Floris . Soap & Balm

Yesterday I popped into Floris on Jermyn Street. One minutes walk from Taylors of Old Bond and GEO Trumper, either side.

It was from this shop that I purchased my girlfriends favourite perfume, "Cherry Blossom" so I have a soft spot for it and I like the service.

I decided to try their shaving soap and aftershave balm . No.89.

The soap has a pleasant scent and lathers well ,it has cushion but lacked slickness to an extent. Although I've been using Castle Forbes for the last few months and I'm a beginner in the Soaps department, normally I always choose shaving creams.

I took a Torrey 7/8ths and had a great shave. BBS with no sting or weepers.

The Balm is just what I have been searching for , a thick creamy type that absorbs into the skin, my new number one balm...

Yes of course I took pictures :)

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oh yes the bowl.

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I love Floris 89. Old world elegance.

Read some bad reviews on the soap so always opted for the cream. Great stuff.

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Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Read some bad reviews on the soap so always opted for the cream. Great stuff.

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So did I and that put me off getting any Floris shave soap as they are not exactly inexpensive. Too bad because I'd like to support companies that have been around a good long while.

Bob

JOB, my friend,

How I envy you for floating on Jermyn Street. On every trip to London I have done the same on that lovely street and visited those shops. That's what heaven must be like.

Anyway . . .

It is ironic how some soaps turn out to be inferior to their cream counterparts from the same brand. For instance, Trumper creams are lovely, but their soaps mediocre; Baum.Be cream is beautiful, but the soap not so much; Truefitt & Hill creams are exceptional performers, but if I recall, their soaps could be better, although here I might be thinking of another brand; and if I also recall, Penhaligon's creams are exquisite, but their soaps don't come up to their level.

This could be the case with Floris, too. It has been a while since I've used Floris.

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Originally Posted by Obie

JOB, my friend,

How I envy you for floating on Jermyn Street. On every trip to London I have done the same on that lovely street and visited those shops. That's what heaven must be like.

Anyway . . .

It is ironic how some soaps turn out to be inferior to their cream counterparts from the same brand. For instance, Trumper creams are lovely, but their soaps mediocre; Baum.Be cream is beautiful, but the soap not so much; Truefitt & Hill creams are exceptional performers, but if I recall, their soaps could be better, although here I might be thinking of another brand; and if I also recall, Penhaligon's creams are exquisite, but their soaps don't come up to their level.

This could be the case with Floris, too. It has been a while since I've used Floris.

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Hi Obie,
I am in central London most days and I take advantage of that , from Shoreditch to Knightsbridge.

It gets to me that England does not produce a world class soap/cream . I will just have to shop more and keep looking :)

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Originally Posted by JOB15

Hi Obie,
I am in central London most days and I take advantage of that , from Shoreditch to Knightsbridge.

It gets to me that England does not produce a world class soap/cream . I will just have to shop more and keep looking :)

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Oh, those streets and places bring back such sweet memories.
For the most parts, you're right about the English soaps, although I find the D.R. Harris soaps and creams both topnotch.

Obie, your right about English soaps and creams, the soaps always fall by the wayside (except D.R Harris) but the creams are second to none. T&H, Penhaligons, Floris, GFT et al are perfect, to me. The sents are exquisite, lathering up is like stepping back in time. I wonder how many English Royals and distinguished gents have marvelled in their wonderful fragrance?

I bought two pucks of this soap, like the OP it is the new formulation, and personally, it was absolutely terrible.

So terrible I wrote Floris and told them how disappointed I was in the performance of such an expensive soap. It literally disappeared as soon as I lather it. They sent me a full package of two more soaps and the cream, nice of them, but more of the same badly performing stuff didn't help.

I posted before that I thought perhaps the soap might be geared to DE users, as it is very slick and thin, but don't think that makes much sense.

I'd found the original formula on eBay, but already sold, and it was very expensive, over $120 for an old puck. The reviews I've read on the original recipe were fantastic, and epic soap.

Hope you have better luck with it than I did, for me it was a disaster.

I wish I would have known this before I bought it.. I'm happy with the balm, I will keep telling myself..

It Sounds like Floris really looked after you, well done ... Once I complained to Penhaligons who never responded , I now boycott their shops..

I drop in to their Jermyn St shop almost every time I'm in London, which is frequent.

I've amassed far too many shaving soaps, balms, aftershaves & bath soaps.

I should probably put up my 2019 acquisitions for sale, though I'll never give up a single bottle of their truly outstanding Santal aftershave splash.

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Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Obie, your right about English soaps and creams, the soaps always fall by the wayside (except D.R Harris) but the creams are second to none. T&H, Penhaligons, Floris, GFT et al are perfect, to me. The sents are exquisite, lathering up is like stepping back in time. I wonder how many English Royals and distinguished gents have marvelled in their wonderful fragrance?

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I agree with your assessment, and I enjoy using D.R. Harris soaps and the above English creams. There is also an English artisan soap maker that I this is excellent, The Obsessive Soap Perfectionist, in both soaps and creams, although I only care for a couple of his scents. I still have vintage Floris 89, which performs fairly well. However, I feel that my vintage Penhalligon's soaps are only average performers, and I actually like their latest soap formulation somewhat better, although I still prefer their creams. I certainly agree that there is nothing like the classic English scents. I'm often attracted to a new artisan scent, but generally tire of it quickly and keep returning to these more traditional scents that never seem to lose their appeal.

Had a shave today. My second attempt with Floris 89.

It's not that bad really. It took some work to lather up , it could do with a bit of a sheen and some more slickness but it is fine, it did not dry up on my face and the smell is to die for. I will be going for the Eau De Toilette ..

I used a Joseph Allen wedge honed on my green Ozuku, full progression. It was so smooth it felt like a rounded edge..

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Co incidentally, just finished up a few minutes back with a Rodgers wedge (coticule + shell), #89 soap on a battered Chubby-1 Super, and #89 splash.

Update :
The key to using this soap and other I have found is to bloom the soap.
Some soaps for half hour and some for longer, it makes a huge difference to their capabilities :)

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Originally Posted by JOB15

Update :
The key to using this soap and other I have found is to bloom the soap.
Some soaps for half hour and some for longer, it makes a huge difference to their capabilities :)

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I have one or two soaps that need a good while to bloom. When it comes to the English classics I'll opt for the creams for simple ease of use.

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Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

I have one or two soaps that need a good while to bloom. When it comes to the English classics I'll opt for the creams for simple ease of use.

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I know what you mean but soaps seem a bit more interesting to me of late..

Yeah, I like the idea of soaps and they have an old world feel to them, however I've always found the cream version work better of me.

Several years ago Penhaligan, Crabtree and Evelyn and others moved their puck production to a U.K. Company. The newly manufactured pucks perform very poorly to the point the soaps appear to be the same with different fragrances.

This has been discussed in threads a few times.

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Originally Posted by JOB15

Update :
The key to using this soap and other I have found is to bloom the soap.
Some soaps for half hour and some for longer, it makes a huge difference to their capabilities :)

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Thank you for the tip Joseph, I got a bowl for Christmas but the lather is still in England, lol. The scent is wonderful, the bowl is beautiful, and the lather invisible.

A half hour or longer to bloom? Who makes this stuff for them, Williams?

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Originally Posted by Steve56

Thank you for the tip Joseph, I got a bowl for Christmas but the lather is still in England, lol. The scent is wonderful, the bowl is beautiful, and the lather invisible.

A half hour or longer to bloom? Who makes this stuff for them, Williams?

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Agreed - I was actually sent a replacement wooden bowl and tube of Floris cream when I complained - the hard soap is still a no show, the but cream in the tube is wonderful.

Having said that, for such an expensive soap, it should never have made it past QA in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Phrank

Agreed - I was actually sent a replacement wooden bowl and tube of Floris cream when I complained - the hard soap is still a no show, the but cream in the tube is wonderful.

Having said that, for such an expensive soap, it should never have made it past QA in my opinion.

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The cream is good. This looks like an opportunity for a superlather.

Recently i have soaps or one in particular for the same price as Floris 89 and it make Floris 89 look like Acqua di Parma .
Bad soaps do seem to have the best scents though ... strange ..

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Originally Posted by JOB15

Recently i have soaps or one in particular for the same price as Floris 89 and it make Floris 89 look like Acqua di Parma .
Bad soaps do seem to have the best scents though ... strange ..

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Totally agree with you: superb scent, but dud of a soap. THE worst performing shaving soap among the two dozens plus that I have and use. And one of the most expensive ones at that!