Yes I agree with that MDC, and Castle Forbes are two solid TOP TIER PRODUCTS
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Yes I agree with that MDC, and Castle Forbes are two solid TOP TIER PRODUCTS
Ok, my first impressions of Boellis Panama 1924 Coffret is good. The performance seemed similar to L'occitane Cade. Maybe a deluxe version of that. The scent is interesting in that in the coffret it smells like marzipan, but on my face a dry almond. I liked how it cut close and clean. No murky lather lines as you can clearly see where the razor has cut and where it hasn't. I'm using a very small brush right now because I'm just shaving around my beard. The puck diameter is massive! Looking forward to trying with a bigger brush to work the whole puck better.
I have both the cream and soap for Boelis and I find the cream to be very light. Good lube but not all that substantial a lather. I find the soap to produce a more substantial lather. Either way I would classify Boelis second tier but the ceramic dish is tops.
Ok now my review of the gifted Panama Boellis 1924. I have shown interest in this soap since way back whenAndrew ( Phrank ) gave me a good review. I ordered it, it was out of stock, every time I looked it was out of stock. Now I,m getting to where I thought it might be the best soap to hit the market!
Anyway I received my sample, I now have used it 3 times and will continue at least another 4-5 days. The sample showed that it did not take much product to create a brush full of lather that will give me a 3 pass shave. It takes some water, I thought I had it but I kept adding and it just kept growing, this was after only 15-16 swirls on top. Face T lathered to a very slick feeling and very mild scent, that I found much more pleasing than most Italian Almond offerings. The scent in Xpec is much too strong for my likes.
No problems with the glide. Lather had staying power that kept going till my shave was done.
The after shave feeling on my skin was good, not great but I liked it. Scent is gone by the time. Got to my balm, so no interference with my colognes.
All total I put it in my second tier , but very high in that short list, and to be fair my first tier is loaded with very heavy hitters in the world of straight shaving,(expensive to moderately priced) if this soap had the scent I like along with just a little more moisturing affect after the shave, it's top tier, as it stands I will use this soap, just to add, I don't have that many soaps anymore, I only keep what I like to use. Thanks for listening. Tc
I am ashamed to say the extent of my experience with soaps to date consists - in order of preference - of the following only:
1. Tabac Soap
2. Proraso (white)
3. Truefitt & Hill No.10
4. Bath House Spanish Fig & Nutmeg
A fairly poor roll call I admit and the only soap listed I would recommend would be the Tabac. As for the others I found the Proraso Green Tea & Oat easy to lather but quick to dry, the T&H I thought was just behind the Proraso in all aspects and so poorer value for money, as for the Bath House I considered the lather insipid, drying and just very disappointing given it's price point. But as in all cases YMMV!
Your experience and findings count. Dont sell yourself short, your observations are what I found. Bath House lacks scent and glide regardless of price point. I did keep the bowl though.
I found that mixing Luce Pere Lucien any scent with a little SV 70th gave me the best of all worlds. I blame sharptonn and this snurdler craze for mixing soaps now.
Look at the positive you are finding top tier soaps and why the community finds them worthy of this status.
I bought tons of not so great soaps before I found this thread and community.
1.I like Tabac too. I haven't used it in a long time. Need to try it again and see if its as good as I remember. I have the A/S splash and balm also. At one time had a bar of the bathsoap($10!, heinous price! but, I enjoyed using it!) lol. And.....lol, I think I have some of the edt left too. It's scent is slightly different than the A/S, more tonka bean to my nose. :-)
2.I have some Proraso green shavesoap and I really enjoy that when the weather is warm. I had the green shaving cream (I thought it was pretty good!)but the tube end blew out and I pitched it. Also have a little bit of the original Proraso Red(much lighter on eucalyptus and menthol) and its nice in the winter. I think it has added lanolin.
3.I have read the some positive things from some shavers about the Truefitt & Hill No.10 shave 'cream'.
4.I've always wanted to try the Bath House Spanish Fig & Nutmeg Cologne. But yes, I've read several times that the shavesoap is near worthless. :-(
Gentlemen,
I have updated the list, with an added catrgory: Basement.
Again, all this is my opinion. You may have yours on the various tiers, and that's fine.
Stay well, and may good fortune always swim in your lane.
Lol....Ok I agree with those choice they both worthless
[QUOTE=DetailMan;1600112]1.I like Tabac too. I haven't used it in a long time. Need to try it again and see if its as good as I remember. I have the A/S splash and balm also. At one time had a bar of the bathsoap($10!, heinous price! but, I enjoyed using it!) lol. And.....lol, I think I have some of the edt left too. It's scent is slightly different than the A/S, more tonka bean to my nose. :-)
2.I have some Proraso green shavesoap and I really enjoy that when the weather is warm. I had the green shaving cream (I thought it was pretty good!)but the tube end blew out and I pitched it. Also have a little bit of the original Proraso Red(much lighter on eucalyptus and menthol) and its nice in the winter. I think it has added lanolin.
3.I have read the some positive things from some shavers about the Truefitt & Hill No.10 shave 'cream'.
4.I've always wanted to try the Bath House Spanish Fig & Nutmeg Cologne. But yes, I've read several times that the shavesoap is near worthless. :-([I would have to subscribe to that opinion. Some espouse the philosophy that all experience is good, on that basis you should try it. If, like me however, you don't like wasting your money, you might want to renew your aquaintance with Tabac instead.
]
I have never tried Aramis soap. The worst shave soap I have tried is (was actually, since it is no longer made, thank heavens), was a French abomination called Durance. This thing didn't even work in the shower. That bad. I still have the small but handsome ceramic soap dish in came in.
Obie you have done a GREAT service, I can not ever repay you for your insights and wisdom in shave soaps and creams.
This thread has provided a great service to all wet shavers.
I have spent thousands of dollars on junk sorting this out on my own.
The OBIE THREAD is priceless. I cannot ever thank-you enough.
We should get some tabouli and lamb shwarma if you ever get to Detroit. Babaganosh and Hummis with garlic sauce all around family style.
True Obie you have shed new light on my shave soaps, do enjoy creams much better, I have expanded the soaps in my shave den, you have also helped me steer clear of the bargain basement stuff, the charlatans, I raise my glass of cognac to....Salute......My Brother
One of the soaps not talked about much is Acca Kappa. Anyone use it?
Totally agree, I too have seen good reviews of a soap/cream only to be massively disappointed when I get round to trying it, so will be steering clear of T3s for sure, I may still try some of your T2s as tastes do differ but so far all but one of your T1s match my experience so this is a great service to those of us with SAD...
Gentlemen,
There are some new additions to the tiers.
AOS Sandlewood is one of my favorites I have never had a problem with it ......must be water, I get great lathers
Obie, have you tried PannaCrema?
I am testing Nuavia (vegan) and the original line (tallow) now.
...and a final demotion...Le Pere Lucien Patchouli has been put in the box, and it's brother LPL Tradional will face the final test Sunday.
The LPL Patchouli just seemed never to spark up a rich creamy lather, and again failed to do so tonight. Always a tad thin and tended to foam...
I'd noticed the LPL Traditional seemed to fade after a few initial uses, after a stellar initial showing....until Sunday then, until Sunday....:D
Phrank and Mainaman,
I am surprised this soaps does not work for you. I find it does everything it is supposed to do. The lather is big and moist, with the cushion and glide topnotch. Perhaps you need to work with the soap a wee bit longer.
I'm at the place where a certain routine seems to work for me with how I prepare the lather, and if I have to work too hard at it, it's gone.
Tonight with the LPL Patchouli, I made a point of using my Semogue 1305 Boar brush, and really loaded the brush up, into the scuttle to whip up the lather, and it consistently seems to not get that robust lather that MDC gets, or for that matter, DR Harris Windsor or TOBS Eton or many others soaps and creams...it may be making a journey to visit Pope Razorfeld at some point in 2016...;)
I Love LPL, at first I had a problem, but with a minor adjustment it started working great like Obie says great lather and a great shave, I've used my Simpson brushes, and my Saville Row brushes, loads great.
What about Pre de Province cream that's a basement cream, but the soap is good
I,m not sure, but I get a better lather with LPL by face lathering than I did in a scuttle, maybe the heat is affecting it. But I did find it a pretty good soap, not in my top tier cause it's a short list, but definantly in the top of the second tier. Tc
Gentlemen,
From my experience with Le Pere Lucien, I give my wet brush a squeeze and a pair of gentle shakes and then load it heavily with the soap, sprinkling water on the soap, if necessary; then I face lather, adjusting the water. This seems to work well for me. No, of course not, Le Pere Lucien is not Martin de Candre for the density of the lather, or the Harris soaps.
Martin de Candre and the Harris soaps produce a dense lather, whereas Le Pere Lucien not as much. Despite the slightly lighter lather, Le Pere Lucien still affords all the other elements of a top tier soap.
I'm running into scuttle issues fairly often. Some soaps hate heat and won't lather worth a damn when they're warm, but then you cold shave with them and they're great. I'm slowly dividing my soap collection into "scuttle soaps" and "cold soaps." I honestly think A LOT of soap makers out there do not test their products warm.
When Obie speaks, I listen, thanks for the reviews. I'm a stead fast Mitchell's user, been so for years.
I am finding the same issue with my scuttle. I am no pro at lathering in a scuttle...but I find that my usual great soaps are not that great in the scuttle. The exception so far has been Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet cream. Lathered like crazy even in my warm scuttle.
Gentlemen,
I have discovered the optimum water temperature for all soaps or creams — at least the hundreds I have used — is just plain old warm tap water. Many have a tendency to use extremely hot water, which, in my experience, hinders the lather. Just warm enough to the touch should do it.
The one important element to which I pay close attention at the start, whether face or bowl lathering, is to load the brush heavily with enough soap or cream and not be cheap about it. My brush gets a gentle shake and a squeeze before loading — heavily. From there, I lather and watch the water ratio.
I dislike cold water shaving, so I can't tell you anything about that. Just warm enough water and a well loaded brush does it for me.
Obie my friend I'm thinking that warm water is the only way to go (I also dislike cold water shaving). I experimented with the scuttle because it sounded attractive (warm lather and all in the winter) but IN MY EXPERIENCE your statement is correct. The soaps & creams I have tried behave best in just warm tap water and proper loading technique. My pretty scuttle may be up for sale soon.
Big,
In Vietnam, shaving with cold water out of a steel helmet with canned goo and a plastic disposable razor — hoping some gung-ho sniper wouldn't shoot my establishment off — I made a promise to myself: that if I ever got out of the place alive, I would never shave with cold water again. Ever! I have kept to that promise.
I used a variety of scuttles for lathering in the early years, but now I just use the SRD scuttle, which is designed not for making lather, but to keep the brush warm. There are scores of these brush scuttles around, but I feel the SRD one is the best of them — for me, anyway.