I’ve been seriously eyeballing Eufros, (previously Jabonman) for about a year now, ever since I was fortunate enough to receive a PIF’d sample of Rosa Bourbon. It’s not been the easiest soap to get a hold of, however, as up until recently, it was only available through either FB or email. The other issue was the cost, as getting it shipped back stateside was always going to be expensive, driving the cost per oz over $7-8. Now, as much as I enjoyed the Rosa Bourbon, that was getting a bit expensive even for me. So you can imagine my joy when I saw that West Coast Shaving was carrying Eufros now. They unfortunately did not have any Rosa Bourbon, but they did have Fougere, one of my favorite scent profiles.
The soap is packaged in the same, aluminum screw-top tin that the Abbate Y La Mantia I reviewed yesterday came in. The difference being there is no side label. The top label is waterproof, and has the name of the company and scent profile of the soap. It’s fairly basic, but it really does work well. There is a bottom label with the ingredient list that is also waterproof. The ingredients are in Spanish, but I was expecting that. Here they are as they are listed:
Acido Estearico, Sebo, Aceites de Coco, Jojoba, Lino, Lanolina, Manteca, Karite, Glicerina, Rhassoul, Tocoferol, Agua, Potasa, Sosa, Aromas
Jabonman doesn’t generally list the scent notes to his soaps, which is becoming a trend among some soap makers. They would prefer that the soap tell its own story instead of it being broken down each use to its individual scent notes. I generally applaud this, but as someone who reviews soaps, have an issue all the same with it. Knowing the notes helps me describe the scent better. Plus, if I have a reaction to some of the fragrance notes, knowing what each soap contains makes identification much easier. He lists the notes as “Green Fern, Wood, Damp Earth”. Now, Fougere, or “fern” in French, is a very generic term. It generally refers to a scent that has some green floral top notes mixed with lavender and some oakmoss and patchouli backing up the base. Sometimes bergamot or other citrus notes make up the top end and make it brighter. The impression it’s supposed to give is that of walking through a forest. The problem being, with the different fauna in different parts of the world, that smell is as varied as it gets. This fougere is no exception. It’s quite a bit different from other fougere’s with what seems to be either a eucalyptus or fir note (hard to tell which) giving a very different and unique scent profile to the soap. There is a very heavy amount of oakmoss and patchouli in this as well, and really grounds the top very well. It’s a “spicier” fougere than you normally run into, with not very much citrus or lavender playing into the scent.
As far as performance is concerned, my suspicion that it would improve over my experience with the sample was correct. It took a little bit to get the hydration correct, while loading was pretty straight forward and quick. The cushion, slickness/glide, and residual slickness are all elite level. It’s hard to get much better than this. Moisturizing is extremely good and the soap doesn’t break down at all. Strength of scent off of the tub prior to lathering is about a 2.5/5 and grows to about a 3 during the shave, and stays there throughout.
Here are the scores (as always, strength of scent and preference aren’t included since they’re so subjective):
Lathering: 9/10
Cushion: 10/10
Slickness: 10/10
Moisturizing: 9/10
Residual Slickness:10/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 53/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Declaration Grooming Project Icarus (55/55)
Declaration Grooming Bison Tallow (54.5/55)
Ariana & Evans / The Club Goat milk (54/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk & Hops Extract (53/55)
Noble Otter (52.5/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
Soapy Science (51.5/55)
Conclusion: When you’re talking about elite soaps these days, (July 2018), most of the time Declaration Grooming, Grooming Department, Nuavia, Ariana & Evans, Wholly Kaw dominate the conversation. After this morning’s shave, there’s no reason that Eufros should NOT be in the mix. There’s every possibility that the two scores that it was dinged on, lathering and moisturizing could very well increase with continued use. Where this soap really falls flat for me is availability as well as price. If you aren’t ordering from WCS, it can be prohibitively expensive. It’s a harder soap, so it should last a good while. But with that being said, you’re still paying $6-7 an oz., which is on the expensive side of the house. Whether it’s worth it to you really does depend on your budget, as there are other soaps that perform as well for less per oz. I will say that the Fougere is a great take on a classic scent profile, and for me, the Rosa Bourbon is worth the cost, it’s that good a scent. With a total score of 53/55, it proved its chops to me as an elite level soap, so a worthwhile addition to the den.
https://youtu.be/YRVx3nbJK6w
The soap is packaged in the same, aluminum screw-top tin that the Abbate Y La Mantia I reviewed yesterday came in. The difference being there is no side label. The top label is waterproof, and has the name of the company and scent profile of the soap. It’s fairly basic, but it really does work well. There is a bottom label with the ingredient list that is also waterproof. The ingredients are in Spanish, but I was expecting that. Here they are as they are listed:
Acido Estearico, Sebo, Aceites de Coco, Jojoba, Lino, Lanolina, Manteca, Karite, Glicerina, Rhassoul, Tocoferol, Agua, Potasa, Sosa, Aromas
Jabonman doesn’t generally list the scent notes to his soaps, which is becoming a trend among some soap makers. They would prefer that the soap tell its own story instead of it being broken down each use to its individual scent notes. I generally applaud this, but as someone who reviews soaps, have an issue all the same with it. Knowing the notes helps me describe the scent better. Plus, if I have a reaction to some of the fragrance notes, knowing what each soap contains makes identification much easier. He lists the notes as “Green Fern, Wood, Damp Earth”. Now, Fougere, or “fern” in French, is a very generic term. It generally refers to a scent that has some green floral top notes mixed with lavender and some oakmoss and patchouli backing up the base. Sometimes bergamot or other citrus notes make up the top end and make it brighter. The impression it’s supposed to give is that of walking through a forest. The problem being, with the different fauna in different parts of the world, that smell is as varied as it gets. This fougere is no exception. It’s quite a bit different from other fougere’s with what seems to be either a eucalyptus or fir note (hard to tell which) giving a very different and unique scent profile to the soap. There is a very heavy amount of oakmoss and patchouli in this as well, and really grounds the top very well. It’s a “spicier” fougere than you normally run into, with not very much citrus or lavender playing into the scent.
As far as performance is concerned, my suspicion that it would improve over my experience with the sample was correct. It took a little bit to get the hydration correct, while loading was pretty straight forward and quick. The cushion, slickness/glide, and residual slickness are all elite level. It’s hard to get much better than this. Moisturizing is extremely good and the soap doesn’t break down at all. Strength of scent off of the tub prior to lathering is about a 2.5/5 and grows to about a 3 during the shave, and stays there throughout.
Here are the scores (as always, strength of scent and preference aren’t included since they’re so subjective):
Lathering: 9/10
Cushion: 10/10
Slickness: 10/10
Moisturizing: 9/10
Residual Slickness:10/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 53/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Declaration Grooming Project Icarus (55/55)
Declaration Grooming Bison Tallow (54.5/55)
Ariana & Evans / The Club Goat milk (54/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk & Hops Extract (53/55)
Noble Otter (52.5/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
Soapy Science (51.5/55)
Conclusion: When you’re talking about elite soaps these days, (July 2018), most of the time Declaration Grooming, Grooming Department, Nuavia, Ariana & Evans, Wholly Kaw dominate the conversation. After this morning’s shave, there’s no reason that Eufros should NOT be in the mix. There’s every possibility that the two scores that it was dinged on, lathering and moisturizing could very well increase with continued use. Where this soap really falls flat for me is availability as well as price. If you aren’t ordering from WCS, it can be prohibitively expensive. It’s a harder soap, so it should last a good while. But with that being said, you’re still paying $6-7 an oz., which is on the expensive side of the house. Whether it’s worth it to you really does depend on your budget, as there are other soaps that perform as well for less per oz. I will say that the Fougere is a great take on a classic scent profile, and for me, the Rosa Bourbon is worth the cost, it’s that good a scent. With a total score of 53/55, it proved its chops to me as an elite level soap, so a worthwhile addition to the den.
https://youtu.be/YRVx3nbJK6w
