The Obie Memorial First Tier Soaps and Creams Thread.

[thebigspendur]

All these soaps and creams, I can't take it any more.

I remember quite some time ago while traveling through the town of Dur-Katlimmu I was discussing with King Adad-Nirari III which of two shaving soaps I should try. He said having more than one of anything was bad luck (except for him of course) and behavior like that would anger Salmanu and bring a terrible curse upon you.

Hmm, maybe this shave thing is the curse.

[cudarunner]

All these soaps and creams, I can't take it any more.

I remember quite some time ago while traveling through the town of Dur-Katlimmu I was discussing with King Adad-Nirari III which of two shaving soaps I should try. He said having more than one of anything was bad luck (except for him of course) and behavior like that would anger Salmanu and bring a terrible curse upon you.

Hmm, maybe this shave thing is the curse.

Perhaps you could shorten your 'handle' from the big spender to simply BS

[Obie]

All these soaps and creams, I can't take it any more.

I remember quite some time ago while traveling through the town of Dur-Katlimmu I was discussing with King Adad-Nirari III which of two shaving soaps I should try. He said having more than one of anything was bad luck (except for him of course) and behavior like that would anger Salmanu and bring a terrible curse upon you.

Hmm, maybe this shave thing is the curse.

Aha! Spendur, so you know about Adad-Nirarri III (810-783 B.C.), one of the great kings of the Assyrian Empire. A few years after him came one of the greatest: King Sargon II (721-705 B.C.). My namesake was King Ashur-Uballit I (1363-1328 B.C.), who made the Assyrian empire a powerhouse. My hero, though, is Ashurbanipal (668-633 B.C.), the artistic and intellectual warrior king of the Assyrian empire.

How sweet to talk about my heritage. Had these great kings not had royal coiffured beards, I'm sure they would have used Martin de Candre and Castle Forbes.

[SemperFi]

Today was my inaugural use of PannaCrema's Nuavia Blu and... wow!

When I opened the ceramic jar, I was initially taken aback by the dark brown and somewhat deep reddish puck--frankly, it didn't look wonderful, until its fragrance wafted up. For me, the scent was lovely; especially after my recent encounter with SV's Artic Tundra....

The soap has excellent slickness and its post-shave properties are superb. As always for me, with harder water, it'll take some tinkering to dial in the right ratio but with that said, it did lather fairly easy (I pre-dampened the puck while I prepped).

Overall, my initial impressions are this soap is looking like a top performer and it likely will be in my permanent rotation! As always when it comes to soaps and creams, caveat emptor, YMMV.

[Phrank]

Today was my inaugural use of PannaCrema's Nuavia Blu and... wow!

When I opened the ceramic jar, I was initially taken aback by the dark brown and somewhat deep reddish puck--frankly, it didn't look wonderful, until its fragrance wafted up. For me, the scent was lovely; especially after my recent encounter with SV's Artic Tundra....

The soap has excellent slickness and its post-shave properties are superb. As always for me, with harder water, it'll take some tinkering to dial in the right ratio but with that said, it did lather fairly easy (I pre-dampened the puck while I prepped).

Overall, my initial impressions are this soap is looking like a top performer and it likely will be in my permanent rotation! As always when it comes to soaps and creams, caveat emptor, YMMV.

Question about this soap - perhaps you could answer.

Is the lather a thick creamy lather of more of the typical thinner, slicker lather that I notice from Vegetal based soaps ?

[SemperFi]

Phrank, my initial go with it is that it's more typical of the thinner, slick vegetal soaps. It always takes some tinkering, due to my water, for me to really get a feel for a soap. Here's shot of the lather I had with it from my shave of the day: http://straightrazorpalace.com/shave...ml#post1733029

I think Obie has been using the soap for awhile and hopefully will chime in with his experience thus far with how thick it'll lather.

[Phrank]

Phrank, my initial go with it is that it's more typical of the thinner, slick vegetal soaps. It always takes some tinkering, due to my water, for me to really get a feel for a soap. Here's shot of the lather I had with it from my shave of the day: http://straightrazorpalace.com/shave...ml#post1733029

I think Obie has been using the soap for awhile and hopefully will chime in with his experience thus far with how thick it'll lather.

Thanks - I notice a difference between the soaps that are vegetal in nature, not saying better or worse, just different characteristics.

The soaps that have a more glycerin base or tallow I presume, tend to have very robust lathers.

On the other hand, some of the Le Pere Lucien soaps, which most are vegetal based, like the Floris no. 89 I've discovered, have this much thinner, very slick lather, very nice, close shaves.

Personally for me, I tend to prefer the thicker creamier lathers, but equally enjoy the slicker soaps.

I've been really on the fence with these soaps for a long time now, as Obie mentioned, time and time again, just abandon the purchase, the green, blue and red all interest me, but that is a whopping day of soap shopping.

How was the scent? What did you think of it?

Thanks!

[Obie]

Gentlemen,

PannaCrema Nuavia Blu makes a rich and fragrant lather. I wouldn't call it thin, but it does not produce the thick lather that, say, Tabac produces, or Cella. Yet, the Nuavia Blu lather is rich enough and slick enough to mitigate the slightly thin lather. By thin I don't mean anemic; it just doesn't lay down a heavy carpet of lather. Either way, the soap is good stuff. And I love the scent, too.

[Phrank]

Gentlemen,

PannaCrema Nuavia Blu makes a rich and fragrant lather. I wouldn't call it thin, but it does not produce the thick lather that, say, Tabac produces, or Cella. Yet, the Nuavia Blu lather is rich enough and slick enough to mitigate the slightly thin lather. By thin I don't mean anemic; it just doesn't lay down a heavy carpet of lather. Either way, the soap is good stuff. And I love the scent, too.

Thanks Obie - good to know, the Floris No. 89 produced a very slick lather, certainly not robust.

The Floris Elite just arrived, so that will be on the shave menu tonight....

I know I'm going to pop back on the PannaCrema soaps soon...I want all three....

[SemperFi]

Thanks for chiming in on the lather, Obie!

Usually when I first try a new soap, I tend to load heavily and then use a bit more water and thus my first use usually isn't a great indicator of a soap's lather sweet spot (usually takes me about 3 or so uses to really dial in a new soap), so I appreciate your assessment of PC's lather, Obie.

The slickness of the PC was great, Phrank--I did an ATG pass today and the soap really stood out there, especially with the blade I used! I'm with you on enjoying thick lathers--I especially enjoy these lather's cushion when I'm shaving with an aggressive DE.

The PC Blu scent reminded me a lot of a nice cinnamon/nutmeg aroma; it wasn't overly strong or cloying and for me it was relaxing and quite pleasant. I hear ya on pulling the trigger for these soaps--I waffled for awhile, too. Perhaps give Shave Dash's samples a try to see if you like PC's scent (Products - ShaveDash.com). I'm guessing all 3 plus shipping will come in at around 25 or so CAD.