Soaps by Los Jabones de Joserra

[TheLegalRazor]

I first learned of Los Jabones de Joserra, a line of shaving soaps from Spain, in October of last year. Looking at SOTD photos from gentlemen in Europe, this soap caught my attention:

I did some research and found that Los Jabones de Joserra are made in Spain by Jose Martinez. I was curious as to the name of this particular soap - Rodrigo de Jerez. It turns out that Rodrigo de Jerez was one of the crew members of Christopher Columbus when he sailed to the Americas in 1492. Rodrigo de Jerez learned about smoking tobacco from the natives in the Americas, and is reputed to have introduced the habit to Spain when he returned. I've never smoked, but like tobacco shaving soaps and have tried a lot of different ones. I'm usually disappointed, as I find that there are few excellent tobacco scents available in shaving soaps. I knew nothing about the quality of Los Jabones de Joserra, and decided a tobacco scented soap would be a good way to evaluate the brand.

I had difficulty finding this soap. Despite its popularity among knowledgeable shavers in Europe, no USA shop carried it. I finally found it in a UK shop and ordered it. I have since learned from European shavers that Jose markets these soaps primarily through Facebook. He does not have a catalog of regular offerings. Instead, several times a year he does runs of his latest creations. When those soaps sell out, that's it and they're unlikely to be produced again.

According to Jose, this is the scent profile of Rodrigo de Jerez:

Top Notes: Tobacco leaf and spicy notes.
Heart Notes: Tonka bean, tobacco flower, leather, vanilla and cocoa.
Base Notes: Nuts, black suade, amber and woody notes.

The ingredients: Stearic acid, Beef tallow, Lamb tallow, Shea butter, Oils of flax seeds, cannabis seeds, coconut and castor, Glycerin, Fragrance, Cocoa powder.

I liked the lather and scent of this soap from the moment I tried it. The lather quality and post shave feel are excellent. The scent immediately joined JabonMan Tobacco and Asylum Old Virginia as my favorites in the tobacco category. With too many tobacco scented shaving soaps, they are so sweet or floral that it seems they forgot the tobacco. Jose gets it right with Rodrigo de Jerez.

Rodrigo de Jerez is no longer available, and I wanted to try one of Jose's newer releases. Communicating and ordering through Facebook is not optimal, but it seemed like it was the only option available to me. Fortunately, I then learned that BullGoose was going to start carrying Los Jabones de Joserra. Rather than going through Facebook, I waited for them to arrive at BullGoose and ordered Kilix.

According to Jose, this is the scent profile of Kilix:

Top Notes: Bergamot and cardamom.
Heart Notes: Floral.
Base notes: Cedarwood, sandalwood, oud and tonka.

The ingredients: Tallow, Vegetable stearine, Coconut oil, Castor oil, She butter, Kokum butter, Fragrance, Camelia oil, Lanolin, Glycerin, Green clay.

As with Rodrigo de Jerez, lather quality and post shave feel are excellent. The scent immediately presents as a nice balance of cedarwood and sandalwood. The cedarwood makes its presence known, but is not as dominant as in Le Pere Lucien's excellent Cedarwood and Patchouli. Kilix is a well crafted scent profile.

Los Jabones de Joserra joins JabonMan in the category of outstanding, highly regarded shaving soaps from Spain. These shaving soaps are well worth considering.

 

[BigJ]

GREAT REVIEWS!!

This maker goes on the radar!!

 

[Rider]

He released some other wonderful shaving soaps (mostly, tallow based).

Blas de Lezo

Viriato

Noir

The new Green Twist

 

[TheLegalRazor]

 

[steffenapelz]

So as a fan of Eufros/Manuel, I am intrigued by these soaps. But I am weary of anything that is strongly scented at this point, because I feel like they are difficult to pair with other aftershaves and often turn out worse than I had hoped. Are these scented strong/medium/mild?

 

[steffenapelz]

Just looked at their FB page and if I am not mistaken, it looks like they are making cologne clones (GIT, Aventus etc). That is pretty much the end of my interest in their products.

 

[Hooman]

following the thread.......

 

[JoeLr]

I've really been intrigued by the new Spanish soap makers, after having used Eufros very happily in the recent past. I do plan to delve into products from Joserra as well as Daisho, at least to give them a try. I prefer old school, long-lasting (even if not tripled milled) soaps, but the softer new artisan stuff I'll give a whirl once in a while.

 

[Hooman]

I've really been intrigued by the new Spanish soap makers, after having used Eufros very happily in the recent past. I do plan to delve into products from Joserra as well as Daisho, at least to give them a try.

I loved Eufros' scents. I found its performance on par with the top North American artisans and its scents were much more appealing to me than others. That's why they sold out quite well at West Coast Shaving. I'm now chasing Joserra for the european style scents.

 

[sealer]

Just looked at their FB page and if I am not mistaken, it looks like they are making cologne clones (GIT, Aventus etc). That is pretty much the end of my interest in their products.

Not all are clones, some are inspirations, or just own new creations. The soaps are great, amazing performance and great scent (I own Blas de Lezo). Most manufactures make also inspirations on parfums (i.e. I have from APR coolabah, fresca, Coeur de Vert or Suitably attired australian that are inspirations of Aventus, AdP, Mousse de Saxe and GIT, and that does not dismiss at all the amazing scents Dan has created too, that I also own)
cheers

 

[Hooman]

The soaps are great, amazing performance and great scent (I own Blas de Lezo)

Hi, I'm not sure if you've ever tried Eufros, another popular Spanish Artisan. I was wondering if Joserra is at least as good as Eufros when it comes to performance alone? thanks!

 

[steffenapelz]

Not all are clones, some are inspirations, or just own new creations. The soaps are great, amazing performance and great scent (I own Blas de Lezo). Most manufactures make also inspirations on parfums (i.e. I have from APR coolabah, fresca, Coeur de Vert or Suitably attired australian that are inspirations of Aventus, AdP, Mousse de Saxe and GIT, and that does not dismiss at all the amazing scents Dan has created too, that I also own)
cheers

That is a fair point. I am quite a fan of Dan's older scents that are mostly not made anymore. Among my favorites are Alfredus Choice, Mycroft. Of the newer ones, I like Fenchurch and Ozymandia, and I love Bombora. Most of the other newer stuff is just OK IMO.

 

[Rrose Sélavy]

Hi, I'm not sure if you've ever tried Eufros, another popular Spanish Artisan. I was wondering if Joserra is at least as good as Eufros when it comes to performance alone? thanks!

Based on your previous posts, I think that you and I share a lot of the same likes. As you may recall, I am a huge fan of Tallow + Steel and Eufros. I would go so far as to say that I would be fine just using these two soaps for the rest of my days. That being said, I feel that the quality of Jossera is up there (similar to recent Declaration Grooming, IMO), but I much prefer the scents of T+S and Eufros. That isn't too say that Jossera is inferior, because it really does perform like a champ! I'm just not totally sold on the three that I smelled.

 

[Hooman]

Based on your previous posts, I think that you and I share a lot of the same likes....

Thank you @Rrose Sélavy, yes that's why I follow your posts here and there and value your feedback on soaps that might be of interest to me.

I'm a huge fan of Eufros scents. Unfortunately, I cannot use Eufros soaps as they contain lanolin. That is why I thought I'd try out Joserra since a couple of his offerings are lanolin-free. Joserra has a new scent coming up called 'Cefiro A Ventus'. I was really hoping that his scents would at least be in the same class as that of Eufros. I'm not being hypocritical, but I think generally speaking Europeans design scents differently, there is something about their scent designs that I find far more attractive than north amercians.

I'd like do my due diligence so to speak specially when I'm spending close to $50 CND to have that soap shipped to Canada. Not many youtube reviews of this soap nor sufficient number of trusted posts on this forum. There are only a few reviews on Bullgoose Shaving. So I guess at this point I just hold onto this purchase until I hear more about Joserrea. Meanwhile I'm enjoying my Tallow and Steel and Zingari lately! You stay safe my friend!

 

[Rrose Sélavy]

Thank you @Rrose Sélavy, yes that's why I follow your posts here and there and value your feedback on soaps that might be of interest to me.

I'm a huge fan of Eufros scents. Unfortunately, I cannot use Eufros soaps as they contain lanolin. That is why I thought I'd try out Joserra since a couple of his offerings are lanolin-free. Joserra has a new scent coming up called 'Cefiro A Ventus'. I was really hoping that his scents would at least be in the same class as that of Eufros. I'm not being hypocritical, but I think generally speaking Europeans design scents differently, there is something about their scent designs that I find far more attractive than north amercians.

I'd like do my due diligence so to speak specially when I'm spending close to $50 CND to have that soap shipped to Canada. Not many youtube reviews of this soap nor sufficient number of trusted posts on this forum. There are only a few reviews on Bullgoose Shaving. So I guess at this point I just hold onto this purchase until I hear more about Joserrea. Meanwhile I'm enjoying my Tallow and Steel and Zingari lately! You stay safe my friend!

I totally agree. I very much prefer the more restrained scents found in the soaps of artisans found outside the USA, and it is for that reason that I do think that you should try Joserra. If you IM me your address, I'll send you a penny sample of Joserra Viriato. Viriato has lanolin, but at least you can get a sense of the fragrance and the quality of the lather. I might also be able to include a little dollop of Yakushima...

 

[sealer]

Hi, I'm not sure if you've ever tried Eufros, another popular Spanish Artisan. I was wondering if Joserra is at least as good as Eufros when it comes to performance alone? thanks!

Hi.
Yes, I have tried Eufros (cronos, brisa de oriente, rosa bourbon, agarwood, some limited editions for spanish forums and some samples that I don't remember). I would say you wont be dissapointed. My experience with Joserras is more limited but I am more than happy with it, and expect to order more soon (it is quite expensive to order them from here down under).

BTW if you like the 'european' way, another good artisan from Spain is jabones ByLuna (non-tallow and free of lanolin). For example, she made a limited edition for an spanish forum that has been re-made 4 years in a row as the 'yearly' LE of the forum as everybody really wanted more (bergamot, cedrum and sandalwood) and i simply love it! Fauno is also a scent I love too (orange, lavender, eucalyptus and clove). You may find more of her in Facebook
cheers

 

[sealer]

That is a fair point. I am quite a fan of Dan's older scents that are mostly not made anymore. Among my favorites are Alfredus Choice, Mycroft. Of the newer ones, I like Fenchurch and Ozymandia, and I love Bombora. Most of the other newer stuff is just OK IMO.

I have most of the older ones (some just in splash or in EdP) and quite a few of the last ones (he is no longer offering soaps, only parfum). To me, some of the last weren't as great as fenchurch or bombora. I wished I could have got my hands on torchwood, btw
cheers

 

[steffenapelz]

I have most of the older ones (some just in splash or in EdP) and quite a few of the last ones (he is no longer offering soaps, only parfum). To me, some of the last weren't as great as fenchurch or bombora. I wished I could have got my hands on torchwood, btw
cheers

I think Dan has veered off into pretty extreme territory with his newest scents. The old scents were almost no-brainer purchases, but the most recent ones can be pretty iffy. Take Raconteur for example...that is a leather sledgehammer beyond belief. At first, I didn't mind, but now, I find the extreme leather to be too much and borderline nauseating. There are only a few days of the year (very cold) and very few occasions (staying at home) where/when I can use this soap/AS combo. And reading about the newest releases makes me think that the new stuff coming out now is in the same category. Therefore, I am out as a customer of new scents.

Torchwood is one of the first scents he made that I thought were pretty extreme. That said, it is one that works. Mostly hyrax and musk makes this super-animalic. Not for the faint of heart, but I still enjoy it and get compliments from my wife and daughter. Compare that to Raconteur where both ladies complain that I smell terrible.

 

[TheLegalRazor]

Hi, I'm not sure if you've ever tried Eufros, another popular Spanish Artisan. I was wondering if Joserra is at least as good as Eufros when it comes to performance alone? thanks!

I've been using Manuel's (Eufros/JabonMan) soaps for years. I've tried most of his scents, and currently have six in my rotation. I find Los Jabones de Joserra to be definitely comparable in both performance and scent. They're both top tier soaps.

 

[Hooman]

@sealer and @TheLegalRazor , thanks both of you for the feedback. For the time being, I'm exploring the small Spanish artisan soap territory hoping to find more unique and appealing scents. Another member also mentioned jabones ByLuna' beside Joserra and he said he was very pleased with it.