Asheville NC meetup ; April 26-27th

I would like to start with a few points,

1. I have sensitive skin shaving ,brushes, and scents can all irritate it.
2. A soap has to provide excellent cushion for first pass so I can continue on
3. It has to water down a bit and get really slick for my second pass and touch up for a good shave
4. With my sensitive skin it needs to moisturize
5. Scent has taken a second seat due to my previous requirements

On to the review.

• Shore leave scent is touted by them as "This soap’s sweet citrus bouquet and spicy undertones will take that start-of-the-week dread and turn it into a tropical getaway, at least until you finish your shave."
  The citrus is light as are the spice notes, the scent was mild and pleasing when I opened the package and remained as such when lathered. I am not generally a fan of citrus soaps but this was so nicely balanced I thoroughly enjoyed it, a major plus was it did not irritate my skin as many do. Not picking on anyone here but to give perspective I loved the smell of the SRD Blood Orange but I cannot use it and one of their soaps stays in my rotation.
• Prep was a good hot shower, stropped up a known good blade (Genco Head barber 6/8th round point), I really liked the ice-cube type sample, soap chips like this I hold in my hand to load the brush and this one lent itself to my method a few drops of water on the cube as I showered and my brush Gemstar custom silvertip was soaking in my scuttle.
• Lather, I started to load the brush, is it possible to have pre-mature lather? I am not talking suds but lather formed before I felt my brush was loaded, thick and creamy, nice.
  Now when testing a soap I always face lather, this is because if the cushion is there, as I build the lather I will not feel the bristles on my painting strokes and the drag of the brush during the painting strokes clues me in if the suds are to sticky. After a great feeling lather was built I began the shave.
• The first pass was very nice, cushion was up there with my top runners.
• On to the second pass, splash of water on my hand, rub my face with it, multi pass paint application to thin out the lather a bit going for slick,
  first thought uh oh big bubbles it is going to break down..... Not the case, I think this is a contender for my bowl or scuttle which I usually reserve for creams :cool: it had plenty of staying power and it did slick up quite a bit, a bit more would have been nice and I think this soap will do it so it is staying on my shelf for now.
• Water touch up/my idea of the daily third pass, wet hand rub on area to touch up, not quite as much residue to play with as say cella leaves but more than adequate to touch up to clean BBS.
• Cold water rinse Witch hazel splash and then Ogallala bay rum, no immediate burn just the settling in of the typical bay rum warm.

The scent did not linger in my opinion and my face rinsed clean, the only area I found this product to lack a bit was my face did not feel as moisturized post shave as it does with some of my other favorites.
For me this is not a deal breaker as it performed very well in the other departments, and I can take care of that post shave. I am definitely going to play with this soap a bit more and it may well find its way onto my top shelf for a visit (well it is the middle shelf but still).

I would like to thank Shaving Yeti for the donation of samples and am looking at adding Morning Wood to my collection as well.

Morning Wood-Greatest shaving soap name ever. I have been enjoying my samples too!

Thanks for the write up Pat. Haven't gotten to my Yeti sample yet but I will next week. I like the scent and the color.

I am really sorry that I missed this one, but it was just not in the cards this year for me to be there.

It looks like it was outstanding and Moosiker kept me informed and I know he had a great time. Good work guys and I look forward to another one that I can make it to.

Will N.

I have used the Yeti Morning Wood soap once and it was good lather IMO. The SRD lavender was good too The Pedal Pusher's Sandalwood and Strop Shoppe were great. The only soaps I did not get good results with were the SCS Blend and Tiki Blend. I have to to admit the SCS is like a time machine dropping me into my grandpa's bathroom. I guess an Old Spice scent. Overall, really happy that I won all the soaps and the thanks to all the vendors that participated. Thanks to the organizers-those both in front and behind the scenes. Thanks to all who provided lectures and demonstrations on this hobby. I am still processing all the information. I got to see so many hones, custom razors and methodologies. Overall, it was just nice to meet folks. You do not have to be there to sit in learn but you can just hang out. My favorite moment was at diner. I sat in the middle of the table amongst, for the most part, complete and total strangers. It was a table full of different personalities, some boisterous and others with the intensity of the sun. One I would say radiated a serene calm which centers the room. Another who I think is under tutelage in a Zen monastery, some how his master lets him out for a razor related meeting. I was just sitting, enjoying the vibe, people watching being one of my things. What better group of people to watch than those that sat at the table. No better than any other table there but due to a simple hobby the conversations sounded a sharp and resonate note in my mind. Everything else became atonal discord. No matter what I did learn a lot and wish I could have spent a bit more time listening and watching. A video on youtube is great, but it will miss something. When the next one comes around I hope I can make it.

Mephisto, it was a pleasure meeting you. It was also a pleasure to have sat next to you and visited at dinner.
Total strangers? Maybe in a general sense. Brothers sharing the same likes, styles, and interests!
It was a great time and I would have to agree that it went by so fast. I would like to have been able to relive that night in slower motion.
So much going and said. Makes you appreciate the time like those much more!!

Ray

I have been working my way through all the soap and cream samples and finally got around to the citronella candle i mean stirling soap's "electric sheep". I'm of the camp that finds this scent rather repulsive but as with anything, i'll give it a try - once.

First off, what a fantastic gooey lather! I heard he recommends lathering right on top of the puck so i did that for a bit and went to my normal palm lathering. Incredible slick-as-snot lather. I have other Stirling soaps but haven't touched them yet. I'm definitely putting them in the rotation now.

Secondly, the smell is much less pungent once its lathered up. Its almost a bit like a pine/woods scent. Regardless i could see this in my bag for camping - maybe it would work as a bug repellant?

Overall, probably not for me... but really not as bad as HidesToArt expresses in his portrait photo lol.

edit: just read his description/ingredients - sure enough, citronella and pine in there!

That was the look of "Wow" am I really smelling this aroma in a shaving soap. It is unique scent for the discerning man. :w My favorite is Black Ice.

I have several of the Stirling soaps and like them all. He has a winning blend in his soaps.

Wow! I used the Glacial Spearmint this morning that I got at the meet up and tears were in my eyes before I could even put the razor to my face. And, it got colder with each pass. I think I've tried all of Rod's mentholated soaps and my favorite was the glacial he had in his old formula but I believe this is much colder. You know its cold when you splash on some Osage Rub as after shave and you barley notice it.

Chris-You've really got me wanting to order some more of his soap; as you know, I am also a freeze junkie with the menthol. In fact, sometimes I add menthol drops to jazz up regular soaps.