Wilkinson Sword Blue Tub: Made in Germany

[BrooklynSalt]

During a short trip to London, I was in Boots looking for shave soaps. The only one I could find was Wilkinson Sword blue tub made in Germany, so I got two-- one to PIF and one I try.

To my nose, the soap smelled very similar to Irish Spring. Not a natural smell, but to me not offensive either. The smell doesn't overwhelm when you open the lid and it doesn't linger after the shave. I could certainly smell it throughout the shave

My go with it, I used a synthetic Omega S-Brush S10018. I loaded it well, maybe close to a minute (I thought more was the move here) and went to lather on my handsome face (or so my mother says). It produced quite a lather. While not the thickest lather, I've created, it was no slouch either. Easily producing enough for three passes. The cushion was sufficient--Nothing outstanding, but nothing to be critical of either. The slickness was so/so. Not so much afterwards, but adequate protection during each of the three passes I encountered when I tried it.

While not a keeper for me-- I'm about 4-5 months into Wet shaving and have 15 soaps-- of you are looking for an inexpensive daily driver and like Irish Spring, this is for you. I passed both on-- one to a colleague, another to my Brother in Law who likes it.

 

[Al Bundy]

Never quite understood why Wilkinson Sword blue bowl gets such a bad rap on here.

It's not amazing but it's perfectly usable and let's not forget it costs little more than a large coffee...

 

[Toothpick]

I’ve never heard of it until now.

 

[frenchy]

Never quite understood why Wilkinson Sword blue bowl gets such a bad rap on here..

The rap is well-deserved IMO. I’m a long time wet shaver and it’s one of the only products I’ve ever thrown out. Not at all slick, protective or cushioning. Bought it in France. Luckily it was cheap.

 

[snowman]

Wilkinson Sword in the bowl..imho...is substandard. On the other hand. Wilkinson Sword Shaving Stick is excellent. The stick is a completely different product than the soap in a bowl. I have no idea why they do that, but, the stick doesn't get nearly the attention at B&B that it should. Its one of the best shave sticks on the market.

Bowl = bad
Stick = good

 

[rockviper]

The perfuminess of the blue bowl puts me off; I preferred the old black bowl. Wilkie in a bowl is okay but below average; the stick is an entirely different beast of goodness. Alas, in the pharmacies and drug stores around here (Toronto, Canada), just about everyone carries the blue bowl with some places also stocking Williams. very few places even carry VdH.

 

[Saltchuck]

I found some in a pharmacy in Canada. It works well for me--on a par with Proraso shaving soaps. YMMV.

 

[BigJ]

I need to keep my eye out for these products (especially the stick) when traveling!

 

[Quink]

Never quite understood why Wilkinson Sword blue bowl gets such a bad rap on here.

It's not amazing but it's perfectly usable and let's not forget it costs little more than a large coffee...

+1

 

[GuybrushThreepwood]

The rap is well-deserved IMO. I’m a long time wet shaver and it’s one of the only products I’ve ever thrown out. Not at all slick, protective or cushioning. Bought it in France. Luckily it was cheap.

+1 It's 1 of only 2 shaving soaps sold in stores around here, too bad it's worthless. It's difficult to lather up and if you succeed in lathering it up, the lather will disappear before you put it on your face.

 

[Saltchuck]

It's difficult to lather up and if you succeed in lathering it up, the lather will disappear before you put it on your face.

That doesn't match my experience with Wilkinson's.

 

[GuybrushThreepwood]

That doesn't match my experience with Wilkinson's.

I guess it's one of those YMMV cases, or they changed the formula. Proraso while not one of my favorites, works much better for me.

 

[Jack_Of_Blades]

+1 It's 1 of only 2 shaving soaps sold in stores around here, too bad it's worthless. It's difficult to lather up and if you succeed in lathering it up, the lather will disappear before you put it on your face.

Couldn't agree more. I threw that stuff straight in the garbage after trying a couple of times. My wife, who uses a straight razor on her legs (so proud) found that this stuff dried on her legs too quickly. It also didn't really apply very well to the skin even though I actually succeeded in making a pretty decent lather. Smell is a little much. All in all I wouldn't recommend it to people, and especially not to beginners (like me) who are just getting into whole wet shaving thing. It can be pretty frustrating to have what looks like a good lather then once you start to apply it to your face nothing really shows up. Buyer beware.