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Soap Tests, aka culling the herd.

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
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.
My BP is very mildly scented and once cut off the block and put into the bowl loses all of it's scent. Yes, I think I got one of the last Samson's to be had. I think Canada is the new Samsons in many ways.
 
My BP is very mildly scented and once cut off the block and put into the bowl loses all of it's scent. Yes, I think I got one of the last Samson's to be had. I think Canada is the new Samsons in many ways.
That's an interesting comparison, and since I've recently started in on the Canada I wouldn't disagree.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
That's an interesting comparison, and since I've recently started in on the Canada I wouldn't disagree.
Glad to hear that. I will clarify, I have not used Canada myself. At some point will try some. I'm in sabbatical at the moment so maybe next year, but from the ingredients list and what I have read here it seems very similar.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Another day another shave. Broke out the Hitton Savon A Barbe which is a soap of French origin. It has poor lather as far as peristance. In fact you are best off lathering areas of the face and shaving and continuing on to the next area. It's mildly scented with Cedar, Vetiver and Lavander.

Why I like this soap is even though the lather is not great, it is slick and allows for a very good shave. Where it lets me down is the post shave. Felt very slight tightness. On it's own I'm not sure that it would be enough to make me give it a failing grade, but I also felt a little irritation or itchiness in a few spots.

So it's a fail for me. Longer term if it had been a keeper it's likely that it would not be a repurchase because of the lather quality. In this round lather quality doesn't really come into play but later when it's time to restock, then some will simply fall by the wayside.

I think next shave will be one of the brushless creams I have.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Two brushless creams and by brushless I mean NON LATHERING, DON'T EVEN THINK OF USING A BRUSH, YOU WILL CRY CROCODILE TEARS IF YOU DO!"

Clinique for Men
Art of Giovanni


Both passed the test of the two I prefer the Art of Giovanni. There is little difference between the two. The AoG is a little thicker and has a little scent, the Clinique is unscented and smells like whatever the raw ingredients are.

They both deliver a good shave. I thought he Art of Giovanni produced a slightly closer shave of the two. I would rebuy the Art of Giovanni for travel, but once out the Clinique, I will stay out.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
So a couple more to report on.

These two soaps are quite different. One has a very pleasant smell. I think this one can no longer be sourced in the U.S. www.lasavonneriebourbonnaise.fr and I think I have the lemongrass something or other scent. It's pleasant and light. It does not lather well. It's what I call a sectarian soap. Made for shaving one sector of you face at a time. LOL. The lather dissipates that fast. However it shaves as if there is a nice layer of soap there because it has slickness. The razor glides and the hair is removed, very closely I might add because there is little cushion. This soap will make a mild razor shave a bit closer and is still slick enough for a more agressive razor in my opinion.

Kell's Original Ultra Aloe, Unscented. Also smells quite nice which is to say not at all. It's a "glycerine" aka melt and pour (I know all soaps contain glycerine to an extent) just using the common description of these clear soaps that can be melted and reconstituded into any shaped container you may own. I have come to only buy non cented melt and pours because I have found that every scented one I have ever tried has bothered my face. Not sure why the EO or FO bothers me more in melt and pour but it does.

Lather wise, this is the creamiest, yogurt-ery-ist, melt and pour I have ever used which is a darn shame because since I acquired it it looks like they have left the biz. Probably driven out by people using duck fat doing "drops" - I digress. It also gave me a great shave.

La Savonnerie Bourbonnaise and Kell's Original have both passed my test.


Would I buy either again? Yes and Yes. The Bourbonnaise left the better face feel from the get go. Kell's felt like it might get tight and dry for about 5 minutes and then it didn't. The Bourbonnaise made me feel like I had not shaved at all except the whiskers were gone. Would I like something that lathered a bit better than the Bourbonnaise? Yes, and Zartgefuhl does just that, but only slightly better. I have not had many soaps that I thought gave creamier lather than the Kell's. I'm beginning to think the European's are onto something with their cold saponification process.

This statement is from the www.lasavonneriebourbonnaise.fr site. Of course it's laden with marketing, but from my experience they deliver.

Cold saponification (SAF) is the only method that allows all the naturally produced glycerin to be retained inside the soap.

The choice of this ancestral method gives our soaps this incredible softness that will take care of all skin types, even the most fragile, the most sensitive and the most reactive.
Particular care is given to the selection of raw materials in order to always offer you the best!

Labeled Nature and Progress , one of the most restrictive labels, no synthetic material enters our laboratory (or our soaps...).

Our soaps are all:

- enriched with shea
- without palm oil
- without synthetic fragrances
- without parabens [note from Chandu: I am alergic to parabens, so I pay attention to them. The ironic part is parabens are used often as a preservative because many fewer people are alergic to parabens than other preservatives]
- without phthalates
- without silicone
- without micas
- etc...
and all with as little coconut oil as possible so as not to dry out the skin.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
This morning's shave was with Palmolive Sensitive Cream with Aloe Vera. Lathers quickly and makes a nice lather. It's a lather that delivers a good shave.

Overall though a fail. Dry down left me with that taut itchy feeling for a couple of hours.

Bear in mind the soaps I'm giving a failing grade due to the post shave tightness / itchiness likely would not suffer the same fate if I were to follow the shave with an A/S or balm. I don't heavy balms or most A/S. In the past I've used the Imperial Barber Bergamot A/S is is a bit of macadamia nut oil and witch hazel and some light scent. After done testing these soaps I may bring that part of the shave back, but first I want a selection of soaps that in Hippocratic sense, first do no harm.

Palmolive Sensitive Cream -- Fail


Current results below. {update: below the Muhle Organic was listed has a hard soap, it's a cream. Spreadheet updated and will be correct next time posted. }

Screenshot_20230208_112719.png
 
I've not tried many of these soaps. I have tried quite a number. You are missing GFT, which is a great soap once one gets the hang of it. You also don't have La Toja regular and La Toja sensitive. Two of the best and inexpensive. Out of all of these the two that surprised me were Arko and MWF. The Arko famously leaves the skin dry and does mine. Otherwise it is a solid performer. And the fact that I paid 23 cents for my last stick means this is hard to beat. The MWF is a really good, slick soap and performs at the top. The post shave leaves my face feeling nice and moisturized. However, if lanolin is not your thing, then I can see where a problem might lie. Some people are sensitive to it (though it could be the perfume they use in it, light though it is).

Soaps are funny. Some soaps that people rave about leave me scratching my head wondering why. Some that people hate give the best performance. Go figure. I guess that's why we have lots of choices.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
I've not tried many of these soaps. I have tried quite a number. You are missing GFT, which is a great soap once one gets the hang of it. You also don't have La Toja regular and La Toja sensitive. Two of the best and inexpensive. Out of all of these the two that surprised me were Arko and MWF. The Arko famously leaves the skin dry and does mine. Otherwise it is a solid performer. And the fact that I paid 23 cents for my last stick means this is hard to beat. The MWF is a really good, slick soap and performs at the top. The post shave leaves my face feeling nice and moisturized. However, if lanolin is not your thing, then I can see where a problem might lie. Some people are sensitive to it (though it could be the perfume they use in it, light though it is).

Soaps are funny. Some soaps that people rave about leave me scratching my head wondering why. Some that people hate give the best performance. Go figure. I guess that's why we have lots of choices.
I have used La Toja stick and Speick stick in the past. I don't know how they would fare against the criteria I'm using. I recall liking them in the in the past, but in most cases was following each shave with an A/S or balm. Not doing so has cause many soaps not to make my cut. ToBS Mr. Taylor is on the docket for tomorrow.

Here is a listing of soaps I can remember using that I no longer have and don't plan to reacquire unless starred. They were used and or given away or used in the shower. Many more were given away and used in the shower than were used. My guess is slightly over half of them would make the cut which seems to be the case with the soaps I am using. The only problem is I don't know which ones would or would not and very few of them hold much attraction for me now.

La Toja Stick
Speick Stick
Mama Bears
Various Stirling Scents
Southern Witchcrafts
Grooming Dept
Chiseled Face Ghost Time Barber
M&M Claddagh * need some after sabbatical. Will get a sample first to make sure it passes the test
Wickham Soap 1912 Parma Violet
Derby
VdH
Colonel Conk
Colgate Puck
Surrey Puck
Shave Factory
GFT - Rose
LEA sensitive skin cream
Bevel Cream
Kiss My Face
Billy Jealousy
Barbasol 1919 * at some point when I run out of other brushless. Cheap and as good as any, better than many.
Body Shoppe Maca Root
Ogallala
Kramperts
Ach Brito Lavanda
Captains Choice
Castle Forbes * need some 1445 after sabbatical. Will get a sample first to make sure it passes the test
Caties Bubbles
Lucky Tiger Molle
Shannon's Shave soap
Lucky Tiger Liquid Cream
Pre De Provence
Cella
St James of London
Sudsy Soapery
Zingari Man
Proraso
Truefitt & Hill
Meissner Tremonia * maybe after sabbatical.
Crux * Maybe
Scheer Monnik
Reuzel Shaving cream

Probably a few more I can't recall.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Maybe LaToja. I do recall liking it better than Spieck. I do use the LaToja bar soap with some regularity.
 
Maybe LaToja. I do recall liking it better than Spieck. I do use the LaToja bar soap with some regularity.
The Speick sticks (particularly tallow) are very good as well. I go back and forth with the La Toja sticks (grated) all the time.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
The Speick sticks (particularly tallow) are very good as well. I go back and forth with the La Toja sticks (grated) all the time.
I grate too. I'm not a stick fan. I think it's a good way to irritate the face of a daily shaver. If I shaved every two or three days the whiskers would take the brunt of the stick and not the face.
 
La Toja makes both stick and creams (in a tube like tooth paste). I always have a supply on hand because they work with DE or Straight. They smell good and have a good face feel after the shave. That's my take, but someone else might disagree. Speick was okay, but not as good as the La Toja.

I have whittled down my collection. I have a few because they are really good, but I won't buy them again. I can get as good of all around performance for a lot less money with MWF and La Toja. Some might do one thing better, but most that cost more don't do everything well, at least not for me.

@Chandu I'm enjoying your journey.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Today's shave is in the books. I had meant to use TOBS, Mr. Taylor, but yesterday changed and used a different razor altogether than what I'm using for my soap challenge. Today was back at it, but put Mr. Taylor on hold for one more day.

Up today was the wonderfully scented Caswell Massey No. 6. It's an easy to make, use and enjoy, lather. The scent is one of the high points to be sure. As soon as the dry down started I had that dry burnt feeling. I let that go on for about 1/2 hour and said NOPE and gave myself a few spritz of Imperial's Bergamot A/S which calmed things considerably.

So, sad to say, Caswell Massey No. 6 Failed for me. It truly is a nice scent. It's strong but nice.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
So shaved with TOBS Mr Taylor. Fine shave it was. The soap lathers easily and has a nice scent. It was an easy soap to use and delivered a nice shave. This one is a keeper.

TOBS Mr. Taylor passed. Though I do like the scent, I think maybe next time I would try their almond scent.

On another note, I need to dig through all my soaps but I think I have tested most of them and will consider re-doing the winners with a more aggressive razor. Though I won't cull any soaps based on that, it would influence future purchases.

Screenshot_20230219_063752.png
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
You still need to try some La Toja cream or stick.
I have in the past. I'm not sure if it would pass or not. I'm going to guess it would. I may get some in the future. I remember from when I used it last it left me feeling good, but then too I used either witch hazel or the witch hazel based A/S. For these tests it's the soap alone. It still might make the cut. I'm in sabbatical now. In my rebuy period next Dec, I will get some.

I do use La Toja regularly as a bath soap and like it. It and my oily skin work well together.
 
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