I was gifted three soaps by my lovely bride of almost 20 years for Christmas and having now shaved with each about 6 times, allow me to share my findings.
Here are the three soaps in order of personal preference:
1) Australian Private Reserve - Alfredus Choice
2) Storybook Soapworks - Visions and Revisions
3) Siliski Soaps - Sea Spice
Detailed Notes:
APR
This is the soap I had to work on the hardest to dial in on the lather. I started with a slightly fluffy/airy and thin lather, but after 6 tries am now dialed into a much nicer lather that is both ultra slick and protective. The soap is on the harder side, so it requires a bit more patience and elbow grease. Post shave is also fantastic and the scent was initially underwhelming, but I have been won over by it. The scent is actually very difficult to describe...very herbal and green, with spicy peppery notes. Unlike any shaving soap I have ever smelled and very much a manly scent.
It is the one soap that feels better every time I use it and it has definitely found its way into my personal rotation. I find myself wanting to reach for it all the time. And this is apparently the old formula...which means I should REALLY try the new formula.
Storybook
This soap proved to be the easiest to lather of the three soaps. With enough effort, it produces a slick and thick yogurty lather that does its job very well. The scent is to die for. Imagine a lemon gremolata laced with some Darjeeling tea notes. I know some say it is an Earl Grey scent, but I think it is slightly too citrus forward for that kind of direct comparison. Either way, my favorite Citrus scent in my soap collection. Unfortunately, despite the good performance and amazing scent, the post-shave is lacking a little. I wouldn't go so far as to say it dries my face, but my face does feel a little tight after shaving. So while I enjoy using this, I think this will be a hot weather soap here in Texas when dry skin is less of an issue.
Siliski
I have a love/hate relationship with this soap. It produces a GREAT lather, but the lather isn't nearly as slick as I like it, and while the postshave is good, the scent is totally uninspiring. Sea Spice is very simple and reminds me of a scent from my childhood in Germany. I can't decide whether it was a hair mousse I used as a teen or the body wash (Aquamarine) that my grandmother kept in her shower...either way, it feels a bit cheap and unsophisticated despite the fact that I understand Siliski to use very high-quality ingredients. The soap puck also shows use strangely. Both APR and Storybook pucks flatten the surface with use. But the Siliski puck remains lumpy for some reason and it feels difficult to pick up soap despite the soap being reasonably soft. In the end, I will probably use this up, but I likely won't buy another Siliski soap because the base just doesn't wow me at all. Perfectly nice soap though, so I assume it will perform much better on others in this forum.
I hope you are finding this helpful.
Here are the three soaps in order of personal preference:
1) Australian Private Reserve - Alfredus Choice
2) Storybook Soapworks - Visions and Revisions
3) Siliski Soaps - Sea Spice
Detailed Notes:
APR
This is the soap I had to work on the hardest to dial in on the lather. I started with a slightly fluffy/airy and thin lather, but after 6 tries am now dialed into a much nicer lather that is both ultra slick and protective. The soap is on the harder side, so it requires a bit more patience and elbow grease. Post shave is also fantastic and the scent was initially underwhelming, but I have been won over by it. The scent is actually very difficult to describe...very herbal and green, with spicy peppery notes. Unlike any shaving soap I have ever smelled and very much a manly scent.
It is the one soap that feels better every time I use it and it has definitely found its way into my personal rotation. I find myself wanting to reach for it all the time. And this is apparently the old formula...which means I should REALLY try the new formula.
Storybook
This soap proved to be the easiest to lather of the three soaps. With enough effort, it produces a slick and thick yogurty lather that does its job very well. The scent is to die for. Imagine a lemon gremolata laced with some Darjeeling tea notes. I know some say it is an Earl Grey scent, but I think it is slightly too citrus forward for that kind of direct comparison. Either way, my favorite Citrus scent in my soap collection. Unfortunately, despite the good performance and amazing scent, the post-shave is lacking a little. I wouldn't go so far as to say it dries my face, but my face does feel a little tight after shaving. So while I enjoy using this, I think this will be a hot weather soap here in Texas when dry skin is less of an issue.
Siliski
I have a love/hate relationship with this soap. It produces a GREAT lather, but the lather isn't nearly as slick as I like it, and while the postshave is good, the scent is totally uninspiring. Sea Spice is very simple and reminds me of a scent from my childhood in Germany. I can't decide whether it was a hair mousse I used as a teen or the body wash (Aquamarine) that my grandmother kept in her shower...either way, it feels a bit cheap and unsophisticated despite the fact that I understand Siliski to use very high-quality ingredients. The soap puck also shows use strangely. Both APR and Storybook pucks flatten the surface with use. But the Siliski puck remains lumpy for some reason and it feels difficult to pick up soap despite the soap being reasonably soft. In the end, I will probably use this up, but I likely won't buy another Siliski soap because the base just doesn't wow me at all. Perfectly nice soap though, so I assume it will perform much better on others in this forum.
I hope you are finding this helpful.