Shave of the Week Society (SWS)

[Rusty Blade]

I continue to tumble down the slope into more and more single edge razors. I think I am repeating my first year as a wet shaver, but instead of buying vintage Gillette razors, it is the single edge that has me enchanted! In the past 2 weeks, 4 vintage GEM razors have appeared in my mailbox. Okay, not unexpectedly, perusing eBay was the probable cause. So I am planning on using only GEM razors. I have two, a Clog Pruf and a 1912, that arrived this weekend. I will clean them and use them. The deal I am making with myself is that if one gives an outstanding shave, or at least a darn good one, I will stick with it for the week and remain true to the spirit of SWS! I love switching it up, but too many new razors, while fun to play with, need time to see what we can do together to reduce stubble and enjoy the shave.

I will start with the Contour, which is a bit mild, if I recall, then move to the Clog Pruf once cleaned up. Monday may see the Micromatic used, just to participate in the Monday Micromatic thread once!

The blade will be a Personna GEM
Soap will be a new one to me, an unscented soap from Lakewood Soap Company. So friends on another forum recommended Linda at Lakewood as making a great soap, but you don't read much about her.
The brush will be a 24mm SynBad in a new handle from Trotter Handcrafts, Supernova. Although, thanks to the generosity of @bjm, I am working on breaking in a boar brush. When it feels like it's getting ready for face time, I will use it! I am lathering it for about 10 minutes every day in a ridged bowl and my hand, to see if I can break it in sooner. Some folks online swear by the 3 days in water in the refrigerator, but I don't think my wife would be too keen on that, clean brush or not!

I hope to post some photos as they week progresses. Thanks for reading, hope you stay healthy, and have some great shaves! And as bjm said, have a good shave today and a better one tomorrow!

What you say is so true. Single edge shave are a cut above the double edge shave IMO. Something about the stiffness of the blades I think. And you can't beat a vintage GEM. Top notch.

 

[Rusty Blade]

My setup for next week...
Gillette NEW LC
Gillette Silver Blue
Fine Platinum
SOC badger and boars

View attachment 1346677

Oh, I'm really looking forward to this upcoming week of shaves! It's been far too long since I took the NEW LC for a spin.

The week with the Timeless Barber Pole handle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be compared to the lighter RR titanium. So my purchase of the Timeless titanium handle may be put on hold again. While the TRH8 would add a bit of variety, it is still a want rather than a need and wouldn't significantly impact my shaves one way or another. I find it hard to believe my shaves could get much better than what I was fortunate enough to experience in recent weeks. I've finally managed to identify my favorite go-to razors and brushes; everything else is there for a change of pace or a trip down memory lane.

Have a good shave today and a better one tomorrow...

I see you are using GSB blades. I find these such a nice smooth shave from day 1. The New LC looks pretty spiffy too!

 

[Rusty Blade]

On another forum, a guy asked about unscented soap recommendations, and I put the following together for him. It is not my comparison list, but as it made me list them out, I thought it might be useful here. I will soon be putting together my comparison list of Buy again, maybe buy, and meh.

Still waiting on that list of buy, no-buy and meh unscented soaps! I am in the market to buy another unscented soap and I am looking to the guru before I click purchase.
I currently have: Stirling Naked and Smooth, B&M soft heart series unscented, Zingari Man, TOBS Natural, and Lucky Tiger shave cream (a surprisingly nice unscented cream). I seek thy wisdom.

 

[MaineYooper]

Still waiting on that list of buy, no-buy and meh unscented soaps! I am in the market to buy another unscented soap and I am looking to the guru before I click purchase.
I currently have: Stirling Naked and Smooth, B&M soft heart series unscented, Zingari Man, TOBS Natural, and Lucky Tiger shave cream (a surprisingly nice unscented cream). I seek thy wisdom.

You make me smile! I am working today, but I will strive to put the list in a sharable format. But I may not be able to get it done until tomorrow. I will see if I can on my lunch break!

 

[bjm]

I see you are using GSB blades. I find these such a nice smooth shave from day 1. The New LC looks pretty spiffy too!

Thank you. Yeah, the GSB provided a really smooth shave this morning. I've become accustomed to a blade not hitting its stride until shave two or three, but the GSB is ready to go right out of the gate.

 

[MaineYooper]

@Rusty Blade, here are my thoughts on my unscented soap explorations!

Since 2015, I have tried numerous unscented soaps. Why unscented? My wife has severe allergies and sinus issues, and strong or unpleasant scents (to her) will trigger a sinus headache or migraine. I can make a list of the soaps I have tried sometime, but in 2019 I stopped buying and used up what I had, settling on the Top Three soaps for me. These three will always be stocked in my shave kit. They are, in order of discovery, Mystic Water Soaps Sensitive Skin (11/2015), Mike’s Natural Soap Unscented (1/2016), and Shannon’s Soaps Nil (2/2016). What follows will be based on my experience and preferences. You have been warned!

Currently there are 15 different soaps in my soap drawer. There was one other, but I donated it to a Shavers in Need thread on another forum.

Here are my thoughts. The order is sort of alphabetical by maker.

1. Canada shaving soap: This is my most expensive soap, $41 CAD, plus $15 shipping. It is a hard soap, and the tub is filled to the rim, 175g of soap. It has only 6 ingredients, non-tallow, and a compelling story Our Story - Canada Shaving Soap. It lathers very fast, and since filled to the rim, I make a mess. I find loading 30 seconds and adding water makes a great lather. I am on the fence on this one. It leaves me feeling good, but the cost keeps bugging me. On the positive side, after using it almost 3 dozen times (lately I am using it to break in a boar brush), it hardly shows any sign of use! So maybe the price, averaged over the soap’s life, will make it worth it. But for now, I won’t buy again, but that is only due to cost.
2. Ethos Clean: Second most expensive soap, $34 USD, and tallow based. I liked the description, I have read the reviews of the scented version, but I don’t think it works any better than Mystic Water Soap for post-shave face feel, and performance is not better than any I have. So this is another Don’t Buy Again.
3. Haslinger Aloe Vera: another hard soap, very inexpensive, and a light aloe scent. I have not used it more than 10 times, so the jury is out on it. Initial response is Meh.
4. House of Mammoth Z: tallow, 4 oz, $22 USD. A self-billed luxury soap. I like it, and plan to Buy Again.
5. Hub City Birthday Suit: tallow, 4 oz, and good stuff for skin. I like this one a lot, even after first use, my notes show I loved it. Lathers easily and abundantly, creamy, slick, etc. Water added can of course vary the lather, but this one Wowwed me right away. Buy Again.
6. Lakewood Soap Company: tallow, 4 oz, $18. New to me, first week of use ongoing.
7. Mike’s Natural Soap: tallow, 4 oz, available as refill puck or in tub $12 USD tub). A great soap, ideal lather, very good post-shave feel. Buy Again.
8. Mitchell’s Wool Fat: tallow, hard soap, has a light scent that I am uncertain about. I used it once, and am currently airing it out in the furnace room, seeing if I can’t reduce that light, sort of powdery yet clean smell. If I can smell it, my wife will most certainly. Not enough time with soap, but scent probably means Don’t Buy Again.
9. Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin: tallow, 4oz puck or tub ($14.15 USD). This is my Gold Standard, Buy Again soap. Great lather, I like the smell (only from ingredients, no fragrance added) and wonderful post-shave feel.
10. Noble Otter Bare: tallow, 4 oz, $14 USD. Impressed me from the first use. Definitely a Buy Again.
11. Shannon’s Soaps Nil: tallow, 4 oz, $11.95 USD for a tub. Awesomeness in a tub. Easy lather, great slickness, a Mary Poppins of shave soaps (Practically Perfect in every way!) Buy Again, don’t wait!
12. Stirling Beeswax: tallow, 5.8 oz, $14 USD. First use didn’t wow me, but this soap won me over, to where I now love it! I think I didn’t add enough water on first use, or the razor was rough and I blamed the soap. Subsequent uses changed my mind dramatically. Buy Again.
13. Stirling Naked and Smooth: as above. I had a sample back in early 2016 and I didn’t care for it. I was gifted a puck earlier this year, and still not impressed. I gifted it as well. Meh.
14. Stirling Sheep: as above. Another home run from Stirling. And the ONLY company I know of that makes THREE unscented soaps. I love two of them. Buy Again.
15. Vintage Williams: tallow, a hard soap, price varies, no longer made as tallow. Age diminished all fragrance to having no detectable odor. Lathered well, but just Meh.
16. Zingari Man unscented: tallow, 5 oz, $21 USD. Top of the food chain per website, great lather and post-shave. Buy Again.

There you have it, my current soaps and thoughts. The final tally is 3 Don’t Buy Again, 3 Meh, and 9 Buy Again, and 1 undetermined.

 

[bjm]

Thank you @MaineYooper for the comprehensive list and reviews. Unfortunately because of my current stockpile I probably won't be buying any soaps for a while, but I will definitely provide a link to this post should I run across a question regarding a recommendation for unscented soaps. Be well and stay safe...

 

[Rusty Blade]

@Rusty Blade, here are my thoughts on my unscented soap explorations!

Since 2015, I have tried numerous unscented soaps. Why unscented? My wife has severe allergies and sinus issues, and strong or unpleasant scents (to her) will trigger a sinus headache or migraine. I can make a list of the soaps I have tried sometime, but in 2019 I stopped buying and used up what I had, settling on the Top Three soaps for me. These three will always be stocked in my shave kit. They are, in order of discovery, Mystic Water Soaps Sensitive Skin (11/2015), Mike’s Natural Soap Unscented (1/2016), and Shannon’s Soaps Nil (2/2016). What follows will be based on my experience and preferences. You have been warned!

Currently there are 15 different soaps in my soap drawer. There was one other, but I donated it to a Shavers in Need thread on another forum.

Here are my thoughts. The order is sort of alphabetical by maker.

1. Canada shaving soap: This is my most expensive soap, $41 CAD, plus $15 shipping. It is a hard soap, and the tub is filled to the rim, 175g of soap. It has only 6 ingredients, non-tallow, and a compelling story Our Story - Canada Shaving Soap. It lathers very fast, and since filled to the rim, I make a mess. I find loading 30 seconds and adding water makes a great lather. I am on the fence on this one. It leaves me feeling good, but the cost keeps bugging me. On the positive side, after using it almost 3 dozen times (lately I am using it to break in a boar brush), it hardly shows any sign of use! So maybe the price, averaged over the soap’s life, will make it worth it. But for now, I won’t buy again, but that is only due to cost.
2. Ethos Clean: Second most expensive soap, $34 USD, and tallow based. I liked the description, I have read the reviews of the scented version, but I don’t think it works any better than Mystic Water Soap for post-shave face feel, and performance is not better than any I have. So this is another Don’t Buy Again.
3. Haslinger Aloe Vera: another hard soap, very inexpensive, and a light aloe scent. I have not used it more than 10 times, so the jury is out on it. Initial response is Meh.
4. House of Mammoth Z: tallow, 4 oz, $22 USD. A self-billed luxury soap. I like it, and plan to Buy Again.
5. Hub City Birthday Suit: tallow, 4 oz, and good stuff for skin. I like this one a lot, even after first use, my notes show I loved it. Lathers easily and abundantly, creamy, slick, etc. Water added can of course vary the lather, but this one Wowwed me right away. Buy Again.
6. Lakewood Soap Company: tallow, 4 oz, $18. New to me, first week of use ongoing.
7. Mike’s Natural Soap: tallow, 4 oz, available as refill puck or in tub $12 USD tub). A great soap, ideal lather, very good post-shave feel. Buy Again.
8. Mitchell’s Wool Fat: tallow, hard soap, has a light scent that I am uncertain about. I used it once, and am currently airing it out in the furnace room, seeing if I can’t reduce that light, sort of powdery yet clean smell. If I can smell it, my wife will most certainly. Not enough time with soap, but scent probably means Don’t Buy Again.
9. Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin: tallow, 4oz puck or tub ($14.15 USD). This is my Gold Standard, Buy Again soap. Great lather, I like the smell (only from ingredients, no fragrance added) and wonderful post-shave feel.
10. Noble Otter Bare: tallow, 4 oz, $14 USD. Impressed me from the first use. Definitely a Buy Again.
11. Shannon’s Soaps Nil: tallow, 4 oz, $11.95 USD for a tub. Awesomeness in a tub. Easy lather, great slickness, a Mary Poppins of shave soaps (Practically Perfect in every way!) Buy Again, don’t wait!
12. Stirling Beeswax: tallow, 5.8 oz, $14 USD. First use didn’t wow me, but this soap won me over, to where I now love it! I think I didn’t add enough water on first use, or the razor was rough and I blamed the soap. Subsequent uses changed my mind dramatically. Buy Again.
13. Stirling Naked and Smooth: as above. I had a sample back in early 2016 and I didn’t care for it. I was gifted a puck earlier this year, and still not impressed. I gifted it as well. Meh.
14. Stirling Sheep: as above. Another home run from Stirling. And the ONLY company I know of that makes THREE unscented soaps. I love two of them. Buy Again.
15. Vintage Williams: tallow, a hard soap, price varies, no longer made as tallow. Age diminished all fragrance to having no detectable odor. Lathered well, but just Meh.
16. Zingari Man unscented: tallow, 5 oz, $21 USD. Top of the food chain per website, great lather and post-shave. Buy Again.

There you have it, my current soaps and thoughts. The final tally is 3 Don’t Buy Again, 3 Meh, and 9 Buy Again, and 1 undetermined.

Wow! You really are the undisputed King of Unscented! I could hardly sleep last night from anticipation of your list. A cogent and thoughtful analysis of a lot of soaps. Now I have to choose and I find myself leaning towards Nil (who can argue with Mary Poppins?) Or the Canada soap or Noble Otter. They all sound excellent. I am not fazed by the price of the Canada soap - sounds like it has a comparable cost per shave to other less expensive soaps and good performance. Thanks!

 

[MaineYooper]

I don't know if I should call this serendipity or irony, but in the mail today, an unexpected package of unscented soap! I will post more later.

 

[Rusty Blade]

I don't know if I should call this serendipity or irony, but in the mail today, an unexpected package of unscented soap! I will post more later.

Strange how that happens. I often forget I ordered something.

 

[bjm]

I don't know if I should call this serendipity or irony, but in the mail today, an unexpected package of unscented soap! I will post more later.

There's nothing like an unexpected care package to brighten one's day

 

[MaineYooper]

No note, just this in an Amazon mailer.

 

[Rusty Blade]

No note, just this in an Amazon mailer.

Looks intriguing...a mystery indeed. You obviously have friends in high places...

 

[Rusty Blade]

@Rusty Blade, here are my thoughts on my unscented soap explorations!

Since 2015, I have tried numerous unscented soaps. Why unscented? My wife has severe allergies and sinus issues, and strong or unpleasant scents (to her) will trigger a sinus headache or migraine. I can make a list of the soaps I have tried sometime, but in 2019 I stopped buying and used up what I had, settling on the Top Three soaps for me. These three will always be stocked in my shave kit. They are, in order of discovery, Mystic Water Soaps Sensitive Skin (11/2015), Mike’s Natural Soap Unscented (1/2016), and Shannon’s Soaps Nil (2/2016). What follows will be based on my experience and preferences. You have been warned!

Currently there are 15 different soaps in my soap drawer. There was one other, but I donated it to a Shavers in Need thread on another forum.

Here are my thoughts. The order is sort of alphabetical by maker.

1. Canada shaving soap: This is my most expensive soap, $41 CAD, plus $15 shipping. It is a hard soap, and the tub is filled to the rim, 175g of soap. It has only 6 ingredients, non-tallow, and a compelling story Our Story - Canada Shaving Soap. It lathers very fast, and since filled to the rim, I make a mess. I find loading 30 seconds and adding water makes a great lather. I am on the fence on this one. It leaves me feeling good, but the cost keeps bugging me. On the positive side, after using it almost 3 dozen times (lately I am using it to break in a boar brush), it hardly shows any sign of use! So maybe the price, averaged over the soap’s life, will make it worth it. But for now, I won’t buy again, but that is only due to cost.
2. Ethos Clean: Second most expensive soap, $34 USD, and tallow based. I liked the description, I have read the reviews of the scented version, but I don’t think it works any better than Mystic Water Soap for post-shave face feel, and performance is not better than any I have. So this is another Don’t Buy Again.
3. Haslinger Aloe Vera: another hard soap, very inexpensive, and a light aloe scent. I have not used it more than 10 times, so the jury is out on it. Initial response is Meh.
4. House of Mammoth Z: tallow, 4 oz, $22 USD. A self-billed luxury soap. I like it, and plan to Buy Again.
5. Hub City Birthday Suit: tallow, 4 oz, and good stuff for skin. I like this one a lot, even after first use, my notes show I loved it. Lathers easily and abundantly, creamy, slick, etc. Water added can of course vary the lather, but this one Wowwed me right away. Buy Again.
6. Lakewood Soap Company: tallow, 4 oz, $18. New to me, first week of use ongoing.
7. Mike’s Natural Soap: tallow, 4 oz, available as refill puck or in tub $12 USD tub). A great soap, ideal lather, very good post-shave feel. Buy Again.
8. Mitchell’s Wool Fat: tallow, hard soap, has a light scent that I am uncertain about. I used it once, and am currently airing it out in the furnace room, seeing if I can’t reduce that light, sort of powdery yet clean smell. If I can smell it, my wife will most certainly. Not enough time with soap, but scent probably means Don’t Buy Again.
9. Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin: tallow, 4oz puck or tub ($14.15 USD). This is my Gold Standard, Buy Again soap. Great lather, I like the smell (only from ingredients, no fragrance added) and wonderful post-shave feel.
10. Noble Otter Bare: tallow, 4 oz, $14 USD. Impressed me from the first use. Definitely a Buy Again.
11. Shannon’s Soaps Nil: tallow, 4 oz, $11.95 USD for a tub. Awesomeness in a tub. Easy lather, great slickness, a Mary Poppins of shave soaps (Practically Perfect in every way!) Buy Again, don’t wait!
12. Stirling Beeswax: tallow, 5.8 oz, $14 USD. First use didn’t wow me, but this soap won me over, to where I now love it! I think I didn’t add enough water on first use, or the razor was rough and I blamed the soap. Subsequent uses changed my mind dramatically. Buy Again.
13. Stirling Naked and Smooth: as above. I had a sample back in early 2016 and I didn’t care for it. I was gifted a puck earlier this year, and still not impressed. I gifted it as well. Meh.
14. Stirling Sheep: as above. Another home run from Stirling. And the ONLY company I know of that makes THREE unscented soaps. I love two of them. Buy Again.
15. Vintage Williams: tallow, a hard soap, price varies, no longer made as tallow. Age diminished all fragrance to having no detectable odor. Lathered well, but just Meh.
16. Zingari Man unscented: tallow, 5 oz, $21 USD. Top of the food chain per website, great lather and post-shave. Buy Again.

There you have it, my current soaps and thoughts. The final tally is 3 Don’t Buy Again, 3 Meh, and 9 Buy Again, and 1 undetermined.

I just realized the NIL you mentioned is not the NIL I was thinking of... Bartigan & Stark Nil Unscented Shaving Soap - https://www.fendrihan.ca/products/bartigan-stark-nil-unscented-shaving-soap Have you tried this one?

 

[MaineYooper]

I just realized the NIL you mentioned is not the NIL I was thinking of... Bartigan & Stark Nil Unscented Shaving Soap - https://www.fendrihan.ca/products/bartigan-stark-nil-unscented-shaving-soap Have you tried this one?

No, I haven't tried it, and I don't recall if I ever even heard of it. I will put it on next year's list!

 

[MaineYooper]

No note, just this in an Amazon mailer.

The mystery has been solved! I had helped a friend out who was having difficulty procuring a specific knot, which I had new and unused. To say thanks in a personal way, he gifted me this unscented soap. Thank you, @mrdoug!

 

[MaineYooper]

I've found the MMOC and 1912 to give some fantastic shaves and I sincerely hope you enjoy your new acquisitions. If you want to try a GEM that will threaten to permanently change your mind about DE razors, the Featherweight is a good candidate. It is literally the first in line of my SE razors. Sorry, I don't mean to be an enabler

A seller on eBay that I recently bought the GEM 1912 from had a Featherweight listed. We had a pleasant exchange of messages, and we struck a deal on the Featherweight and a bullet point.

And the Semogue boar is coming along well. I may try it tomorrow, as it does feel great at the end of my 8 - 10 minutes of loading and lathering. I am so looking forward to it!

And Andrew at AP Shave Co listed new synthetic boar knots. I ordered a couple to try, but the photos made me think they will be stiff and springy, whereas the SOC gets softer when soaked and lathered. We shall see.

 

[Rusty Blade]

@Rusty Blade, here are my thoughts on my unscented soap explorations!

Since 2015, I have tried numerous unscented soaps. Why unscented? My wife has severe allergies and sinus issues, and strong or unpleasant scents (to her) will trigger a sinus headache or migraine. I can make a list of the soaps I have tried sometime, but in 2019 I stopped buying and used up what I had, settling on the Top Three soaps for me. These three will always be stocked in my shave kit. They are, in order of discovery, Mystic Water Soaps Sensitive Skin (11/2015), Mike’s Natural Soap Unscented (1/2016), and Shannon’s Soaps Nil (2/2016). What follows will be based on my experience and preferences. You have been warned!

Currently there are 15 different soaps in my soap drawer. There was one other, but I donated it to a Shavers in Need thread on another forum.

Here are my thoughts. The order is sort of alphabetical by maker.

1. Canada shaving soap: This is my most expensive soap, $41 CAD, plus $15 shipping. It is a hard soap, and the tub is filled to the rim, 175g of soap. It has only 6 ingredients, non-tallow, and a compelling story Our Story - Canada Shaving Soap. It lathers very fast, and since filled to the rim, I make a mess. I find loading 30 seconds and adding water makes a great lather. I am on the fence on this one. It leaves me feeling good, but the cost keeps bugging me. On the positive side, after using it almost 3 dozen times (lately I am using it to break in a boar brush), it hardly shows any sign of use! So maybe the price, averaged over the soap’s life, will make it worth it. But for now, I won’t buy again, but that is only due to cost.
2. Ethos Clean: Second most expensive soap, $34 USD, and tallow based. I liked the description, I have read the reviews of the scented version, but I don’t think it works any better than Mystic Water Soap for post-shave face feel, and performance is not better than any I have. So this is another Don’t Buy Again.
3. Haslinger Aloe Vera: another hard soap, very inexpensive, and a light aloe scent. I have not used it more than 10 times, so the jury is out on it. Initial response is Meh.
4. House of Mammoth Z: tallow, 4 oz, $22 USD. A self-billed luxury soap. I like it, and plan to Buy Again.
5. Hub City Birthday Suit: tallow, 4 oz, and good stuff for skin. I like this one a lot, even after first use, my notes show I loved it. Lathers easily and abundantly, creamy, slick, etc. Water added can of course vary the lather, but this one Wowwed me right away. Buy Again.
6. Lakewood Soap Company: tallow, 4 oz, $18. New to me, first week of use ongoing.
7. Mike’s Natural Soap: tallow, 4 oz, available as refill puck or in tub $12 USD tub). A great soap, ideal lather, very good post-shave feel. Buy Again.
8. Mitchell’s Wool Fat: tallow, hard soap, has a light scent that I am uncertain about. I used it once, and am currently airing it out in the furnace room, seeing if I can’t reduce that light, sort of powdery yet clean smell. If I can smell it, my wife will most certainly. Not enough time with soap, but scent probably means Don’t Buy Again.
9. Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin: tallow, 4oz puck or tub ($14.15 USD). This is my Gold Standard, Buy Again soap. Great lather, I like the smell (only from ingredients, no fragrance added) and wonderful post-shave feel.
10. Noble Otter Bare: tallow, 4 oz, $14 USD. Impressed me from the first use. Definitely a Buy Again.
11. Shannon’s Soaps Nil: tallow, 4 oz, $11.95 USD for a tub. Awesomeness in a tub. Easy lather, great slickness, a Mary Poppins of shave soaps (Practically Perfect in every way!) Buy Again, don’t wait!
12. Stirling Beeswax: tallow, 5.8 oz, $14 USD. First use didn’t wow me, but this soap won me over, to where I now love it! I think I didn’t add enough water on first use, or the razor was rough and I blamed the soap. Subsequent uses changed my mind dramatically. Buy Again.
13. Stirling Naked and Smooth: as above. I had a sample back in early 2016 and I didn’t care for it. I was gifted a puck earlier this year, and still not impressed. I gifted it as well. Meh.
14. Stirling Sheep: as above. Another home run from Stirling. And the ONLY company I know of that makes THREE unscented soaps. I love two of them. Buy Again.
15. Vintage Williams: tallow, a hard soap, price varies, no longer made as tallow. Age diminished all fragrance to having no detectable odor. Lathered well, but just Meh.
16. Zingari Man unscented: tallow, 5 oz, $21 USD. Top of the food chain per website, great lather and post-shave. Buy Again.

There you have it, my current soaps and thoughts. The final tally is 3 Don’t Buy Again, 3 Meh, and 9 Buy Again, and 1 undetermined.

While we are on the subject of unscented products...have you done an in-depth exploration and analysis of unscented aftershave products?

 

[MaineYooper]

The SOC got it's first trial run on this morning's shave.

Fresh out of the box a few days back:


Here is how it looks after eight 10-minute load and lather sessions over the past few days:


And a big Thank You to @bjm for gifting me this brush! It is turning out to be everything he said. So let me tell the tale now!

I had an Omega Pro '49. It was okay, but it was always pokey. I worked on it for a long time, but whether my face is too sensitive or the rosacea makes it sensitive (this is what I believe), the bristles were always too irritating, and I could get much better experiences with brushes that splayed easily and were soft. I tried a couple of Whipped Dog boar knots, and rapidly moved them to new homes. After seeing some recent comments on the softness of a broken in boar, I made a comment similar to the statement above. Ben PM'd me and offered me what he felt is the softest of the boars he has, new in box, I just need to break it in. Such generosity is not to be ignored, and I gladly accepted his kind offer. I did some quick searching for breaking in a boar, and decided the what Kevy Shaves did in a YouTube video earlier this year looked doable and more natural. It is essentially a speedy break-in by longer loading and palm or bowl lathering every day. Your hand or the bowl takes the brunt of the new bristles' stiffness. By yesterday, I had done this 8 times, and had noted two things. The brush always starts off feeling stiff, and by the end, feels great. So I decided to use it for at least the first pass lather today. And it performed like a champ! My Journal note actually says it felt softer than the new G5A synthetic knot! A trusty SynBad finished up the shave, and I will do this every day for a while, working the SOC for the first pass, and eventually all passes. Even splayed it was not very pokey. I imagine given that it is a boar, there will always be some pokiness, but even the 2BED synths have pokiness when splayed. We have a winner here, I believe. Thanks again, Ben!!

 

[MaineYooper]

While we are on the subject of unscented products...have you done an in-depth exploration and analysis of unscented aftershave products?

Sadly I have not. I have only tried three to date. Several years ago I had the Soap Commander Integrity balm. Nice but too thick for me. Then again, it was so long ago I may have applied to much. I remember liking it during winter months, and finding it too heavy in summer.

This past month or two, I have added both the Stirling Unscented balm and the Zingari Man Unscented (green label, NOT the Sego base). I use a small amount, and find they both work great. I like the ingredients in both and find that both do a marvelous job making my face feel refreshed and just plain wonderful! The Stirling is a little thicker, and squeezes out, whereas the Zingari is in a pump bottle. Note: Heather at Zingari Man is a certified cosmetic formulator, which, to me, explains why the soaps and balms are so great! Not that a hobbyist artisan can't do the same, but she hits it out of the park!