Soap Tests, aka culling the herd.

[Chandu]

One and done? It takes me several shaves to dial a product in, whether it be a soap, a razor, a blade, or a brush. Even if I've used that product successfully in the past. With a "one and done" policy, you might be missing something....

I should have clarified. I own all of these and have used them numerous times. One and done refers to this test which is pass fail. I already know these soaps fairly to very well. I am not acquiring new products and subjecting it to one and done.

Thank you for bringing this up. It needed clarification.

 

[Chandu]

This Osma soap is really great stuff, IMHO. Definitely unique.

If you have not done this already, try taking the soap in hand and using it like a big shave stick. Rub it in small circles on the wet beard area. Apply enough soap to see a thin white layer over the entire area to be shaved. Then, build your lather on the face, adding scant water is several stages. This gives me abundant lather for three passes, though the final pass is a bit thinner, it is no problem at all and gives an excellent, deep shave.

I don’t like shave sticks in general. The soaps are often fine I just don’t prefer that type of approach. I will try this though.

 

[Tomo]

I’m at a similar stage in my wet shaving journey. After trying 50+ soaps, I’ve pulled it back to the best of the best. I’ve enjoyed following this knockout round. There’s quite a bit of overlap in our lists.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I don’t like shave sticks in general. The soaps are often fine I just don’t prefer that type of approach. I will try this though.

To get abundant lather that persists with this soap, the key thing seems to be loading quite heavily. This becomes easier if the soap is in frequent rotation because it will absorb some moisture each time it is used, making it softer. The face lathering method makes it easy to see that you have got enough soap, and for me has been very reliable with this particular soap. Before trying that, the lathers I got were too thin and not long-lasting. Still with good shave and post-shave results, though.

 

[Barbarian80]

Blasphemous...how did Tabac tallow not make the cut?

 

[Chandu]

Blasphemous...how did Tabac tallow not make the cut?

It left my face feeling irritated, sort of dry and itchy, slight burn. Shame because I like a lot of it's properties. I have the Tabac cream waiting in the wings I will break out pretty soon and see how that fairs.

 

[Chandu]

Two more soaps evaluated this week.

Arko -- Pass
Arko somewhat suprised me, I was expecting a dry tight face after the shave but it uttlerly failed on that point. Instead I got a no nonsense DFS+ with no negative after effects. Arko is a keeper for me.

Tabac Cream -- Fail
For me it was a bit better than the hard soap, but not enough so to be a keeper. It's been an hour and a half post shave and I still have the tight dry feeling that started about 10 minutes after the shave. It was fine during the shave and provided a good shave, but is lacking in post.

Please bear in mind some of the superfatted artisan soaps have done no better in post than Tabac or others that sell 100's of 1000's or more units per year. The best way to get a good post shave feeling is to not bother the skin in the first place. That's why by not using A/S, balm, or any other post shave crutch, I'm seeing what the soaps do on their own.

Yes, I could likely overcome some and maybe all of some particular soaps post shave issues with an A/S or balm, but WHY??? Is it healthier for your skin to be damaged and then the damage mitigated by another substance, or not to damage it in the first place?

 

[mozartman]

Excellent thread, please keep it up. As a Beatles and mid-20th century design fan, of course I'm a fan of Tabac and their sleek milk glass containers. But I am looking forward to trying their new formula. I never thought there was anything magical about tallow Tabac. I'm also a Haslinger fan, I assume it's their original or newest vegan formula that passed your test. But just to be sure I'm not underestimating the popular tallow soaps, I also thought I'd try a few other tallow-based standards that haven't turned vegan. Cella was first (OK but not special imho), Stirling will be next. I hope you include them too.

 

[Chandu]

Excellent thread, please keep it up. As a Beatles and mid-20th century design fan, of course I'm a fan of Tabac and their sleek milk glass containers. But I am looking forward to trying their new formula. I never thought there was anything magical about tallow Tabac. I'm also a Haslinger fan, I assume it's their original or newest vegan formula that passed your test. But just to be sure I'm not underestimating the popular tallow soaps, I also thought I'd try a few other tallow-based standards that haven't turned vegan. Cella was first (OK but not special imho), Stirling will be next. I hope you include them too.

I suspect the Haslinger I have is the vegan version. I got it by buying a brush from Shavemac in late 2021, so I think they had switched prior to that.

My Tabac is the cream and the hard soap is the tallow version. I don't have any Stirling at the moment. Won't have until at least next year. I'm in sabbatical. When/if I do buy some, it will be the unscented. I tried a bunch of samples and they were all very (too) heavily scented for me.

There is this sickness that has been going around that has caused some to lose their sense of smell. I don't think I've had it, but either way, my sense of smell these days seems enhanced if anything and it does not favor things that are strongly scented.

I recently found a brotherhood of unscented soap shavers and I could see myself joining. I won't be exclusively unscented but my scented soaps will probably be ones most would call barely scented.

 

[mozartman]

I suspect the Haslinger I have is the vegan version. I got it by buying a brush from Shavemac in late 2021, so I think they had switched prior to that.

My Tabac is the cream and the hard soap is the tallow version. I don't have any Stirling at the moment. Won't have until at least next year. I'm in sabbatical. When/if I do buy some, it will be the unscented. I tried a bunch of samples and they were all very (too) heavily scented for me.

There is this sickness that has been going around that has caused some to lose their sense of smell. I don't think I've had it, but either way, my sense of smell these days seems enhanced if anything and it does not favor things that are strongly scented.

I recently found a brotherhood of unscented soap shavers and I could see myself joining. I won't be exclusively unscented but my scented soaps will probably be ones most would call barely scented.

Yes, the Stirling I'm trying is one of their unscented varieties. Like you, I don't enjoy heavily scented soaps. Haslinger is good in this regard. Ironically, to me some unscented soaps have a slight but unpleasant chemical smell. I can live with that, but you can tell what they are covering up with their scented versions.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I suspect the Haslinger I have is the vegan version. I got it by buying a brush from Shavemac in late 2021, so I think they had switched prior to that.

... I tried a bunch of samples and they were all very (too) heavily scented for me...

...I recently found a brotherhood of unscented soap shavers and I could see myself joining. I won't be exclusively unscented but my scented soaps will probably be ones most would call barely scented.

There's actually two different vegetable-based versions for Haslinger shave soaps. The most recent version is the better one, according to most. The ingredients in the newer version will include coconut oil instead of palm and palm kernel oil.

Speaking of unscented soaps, you might like to try the Haslinger "Senstiv". It is only available in the newer vegetable-based version. Works great and can also be mixed with other soaps to tone down their scent strength.

 

[Doc Dan]

I went through this not long ago. I wanted soaps that performed at or near the top that cost less than the artisan soaps. All of my keeper soaps also had to lather well and had to have good residual slickness and after shave face feel. I got rid of most of my stock of soaps, but I did keep a few, because of how they smelled or performed, that I won't buy again. Arko is a great performer and I kept a stick, but I won't restock because it makes my face dry. I got rid of Speick, many A&E and B&M. I also got rid of WTP blue (love the smell), MdC, and GFT, along with some others. So, what did I keep? I kept MWF and La Toja sensitive cream (it seems slicker than the regular, just a little), and La Toja stick for travel. That's it. MWF and LT.

To me, a lot of these soaps are just experiments of would be perfumers. They are long on smell and short on performance for the money spent.

 

[Chandu]

This morning's shave was Mitchell's Wool Fat. Some love this soap and some hate it. It's said to be hard to lather. Past experience has suggested to me that it's best as a near daily driver or stored in a container that restricts evaporation.

I had no problem obtaining a nice lather. In fact the lather for me and light scent is one of my favorite things about this soap. The lather is slick and thick. If you have this soap, wash your hands with the lather, after rinsing you will feel a persistent coating on your skin that takes quite a bit of rinsing. I think this adds a lot of protection during the shave from minor nicks and cuts.

During the shave the lather was thick and long lasting. Plenty of slickness and for a mild razor like the Supply, the thickness and cushion makes it almost impossible to draw blood. Shave over and a good rinse and pat dry.

Post shave as it dried down I could feel some slight dryness and a mild irritation. Just the sort of thing MWF is supposed to keep from happening. My skin seemed to be a little redder than normal where the soap had been.

Verdict: MWF does not make the cut for me because of the post shave feeling it left me with. It's a shame because of the other fine qualities of the soap. Perhaps I have a slight lanolin sensitivity. I don't think I have any other products in the house lanolin to try, but I'm not going to put a lot of work into figuring out which exact thing in the soap is causing issue.

 

[Doc Dan]

Lanolin is a likely culprit as some are sensitive or outright allergic to it. I agree with everything you said, except the drying and redness parts for my face. I get a nice face feel and not at all dry, which is a problem I have with my skin. I like that MWF moisturizes my skin nicely. However, that is why there are so many soaps out there, as everyone is different.

 

[Chandu]

To me, a lot of these soaps are just experiments of would be perfumers. They are long on smell and short on performance for the money spent.

I would have to agree that I've gotten the same mileage as you with regard to above.

Unscented soaps are another thing too. I don't mind commercial unscented but some of the artisan offerings I would not consider in unscented as there are too many unsaponified oils etc that give it a smell of it's ingredients. I like commercial tallow offerings, but don't like the smell of artisan tallow.

 

[gbupp]

I'm really surprised Arko passed! Curious what will get knocked out next.

 

[Lane101]

This morning's shave was Mitchell's Wool Fat. Some love this soap and some hate it. It's said to be hard to lather. Past experience has suggested to me that it's best as a near daily driver or stored in a container that restricts evaporation.

I had no problem obtaining a nice lather. In fact the lather for me and light scent is one of my favorite things about this soap. The lather is slick and thick. If you have this soap, wash your hands with the lather, after rinsing you will feel a persistent coating on your skin that takes quite a bit of rinsing. I think this adds a lot of protection during the shave from minor nicks and cuts.

During the shave the lather was thick and long lasting. Plenty of slickness and for a mild razor like the Supply, the thickness and cushion makes it almost impossible to draw blood. Shave over and a good rinse and pat dry.

Post shave as it dried down I could feel some slight dryness and a mild irritation. Just the sort of thing MWF is supposed to keep from happening. My skin seemed to be a little redder than normal where the soap had been.

Verdict: MWF does not make the cut for me because of the post shave feeling it left me with. It's a shame because of the other fine qualities of the soap. Perhaps I have a slight lanolin sensitivity. I don't think I have any other products in the house lanolin to try, but I'm not going to put a lot of work into figuring out which exact thing in the soap is causing issue.

Hi Chandu, Great reviews, please keep them coming! Sorry to hear that you has a reaction to the MWF ingredients after such an excellent shave. I've also found MWF to be an awesome soap. Glad you have plenty of options that do work well for you with no adverse effects.

 

[Chandu]

I'm really surprised Arko passed! Curious what will get knocked out next.

I sort of was too. It seems very "industrial" strength. But as I've said, doing this an not using any post shave treatments is telling and sometimes surprising.

 

[Chandu]

Another has fallen. The Palmolive shave stick delivered a decent shave, but the post shave was tight and dry.

For those keeping score

 

[rsp1202]

Another has fallen. The Palmolive shave stick delivered a decent shave, but the post shave was tight and dry.

For those keeping score

View attachment 1594372

My old preferences were Sampsons and Boellis Panama, but the former is apparently discontinued and I've moved away from scented soaps like the BP. Now it's MdC and Canada. I just went through some shave sticks and don't care for them.