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My Grande Journey

Last night I guess I was feeling reminiscent. I loaded a fresh Feather in my Brit clone and had a shave with CRS. When I was using DE's more often I really liked this razor. Smooth, really comfortable and it gave me a really nice close shave.

First pass N>S. Second pass S>N. Third pass ATG buffing. Cleanup ATG buffing. Another cleanup ATG buffing.

I had an excellent DFS after that but not a BBS like I'm use too now so I picked up the MMOC, the blade has had 6 shaves on it, flipped the blade and started stroking from below my ear to my chin. The MMOC sounded like I hadnt even shaved. One quick ATG pass without buffing, then another, smaller, buffing pass over my swirls. Now, I had the BBS finish I was use too.

I gotta say, I'm having a hard time wanting to go back to a DE. The MMOC killed my Brit clone. Annihilated may be a better word. It destroyed it, completely.
I am in for the Brit clone pif. :p
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member

1371605991358.jpeg
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
PdP, CRS, Wickham and WK, step aside.

IMG_3076.jpg


I won these in @rockviper's P.160 PIF. The brush is an @Graydog Omega S Brush knot in a Maple handle he made. Its nice. Its also small, which I like.

Maggard synthetic left, S Brush right.

IMG_3078.JPG


I wont go into much detail about the S Brush yet, but I like it!

My own measurements.

OAL: Maggard 106mm. S Brush 96mm.

Handle Length: Maggard 54mm. S Brush 41mm

Loft: Maggard 52mm. S Brush 55mm.

Knot: Maggard 24mm. S Brush 24mm. Actual knot size of both, I suspect, is 22mm.

The soap however, is outstanding. If you like thin and slick this is a winner. Its a lighter bodied lather than Wickham and WK, more like PdP. My puck is hard, PdP hard, but it loads twice as easily.

IMG_3082.JPG


I used my Bullet Tip, which has kicked aside my Brit clone in the mild, gentle razor department with this soap last night. I know its only my first shave, but this soap has defeated all my others in slickness. On its first shave!

I'll be using this soap a lot in the next while with the MMOC and, maybe, a few DE's and I'll see where it stands then. I believe however, it will stay above all the rest of my soaps and creams. Its that good.

The scent is very much like the description.

Lemon Rose Shaving Soap : Mama Bears Soaps and Gift Shop , Mama Bears Shaving Soaps and Bath Products for the Discerning Gentleman and Lady

Its light and mild, present in an understated way and doesnt seem to linger much if at all. Clean, light and fresh is how I'd describe it with a mix of Rose and Lemon as if carried on a breeze.

These soaps are good. They arent expensive either.

Handmade Shaving Soaps, Mama Bears Soaps
 

rockviper

I got moves like Jagger
I never used a synth on Mama Bears before, but with a badger, boar, or horse, you can get a thick lather (which is still super slick!) by loading longer with a semi-dry brush. Loading with a wetter brush provides a bubble-lather explosion that then needs to be worked a bunch.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
I never used a synth on Mama Bears before, but with a badger, boar, or horse, you can get a thick lather (which is still super slick!) by loading longer with a semi-dry brush. Loading with a wetter brush provides a bubble-lather explosion that then needs to be worked a bunch.

Using the synthetic it loaded almost instantly lol. I was amazed how quickly it loaded. I loaded it like I would PdP and with the same number of swirls around the mug, 30-50, the lather had burst from the mug and was running down my fingers in big globs. I had so much on my brush I had to turn it in my hand face lathering because big clumps were going to fall off. I rinsed more down the drain than I used to shave with.

I'd need to check to make sure but this soap doesnt seem to me like a tallow soap. Tallow soaps have a richer somehow denser lather. This soaps lather is much the same as PdP and the Captains Choice creams to me but slicker and with a smoother viscosity. Lighter than either CRS, Wickham or WK and yet slicker.

This soap gives me the kind of lather I like very quickly and very easily. I may use a thicker lather with the MMOC, but as slick and smooth as the lather from this soap is, I doubt I'll need any extra cushion.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
PdP, CRS, Wickham and WK, step aside.

View attachment 977361

I won these in @rockviper's P.160 PIF. The brush is an @Graydog Omega S Brush knot in a Maple handle he made. Its nice. Its also small, which I like.

Maggard synthetic left, S Brush right.

View attachment 977365

I wont go into much detail about the S Brush yet, but I like it!

My own measurements.

OAL: Maggard 106mm. S Brush 96mm.

Handle Length: Maggard 54mm. S Brush 41mm

Loft: Maggard 52mm. S Brush 55mm.

Knot: Maggard 24mm. S Brush 24mm. Actual knot size of both, I suspect, is 22mm.

The soap however, is outstanding. If you like thin and slick this is a winner. Its a lighter bodied lather than Wickham and WK, more like PdP. My puck is hard, PdP hard, but it loads twice as easily.

View attachment 977366

I used my Bullet Tip, which has kicked aside my Brit clone in the mild, gentle razor department with this soap last night. I know its only my first shave, but this soap has defeated all my others in slickness. On its first shave!

I'll be using this soap a lot in the next while with the MMOC and, maybe, a few DE's and I'll see where it stands then. I believe however, it will stay above all the rest of my soaps and creams. Its that good.

The scent is very much like the description.

Lemon Rose Shaving Soap : Mama Bears Soaps and Gift Shop , Mama Bears Shaving Soaps and Bath Products for the Discerning Gentleman and Lady

Its light and mild, present in an understated way and doesnt seem to linger much if at all. Clean, light and fresh is how I'd describe it with a mix of Rose and Lemon as if carried on a breeze.

These soaps are good. They arent expensive either.

Handmade Shaving Soaps, Mama Bears Soaps

Looks like glycerin to me, Mike.

BOSC.2.Even Stupid Experiments Count.jpg


Suggested Experiment Time: Use it every shave for a couple of weeks and see what happens to your skin.

No, I have no idea what will happen. Just curious. Also, I doubt this is a stupid experiment but if your face falls off I was wrong and you can't blame me (or Cal @Cal , for that matter, and he's usually to be blamed for everything as everyone already knows).

Slick is good, but it's not everything (according to me). Still, it is very good to have a very slick soap.

It's not a soap I've tried nor do I know anything much about it so I'm really encouraging of experiments and reports.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
That soap looks all wrong to me. :a11:

Shaving soap should be shaving soap coloured...

What colour is soap? :)

You might really like this one then. Lets play, Name That Soap!

grey-dolomiti.jpeg


Looks like glycerin to me, Mike.

View attachment 977382

Suggested Experiment Time: Use it every shave for a couple of weeks and see what happens to your skin.

No, I have no idea what will happen. Just curious. Also, I doubt this is a stupid experiment but if your face falls off I was wrong and you can't blame me (or Cal @Cal , for that matter, and he's usually to be blamed for everything as everyone already knows).

Slick is good, but it's not everything (according to me). Still, it is very good to have a very slick soap.

It's not a soap I've tried nor do I know anything much about it so I'm really encouraging of experiments and reports.

Happy shaves,

Jim

My top 2 requirements in a shave soap are; 1: Slickness and 2: Scent. I dont need much if any cushion at all anymore, especially with the thicker SE blades. Mama Bears has Wickham, CRS, WK, Stirling and I'm quite sure PdP beat in the slickness department and from the soaps I use, WK Chypre Rose, Wickham English Rose, Wickham Club Cola, Stirling Black Cherry and PdP 63, it very well may have them beat in the scent department too.

Post shave feel was as good and I believe better, than any other soap I've yet used. That may be due to the gentleness of the Bullet Tip, but I dont think so. Three full passes and three cleanups on my neck is a long shave for me. I could not believe how comfortable that shave was. For that level of comfort I dont mind a shave that long.

Ingredient list:
Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Safflower, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soybean protein (conditioner), Wheat protein and fragrance either natural or synthetic.

Whatever it is, it works.

I'll use it for every shave for a week then switch to another soap and see what I think. Then I'll repeat that process working through my top soaps but I already know the outcome. Scent aside, Mama Bears will out perform every one of them. CRS and Captains Choice still win in the scent department though and are both very good performers.

My puck of T&H 1805 is now the air freshener in my car. In that area, it excels lol.
 
What colour is soap? :)

You might really like this one then. Lets play, Name That Soap!

View attachment 977632



My top 2 requirements in a shave soap are; 1: Slickness and 2: Scent. I dont need much if any cushion at all anymore, especially with the thicker SE blades. Mama Bears has Wickham, CRS, WK, Stirling and I'm quite sure PdP beat in the slickness department and from the soaps I use, WK Chypre Rose, Wickham English Rose, Wickham Club Cola, Stirling Black Cherry and PdP 63, it very well may have them beat in the scent department too.

Post shave feel was as good and I believe better, than any other soap I've yet used. That may be due to the gentleness of the Bullet Tip, but I dont think so. Three full passes and three cleanups on my neck is a long shave for me. I could not believe how comfortable that shave was. For that level of comfort I dont mind a shave that long.

Ingredient list:
Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Safflower, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soybean protein (conditioner), Wheat protein and fragrance either natural or synthetic.

Whatever it is, it works.

I'll use it for every shave for a week then switch to another soap and see what I think. Then I'll repeat that process working through my top soaps but I already know the outcome. Scent aside, Mama Bears will out perform every one of them. CRS and Captains Choice still win in the scent department though and are both very good performers.

My puck of T&H 1805 is now the air freshener in my car. In that area, it excels lol.

Their Dragon's Blood smells great as well! I like some cushion, so it wasn't my favorite, but it is slick!
 

Raven Koenes

My precious!
I'm surprised, Rave, not to see you using the SV soaps more. Not that you should. Not that you don't have a huge soap collection. One might say (but not in your wife's presence) you have a soap collection fit for royalty.
That's the thing, my collection is totally King's Butt unmanageable at this point. This week I'll be using CRS French Vetiver. Next week I hope to use SV Dolomiti. In the meantime I'm always searching to needlessly buy more...like the Mama Bear's soap Mike was pif'ed.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
My last several shaves have been with the Bullet Tip. I even took it as my travel razor for the trip up north last week.

Lake Superior Provincial Park. Trans Canada Highway 17 looking south, to Old Woman Bay. Saturday May 18 2019.

IMG_3122.jpg


Mama Bears vs CRS.

GEM Bullet Tip, fresh PTFE with back to back shaves using both. All shaves were done the same way. First pass N>S. Send pass S>N. Third pass and two clean ups done ATG buffing. All shaves were very close with around a 12 hour BBS finish.

Mama Bears won every shave. Its slicker and makes my skin more supple. Using CRS, especially with that many passes, I had some light irritation and my skin felt a tiny bit raw for an hour or two post shave with light itching around my chin on two shaves. Using Mama Bears the post shave feel is just... wonderful.

The only area Mama Bears didnt win is in scent. CRS is outstanding in that department, but Mama Bears is damn nice too.

On the trip I took the Bullet Tip with the same blade still in it and PdP. If I had to compare lather types, Mama Bears is more like PdP than my other soaps but it outperforms PdP as well. Performance is closer to PdP than CRS, by a long shot. Mama Bears is slicker and leaves my skin slightly more comfortable than PdP.

I have a few more shaves on this blade, but when its finished I'll start again with a fresh PTFE in the Bullet Tip and put Mama Bears against Wickham or WK but I already know it will be more of the same.

Mama Bears is a great soap but if you like a lot of cushion you may not like it as much as other soaps. On the other hand, if you prefer PdP and the type of light bodied lather it gives and value slickness over all else, its a clear winner.
 
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