Thread: First Canadian Shave Soap Co. Manana de Lila

Just got a sample in the mail the other day and thought I would go ahead and give it a shot. As always, for an initial soap review I use no pre shave or post shave products, I want to know that what I experience is the soap acting alone.

For this shave I used my AOS straight razor, The Grooming company synthetic brush and of course the Manana de Lila soap. Hot water pre shave rinse and cold water post shave rinse.

I scraped the soap from the little ziplock packet into the bottom of a bowl. It is a semi soft soap but not quite a croap. I wet my brush and wrung out most of the water and commenced loading. I would say I loaded for about a minute. Then wet my face with a palm of water and went into a face lather. At first I was worried I got too much water as it seemed runny and lots of big bubbles, but after about a minute or so of lathering I was rewarded with a nice lather and no more bubbles. I used my straight razor as I personally feel that's where soaps make it or break it. The lather got to a nice soft peak thickness and seemed to handle a straight just fine. It had a middle of the line slickness and cushion, I was able to make a pass without any irritation, but in the areas I blade buffed I started to notice some. I would compare it to like VDH or TOBS in that regard.

The scent is fairly strong floral scent, which I am not huge on. But it was pleasant enough for a floral scent having almost a slight spicy earthy undertone but mainly picking up lilac.

Here is what the owner states about the scent.

"MAÑANA de LILA is floral fragrance designed for men and women. It has a strong lilac neroli fragrance with base notes of veviter and sandalwood. Ylangylang takes some edge off the neroli and rosemary adds some herbaceous interest. The top notes are made up of bergamot and lemon."

Summary:
While I am not big on the scent, it performed adequately. I don't think I am going to make a mad dash to pick some up, if I see them make a scent that better appeals to me personally I would consider picking it up. If you are a floral scent fan then give it a shot!

I have 2 tubs of this soap, Barber Shop Taper Fade and South Simcoe Sandalwood scents. The scents are pleasant but not overly strong. Lathers easily for me and makes a rich, thick and slick lather. I like the soap and use it in my rotation of soaps.

Bob