The Obie Memorial First Tier Soaps and Creams Thread.

[lloydrm]

How hard is your water? What brush are you using?
I have very hard water and I get pretty good lather from Valobra, it is hard soap so it likes brushes with some backbone.
I also found that distilled or at least filtered water helps with some soaps that otherwise do not perform well.

Stefan, Thanks for your reply. I never paid much attention to water hardness since I didn't have any problems even with finicky soaps like Mystic Water. Today I tried with filtered water and the protolather didn't look very promising. On the face it turned into a beautifully understated and great lather. It didn't dry out at all. Excellent soap. Now I get it. By now I already "wasted" 1/3 of the puck ... the cost of ignorance ...

To answer your brush question: I've used synthetic, 2-band badger and boar, all with similar results. Today I used badger. Thanks again.

FWIW, the city reports indicate moderate hard water.

[lloydrm]

Truefit & Hill, trafelgar Just tried it today... wow this stuff was amazing! !! It made so much lather from such a small amount. Hey anyone got a good site for samples of different creams and soaps so you can test before you buy? ??

Maggards carries samples. I have some of theirs laying around, mostly B&M. Let me know if you're interested.

[ultrasoundguy2003]

Truefit & Hill, trafelgar Just tried it today... wow this stuff was amazing! !! It made so much lather from such a small amount. Hey anyone got a good site for samples of different creams and soaps so you can test before you buy? ??

Maggards razors. Mix and match any sample you want.

[Obie]

CATEGORY CHANGE:

Gentlemen,

Last year, Meisner Tremonia, a new artisan soap from Germany, was introduced to Straight Razor Place with a ton of hype. It was made to sound as the eighth wonder of the world. I tried several scents and found them all overwhelming in strength. I mean, really. Worst, the soaps torched my ultra sensitive skin. Fire! The last soap that had done that was Boellis Panama 1924.

Meisner Tremonia had good cushion and glide. I found the lather on the anemic side — to be fair, though, a number of quality soaps produce small lather. Still, the skin irritation component of Meisner Tremonia soap was so bad for me, I stopped using completely. What's more, I dumped it in the Third Tier of soaps, and in my mind, almost near The Basement.

I regularly test, retest and test again various soaps and creams. For instance, when I first used Green Mountain, I was far from impressed, especially after all the hype on SRP. Later I re-tested it, and still nothing. I tried it one more time, and this time the soap surprised me with its overall quality, so I moved it to the First Tier.

Thus far, I had only used the scented versions of Meisner Tremonia. I took a chance on the unscented, Pots of Milk, and to my surprise, I did not have to call the fire department. The lather felt good on my Hollywood face, as good as any other quality soap. Cushion and glide were good. Plenty of moisture. The lather was still on the light side, which was all right as long as the other components balanced the overall quality in the soap.

I have moved the entire Mesiner Tremonia line to the Second Tier; however, I am mindful that the only version of this soap I like is Pots of Milk, the unscented version — there is another unscented that I must try — while many other gentlemen might prefer the scented ones. And that's fine.

As always, remember that this is only my opinion of the soaps I have tried, and if yours is different from mine, that is perfectly all right with me. The thread is meant to serve as a guideline, especially for the newbies, since sometimes it is hard to choose from the flood of shave soaps and creams out there.

[lloydrm]

Very interesting Obie. I have quite a selective skin so the first MT I tried was pots of milk. First use I did not finish the shave because of skin reactions but still was curios about it just because the redness went away pretty quickly and got not signs of skin damage the day after; different from previous experiences with soaps like LpL, Jabonman, Cade, B&M, Stirling and the list goes on. So am trying (still on the process) of convincing my skin not to fight MT PoM. Actually Yesterday was my latest attempt and it went fine, just like the previous time, except from a little tingle when I had to stop to swap a dull blade. Performance is outstanding IMO. Puristic is in line and hopes are high.
How do you like the scent? Am not a fan of its smokyness ...

[Obie]

Very interesting Obie. I have quite a selective skin so the first MT I tried was pots of milk. First use I did not finish the shave because of skin reactions but still was curios about it just because the redness went away pretty quickly and got not signs of skin damage the day after; different from previous experiences with soaps like LpL, Jabonman, Cade, B&M, Stirling and the list goes on. So am trying (still on the process) of convincing my skin not to fight MT PoM. Actually Yesterday was my latest attempt and it went fine, just like the previous time, except from a little tingle when I had to stop to swap a dull blade. Performance is outstanding IMO. Puristic is in line and hopes are high.
How do you like the scent? Am not a fan of its smokyness ...

Pots of Milk has no fragrance, at least none detectable, and I have not tried the Puristic. I must say, Meisner Tremonia, after many tries, is nothing special, and certainly not worth the big hype of some months ago. What's more, I doubt I will try the Puristic. Enough money spent on this over-hyped soap.

[brightred]

Last year, Meisner Tremonia, a new artisan soap from Germany, was introduced to Straight Razor Place with a ton of hype. It was made to sound as the eighth wonder of the world. I tried several scents and found them all overwhelming in strength. I mean, really. Worst, the soaps torched my ultra sensitive skin. Fire! The last soap that had done that was Boellis Panama 1924.

interesting, indeed. i experienced the very same. bought a himalayan heights and a puristic style. the puristic style was ok, but not that impressive. the himalayan heights set my face on fire within seconds. i immediately washed my face with clear water, but that stuff burnt like hell for what felt like an eternity. luckily, i am a teacher with well-mannered students, so they did not ask questions about that "sunburn"... needless to say, no more MT for me!

regards,
hans

[Obie]

interesting, indeed. i experienced the very same. bought a himalayan heights and a puristic style. the puristic style was ok, but not that impressive. the himalayan heights set my face on fire within seconds. i immediately washed my face with clear water, but that stuff burnt like hell for what felt like an eternity. luckily, i am a teacher with well-mannered students, so they did not ask questions about that "sunburn"... needless to say, no more MT for me!

regards,
hans

Hans,
I know what you mean. Something in the scent ingredients Meisner Tremonia uses does not agree with some skin types. My experience was horrible, just as yours was. OY! Once my of Pots of Milk is finished, if I don't pass it on to someone before that, that closes the door on Meisner Tremonia. There is so much great stuff out there . . .

[Phrank]

Hans,
I know what you mean. Something in the scent ingredients Meisner Tremonia uses does not agree with some skin types. My experience was horrible, just as yours was. OY! Once my of Pots of Milk is finished, if I don't pass it on to someone before that, that closes the door on Meisner Tremonia. There is so much great stuff out there . . .

All three of my Meisner Tremonia were not only boxed and banished, but removed from the nice wooden bowls shipped with the pucks. Personally, I found them like shaving with a thin layer of wax, never really lathered that well, and the scents just never stood out over what remained for me a persistent waxy feeling and smell, almost like plastic.

To each their own...

[VAPDGUY]

I've got a sample pack from maggards in the mail. And I really am enjoying the T&F.Also the TOBS and GFT. Obie no love for the Brits??? I'm Irish and I think their creams are great !!!