I have only thrown out two soaps. One was Oleo’s Bonaire. It was so strong smelling it was overwhelming. So in the can it went. The other was Caties bubbles La Piment de la Vie. It had some sort of spice in it that irritated my face. I have some Arko which I occasionally consider tossing out but I use it to lather and defunk new badger brushes.
Soap Smelling (or performing) So Bad You Had to Toss It?
- Thread starter steffenapelz
- Start date
My wife reported back that the soap lacked cushion, but was quite slick. I may test lather it and see. From handling it when she had it out it was quite slick. I have a feeling the absence of cushion was too much water.
wife has family in the area where the soap is made. The prices are pretty good for artisan soap. If it dials in wel and has the slickness and has some decent cushion, I’d explore some of the other scents. Once a variety of mint fragrance emerged from this Black magic it was smelling alright. But that was dormant in the scent profile until lathered.
I forgot about that gem. One of the worst-performing soaps on the market. Try as I could, I could never get a decent lather from it.
The last soap I could not abide for shaving (Badger-great name at least!) was used in the bath!!
Not a soap, but I tossed a sample of Cyril Salter's "French Vetiver" cream. Smelled like a swamp fire! Absolutely DESPISED the scent. Worst one I've ever smelled.
Runner-up worst scent ever was a soap from Wholly Kaw called "Cuero Oscuro." Yikes. This soap was RANK. Described on the site as "leathery and smoky." I hate leather scents and I hate smoke scents, so I guess it makes sense that it was the worst of all possible worlds for me.
Runner-up worst scent ever was a soap from Wholly Kaw called "Cuero Oscuro." Yikes. This soap was RANK. Described on the site as "leathery and smoky." I hate leather scents and I hate smoke scents, so I guess it makes sense that it was the worst of all possible worlds for me.
There are two that went in to the bin. Piffing would have been pointless, considering the cost of shipping in relation to the price of these soaps.
1. Monbol, I think it was called. French supermarket soap. Can't remember the shaves, but do remember the rash. Must have been allergic to one of its components.
2. De Vergulde Hand, to be had in Dutch pharmacies and supermarkets. No residual slickness, postshave burn.
1. Monbol, I think it was called. French supermarket soap. Can't remember the shaves, but do remember the rash. Must have been allergic to one of its components.
2. De Vergulde Hand, to be had in Dutch pharmacies and supermarkets. No residual slickness, postshave burn.
Mystic Waters taught me 2 things. I can't make a decent lather (any really) with it and to avoid soap described as having 'great post shave feel'. My son liked it though, so worked out good.
I'm pretty excited about the new Kaizen base from A&E coming out soon.. Send me the Wholly Kaw soaps you are not using!!
here are mine:
I couldn't stand the smell of Chiseled Face pine tar. Gave it to a fellow shaver at work and he said it didnt stink when lathered. It was only a sample, so no biggie.
Barrister & Mann Baudelaire. Got a sample, and its pretty funky. Havent thrown it out yet, but its in the pif pile. I might test lather it, but im afraid it might permanently stink up a brush.
Stirling is my favorite soap maker, and I have tried a lot of their scents (they have awesome samples); but i Couldn't stand the smell of Blu, or Ramblin man. They both went in the trash.
Ogallala bay rum and orange. Loved the scent. Never could get it to work well for me, so I eventually threw it away.
I couldn't stand the smell of Chiseled Face pine tar. Gave it to a fellow shaver at work and he said it didnt stink when lathered. It was only a sample, so no biggie.
Barrister & Mann Baudelaire. Got a sample, and its pretty funky. Havent thrown it out yet, but its in the pif pile. I might test lather it, but im afraid it might permanently stink up a brush.
Stirling is my favorite soap maker, and I have tried a lot of their scents (they have awesome samples); but i Couldn't stand the smell of Blu, or Ramblin man. They both went in the trash.
Ogallala bay rum and orange. Loved the scent. Never could get it to work well for me, so I eventually threw it away.
For me it was performance, and it was MWF, although I haven't thrown it away yet. Might PIF it someday.
Arko
I was on holiday staying in Aachen about eight years ago and one morning I suddenly could no longer stand the stench. Into the bin.
Luckily there was an apotheke nearby with 75 cent Palmolive sticks.
I was on holiday staying in Aachen about eight years ago and one morning I suddenly could no longer stand the stench. Into the bin.
Luckily there was an apotheke nearby with 75 cent Palmolive sticks.
I got a puck of PAA "neroli,' which I tossed after one unhappy shave. Puck the size of a hubcap, lousy performance, and it smelled like a stale motel soap from the '50s. Ugh. It looks like they reformulated: good move, but once burned...
I have smelled several of the Wholly Kaw soaps and decided not to buy any of them. However the 2 soaps I don't care for all are MWF and Williams. Both seemed like WAY TOO much work to be useful when compared to the other soaps in my arsenal. I will use Proraso in a pinch but prefer something else.
Eucris, Floris 89, Bath House and Penhaligon ended up in the bath. Their scents were great, their lather was meh minus. Expensive bath soaps they were. There's a half-puck of DRH Windsor I don't intend to use, and I will demote it to bath, which is pity, I liked it long time ago. Eventually it lost the competition to Italian soft soaps.
For me, there have been only a few complete fails.
1. Wholly Kaw Spice Vitae was a great performing soap, but I could not stand the scent. I PIFfed it at Maggard's Meetup last year. I hope someone enjoyed the scent as I hated to give away such a great performing soap.
2. Taconic Shave Urban Woods was also PIffed. The scent smelled like a stale ash tray. The performance was the worst I have ever tried.
3. I relegated Olivina Bourbon Cedar to shower use. It smelled nice, but the performance was just slightly better than Taconic Shave.
1. Wholly Kaw Spice Vitae was a great performing soap, but I could not stand the scent. I PIFfed it at Maggard's Meetup last year. I hope someone enjoyed the scent as I hated to give away such a great performing soap.
2. Taconic Shave Urban Woods was also PIffed. The scent smelled like a stale ash tray. The performance was the worst I have ever tried.
3. I relegated Olivina Bourbon Cedar to shower use. It smelled nice, but the performance was just slightly better than Taconic Shave.
Yes! That's the one I binned! Horrible stuff, I agree!
I try to keep only my top 5 brands so I've sold or discarded a lot of soap, some very popular here
ymmv as always
ymmv as always
This thread is why we have YMMV.
