Soap Sample Passaround Box

[BigSpivito]

Chris - don't automatically start adding more water to every soap as every soap is different. I recommend starting in the drier side of things and then adding a little water at a time until the lather gets to where you want it ( or breaks down if you push it too far). I call the area between the minimum water you need to get a good larger to the point where the lather starts the sweet zone, and soaps vary widely in this area. Some soaps have a very narrow sweet zone, meaning you need to get the water just right, while others have very wide zones and can therefore be more forgiving to hydration variance. And some soaps have a sweet zone that starts with a lot more water than others where some have a zone that starts with less. That is why I recommend starting drier, as that way you are less likely to overshoot the beginning of the sweet zone, which is key to me to being able to dial a soap in.

Great reviews - glad you ar enjoying the soaps

Thanks for the heads up. I typically start with a drier brush, but typically dont add much more water. I normally use the same few soaps day in day out, so I have them dialed in pretty well. I think the true test would be my lather making ability over many types of soap. As you will see by my next review, I seem to be having issues with the lathering of some soaps.

 

[BigSpivito]

August 13, 2017

Razor: D1 Fatboy
Blade: Red Israeli Personna
Brush: Star Spangled Badger
Soap: Sweet Comb Chicago Classic Shaving Soap (From Box)

I didn't have much knowledge about Sweet Comb Chicago before this shave, so I looked them up. I like the fact that they use bees wax, so I look forward to trying their stuff. I had a tough time with the lather, which resulted in a rough shave (much like the Shannon's Soaps Amaretto). I will do another test lather to try and make it work again, but I just couldn't find the sweet spot.

• Lather: The lather was extremely airy, and I couldn't get a good lather going. I started rather dry, and added a bit of water at a time, but wasn't able to get a good lather going that would even hold in my brush. I will have to do another test lather soon to try and give it another go.
• Performance: With the lather being so airy, I wasn't able to finish my first pass.
• Post Shave: The post shave seemed ok, but I didn't have much of a chance to try it as I couldn't finish the shave with the soap.
• Scent: I enjoyed the scent. Strangely, it reminded me of Fruit Loops, and my son smelled it and liked it a ton! I really enjoyed the scent, which is going to have me try it again.

I couldn't finish the shave with this soap, so I have to rate it low for now. If I get to try it out again, I will adjust its place on the list accordingly based on what I find.

Midnight & Two Citrus Island > Captains Choice Lime = Mike's Barbershop > Tabac > B&M Cheshire > Martin de Candre > Shannon's Soaps Amaretto = Sweet Comb Chicago Classic Shaving Soap

 

[stook2001]

August 14, 2017

Razor: Timeless
Blade: GSB
Brush: RazoRock Synthetic / Shavemac D01
Soap: Chiseled Face Easy Street / Maggard Mango Sage Tea

Oddly enough, this shave and the corresponding review is going to be almost exactly the same as the last one.

• Lather: The two lathers were pretty similar initially. Chiseled Face is just a hair thicker than Maggard, for me, on the first pass. However, I found that the Maggard soap broke down notably in my second pass. I think this was mainly due to the added water from my 1st pass rinse.
• Performance: When ideally lathered, I felt that the Maggard soap was just slightly more slick than Chiseled Face but not by any kind of significant margin. Once the Maggard started breaking down, the Chiseled Face was notably better since it remained very stable.
• Post Shave: Not going to evaluate the Post Shave. Got a lot of sun yesterday and I don't want to distort the post shave evaluation between the two. I suspect the Chiseled Face is better in terms of post shave but don't take my word based upon this evaluation (I'm not).
• Scent: Had some trouble picking a Maggard scent since, oddly enough, I liked pretty much all of them. Having said that, once I lathered and used the Mango Sage Tea, I actually decided that I didn't love it. I bit too strong on the Mango maybe (or actually more fruitiness, in general) and I felt the scent was artificial. The Chiseled Face I certainly liked more and preferred it to the other CF option.

I'll update the rankings later...

 

[tclobaugh]

August 13, 2017

Razor: D1 Fatboy
Blade: Red Israeli Personna
Brush: Star Spangled Badger
Soap: Sweet Comb Chicago Classic Shaving Soap (From Box)

I didn't have much knowledge about Sweet Comb Chicago before this shave, so I looked them up. I like the fact that they use bees wax, so I look forward to trying their stuff. I had a tough time with the lather, which resulted in a rough shave (much like the Shannon's Soaps Amaretto). I will do another test lather to try and make it work again, but I just couldn't find the sweet spot.

• Lather: The lather was extremely airy, and I couldn't get a good lather going. I started rather dry, and added a bit of water at a time, but wasn't able to get a good lather going that would even hold in my brush. I will have to do another test lather soon to try and give it another go.
• Performance: With the lather being so airy, I wasn't able to finish my first pass.
• Post Shave: The post shave seemed ok, but I didn't have much of a chance to try it as I couldn't finish the shave with the soap.
• Scent: I enjoyed the scent. Strangely, it reminded me of Fruit Loops, and my son smelled it and liked it a ton! I really enjoyed the scent, which is going to have me try it again.

I couldn't finish the shave with this soap, so I have to rate it low for now. If I get to try it out again, I will adjust its place on the list accordingly based on what I find.

Midnight & Two Citrus Island > Captains Choice Lime = Mike's Barbershop > Tabac > B&M Cheshire > Martin de Candre > Shannon's Soaps Amaretto = Sweet Comb Chicago Classic Shaving Soap

Not a bad soap but I think you rated it about right on your final scale. Don't be too hard on yourself test lathering samples is more difficult than it would seem. Most people typically have less soap than if loading from a puck and therefore it makes it even harder to get that perfect hydration point.

Another good tip is to smear the sample on the bottom of your bowl. I've had times where a chunk of soap gets in my brush that never gets broken down and turned into lather. If you can get a soap spread out and stuck to the bowl, you have a better experience. This might require soaking in a tiny bit of water if the soap is harder.

 

[dfoulk]

I've tried the Sweet Comb Chicago soap twice so far. The first time I got a really great shave from it with a nice thick rich lather and thought it might be something really great.

The second time was a thin airy unimpressive mess.

I suspect that the first time I used a bit more soap and really worked the lather adding water slowly over a long period of time. I also used a stiffer brush that dug into the soap sample a bit better. It's a very hard soap so this can help. The second time I used less soap, a different brush, and I didn't put forth an equal amount of effort.

 

[stook2001]

Another good tip is to smear the sample on the bottom of your bowl. I've had times where a chunk of soap gets in my brush that never gets broken down and turned into lather. If you can get a soap spread out and stuck to the bowl, you have a better experience.

100% agree with Christian on this point. After reading your first paragraph (not quoted), I was about to type almost the same recommendation. Try to spread out the sample, even if it is super thin, to the point that it is closer to lathering a puck on the bottom of the bowl.

 

[BigSpivito]

100% agree with Christian on this point. After reading your first paragraph (not quoted), I was about to type almost the same recommendation. Try to spread out the sample, even if it is super thin, to the point that it is closer to lathering a puck on the bottom of the bowl.

Thanks for the recommendation fellas. I have been trying to mush it into the bottom of the bowl as the chunk would not sit still enough to lather.

I really just want to make sure that I give each vendor the review that their soap truly warrants. The submitted their soap (Not to mention their time and effort in its creation) to the pass, so I dont want someone to search the site, see my review, and pass on the soap because I cant get it lathered.

Ill have my review of Bain Amour Peppermint Eucalyptus Tea Tree up later today.

 

[stook2001]

It's funny you mention that because with my last couple of shaves, I've had overall some better lather results myself. I'd started to question if I had improved my process with all the sampling or if it was real and just a coincidence!

 

[dfoulk]

It's funny you mention that because with my last couple of shaves, I've had overall some better lather results myself. I'd started to question if I had improved my process with all the sampling or if it was real and just a coincidence!

What I usually do with samples is to smear it as thinly into the bottom of the bowl just like Christian described. I then start out with a very dry brush and lather it the best I can before slowly adding drops of water. Maybe 4 to 8 drops, then 4 more, then 4 more, etc as I continue to lather. Once I get it to exactly where I want then I stop and it's perfect. This takes away all of the guessing and allows you to find the sweet spot for that particular soap without overshooting it. It also makes it easier to be successful with just about any brush since brushes seem to hold a different amount of water from one to another.

I do the same thing with full soaps in the tub, I start loading with a drier brush then add water in small amounts as I go.

Once I started doing it this way I started getting the perfect and consistent lathers that didn't really vary from brush to brush. In using different soap samples this makes a big difference as well.

 

[stook2001]

August 15, 2017

Razor: Timeless
Blade: GSB
Brush: RazoRock Synthetic / Shavemac D01
Soap: Saint Charles Shave Woods / Wet Shaving Products Marrakesh

• Lather: Two completely different lathers here. The SCS soap did not work out for me at all. It's a softish soap and i used about an almond sized amount of it. No problems loading but the lather quality was very thin. Added a touch more water and got the lather to build more but it was still was not at all robust. The WSP lather was quite good. Certainly no issue with the latherability or lather quality.
• Performance: I gave up on the SCS after my first pass. I didn't find it to be good in the performance department. Minimal slickness and protection, in my experience. I really prefer do evaluate the performance comparatively, which was difficult since there was such a wide contrast between the WSP and SCS lathers. Nonethless, I felt that the WSP performance was good. Similar to the last couple of products that I sampled, like Dr. Johns or Chiseled Face.
• Post Shave: Post shave seems pretty good. I don't feel the post shave on WSP is top tier, per se. But I also didn't find it to be drying.
• Scent: I enjoyed the WSP scent. Actually there were several others that I liked as well and I may run back through them to get a sense of the various choices. The Marrakesh was very pleasant though. Maybe just a bit more smokey than I'd prefer. Looking at the spreadsheet, maybe it was the Cloves or Patchouli that I was picking up? I am not sure. I did enjoy it and it was a scent that was a bit out of the norm for me.

Unrelated side note, I did go back to recheck the Sudsy Soapery scents a second time. The ones I like most are DdT, Sandalwood & Citrus, and Lavender & Peppermint. I also liked Almond & Vanilla and Sandalwood & Myrrh (I think). Not crazy about Citrus & Bay, Twice Mint, and White Sage & Lime.

I also just picked up a Stirling Badger brush based upon my experience from Box 1. I don't plan to use it for the pass around, however, since I am not really familiar with it yet.

 

[cvargo]

Box 4 should arrive to @tclobaugh on Friday

9505526511567228072497

 

[tclobaugh]

Yee Haw!!!

 

[stook2001]

8/16/2017

**Placeholder**

Sorry guys, SLAMMED at the office and haven't had nearly enough time to document here. Will look to update this late tonight.

Viking Citron
Reef Point Classic Barbershop

Viking reminded me a bit of something like a softer, sticky loading type soap, kind of like an L&L in how it looks after loading. I don't think it is quite as slick as L&L but it I liked the scent and I found this soap to perform well.

Reef Point was also pretty good but I preferred Viking between the two.

 

[stook2001]

8/17/2017

** Placeholder**

Institut Karit
Silver Fox Appenninica

I'm going to chalk this up as another surprise for me in Box 2. Institut Karit seems like an underrated soap to me. I've read about it but it's a pretty slick soap that is easily as good as several others that are much more commonly suggested. The scent was decent but, for me, not a standout barbershop scent of the limited number that I have tried. Post shave was very average. Slickness was very good.

Sliver Fox was pretty average. Not a stand out in terms of performance (not as good as IK) but certainly good performance. Tried it because of the scent. Post shave is not quite as good as IK either. Grabbed it in a hurry this morning and didnt realize till now that it is NLA.

 

[stook2001]

Scanning the excel sheet for box 2... anybody have any views on any must tries that I might have missed? I've tried Chiseled Face, Dr Jons, Institute Karit, Maggard, Reef Point, Saint Charles Shave, Silver Fox, Soap Commander, Viking, and Wet Shaving Products.

Might poke around for another couple to try before shipping this box on to Chris. I also plan to try the brush and would like to more carefully evaluate some of the scents.

Sorry about the down tick in review quality and timeliness of late. Busy week or so on my end.

 

[BigSpivito]

I too have been slammed. I'm shipping box 1 out tomorrow, so I'll be sending tracking info soon.

I did a shave with Mystic Water Coconut and Cella. Those will be my final two reviews, and I hope to tack them down tomorrow during a slow day at work (fingers crossed)


Happy Shaving
-Chris
US Army Veteran, Foxhole Shavers Club Member

 

[joeyboy]

Can't wait to hear about the coconut. Please include the scent observations.

 

[tclobaugh]

Box #4 has arrived and has exceeded all my expectations. I consider myself to have tried a significant number of the better soap brands, and to have a decent personal feel of what I like and don't like. This box is crazy new to me. It's like it came from the future or something. There are 20 soap makers represented in the box. Of that 20, I've only tried 4 of them before, and for 1 of those 4, this is a new soap, so there are essentially 17 soap formulas to try in this box!!! My mind is blowing, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed (in a good way )

So I started a sniff test to start creating a stack of soaps I want to at least lather. I usually try to fully lather at least one soap of any that I've not tried before, and will do a mini lather of soaps that I only want to test scents of (because I know the soap, or because I have multiple from the same maker). After my sniff test, I'm left with 35 samples in front of me. I'm going to have a lot of work to do.

My next step will be to do mini lathers (where I take a sliver of soap and lather enough to get a good sense of a soap's scent at lather) on any soap that I know the maker, or where I've pulled more than one sample for a maker. My goal is to get it down to at least 17 soaps to do full test lathers. Choosing what I will shave with is the big challenge.

Notes on my sniff testing:
I was able to find a soap I liked the scent of for almost every brand. This is unusual for me, as my nose is a little picky. The stand out makers in terms of great scents all around, are Lisa's Natual & Long Rifle. All of their scents were well done, and several hit my hot button. I was the least impressed with L&L, although there are only 2 choices, so that's not necessarily a fair judgement. I wasn't fond of the B&M Luxury samples either, but this did not surprise me, as I've yet to find a B&M scent I like, despite the wide variety.

I was most surprised by the MdC Citrus. Great scent. Reminded me a little of CRSW Puro Fresco which I like a lot.

Thanks for putting together this great new box David. I'll do my best not to keep it until Christmas

 

[WildWest74]

Glad to see Long Rifle floating your boat! Still my number one soap in any fragrance.

 

[dfoulk]

Glad to see Long Rifle floating your boat! Still my number one soap in any fragrance.

I should put in an order for some more of their bath soaps. Really nice stuff.