Sounds like I’m trying Tabac next time I need to order supplies
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Sounds like I’m trying Tabac next time I need to order supplies
As Roy likes to say...
Enablers Unite!
“.....when I NEED to order new supplies”
Need? Wheres the fun in that.
For those interested in the good stuff!
Sale on now.
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Has anyone tried Taylors of old bond soaps?
I was thinking of buying a soap & ceramic bowl next week .. TOBS being a soap i have not yet tried. How does it compare to D.R Harris and others?
Maybe i will pop into Floris also, i believe they have a new formula to their soaps so maybe i will double down .
Thanks
I do have the old Floris 89 which requires some hours of blooming.
I will get the other Elite I think it is and report back.
You won’t need to bloom the new formula at all Joseph. I’m using an old puck of the Elite in the shower now, lovely bath soap.
Oddly, I like the scent of the Elite soap as much as the 89, but the Elite EdT (bought directly from Floris) doesn’t strike me the same way as the soap. Go figure.
Aloha!
Well, my first tier continues to migrate, as it always has done since I started shaving with Williams Mug soap decades ago. Currently I'm putting Speik Cream and Tabac Soap right among my top tiers. The Germans (IMO) have it figured out. Both of these rival my most expensive soaps and creams with regard to lather, protection, and of course scent. I have the complete line of products from both, and I can't say that I enjoy any soap/cream BETTER than these two German products.
I have also been highly enjoying Ariana and Evans, especially "Asian Plum". Their new Kaizen base is amazing, and the fragrances from this company are astounding. Definitely a top tier soap company in my Den.
I'm also migrating more and more to Truefitt and Hill. Their "West Indian Limes" is very pleasant is currently on my top shelf. Their tub of cream is an amazing product that yields a silky smooth shave every time. The very first time I used this cream I forgot it was a cream in a soap tub. I loaded the brush like it was going to be my last shave forever. I had enough cream in that brush for 10 shaves.
Out of left field there is one more soap that has gained access to my top tier shelf. That's the limited production run of "Governor's Island" from Talbot Shaving. They made a very low production run of this soap for Pasteur's Pharmacy in NYC. I could only buy ONE tub because that was the limit for such a low production run, but I wish I could have purchased a dozen. It's my favorite scent of all time, and the lather and protection it provides are absolutely superior. I contacted Talbot and told him how much I loved the product. I doubt he'll do another run because it was supposed to be "exclusive". If he does run another production, I'll be first in line.
Funny you say that because the 89 soap has an amazing scent imo, it lead me to buy the 89 EDT which now i cannot stand.
I have tried to convince myself to like it but failed..
One thing i did realise is that early morning usage makes it much more acceptable to my nose :)
I checked my Floris 89 soap to find that it is the new formula.. I do remember extensive blooming of all the soaps that did not work very well and it was the 89 which won.
It could be like the D.R soaps, sometimes they work well and other times not. It could be down to technique , water softness, different batches, star alignments?
I've found the same with a few soap/cream and EDT combos. The EDT are far more concentrated fragrance.
I love Floris 89 edt. Very James Bond. Suave and sophisticated. Just like myself.....:p
Generally speaking the British creams are superior to the soaps but once my Floris 89 cream has run out I'm going to try the soap.
Here’s a little eye candy for the Floris fans.
Today i went up to Taylors Of Old Bond St. and purchased this soap. My intentions were to buy a ceramic bowl, unfortunately their ceramic soap bowls (£30) with lid are tiny, for use with a 57g puck. I hummed and harred then decided just buy a normal sized puck and if i want ceramic bowls then i can go to D.R Harris who sell beautiful ceramic soap bowls, full sized.
I just made a lather with the soap which has a poor fragrance imo. It was quick to lather and seemed to dissipate quickly. On the plus side it has excellent slickness . At the moment it seems not worthy of a shave however my first impressions concerning soaps are normally wrong.. :)
I have yet to find a hard soap the can stand up against Czech & Speake or Institut Karite .. Searching is the fun part though..
Cheers
Attachment 327793
Attachment 327800
This puck of soap should be in every shave den..
I bought myself a couple of soaps for Christmas, guided by the tier one soaps in this thread. One of them was Abbate Y La Mantia Laureato, which is simply amazing. I love the laurel scent, it's unique and invigorating, but subtle. The lather is outstanding. Martin de Candre is still my number one soap, but Abbate Y La Mantia Laureato is now firmly in second place.
I've tried a few more soaps recently. After having shaved exclusively with MdC for about 2 years, it's nice to branch out again. This time I tried the Safonificio Varesino Tundra Artica, which is a variation on the classic oud scent.
The scent is WAY too strong for me, and a little to perfumy. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Synthetic smelling, maybe? Anyways, it put me off so much that I had to try twice before I could actually shave with the stuff. But the lather was extraordinary, which more than made up for the scent.
I won't be keeping this soap, I've already passed it along to a friend. But I will try samples of every scent until I find one that I like, because the lather will be worth it. I think I'll try the Eidelweiss one next, it sounds more up my alley.
I've been using Saponificio Varesino soaps for a few years now. I reckon 95% of my shaves are with S.V. soaps. I have all of them except Tundra Artica and Desert Vetiver. Felce Aromatica is probably my fave scent but all are wonderful performers regardless of scent. Most of them are not strongly scented which suits my sensitive skin just fine. I do follow the makers advice to bloom the soaps.
A wellness check for Obie …how yah doing brother ?
Terrible news.
I am a big fan of Czech & Speake lavender Soap, it must be in my top 2 soaps.
Recently i bought some of their 88 soap only to find the performance is total rubbish. It dissipated quite fast in my latest shave video if you wanna see how bad it is.
One comment tells me that Czech & Speake Shaving soaps are no longer made by valobra hence the drop in quality.. The ingredients do read same apart from the addition of "Parfum"
What a loss.
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Shame about this soap Joseph. Does the packaging state where or what company now makes the soap? The soap was good stuff when Valobra made it.
Amazing the number of soaps that have been reformulated and turned into utter garbage.
Bob
Per Phil at Bullgoose, this is the new soap in the old box - it’s mislabeled, it is not made in Italy and those aren’t the ingredients. Those of us that bought from Phil in the US got this email:
‘Dear Steve,
In mid May, we received a shipment of No. 88 shaving soap from the Czech & Speake distributor in Massachusetts. Upon unpacking the soap, I noticed that the boxes were stamped Made in Italy and the ingredients were the same as what we had always enjoyed. Above is a picture of one of the boxes with the ingredient list and the made in Italy Stamp.
About a week or so after I listed them for sale, I received an email from a good customer who had a concern with his soap. The color was off and it failed to produce a decent lather. At this point, I emailed Czech & Speake as well as the distributor. Czech & Speake told the distributor that they had dug up some of the old soap from Italy and that this was the last of the NOS soap.
A few days after that claim by Czech & Speake, a customer sent me a comparison photo of an actual NOS soap that he had in his stash next to one of the soaps that Czech & Speake "managed to dig up".
I forwarded the comparison photo to Czech & Speake through the distributor. When the Czech & Speake representative received this photo, he said that it was actually the new soap (Made in England) and that the made in Italy stamp was an oversight. However, he went on to claim that the ingredients listed on the box were correct and that Czech & Speake kept the formula for the soap exactly the same as it has always been. The only problem is this is also not true.
Here are the ingredients of the new soap as listed on the Czech & Speake UK website:
Sodium Palmate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Lecithin, Petrolatum, Zea Mays Oil, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Tocopheryl Acetate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Geraniol, Linalool, Citronellol, Hydroxy Citronellal, Limonene, Oakmoss Absolute, C.I. 77499, C.I. 17789
As you can see, not only are the ingredients not the same, the very first ingredient is different. The soaps are not even close to being the same.
Once I get things sorted out with Czech & Speake, refunds will be issued for No. 88 shave soaps purchased between May 28th and June 10th. Please give me a couple of days.’
Thanks for this info Steve.
I have sent them an email complaining . I have a few old stock lavender which will probably outlive me so i cannot grumble too much :)
I suppose with import charges now from EU to UK a lot more items will be produced in the UK..
There is no excuse for marketing an inferior shaving soap these days.[/QUOTE]
So true.
If C&S performed basic product review/ testing, which I'm sure they did, they knew very well they were selling us a pathetic product. Also, putting soap in the incorrect box has a stench about it.
Gentlemen,
Yes, I had heard of the change in the formula and that many shavers were disappointed in the brand. Sad, indeed. I am using my last NOS puck of Oxford and Cambridge and it is lovely. When it’s gone, I’ll close the door on Czech and Speake. Too bad; it was such a fine soap.
Thanks @JOB15 and @Steve56 for notifying us! Less money spent on expensive junk...
Very sad news for me though: I vastly prefer tallow-based triple-milled soaps, and now that Haslinger and others went vegetal, and Valobra and Green Mountain are out of production - I'm down to only 5 (!) options worldwide: DRH, MWF, Tabac, Williams, and Henri et Victoria. Unbelievable! Good thing I have a stock of old AoS, Haslinger, C&S and Valobra though.