building time of about 60 seconds. The optimum lather with Barrister's Reserve, at least for me and a three-pass shave, is with almost 1 g of soap and enough water for a water-to-soap ratio of around 12. I like the increased density, even if it costs more money, but I don't like the dryness in the post-shave and the little bit of irritation, too. Barrister's Reserve beat Stirling in slickness in back-to-back testing, but Stirling beat Barrister's Reserve in the post-shave. Overall, I had to give the edge to Stirling because of its more balanced performance.
Interestingly or not, I find Barrister and Mann's classic shaving soap to be better than the newer Barrister's Reserve, such that Barrister's Reserve might have somewhat better slickness, but definitely inferior post-shave. Do most users of these soaps agree or disagree with my findings?
Lather Optimization Guide
Barrister's Reserve shaving soap was evaluated using a sample that was generously donated by @Tokyospike. (Thanks, Spike!) The lather builds up more slowly than others, which surely contributes to its greater density compared to others. As with other soaps, minimizing lather-building time made the slickest lather. Barrister's Reserve is not as water-soluble as other soaps, so it takes around 45 seconds to mix in the soap within the optimum lather-building time of about 60 seconds. The optimum lather with Barrister's Reserve, at least for me and a three-pass shave, is with almost 1 g of soap and enough water for a water-to-soap ratio of around 12. I like the increased density, even if it costs more money, but I don't like the dryness in the post-shave and the little bit of irritation, too. Barrister's Reserve beat Stirling in slickness in back-to-back testing, but Stirling beat Barrister's Reserve in the post-shave. Overall, I had to give the edge to Stirling because of its more balanced performance.
Interestingly or not, I find Barrister and Mann's classic shaving soap to be better than the newer Barrister's Reserve, such that Barrister's Reserve might have somewhat better slickness, but definitely inferior post-shave. Do most users of these soaps agree or disagree with my findings?
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Wow. What a gift. The generosity of the nerds...errr...I mean incredibly fine people on this forum truly humble me. I've learned so much, and with a resource like this made freely available to the community is just incredibly... Cool...
Truly. Thank you. I look forward to utilizing it, and hopefully contributing some samples.
Fellow nerd here... But a retro/metro nerd thanks to this hobby.
Cheers!!
Truly. Thank you. I look forward to utilizing it, and hopefully contributing some samples.
Fellow nerd here... But a retro/metro nerd thanks to this hobby.
Cheers!!
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- #26
Thanks, @BDWoody! Isn't it great how nerds like us are cool now?
This research has really become a community effort. I've got two more soap samples from @Tokyospike to evaluate---I just started one today---and then four soaps and one cream to optimize using samples from @Cal. Before finishing with Cal's samples, which will be weeks from now, I'd like to have other samples on deck. Any help that you and others can provide would be greatly appreciated. There are a few conditions, though, that I must insist on for experimental purposes:1. The samples must be untainted and not dried out. They must be like new, untouched by water and fingers.
2. The samples must be fairly current, not old.
3. Sample weight should be 1/2 oz. or more.
4. A photograph of the ingredient list and the exact/approximate purchase date must be provided with each sample.
Thanks for your consideration. If anyone can help, please PM to talk about it.
Thanks again, Grant. I think I preferred the Reserve to the classic because of the slickness, but your findings seem to line up with my experience. Lathering Reserve and Stirling is a little different, but I have them both here because of how slick they are.
Interesting stuff!
Interesting stuff!
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- #28
Thanks, Spike. Yeah, I can see that, liking the Reserve over the classic because of slickness. When you factor in post-shave, though, that's when it gets me. Do you find the Reserve's post-shave to be kind of dry like I do? The Reserve's cushion/protection really got my attention with lower water-to-soap ratios, but I had to bump up the water to increase the slickness and reach the optimum, in my opinion, of course. The slickness with Barrister's Reserve was also interesting in that it was more uniform than with other soaps, and I really did appreciate the extra lather density. That might have helped with the performance. I don't know.
I started using your sample of Mike's Natural Hungarian Lavender today.
Because of my shaving routine, I probably am not really cognizant of differences in post-shave feel. After a cold rinse, I apply alum, and a few minutes later after cleaning up the shaving theatre I take a shower. After the shower, I immediately apply a small amount of balm. There really isn't any faceturbating going on prior to the alum, so . . .
Hope you enjoy Mike's!
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UPDATE! Mike's Natural shaving soap has just been added to the Lather Optimization Guide:
Review of Mike's Natural shaving soap
Mike's Natural was evaluated using a sample that was generously donated by @Tokyospike. (Thanks, Spike!) In optimizing its lather, I found Mike's Natural to be pretty well-rounded, but lacking in slickness. (The optimum slickness was found to be with a water-to-soap ratio of around 12 and a lather-building time of about 1 minute.) This resulted in ranking Mike's Natural in 5th place out of the 9 products that have been evaluated so far:
Next up is Cold River Soap Works SELECT, the third and final soap provided by @Tokyospike! (It should be noted that CRSW recently modified the SELECT formula. The upcoming review will be for a formulation from the end of last year.)
Review of Mike's Natural shaving soap
Mike's Natural was evaluated using a sample that was generously donated by @Tokyospike. (Thanks, Spike!) In optimizing its lather, I found Mike's Natural to be pretty well-rounded, but lacking in slickness. (The optimum slickness was found to be with a water-to-soap ratio of around 12 and a lather-building time of about 1 minute.) This resulted in ranking Mike's Natural in 5th place out of the 9 products that have been evaluated so far:
- Declaration Grooming
- Barrister and Mann
- Stirling
- Barrister's Reserve
- Mike's Natural
- Barrister and Mann Latha
- The Art of Shaving Shaving Cream
- Mystic Water
- The Sudsy Soapery
Next up is Cold River Soap Works SELECT, the third and final soap provided by @Tokyospike! (It should be noted that CRSW recently modified the SELECT formula. The upcoming review will be for a formulation from the end of last year.)
Nicely done, Grant. I’m pondering . . .
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- #33
Very interesting and informative read...well done sir.
I shall be following this thread to see how additional soaps stack up as you move forward.
I shall be following this thread to see how additional soaps stack up as you move forward.
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- #36
UPDATE! Cold River Soap Works (CRSW) SELECT shaving soap has just been added to the Lather Optimization Guide:
Review of CRSW SELECT shaving soap
CRSW SELECT was evaluated using a sample that was generously donated by @Tokyospike. (Thanks, Spike!) In optimizing its lather, I found CRSW SELECT to be a good well-rounded soap, producing a pretty good or good slickness with pretty good cushion/protection and very good post-shave. (The optimum lather was found to be with a water-to-soap ratio of around 11 and a lather-building time of about 1 minute.) Two ranking tests were conducted. This all resulted in ranking CRSW SELECT in 3rd place out of the 10 products that have been evaluated so far:
Next up is Nanny's Silly Soap, courtesy of @Cal! Cal actually sent two NSS samples, one being unscented and the other being scented with vetyver essential oil. Hopefully, both samples will perform identically, because if they don't, I'm in trouble.
Review of CRSW SELECT shaving soap
CRSW SELECT was evaluated using a sample that was generously donated by @Tokyospike. (Thanks, Spike!) In optimizing its lather, I found CRSW SELECT to be a good well-rounded soap, producing a pretty good or good slickness with pretty good cushion/protection and very good post-shave. (The optimum lather was found to be with a water-to-soap ratio of around 11 and a lather-building time of about 1 minute.) Two ranking tests were conducted. This all resulted in ranking CRSW SELECT in 3rd place out of the 10 products that have been evaluated so far:
- Declaration Grooming
- Barrister and Mann
- CRSW SELECT
- Stirling
- Barrister's Reserve
- Mike's Natural
- Barrister and Mann Latha
- The Art of Shaving Shaving Cream
- Mystic Water
- The Sudsy Soapery
Next up is Nanny's Silly Soap, courtesy of @Cal! Cal actually sent two NSS samples, one being unscented and the other being scented with vetyver essential oil. Hopefully, both samples will perform identically, because if they don't, I'm in trouble.
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- #37
UPDATE! Nanny's Silly Soap (NSS) Original beats Declaration Grooming (DG) to come in at #1!
Yes, a new champ has arisen in the optimum lather table. @Cal helped facilitate this momentous occasion with his generous donations. Thanks, Cal!
A thread was started in the soaps forum on NSS Original's rise to power:
Nanny's Silly Soap Original beats Declaration Grooming
Next up is Cal's sample of MdC Citrus. Stay tuned.
Yes, a new champ has arisen in the optimum lather table. @Cal helped facilitate this momentous occasion with his generous donations. Thanks, Cal!
A thread was started in the soaps forum on NSS Original's rise to power:Nanny's Silly Soap Original beats Declaration Grooming
Next up is Cal's sample of MdC Citrus. Stay tuned.
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- #38
UPDATE! Martin de Candre (MdC) comes in at 7th place out of 12.
This is in my lather optimization guide in the ShaveWiki. Special thanks go to @Cal for his generous donation of MdC Citrus. Thanks, Cal!
Here is the thread in the soaps forum on my review of MdC:
Martin de Candre (MdC) comes in at 7th place out of 12
Next up is Cal's sample of Proraso Single Blade Wood and Spice shaving cream.
This is in my lather optimization guide in the ShaveWiki. Special thanks go to @Cal for his generous donation of MdC Citrus. Thanks, Cal!
Here is the thread in the soaps forum on my review of MdC:Martin de Candre (MdC) comes in at 7th place out of 12
Next up is Cal's sample of Proraso Single Blade Wood and Spice shaving cream.
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- #39
UPDATE! Proraso Single Blade (PSB) shaving cream comes in at 3rd place out of 13.
The evaluation is in my lather optimization guide in the ShaveWiki, but here is the thread in the creams forum:
Proraso Single Blade beats Barrister and Mann, not Declaration Grooming
Special thanks go to @Cal for his generous donation. Thanks, Cal! I still have other samples from Cal to evaluate, which I will get to in good time.
The evaluation is in my lather optimization guide in the ShaveWiki, but here is the thread in the creams forum:
Proraso Single Blade beats Barrister and Mann, not Declaration Grooming
Special thanks go to @Cal for his generous donation. Thanks, Cal! I still have other samples from Cal to evaluate, which I will get to in good time.
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- #40
UPDATE! Proraso Red comes in at 8th place out of 14.
Here is the thread in the soaps forum:
Proraso Red comes in at 8th place out of 14 because of irritation
Thanks, @Cal, for donating that hefty sample. One more of your samples to go . . . Saponificio Varesino!
Here is the thread in the soaps forum:
Proraso Red comes in at 8th place out of 14 because of irritation
Thanks, @Cal, for donating that hefty sample. One more of your samples to go . . . Saponificio Varesino!
