The Obie Memorial First Tier Soaps and Creams Thread.

[evnpar]

Thanks - found it on Page 127.

I have recently become fond of oud so will probably order some King of Oud soap one of these days.

I now have several of his soaps with donkey milk, and King of Oud is one of my favorites, a very pleasant oud blend and the performance of a donkey milk soap.

[niftyshaving]

Will someone please explain/define what is meant by "cushion?" "Rich & Slick" I understand but am I too insensitive to grasp "Cushion?"

"Cushion" ....
This is subtle... one measure is does the lather wipe off your face with a gentle wipe of the finger.
Does it feel like wiping warm butter on bread and toast?

As long as the razor rinses cleanly it can be very thick.
If lather does not rinse well I add more water others wipe on a towel or sponge.

A goal is the lather helps the whiskers soften so the razor gets them nicely and
also keeps that same edge from taking too much from the surface of your skin.

Some descriptions apply to DE razors and less so for an open blade str8.

[Phrank]

"Cushion" ....
This is subtle... one measure is does the lather wipe off your face with a gentle wipe of the finger.
Does it feel like wiping warm butter on bread and toast?

As long as the razor rinses cleanly it can be very thick.
If lather does not rinse well I add more water others wipe on a towel or sponge.

A goal is the lather helps the whiskers soften so the razor gets them nicely and
also keeps that same edge from taking too much from the surface of your skin.

Some descriptions apply to DE razors and less so for an open blade str8.

That's an interesting point regarding DE razors versus straights.

The Floris 89 Shaving soap, was a disaster for me, thin lather, not robust at all, yet in reading reviews, many on the forums said it was the best soap they'd ever tried.

Then it struck me, the majority giving it excellent reviews were DE shavers (on majority DE forums), and that makes sense now.

The Floris is extremely slick, and does provide superb cushion and the glide, if your referring to easy of passing the blade along the face, was one of the "slipperiest" soaps I've used. And with a DE, a massively thick layer of soap on your face (which I like and am used to), may not be as conducive to a DE shave as it is to a straight.

So that may explain the Floris from a "user" POV, afterall, the traditional DE shavers, not even including those still using a Mach 5 or whatever, let alone vintage or vintage type DE, must outnumber straight razor users by a staggering margin.

So great comment, what I bolded just connected the dots for me, real or imagined....thanks.

[GreenRipper]

That's an interesting point regarding DE razors versus straights.

So that may explain the Floris from a "user" POV, afterall, the traditional DE shavers, not even including those still using a Mach 5 or whatever, let alone vintage or vintage type DE, must outnumber straight razor users by a staggering margin.

So great comment, what I bolded just connected the dots for me, real or imagined....thanks.

Your realizations on how we compare, percentage-wise, to the DE and SE shavers is something that has been made pretty clear to me over the summer. First it was a shaving meet here in StL where I quickly realized that I was nearly the only straight shaver in attendance, outside the estimable Lynn Abrams of course. The fact has been brought home even by my Instagram feed, that is almost completely comprised of SotD pics. There are a few pictures of straight razors on any given day but the majority of posts are of DE's and SE's. Even shavette users seem to outnumber traditional straight shavers by a hair and I find myself getting annoyed when I see a post referencing "straight razors" only to show me a shavette.

How quickly I've become a shaving snob.

Part of SotD pics, for me, is trolling for new soaps. If something pops up often then I might look into the company and its offerings a bit deeper but I try to be cognizant of the fact that while DE shavers may love a certain soap we straight shavers may have a slightly different opinion.

[Phrank]

Your realizations on how we compare, percentage-wise, to the DE and SE shavers is something that has been made pretty clear to me over the summer. First it was a shaving meet here in StL where I quickly realized that I was nearly the only straight shaver in attendance, outside the estimable Lynn Abrams of course. The fact has been brought home even by my Instagram feed, that is almost completely comprised of SotD pics. There are a few pictures of straight razors on any given day but the majority of posts are of DE's and SE's. Even shavette users seem to outnumber traditional straight shavers by a hair and I find myself getting annoyed when I see a post referencing "straight razors" only to show me a shavette.

How quickly I've become a shaving snob.

Part of SotD pics, for me, is trolling for new soaps. If something pops up often then I might look into the company and its offerings a bit deeper but I try to be cognizant of the fact that while DE shavers may love a certain soap we straight shavers may have a slightly different opinion.

Ahhh...surfing the SOTD's for soaps, or as I refer to them, the gateway drug, to a wonderful smelling bathroom, a depleted PayPal account and a massive Shaving Soap Addiction Disorder....welcome to the club...

[BobH]

I do not make a lather that is different from the one I use shaving with a straight razor when I shave with a DE/SE. I want the same lather characteristics no matter what. A sharp blade is a sharp blade.

Bob

[Phrank]

I do not make a lather that is different from the one I use shaving with a straight razor when I shave with a DE/SE. I want the same lather characteristics no matter what. A sharp blade is a sharp blade.

Bob

Yes, that's what I would think, but it's the only rationale I can come up with for why Floris would take such a legendary soap and ruin it with their new modern equivalent.

Or, as I mentioned, I'm dreaming in colour, and it's just a crappy soap ruined, again, by those designing products with no idea of the end user in mind....meetings held, things discussed and agreed, no-one actually who has sat at the table and then used the product saying, "Peeps, great meetings, but the soap sucks, the fizz from a freshly opened can of Diet Coke has more cushion, glide and whipped cream like lather than this puck of shite!?!"

[BobH]

Probably just a crappy soap in it's present form.

Bob

[evnpar]

I do not make a lather that is different from the one I use shaving with a straight razor when I shave with a DE/SE. I want the same lather characteristics no matter what. A sharp blade is a sharp blade.

Bob

Yes, that would be ideal, but I have many Tier 2 & 3 soaps that I enjoy using because of their scent, although the lather is mediocre. I like to use soaps that are very slick with straights, and although slickness is to a large extent related to adequate hydration of the lather, I find that different soaps can vary in slickness. I can obtain a decent enough shave with soaps with average slickness when using a DE or SE, although I'd obtain a more comfortable shave with a straight when using soaps with excellent slickness. When I do want to use a Tier 2 or 3 soap with a straight, I can sometimes increase slickness by using Castle Forbes Pre Shave. An example would be Penhaligon's English Fern soap, a scent that I love and occasionally use, but even the vintage tallow formulation seems to produce a mediocre lather.

[Obie]

Gentlemen,

I agree with my friend Bob about not distinguishing between the lather made for the straight razor and that for the safety razor. Good lather will work equally well for the straight and the safety razors.