Stone Cottage sample pack

[Diogenes]

I got a bit tired of scooping from the small sample bottles so I decided to combine a few. Here's Suede, Coconut, and Myrrh. The final result (with a small bit of water added to break up the hardening Myrrh) smells mostly of Suede, cinnamon but also exotic. Hope the excellent soap maker doesn't mind my tinkering but it will sure be easier to load the brush!

 

[JoeyZ]

Today I had a breakthrough (let's call it an explosion, really). Maybe I am speaking too soon, but everything worked great. For sample #6, Lavender, I used a little more product and a little less water than I was with the others... Kaboom! This is the first time I have ever had any lather overflow my shaving bowl.

In hindsight, I think that I took the comments about using a little product and a lot of water too far. I still used more water than with others, but not as far as my other attempts. More importantly, I just used a good size snurdle and didn't worry about if it was too much. Sure it was technically wasteful, but for me it was worth it. Plus if I stay conservative I will have less excuses to buy more.

Btw... Loved the Lavender scent... Very natural and not perfumy (is that a word?)

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

I've been following this thread religiously! I tend to shy away from participating as I want to do what is appropriate and correct on this board but I do have something to add which I hope you will find useful information for this or any other shaving cream. This thread discusses consistency of this type of product and I and others have addressed a reason for this occurrence and solutions to help deal with it. I hope you will find this useful! (Thanks RayClem!)

Thanks so much for your support, I truly appreciate it! Also, I always welcome "conversations" from everyone here!

Creams that are not so creamy anymore.

 

[joeyboy]

I've been following this thread religiously! I tend to shy away from participating as I want to do what is appropriate and correct on this board but I do have something to add which I hope you will find useful information for this or any other shaving cream. This thread discusses consistency of this type of product and I and others have addressed a reason for this occurrence and solutions to help deal with it. I hope you will find this useful! (Thanks RayClem!)

Thanks so much for your support, I truly appreciate it! Also, I always welcome "conversations" from everyone here!

Creams that are not so creamy anymore.

Great pass on.

 

[joeyboy]

Today I had a breakthrough (let's call it an explosion, really). Maybe I am speaking too soon, but everything worked great. For sample #6, Lavender, I used a little more product and a little less water than I was with the others... Kaboom! This is the first time I have ever had any lather overflow my shaving bowl.

I have questioned the amount of water people use for this cream. This is a great face lathering cream as the brush tends to hold the right amount of water. Whether you swirl the brush in to the cream to load or take an almond sized dollop and manually load it, the water always seems right. Rarely, do I have to add water by hand using this method. The cream is always thick and slick no matter which flavor you choose.

Hardware: Maggard 24mm synthetic

 

[DEdestroyer77]

So I've been following this thread and broke down and bought the sampler, first shave was with Hesperide. The shave was spectacular, no problem with making lather, and tons of it with just a face lather, cushion, slickness - all great. ATT S2, POLSILVER, Simpson X2L

I have been wondering though, has anybody tried and/or ordered a soap puck? Was there any difference in performance?

 

[JoeyZ]

I have been wondering though, has anybody tried and/or ordered a soap puck? Was there any difference in performance?

Though the pull is strong, I have not ventured much into the world of soaps but there seems to be a number of mentions in favorite lists... Not so many reviews. I am guessing that you wouldn't go wrong giving it a try.

 

[meliahog]

So I've been following this thread and broke down and bought the sampler, first shave was with Hesperide. The shave was spectacular, no problem with making lather, and tons of it with just a face lather, cushion, slickness - all great. ATT S2, POLSILVER, Simpson X2L

I have been wondering though, has anybody tried and/or ordered a soap puck? Was there any difference in performance?

I hope your samples include Almond Flower. It's great, too.

Mikey

 

[Dirk X]

In case some of you are still on the fence, I just noticed that the shaving creams are on sale right now.

 

[joeyboy]

That's a great deal for a great product.

 

[DEdestroyer77]

I went through 2 samplers, 10 creams, and I posted previously. I know this is technically a cream thread but I wondered out loud about the soaps so I will just mention that briefly. Of the 10 creams I tried Hesperide, Almond Flower and Suede de Kashmir were by far my favorite scents but to each his own. A common theme was light scents, some too light. Hesperide was leaps and bounds the most prevailing scent so out of curiosity I ordered 2 pucks of it, nothing exceeds like excess right! My own conclusion is the soap puck is much more strongly scented than the cream samples if that interests anybody. I just wanted to mention that.

 

[Fouts]

I broke down and ordered some cream samples.

First Scent: Cedre Noire
Second Scent: Hespéride
Third Scent: Spiced Myrrh
Fourth Scent: Suède de Kashmir
Fifth Scent: Vanilla and Vetiver

It will probably take about 4 days for me to get them. I'll be sure to share my opinion after giving them all a good try.

 

[Tokyospike]

I'm back folks! Fixed Four for March Madness is finally over, and I've spent the week finally trying my samples. First, I'm a soap (croap, really) guy, and this was my first experience bowl-lathering a cream. No issues after some initial futzing with cream/water ratio.

Also, I almost always use a tallow-based soap for the slickness - but I remember David last year walking us through his whole soap-formula experimentation and his enthusiasm deserves to be rewarded. This cream produces a wet cushy lather that is very slick, which is the most important characteristic to me.

I would rate the scents I tried like this:

1. Suede de Kashmir - a bit like vintage Russian Leather or classic Polo. Love this stuff and will be a purchase soon.
2. Hesperide - really light and fresh and cheerful in the morning.
3. Spiced Bay and Spiced Myrrh - I liked these, pleasant enough, not really striking though like the ones above.
4. Frankincense Fog - I like frankincense, but this scent just left me flat. Kind of musty.

 

[meliahog]

Just got this note from Don from Stone Cottage. The scents have been increased. May be time to retest, I am

Glad you like our products! Just wanted you to know that all of the scent levels were increased in the Shaving Cream and Sample Packs!
David B. Powers - Stone Cottage Shaving

Mikey

 

[joeyboy]

I knew he was doing this. Interested to see how they are. They can only be better, IMO.

 

[meliahog]

+1 .. They are. Just used Hesperide, Kashmir, and Spiced Myrrh and they are fantastic. Next up is Cedar Noire, then Lavender. All with the increased scent. Same great shave.
So far I added Hesperide, Hashmir, and Spiced Myrrh to my future purchase list. If Cedar Noire smells anything like it does in the sample, I'll be adding that one too. I already have a tub of Almond Flower and love it.
I'll test the Lavender, but will most likely pass as I have a full tub of Castle Forbes lavender, and that one's unbeatable. The same goes for Sandalwood as I just ordered a tub of AoS Sandalwood (rave B&B reviews, so I went with it)
So, my ranking of the SC creams is:
1. Almond Flower (purchased)
2. Hesperide (will purchase, be crazy not to, this one's out of the park!!!)
3. Kashmir (will purchase)
4. Spiced Myrrh (will purchase)
5. Cedar Noire (may purchase depending on tomorrow's test shave)
And the above will be my 5 purchases from SC (not all at once, though. Will be purchasing Heperide within the next week. Sample testing will be done, whew!

Mikey

 

[joeyboy]

+1 .. They are. Just used Hesperide, Kashmir, and Spiced Myrrh and they are fantastic. Next up is Cedar Noire, then Lavender. All with the increased scent. Same great shave.
So far I added Hesperide, Hashmir, and Spiced Myrrh to my future purchase list. If Cedar Noire smells anything like it does in the sample, I'll be adding that one too. I already have a tub of Almond Flower and love it.
I'll test the Lavender, but will most likely pass as I have a full tub of Castle Forbes lavender, and that one's unbeatable. The same goes for Sandalwood as I just ordered a tub of AoS Sandalwood (rave B&B reviews, so I went with it)
So, my ranking of the SC creams is:
1. Almond Flower (purchased)
2. Hesperide (will purchase, be crazy not to, this one's out of the park!!!)
3. Kashmir (will purchase)
4. Spiced Myrrh (will purchase)
5. Cedar Noire (may purchase depending on tomorrow's test shave)
And the above will be my 5 purchases from SC (not all at once, though. Will be purchasing Heperide within the next week. Sample testing will be done, whew!

Mikey

Is the almond flower the new scent?

 

[meliahog]

Is the almond flower the new scent?

No, it was the original scent, but I loved it, mild almond and light floral. Don't know what the new scent is like, maybe more Almond? My wife and I will be heading out to NJ in June. I'll make an effort to get to the shop, talk to Don, and perhaps get a sample of the new scent. I can the compare.

Mikey

 

[meliahog]

No, it was the original scent, but I loved it, mild almond and light floral. Don't know what the new scent is like, maybe more Almond? My wife and I will be heading out to NJ in June. I'll make an effort to get to the shop, talk to Don, and perhaps get a sample of the new scent. I can the compare.

Mikey

We'll see.

 

[joeyboy]

We'll see.

I really love the original. I may have to do another group of samples. Still working on these.

I should have been purchased a tub of the original but my buying had been procured.