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Nobel Otter Logbook- superb performance, light scent

As many of you know, I have a very large collection of soaps. I look for soaps that have superb performance and superb scents. The latest addition to my den is Noble Otter Logbook.

I have a number of other Noble Otter soaps in my collection, but they are several years old and the performance is not up to my current standards. When the Logbook scent was released recently, I though it might be a suitable addition to my den. The formula is different from the soaps purchased previously, so I hoped the performance would be improved.

The Logbook scent contains notes of: Bergamot, Orange, Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Amber, Leather, Elemi, Moss.
It is a complex, well-blended, cologne scent somewhat reminiscent of Dior Sauvage. Unfortunately, the scent of the soap is rather subdued, even after lathering. I was disappointed in this as I do not normally apply aftershaves or colognes. For those who do like fragrance products, Noble Otter offers the Logbook scent in an aftershave and also an EDP.

The soap formulation contains: Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Aqua, Coconut Milk, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Kokum Butter, Mango Seed Butter, Sodium Hydroxide, Lanolin, Fragrance, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Lactate, Allantoin, Citric Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Tetrasodium EDTA, Aloe Vera, White Willow Bark Extract, Watermelon Extract, Tussah Silk.

Thus, this is a tallow based soap supplemented with a number of vegetable oils and butters and other ingredients. It is similar to the earlier formulation, but there are some changes. The soap contains lanolin, which might be a concern to those who are sensitive. For the benefit of those who have hard water, the soap contains EDTA.

The Logbook soap was attractively packaged. Although this is not required for my evaluation, it is a nice feature.

The soap is very firm, so much so that it was difficult to dent the soap with my finger.

My typical procedure involves placing 1 Tablespoon of hot water into the tub and swirl for 10 seconds to loosen the top layer of the soap. Since the soap was so hard, I allowed a few more second. The bloom water was poured off into my shave bowl. I then loaded the soap for 10 seconds using a 26 mm silvertip badger brush. This provided sufficient soap for my lather. Thus, I consider the soap easy to load.

I swirled the soap along with the bloom water in my shave bowl for 30 seconds. All of my better soaps will develop a smooth lather free of larger bubbles in less than 40 seconds. Since only thirty seconds was required, I consider the soap easy to lather. I did add a few drops of water to the lather bowl part way through the shave to adjust the consistency.

Once applied to my face, I evaluate the slickness, both primary and residual. Both were sufficient for an excellent shave, including buffing strokes.

I evaluate cushion/protection through the feedback I get after my shave when I apply witch hazel to my sensitive skin. I did get minimal feedback, but enough to be a concern. I was able to get a near-BBS shave with zero irritation.

Finally, I evaluate the post shave performance. I expect a shaving soap to leave my face feeling smooth, moist, and conditioned for many hours after the shave without feeling greasy, oily, or heavy. My elite soaps provide an excellent shave and leave my face feeling great for a minimum of 8 hours. The super-elite soaps linger for a minimum of 16 hours. I have a few top soaps that will last for more than 24 hours. With Nobel Otter Logbook, I am now approaching the 24 hour mark. I can still detect some conditioning, but it is definitely starting to fade. Thus the soap easily achieves the status of super-elite from a performance standpoint, but the light scent strength prevents it from becoming one of my favorite soaps.

Congratulations to Nobel Otter on a fine product sold at a good price. I just wish the aroma of the soap had been more pronounced.
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
Thanks for your detailed report! I have seen Noble Otter a number of times now, but they appear less available in Europe to actually try them out. Maybe I will try to get them from the US to still try them out.

Thanks,

Guido
 
I have shaved with it twice in a row so far. Loving the scent and performance. All Noble Otter soaps are in the lesser scented scale.
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High quality fragrances are expensive. If Noble Otter were to make the scent of the soap stronger, it is likely that the selling price might need to be raised. Those that plan to purchase the scented aftershave or EDP might not want a more heavily scented soap.

If I were to have matching aftershaves for all the soaps in my rotation, I would have to purchase a fire-proof cabinet as I would be storing several gallons of flammable liquid. Thus, for my situation, I prefer purchasing moderately scented soaps and skipping the aftershaves. I would gladly pay a few dollars more for a stronger scented soap, but others might not wish to do so. That is a decision that the soapmaker has to make as a business decision. Shavers then need to respond to the soapmaker's decision.

While I love the performance of Logbook, it will likely be the last Noble Otter soap I purchase. I have so many soaps with superb performance, I restrict my purchases to soaps with superb scents as well.
 

Mr. Shavington

Knows Hot Turkish Toilets
I like Noble Otter - especially Rawr and the now discontinued(?) Plunder. Logbook unfortunately doesn’t sound like my kind of scent. I don’t enjoy cologne style fragrances in a shaving soap, and I look for scents that set a mood or evoke places or experiences to accompany my shave. I will continue watching what they release, though, and I do like their lid art. It’s nice to have a tub sitting on the bathroom counter that is nice to look at (and doesn’t feature amateur up-skirt drawings like A&E).
 
Thanks for the very helpful review — indeed thanks to anyone who contributes their experiences and impressions on this and any soap. I have enjoyed the performance of the NO soaps I've tried and being lightly scented is actually a great recommendation for me.

Normally any soap with "cologne" in the notes or reviews is likely to be a one-and-done for me, but I keep trying; I have Logbook queued for a test flight :) ✈️
 
Noble Otter scents do vary in intensity. This morning I pulled out an old tub of Monarch in the older formulation. I compared the scent of the Monarch to the new tub of Logbook. While both are very nice scents, the Monarch was stronger than Logbook, even after 3-4 years. Usually, scents fade over time, so after a year or two, Logbook will be essentially unscented.

Although I got an excellent shave with Monarch, the residual slickness and post shave performance of the old formula does not compare to the new formulation.
 
Thanks for the review! I'm a scent hound too and like Noble Otter, but the only one I have tried is Monoi de Tahiti. That hits it in scent and performance for me and I rank it among my best scented soaps. I added the splash and the scent lasts the rest of the day. So far, I'm not convinced to try any of their other soaps.
 
I needed a replacement for TOBS. It made my face break out after 2 days. Tried TOBS St. James, same thing.
So, I bought a number of samples including several Noble Otter. I got Monarch, Two Kings, RAWR and Lonestar.
It takes a small Ice cream bowl to lather up. You get a feel for the scent, but, it's diluted.
I settled on Lonestar scents(Lemon, Sage, Magnolia, Texas Cedar, Oakmoss, Leather, Hay).
The scents are noticable, but they don't hang around for long. They're for me to enjoy while I'm shaving.
It also means they can't clash with any other scent I use.
 
As many of you know, I have a very large collection of soaps. I look for soaps that have superb performance and superb scents. The latest addition to my den is Noble Otter Logbook.

I have a number of other Noble Otter soaps in my collection, but they are several years old and the performance is not up to my current standards. When the Logbook scent was released recently, I though it might be a suitable addition to my den. The formula is different from the soaps purchased previously, so I hoped the performance would be improved.

The Logbook scent contains notes of: Bergamot, Orange, Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Amber, Leather, Elemi, Moss.
It is a complex, well-blended, cologne scent somewhat reminiscent of Dior Sauvage. Unfortunately, the scent of the soap is rather subdued, even after lathering. I was disappointed in this as I do not normally apply aftershaves or colognes. For those who do like fragrance products, Noble Otter offers the Logbook scent in an aftershave and also an EDP.

The soap formulation contains: Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Aqua, Coconut Milk, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Kokum Butter, Mango Seed Butter, Sodium Hydroxide, Lanolin, Fragrance, Bentonite Clay, Sodium Lactate, Allantoin, Citric Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Tetrasodium EDTA, Aloe Vera, White Willow Bark Extract, Watermelon Extract, Tussah Silk.

Thus, this is a tallow based soap supplemented with a number of vegetable oils and butters and other ingredients. It is similar to the earlier formulation, but there are some changes. The soap contains lanolin, which might be a concern to those who are sensitive. For the benefit of those who have hard water, the soap contains EDTA.

The Logbook soap was attractively packaged. Although this is not required for my evaluation, it is a nice feature.

The soap is very firm, so much so that it was difficult to dent the soap with my finger.

My typical procedure involves placing 1 Tablespoon of hot water into the tub and swirl for 10 seconds to loosen the top layer of the soap. Since the soap was so hard, I allowed a few more second. The bloom water was poured off into my shave bowl. I then loaded the soap for 10 seconds using a 26 mm silvertip badger brush. This provided sufficient soap for my lather. Thus, I consider the soap easy to load.

I swirled the soap along with the bloom water in my shave bowl for 30 seconds. All of my better soaps will develop a smooth lather free of larger bubbles in less than 40 seconds. Since only thirty seconds was required, I consider the soap easy to lather. I did add a few drops of water to the lather bowl part way through the shave to adjust the consistency.

Once applied to my face, I evaluate the slickness, both primary and residual. Both were sufficient for an excellent shave, including buffing strokes.

I evaluate cushion/protection through the feedback I get after my shave when I apply witch hazel to my sensitive skin. I did get minimal feedback, but enough to be a concern. I was able to get a near-BBS shave with zero irritation.

Finally, I evaluate the post shave performance. I expect a shaving soap to leave my face feeling smooth, moist, and conditioned for many hours after the shave without feeling greasy, oily, or heavy. My elite soaps provide an excellent shave and leave my face feeling great for a minimum of 8 hours. The super-elite soaps linger for a minimum of 16 hours. I have a few top soaps that will last for more than 24 hours. With Nobel Otter Logbook, I am now approaching the 24 hour mark. I can still detect some conditioning, but it is definitely starting to fade. Thus the soap easily achieves the status of super-elite from a performance standpoint, but the light scent strength prevents it from becoming one of my favorite soaps.

Congratulations to Nobel Otter on a fine product sold at a good price. I just wish the aroma of the soap had been more pronounced.
Really great assessment. Enjoy reading your well structured analyses of the various shaving soaps that you use.
 
I think this might just be a blind buy from me based on the reviews. Haven't seen a single negative review and am going to replace my Barrbarr once I've finished it. I saw a review on the website that said it has a sort of Earl Grey nature to it and that is definitely drawing me towards it even more.
 
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