Thread: Regular guys thoughts on three soaps. Fine,Oleo and Wholly Kaw

I have had these three soaps for a while now. And would like to share my thoughts on them. FWIW.

First is Fine American Blend. I have grown to like this soap. The scent is nice. Medium strength. Lathers fairly easy but for me likes some work to get a dense lather that provides proper glide. Post shave feel is good. This is not a "wow" soap. But a good solid performer.

Second is Oleo Soapworks New City. This soap came to my attention because of Obie's excellent First Tier thread.
It's performance is very good. Slick,easy to produce lather. With very nice post shave feel. The rub for me is the scent. The most subjective part of the equation. It is labeled as Leather and Raspberry. To my nose its primarily raspberry. Not a bad scent. Just not one that I really enjoy. Not a dig at all on the soap. I am sure others will likely think the scent is very nice. I'll use it up and get samples of her other scents to get one that smells as good to me as the performance.

For me the best of the trio. Wholly Kaw Merchant of Tobacco.
Donkey's milk may or may not be a gimmick. But this soap is gloriously indulgent to use.
The scent is rich and deep. To my nose it has the tobacco along with chocolate and others I cannot identify.
The lather is easy to get dense and slick. Post shave is very good.
It will have a spot on my favorites shelf.

Hope this review may help any of my fellow members. There are so many choices. Ken.

Thanks for your thoughts on these. This encouraged me to add one or two more soaps to my short list. Maybe for Christmas.

Thank you for sharing this. Wholly Kaw is getting a lot of good press on here at the moment.

I will definitely have to scope it out, hope they deliver to the UK!

Sometimes it's nice hearing opinions from people newer to a field. Thanks for the quick reviews.
The only soap I've tried so far was a sample size called Baker's Street and I really like the scent. I'm considering Oleo soaps, but I didn't see any scents I thought me & the wife would like.

Yes JP5 I am newer.
I rely heavily on this site to narrow down the myriad of choices. It is like being in the cereal isle in the grocery store. Almost too many choices.
There have been more than a few highly recommended soaps that while they worked performance wise. Didn't work for me in the scent department. And that is as we all know is extremely subjective and individual. Unfortunately what others may find appealing, I may not. And also in reverse.
I am going to force myself to only get samples from now on. Hopefully to avoid being deluged with soaps I don't enjoy.
Soap performance is the easier part of the equation. We can all usually agree on those properties. Glad some of you enjoyed my input. Hope everyone has a good Turkey Day. Ken.

Thank you Ken, I do agree with your assessment. Thanks to the members of this fine forum
I was able to try two out of three soaps mentioned here(Oleo and Wholly Kaw).
By far WK became one of 3 the most favorite soaps. I must disclose that my opinion is solely based on their donkey milk soap not a standard tallow or vegan.

I think Wholly Kaw Cuero Oscuro performs and smells fab! The Cuero Oscuro aftershave toner works well and the scent matches the soap very closely to my nose. Coffee infused leather and a bit of smoke I think. The scent sticks around for awhile too. :-) I've used it for several shaves. I really dig the scent! Not quite like anything I've tried previously.