Soap Sample Passaround Box

[ryinzana]

Second from Box 2 was Mystic Water - The Green Fairy.

Scent - 4

First of all, I want to start with the scent description from the vendor:

"Absinthe used to be called "The Green Fairy" and this absinthe liqueur-inspired essential oil blend of anise and herbal essential oils. If you like black licorice you'll love this one. Essential oils and lanolin."

Really nice Absinthe scent. Despite the description, I wouldn't say that the anise (black licorice) scent really stands out to me. It's there and gives the scent a bit of sweetness, but it blends very well with the herbal notes. To me, this smelled like a nice herbal tea. Very refreshing scent. Strength was medium both off the puck and lathered.

Ease of Lather - 4

The soap lathered well and resulted in a decently creamy and well hydrated lather. No issues here.

Slickness/Protection - 3.5

Initial slickness I would rate a 4. My razor had no issues gliding through the lather and I felt like my face was well protected. I would rate residual slickness a 3 though. I noticed areas that I already passed over had adequate residual slickness; however, I wouldn't over-do it with the touch-ups without re-lathering.

Post Shave - 3

Good post shave on this one, but not as hydrating/nourishing as other offerings I've tried. No irritation. Wouldn't skip a post-shave product.

Overall - 3.625

Overall, got a nice shave. I'd say performance on this one was on par with your average tallow based artisan offerings. Scent was very nice!

 

[Kooldecker]

starting to get excited about this!

 

[ryinzana]

So tried a few more products and had some great shaves. Reviews are coming for MdC and Silinski Soaps. Tried Mike’s but my brush still smelled like Tovio the day after making everything smell like wood smoke... Will give it another go once the smell leaves.

 

[ryinzana]

I think I've tried a good selection of soaps from box 2. Will be getting everything packed up and sent along in the next couple days. Will try to get some reviews posted soon.

 

[Suhrim21]

If this is still going once I get working and can afford to send the boxes on would it be possible to get back in on this. I am really wanting to be part of this I just don't want to end up not being able to ship a box on.

 

[Boghopper]

Where do we stand with this?

 

[dfoulk]

Current Status

1. A. Feitar - waiting on dfoulk for Box 3
2. ryinzana - In possession Box 2
3. jldallas - waiting on or in possession of Box 1
4. spolct
5. Montgomery115
6. catchacoolbreeze
7. CJB3
8. kooldecker
9. FloorPizza
10. mrlandpirate
11. boghopper
12. dezmil
13.Joshua223
14. Schinny
15. Psusocr
16. SailFast
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.Iloverootbeer
25. Suhrim21
26. back to dfoulk for refill.

 

[ryinzana]

I apologize for the delay in getting box 2 out. Life has been a bit crazy (new baby at home). Am going to try to get it out tomorrow.

 

[dfoulk]

If this is still going once I get working and can afford to send the boxes on would it be possible to get back in on this. I am really wanting to be part of this I just don't want to end up not being able to ship a box on.

Absolutely, you can jump back in. You can put yourself down for a spot and remove yourself later on or bump farther down the list if you have to.

 

[dfoulk]

I apologize for the delay in getting box 2 out. Life has been a bit crazy (new baby at home). Am going to try to get it out tomorrow.

Don't send box 2 until we get some box one updates. Please hold onto it for now.

 

[ryinzana]

Don't send box 2 until we get some box one updates. Please hold onto it for now.

Will do!

 

[ryinzana]

Just an FYI, I got a confirmation that jldallas received box 1 on June 21.

 

[Suhrim21]

What is the cost to ship the boxes.

 

[Joshua223]

If this is still going once I get working and can afford to send the boxes on would it be possible to get back in on this. I am really wanting to be part of this I just don't want to end up not being able to ship a box on.

Just stay on the bottom of the list and maybe it will work out. I hope you get settled into a good job soon. I may end up moving my name down (or off) the list just because I need to budget my money better. The chance to try so many soaps is a great opportunity though.

 

[jldallas]

From box 1. First up. Oleo 40.

I'm primarily interested in scents, and this one is great. It is supposed to be a copy of Tom Ford's Fabulous. I've not had a chance to sniff the real thing so I don't know if the scent is a good copy, but it does smell great. I whipped it up with my Maseto Finest badger and it made a very nice lather. And with my usual Rockwell 6s I got a very good shave with a very nice, but not over the top face feel.

This may be the best soap I've ever used, up there with B&M.

Sorry I've been so slow to post. But I'll get to it and get the other reviews done.

 

[jldallas]

BTW, I didn't shave with it, but I did compare the scent of Oleo's Shiloh with AdP Colonia and it is the best AdP copy I've smelled. And I own the Stirling and Razorock attempts at AdP.

 

[dfoulk]

What is the cost to ship the boxes.

They are in medium flat rate boxes. They run around the 15 dollar mark to send and that included $50 insurance. I don't ask you to insure them for more than the included insurance.

There are five boxes in this round so 5 times the $15 per box shipping. If you needed to skip some of the boxes due to shipping cost, I'd allow it for you.

 

[jldallas]

Second sample from box 1: Stirling Port-Au-Prince. I chose this because according to Stirling's web site, Port-Au-Prince is one of Stirling's mutton tallow soaps. I used my Yaqi tuxedo brush and was slightly dissapointed because the soap seemed just like the beef tallow base. That's not really bad, but I was hoping this would be a super-Stirling soap, but I detected no difference. I've had two Stirling soaps and several samples and the mutton tallow had Stirling's regular post shave feel.

The scent of Port-Au-Prince was nice, but nothing I just have to have.

 

[Boghopper]

9 days since last update from any box.

 

[ryinzana]

So, I can update everyone on the soaps I've tried from box #2. Haven't posted reviews of all of these (haven't had time due to new baby on board). I've tried the following:

B&M Reserve Lavender (didn't try sample, but own full size puck)
Siliski Soaps Sea Spice
RazorMaster Toivo
Strop Shoppe Russian Tea
MdC Original
Shannon's Soaps Amaretto
Holy Black Shaving Cream
Mystic Water Green Fairy
Mike's Barbershop
Tabac (didn't try sample, but own full size puck)
Cella (didn't try sample, but own full size puck)

Overall, I'd say there were a lot of great performing samples in box 2. Some that stood out to me were Siliski Soaps Sea Spice, RazorMaster Toivo, and MdC Original. These were among my favorites of the samples I've tried. I'd also highly recommend B&M Reserve base as I consider it to be in my top 3 bases.

Siliski Soaps really surprised me, I have to say. It performs extremely well for a vegan soap. One of the best vegan bases I've tried for that matter. Great slickness and above average post-shave feel. Sea Salt was an excellent aquatic/spicy scent.

I already posted my RazorMaster Toivo review, but I wanted to add that it took a few days and multiple test lathers to get the smell out. While I actually enjoyed the scent and was impressed with the performance, I don't think I'd commit to a puck unless I had a brush to devote solely to this soap.

I'm sure most are aware of MdC Original and its reputation. I'd say it lived up to it. Very slick and excellent post shave. Nice, simple ingredients list as well. While some don't like the scent, I actually enjoyed it. It smells to me like fancy soap (maybe a hint of lavender and slightly medicinal?). Top notch stuff.

I don't think I had a poor shave in the bunch. Right now I'm hanging onto box 2 until I get the go ahead that box one has been sent on. I'll update the group when it goes out!