Problem with AOS soap

[OCDshaver]

Imagine my deep disappointment when I broke open my latest AOS Sandalwood shaving soap, only to discover that it had been reformulated (again) into a noticeably poor performer.

The original vegan reformulation of this soap -back when P&G bought the company-was still an excellent product, though admittedly a slight step down from the original version.

However, IMO this latest iteration is sub-standard. It barely lathers, and even when you can coax it, it dissipates on the skin within a minute.

So either I’m not getting something (I’ve been using this historically excellent soap for ten years or so) or we have reached a new low. Anyone with a similar experience?

I’m going to try the AOS sandalwood cream instead. I love the scent so I don’t want to lose that at least!

Oh well…

 

[sarimento1]

Imagine my deep disappointment when I broke open my latest AOS Sandalwood shaving soap, only to discover that it had been reformulated (again) into a noticeably poor performer.

The original vegan reformulation of this soap -back when P&G bought the company-was still an excellent product, though admittedly a slight step down from the original version.

However, IMO this latest iteration is sub-standard. It barely lathers, and even when you can coax it, it dissipates on the skin within a minute.

So either I’m not getting something (I’ve been using this historically excellent soap for ten years or so) or we have reached a new low. Anyone with a similar experience?

I’m going to try the AOS sandalwood cream instead. I love the scent so I don’t want to lose that at least!

Oh well…

You might try to return it to the vendor and ask for the cream instead.
Some vendors would do this as a customer service matter.

 

[Warpiper]

Give P&G a call. I had an issue with their lavender soap about 3 years ago and about a few months later I gave P&G a call. They were quite nice. They sent me a refund and a discount if I wanted to try any of their other products.

 

[OCDshaver]

I called P&G. They agreed to send me the shaving cream rather than replace it with another soap. So good service. I offered to return the soap and they said to wait for their QC department to get back to me.

 

[Possum092]

One suggestion, try digging down to the bottom and mixing a larger than normal chunk in a bowl. I just had this problem myself with a different vegan soap; it had layered itself during the cooling process. All the lathering agents settled to the bottom, so top lathering and working just off the top layer was a bust. Cheers.

 

[RayClem]

My sister gave me aa $50 gift certificate for Art of Shaving as a birthday gift. I had no plans to ever buy from AOS, but I had the credit. I purchased a puck of AOS Sandalwood along with the wooden bowl. The total was $50, so I had to pull a few bucks out of my own pocket for taxes and shipping.

The sandalwood aroma is rather nice. However, the performance of the palmate/palm oil based soap was not up to my standards. I rate the soap performance as 48/60 which is only 80%. I have a number of soaps for which I paid only $15 which score significantly higher than that. So the AOS soap ($30 for the puck without the bowl) represented a very poor value.

I have yet to find a soap based on palm oil that provides me with a great shave. I do have some vegan soaps based on stearic acid that perform quite well. Grooming Dept Nai, Captain's Choice and Catties Bubbles are stearic acid based vegan soaps that will give a fine shave.

 

[MuhleShaver]

I have a half finished puck of AoS Lavender that my wife bought me back in 2014 that started my shaving journey. It's a good thing that I didn't know what a good lather was back then or I might never have continued. I find that it's decent for straight razor shaving as it has decent slickness, but it doesn't lather worth a darn. I might grate it up and try it that way as I like the scent - but I definitely won't be buying anything else from AoS.

 

[Warpiper]

Before grating it up, try adding a few drops of glycerin to your lathering bowl and try again. We have hard water here and some of my soaps have a hard time getting a good lather. Adding a few drops of glycerin seems to help.