Grooming Department: Angel

[GearNoir]

Angel - Lamb tallow. Scent notes: Scent notes: Mandarin, Blackcurrant, Fruit Accord, Cedarwood, Oud, Myrrh, Rose, Ambergris, Amber, Opoponax, Guaiacwood, Musk.

Ingredients (?): Stearic Acid, Water, Lamb Tallow, Kokum Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Cupuacu Butter, Glycerin, Goat Milk, Sucrose Cocoate, Fragrance, Safflower Oil, Jojoba Oil, Meadowfoam Oil, Babassu Oil, Abyssinian Oil, Pomegranate Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Carnauba Wax, Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Acacia Senegal Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Sunflower Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Allantoin, Chamomile Extract, Sea Buckthorn Extract, Sacha Inchi Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Kaolin Clay, Silk Peptides, Sodium Lactate, Sodium Citrate.

This soap doesn’t smell like any one of its ingredients distinctly, it is a true blend IMO. The scent is soft, almost like a fond childhood memory, a touch powdery, ever so slightly feminine. Very pleasant. The lather was a bit of a different story. I could not work up the same kind of lather I did yesterday with the beef tallow. It was still slick and easy to lather, but I feel like I didn’t get the same explosion of lather as I do with other soaps. It always stayed kind of thin, even when trying to readadjust more product in. Perhaps it’s because of the tallow base? Or simply the batch? I’m not sure.

In spite of the issues I had with it, the post shave feel and quality was still consistent with the Absinthe & Leather, a very positive thing! For the scent however, I don’t think I would go for the full version of the soap. I’m going to revisit the sample at a later point to try and figure out a richer lather.

Do you have any experience or feelings on this soap? Please share!

 

[CBLindsay]

I was given a sample of this one myself. The scent is intriguing and generally pleasing but hard to describe. The performance is a mixed bag (as you alluded to) but one of those soaps that just works in the end. I’m thinking the type of lather produced is different from many others, so we naturally keep playing with it to make it what we THINK it should be rather than letting it be what it’s going to be. Hard to say these are great soaps but they definitely aren’t at all bad. I think the scent profiles are the reason they are worth the effort.

Personally i I got more Amber than I generally enjoy so this one is one I enjoyed the sample but won’t buy again. Other scents are still an option.

 

[GearNoir]

The performance is a mixed bag (as you alluded to) but one of those soaps that just works in the end. I’m thinking the type of lather produced is different from many others, so we naturally keep playing with it to make it what we THINK it should be rather than letting it be what it’s going to be.

Totally this! All the proper elements were there, it just didn’t look right. I took it as user error on a new soap, so in a way it was I guess lol.

 

[WildWest74]

I LOVE THIS SOAP!

That being said, it will never look like what you expect traditional lather to look like. It can take a lot of water, and no matter how much you work it it will remain thick and gel-like. But the performance itself, for me at least, is solidly elite tier. It is one of a few soaps that don't require me to apply any aftershave to feel great post shave.

 

[GearNoir]

I LOVE THIS SOAP!

That being said, it will never look like what you expect traditional lather to look like. It can take a lot of water, and no matter how much you work it it will remain thick and gel-like. But the performance itself, for me at least, is solidly elite tier. It is one of a few soaps that don't require me to apply any aftershave to feel great post shave.

Awesome to hear!

Yes, the post shave was quite nice, even before I applied my balm. I had already been in practice of doing a “lather soak” of my face with remaining lather while I clean my gear, I was happy to see Mohammed suggesting this when he sent the samples. It makes all the difference!