Thread: Wiener Seife (review of Speick shaving soap)

So, Vienna. Arguably Europe's most beautiful city. Also, the city that brought you Esbjerg products. I come here often, because I work as a consultant for a multi-national security organisation. This time, however, I came via Istanbul for the hotwash of Cyber Europe Austria 2018 (which my team had prepared and run). On my way to Vienna central station, I chanced upon a small shop in Herrengasse 6. Since I was in a hurry, I just grabbed one tin of Spike ("Speick") shaving soap, and off I went.

The test setup can be seen in the first picture. A Schick, and a Frank Shaving brush. And a sample of Wiener Seife "Spike" (the black jar).



Right. Wiener Seife sells four shaving soaps. You can find them here (German only): Wiener Seife Shop. The Cedar Wood is a nice, subdued cedar scent. Hombre is something spicy. Farniente is fruity (advertised as "sporty"). I went for Spike, which is, well Speick. While I positively hate the smell of Speick soaps (as well as Irish Moos, and Tabac), this one is very nice.

The soap comes in either a wooden bowl, a metal tin (see below), or as a replacement puck:





The ingredients are top notch, and quality controlled. All of the stuff that I want organically grown is organically grown. Which makes this soap comparatively expensive, but safe to use.



The product looks soft, but is actually quite hard. You can see that it is hand made. More about their production can be found here.



Showtime. As suggested in a German forum, I dabbed some hot water on the soap, and let it sit for a few moments. Loading the brush was easy. I tried a (significantly floppier) badger brush for comparison, and it also loaded quickly and easily.



And here we are. Nice, creamy lather. Because of the ingredients, it is closer to Meißner Tremonia than Martin de Candre, but slick, and stable.



The ensuing shave was uneventful, meaning the soap provided more than adequate glide. As for its moisturising, and skin care qualities, one will have to see. I shall report back after one week of use.

So what have we got? A nice soap with a nice scent, competitvely priced given its ingredients, with good performance. It certainly is not a game changer, but definitely a soap worth picking up whilst in Vienna. The shop is less than ten minutes away from St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Uh-oh, this is going to confuse people.

Just to clarify, “Speick”, sometimes also written “Speik”, in German is an Alpine plant (“spike”) that the Wiener Seife company is naming one of their shaving soaps after.

Wiener Seife has no relationship with the “Speick” company that is named after - you may have guessed it - the same plant, as it was one of the ingredients that early on set their soaps apart from others.

Wiener Seifen seems to be aware of this problem, as they don’t seem to mention the German word anyway on their website and use the anglicized “spike” - even in German language texts - instead.

Interesting company by the way, had long planned to drop by on my trips to Vienna and see what they have on offer.
Unfortunately, the shelves in my bathroom are bulging under the load of soaps as it is...


B.

Speaking of Vienna, if you are of a certain age you may recall these lyrics, I know I did.

The feeling has gone only you and I
It means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna

Had seen these soaps here. Didn't know they made shave soap too. Looking forward to the final verdict. Next time you're through town, if you have time, hit me up and we can chat shaving over beer or coffee.

Originally Posted by beluga

Uh-oh, this is going to confuse people.

Well, a Speick is a Speick is a Speick, no? You should give people more credit, really

That said, and as previously stated, I really, really hate the scent of Speick® Soap. This one is different, and really quite pleasant.

Originally Posted by Theoman

Had seen these soaps here. Didn't know they made shave soap too. Looking forward to the final verdict. Next time you're through town, if you have time, hit me up and we can chat shaving over beer or coffee.

The interim verdict is, "very nice, but not Meißner Tremonia (my benchmark) nice". Given the choice between an Esbjerg cream and this soap, I would go for the Esbjerg cream.

I'm often in Vienna (I work as a consultant for the OSCE), and I'll definitely take you up on the offer!

Thanks!
Robin

The interim verdict is, "very nice, but not Meißner Tremonia (my benchmark) nice". Given the choice between an Esbjerg cream and this soap, I would go for the Esbjerg cream.

I'm often in Vienna (I work as a consultant for the OSCE), and I'll definitely take you up on the offer!

Thanks!
Robin[/QUOTE]

Looking forward to the meet up sometime.

Unfortunately you are yet another confirmation of my fears. Starting my shaving adventure at esbjerg and subsequently setting that as my baseline may have ruined me for life as the bar is very high.

Originally Posted by beluga

Uh-oh, this is going to confuse people.

Just to clarify, “Speick”, sometimes also written “Speik”, in German is an Alpine plant (“spike”) that the Wiener Seife company is naming one of their shaving soaps after.

Wiener Seife has no relationship with the “Speick” company that is named after - you may have guessed it - the same plant, as it was one of the ingredients that early on set their soaps apart from others.

Wiener Seifen seems to be aware of this problem, as they don’t seem to mention the German word anyway on their website and use the anglicized “spike” - even in German language texts - instead.

Interesting company by the way, had long planned to drop by on my trips to Vienna and see what they have on offer.
Unfortunately, the shelves in my bathroom are bulging under the load of soaps as it is...


B.

Thanks for the clarification.

So, to sum this up after one week of use, this is a nice soap. Do not expect mountains of lather, because that is not this soap's default mode. Think of the polar opposite of Martin de Candre if you will. But... it produces a nice, stable film of lather and good glide. Which is something I personally prefer to lather bombs which I need to rinse off in-shave. It is a rock solid soap with a very nice scent and very good skin care properties. It also provides more than enough glide for a good, irritation free shave. The price is justified, but, of course, higher than comparable organic, artisan products such as Green Mountain Soap (which I would pick over this soap without hesitation).