Thread: Tonka Bean Shave Co Barbershop Scent Shave Soap.

The Sebum Gold Outfit has an offshoot of their line called Tonka Bean Shave Co.

They say these soaps are based on "The slickest stuff there is for shave soaps".

Right now the are introducing the line so it comes in 4 varieties and they are selling it as a kit with 4 oz of soap and one ounce of A/S Oil and a display stand for the soap.

They also say they are toning down the packaging to keep the cost down so it's no fancy glass and cork but typical plastic.

I have the "barbershop Scent". The ingredients say saponified oils of mango butter, virgin passion fruit seed oil, stearic acid, organic tonka bean butter (superfat), babassu oil and fragrance". The scent is comprised of "lemon, bergamot, cool mint lavender, green accord, sandalwood,cedarwood, amber and musk".

The stuff looks and has the consistency of the Sebum Gold Line but those have a subdued scent to them while this one has a much stronger scent to it. Is it barbershop? Kind of yes. I find it very pleasant. It immediately lathers up a storm of ultra thick luxuriant lather and like the Sebum products has lube in spades. It provides a great shave and leaves your face feeling great. The scent does not linger after the shave. The A/S oil also has a stronger scent but fades over a few hours and like their other oils is a truly great product provided you use it properly and use mere drops of it otherwise your face will be oily all day.

To me the product has all the qualities a great soap should have and belongs in Tier One.

Most of their products tend to sell out. They are not cheap but not overly expensive unless you get some of their LE edition products in the Sebum Gold Line up.

The Tonka Bean Shave Co soaps, the last time I looked had two which were were sold out. You can check out their site which is independent of Sebum Gold.

I have the Apple Farm scent in the soap and serum. Excellent stuff. I was tempted to pick up others, when they were available, but I already have a half dozen Sē'bǔm Gold soaps. I have enjoyed the slickness of the custom Tonka Bean scent I'm looking forward to using this soap for the next week to compare the two.

Thanks Spendur! I am tempted but getting the stuff across the pond is a costly business. Tempted to try the cream and the serum.

At $38 for 4oz it's not exactly cheap, for $12ish more you can get almost double the amount of MDC.
I don't mind paying a premium for soaps but it would have to perform pretty spectacularly for me to drop that amount.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

At $38 for 4oz it's not exactly cheap, for $12ish more you can get almost double the amount of MDC.
I don't mind paying a premium for soaps but it would have to perform pretty spectacularly for me to drop that amount.

My feelings exactly Mark.
Very pricey for 4oz. of soap.

How much better can it possibly be??

Pete <:-}

Yeah, Pete. It would be nice to hear how it compares to MDC. If I remember correctly the few people that have used Sebum Gold have said it's the best soap they have ever used, I wonder if this is the same league?

It sure does arouse ones curiosity.

Pete <:-}

I've used MDC in the past and though it has a stronger (much stronger) floral type scent than the Sebum both Sebum and Tonka are superior as a shave medium. The Sebum line scents are more like the Meisner which are what I call adult scents meaning not floral, sweet syrupy type stuff. The Tonka scent is much stronger than the Sebum and more mainstream with a typical floral scent.

Personally I think the cost is well worth it.

I have to agree with thebigspendur. To me, these Tonka Bean soaps and serums are worth the price of admission.

I've had two shaves now with the Tonka Bean Barbershop, and it's very, very good. I have 6 of the Sē'bŭm sets, including the Tonka Bean set. I know the Sē'bŭm sets have no stearic acids in their ingredients, and use more expensive ingredients, so the post-shave feel, absorption of the serum, and performance is slightly better Is it worth the difference in price? It depends. I'm a complete sucker for attractive and 'old school' packaging. And I know I've paid a premium for it. If that's not important to you, the new offerings may be for you, with much of the performance and skin food properties at a lower price. Look-it's still expensive, $86 for 4 ounces of soap and a serum is high. I think the soap alone is $38 for 4 ounces, which is $9.50 an ounce, expensive indeed. The Sē'bŭm Gold soap is $65 for 7 ounces, or $9.30 an ounce, and the 'custom'' Sē'bŭms are even more expensive.

The newly released Tonka Bean Co. soaps and serums give me 90% of what I get from the Sebum soaps. Is the Sebum better in terms of post-shave feel? Yes, by a bit. However, the new releases are much easier to lather in my experience, as the lack of traditional saponifying agents in the original Sebum require (for me, at least) a very slow addition of water. Both the Tonka Bean Co. and Sē'bŭms work very well with straight razors when properly hydrated.

Yea, the first thing I noticed with the Tonka is my brush just touched the soap and the lather explodes. So easy a caveman could do it as they say.

The soap also works just as well for a DE too.