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Soap Sample Passaround Box

5 boxes x 100+ soaps is almost mind boggling! I already have the current list in my google doc spreadsheet. Looking forward to gettin my smell on.

Thanks for heading this up David!
 
1. A. Feitar
2. ryinzana
3. jldallas
4. spolct
5. Montgomery115
6. catchacoolbreeze
7. CJB3
8. kooldecker
9. FloorPizza
10. mrlandpirate
11. boghopper
12. dezmil
13.Joshua223
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.Iloverootbeer
25. Suhrim21
26. back to dfoulk for refill.
 
1. A. Feitar
2. ryinzana
3. jldallas
4. spolct
5. Montgomery115
6. catchacoolbreeze
7. CJB3
8. kooldecker
9. FloorPizza
10. mrlandpirate
11. boghopper
12. dezmil
13.Joshua223
14. Schinny
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.Iloverootbeer
25. Suhrim21
26. back to dfoulk for refill.
 
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The box with the soaps arrived this afternoon. Where do I start? This is really amazing! David really put a great deal of effort into this exciting soap pass around. I am excited to start sniffing and testing.
 
So I have looked at each bag which is separated by each artisan. After sniffing them all, I am feeling a little giddy and lite headed.

I have a new Declaration B7 brush with a dogwood handle. The new brush has some badger funk so test lathering 6-7 of these soaps has been a great way to break in the brush, test the soaps and get rid of the initial badger funk.
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Some of the brands, such as WSP and Stirling, I am very familiar with so I will not shave with any of them. I have narrowed this weeks test shaves to these soaps:

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One soap artisan I am really impressed with is Lisa’s Natural. One really caught my eye because the color is ink black:
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The black color comes from the vanilla. I was worried about the black staining my new Declaration knot so I tested this one with a synthetic brush. The lather was a little airy and thin, but the scent was dark vanilla and wild orchid. The color of the lather was gray:
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My next test lather was Lisa’s Natural Ouzoud:
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The lather was again a little airy and thin. I am primarily a face latherer and I like to load the brush on a large puck; so I may not be taking a large enough sample to smear in the bottom of the bowl. I will try again because I like these scents from Lisa’s Natural.

The next soap test lather was El Jefe by Black Tie soaps:
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This soap produced a thick and slick lather with a nice sheen.

I will post some more photos and personal impressions of the 7 soaps I chose to shave with as the week progresses.

Have a nice Memorial Day weekend and remember our Veterans.
 
A recommendation. Start with a very dry brush and lather the soap sample in the bowl for a bit that way. Once you pick up a good amount of the soap start adding water four to six drops at a time and watch the lather change. This way you can stop when the lather is perfect instead of adding too much water and overshooting the mark. Any soap can give you a thin wet lather if you're not used to it.

On a tub if you guess wrong you just keep lathering a bit longer. With a small sample it's more difficult to recover.

Beautiful brush by the way.
 
this is almost overwhelming! i cant cant. unlike a good many of you, i have only smelled a handful of soaps in my short career lol. this will be a date night for me and the wife. she is as excited ( mabye even more) than i am to dive into the vast world if shave soap smellory! thank you again dfoulk for all of this work!
 
This morning I tried Viking Soaps Iceland. Their website states the soap is vegan and has “heavy notes of menthol, complimented with camphor, tea tree, rosemary, fir needle, and patchouli essential oils”.
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I scooped out an almond size amount and placed it in my Captains Choice copper lathering/loading bowl. (It turns out half that amount would have been sufficient for a four pass shave). This soap is a menthol camphor bomb and if you like Viks Vapor rub, you will like this soap.
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I started with a dryer brush this time to better load the soap sample and then lathered on my face. I easily produced a protective and slick lather. The menthol instantly kicked in and felt cooling on my face and the camphor helped to clear the sinuses. My shave was with a 1952 Gillette Black Tip Super Speed and was without irritation or weepers. I followed up with Thayers only; no need for a balm. I really enjoyed this soap. The Viking website shows this soap selling for $12 for 5 ounces which places it in the very economical category. The ingredients and shave quality compares to much higher priced soaps. I don’t think the real Vikings shaved much or could imagine anything ever being vegan but I really like this brand.

I look forward to hearing what the other guys say about Viking.
 
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