I know there are already a couple of reviews up, but here is mine. Enjoy!
When Lisa announced that she was working on a new formula of shaving soap to replace her premium line of soaps, I knew I was going to be all in on the resultant product. So when it was released in early to mid-August 2018, I went ahead and ordered some replacement tubs of scents I already owned and enjoyed, as well as an additional one that was new to Lisa’s line of scents. The soap formula wasn’t the only thing that changed, as Lisa changed the packaging as well. Instead of the smaller, narrow mouthed 3oz tubs, or 4 oz tins, she went with 6 oz. plastic wide mouth tubs and waterproof labeling instead of the previous water-resistant labels. New graphics, which are not nearly as busy as previous labels, also present very well. Side labeling lists the ingredients of the new formula, which is full of wonderful skin food to keep your face feeling great well after the shave.
This is a brand new formula, not based on any of her previous soap bases. She went through plenty of rounds of testing to get this right, and it’s incredibly well done. It is a softer soap, though you can’t tell by looking at it or even touching it. But once you take some out of the tub, it becomes apparent how soft it actually is. Not an issue at all, but just an observation. Either way, here are the ingredients used for this soap base:
Glycerin, Palm Stearic Acid (sustainably sourced), Sheep Milk (locally sourced), Aloe Juice, Beef Tallow, Potassium Hydroxide, Lanolin, Meadowfoam Oil, Mango Butter, Cocoa Butter, Safflower Oil, Bentonite Clay, Sucrose Cocoate, Castor Oil, Sodium Lactate, Babassu Seed Oil, Ivy Extract, Orchid Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Allantoin, Beeswax, Organic Olive Leaf Extract, Organic Sea Buckthorn Extract, Silk Peptides
As previously stated, ingredients such as sheep milk, aloe juice, lanolin, mango butter, bentonite clay, allantoin, and silk peptides all give some great face feel as well as help give the soap some great in-shave properties.
In regards to scent, Lisa doesn’t do simple. Sometimes, with some artisans, that’s to their detriment. With Lisa’s, however, the overall feeling you get from each blend is quite well done. Here are the scent notes for the soaps I used below, as well as a little bit of my personal thoughts on each:
Smoked Black Tea: Bergamot, Sicilian lemon, orange, black tea leaves, star jasmine, white cedarwood, amber, black musk, ambrette seeds, dark olibanum, patchouli, benzoin, oud wood, cade.(fragrance & essential oil blend)
The name says it all…it’s a smokey black tea. The smoke, a product of the cade fragrance note, really is the star of the show here, with the black tea and the remaining notes giving some needed depth to the scent. I’m personally not quite a smoke scent kind of person, but all the same it’s a good scent and pairs well with leathers, and possibly tobacco type scents if you’re looking to match an EdT with it. Strength of scent out of the tub is about 2.5/5, while lathered up it blooms to about a 3/5, possibly to 3.5/5.
Coconut Oud: Raw fresh coconut fused with cocoa bean, lemon leaf, citron, vanilla and hints of amber, oud wood, cedar, ambrette seed, green rosemary, baby orchid, gala apple, dark olibanum, black musk and earthy patchouli (fragrance oil blend)
Just an absolute rockstar of a scent. Lisa really outdid herself with this one, with the oud and coconut oils really blending well together and making each other shine even more. The other notes, particularly the cocoa bean, amber, vanilla and brighter lemon leaf and apple really allow this to evolve, which is unusual for a soap. Strength of scent out of the tub is about mid-strong, 2.5/5, and perhaps blooms to about a 3/5 during the shave. (Of note, there were the occasional whiffs of something anamalic, but I think that would dissipate pretty quick by leaving the tub uncovered to air out for 24 hours.)
Gentleman's Lavender: Lavender, clary sage, orange, patchouli, cedarwood and litsea cubeba. (essential oil blend)
It smells just like lavender, but there’s so much more to it. The sage, orange, patchouli and cedar really balance out the lavender up top and make it so much more than your typical lavender, giving it a more masculine feel. Strength of scent out of the tub is on the more subtle side, at about 2/5 and it stays there through the duration of the shave.
Somali Rose: super subtle rose with soft chocolate, sandalwood, anise, musk and a twist of green moss. (fragrance oil blend)
This ain’t your garden variety rose scent, darlin. The chocolate, sandalwood, anise and musk really give a needed darkness to the very fragrant rose notes up top, while the green moss give you the sense that you’re smelling a rose on the stem, not just the blossom itself. My personal favorite out of these four. Strength of scent out of the tub is about 3.5/5, while lathered up it blossoms to a 4-4.5/5.
As far as performance goes, I used this soap base four times, once with each of the scents above. The first two days were done with a synthetic brush, and the latter two with a badger. I was able to produce a markedly better lather with the badger brushes than the synths. This is not to say you won’t get a good lather with a synthetic brush. I’m sure if I had stuck with those, I could have built a very nice lather like I was able to get the second two days. But it just seems that using the badger brush, with its additional release of water, helped out with the lathering. This soap is thirsty, but just because it needs a lot of water, don’t feed it too much, too quickly. The water band is not quite as wide as some others, and it will go from just right, (for me at least. I like my lather on the wetter side of the house) to a little too loose very quick. If you like a thicker lather, there is plenty of room for interpretation before you have to worry about the lather breaking. The best lather I was able to achieve was with the Paladin, a very dense badger knot that can hold on to quite a bit of lather. It was a little lacking in cushion, but the slickness and residual slickness were off the charts. If I had whipped it up a little more, I would have improved the cushion, but lost some of the secondary slickness, as I saw today.
So, even with the worst lather of the bunch, on Friday, this soap was still decently slick. When I added water to it, the slickness just took off. Residual slickness is where I’m finding the largest
fault with the soap, as it is so hard to dial that metric in. There is a very specific point where you get maximum residual, without sacrificing other properties. I was able to achieve it on day three, but not any of the other days. In shave slickness was exceptional, as was the post-shave moisturizing…it doesn’t get much better. As a matter of fact, this is the only soap in my den that would compete with the Declaration Grooming Icarus base for post-shave feel.
Here are the scores (as always, strength of scent and preference aren’t included since they’re so subjective):
Lathering: 9.5/10
Cushion: 9/10
Slickness: 10/10
Moisturizing: 10/10
Residual Slickness: 9/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 52.5/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Ariana & Evans Goat Milk (54/55)
Eufros Tallow (53/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk + hops extract (53/55)
Noble Otter (52.5/55)
Tallow + Steel V3 base (52/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
Soapy Science (51.5/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Conclusion: A really wonderful soap base by our TSC vendor. It’s readily apparent how much work and energy went into the making of this soap. From the much improved packaging, (which I was extremely excited about!), to the improved performance, Lisa really outdid herself here. To be brutaly honest, I wish it were a tad easier to find the ideal consistency, and the water band towards the top were a bit more forgiving. But, I can say this: when you find “the spot”, this soap will perform every bit as good as elite soaps out there. This is as good as Noble Otter’s soap base, which is my best performing “non-elite” soap…that’s saying something there. I find very little to fault about it at all, and there is so little that separates it from those elite soaps in the end…it really is splitting hairs at that point. We’re very lucky at TSC to have a vendor putting out such a great product with some great scents. Well done Lisa, you deserve to get whatever recognition comes your way after this creation. Bravo!
https://youtu.be/lo1glHIFrvQ
When Lisa announced that she was working on a new formula of shaving soap to replace her premium line of soaps, I knew I was going to be all in on the resultant product. So when it was released in early to mid-August 2018, I went ahead and ordered some replacement tubs of scents I already owned and enjoyed, as well as an additional one that was new to Lisa’s line of scents. The soap formula wasn’t the only thing that changed, as Lisa changed the packaging as well. Instead of the smaller, narrow mouthed 3oz tubs, or 4 oz tins, she went with 6 oz. plastic wide mouth tubs and waterproof labeling instead of the previous water-resistant labels. New graphics, which are not nearly as busy as previous labels, also present very well. Side labeling lists the ingredients of the new formula, which is full of wonderful skin food to keep your face feeling great well after the shave.
This is a brand new formula, not based on any of her previous soap bases. She went through plenty of rounds of testing to get this right, and it’s incredibly well done. It is a softer soap, though you can’t tell by looking at it or even touching it. But once you take some out of the tub, it becomes apparent how soft it actually is. Not an issue at all, but just an observation. Either way, here are the ingredients used for this soap base:
Glycerin, Palm Stearic Acid (sustainably sourced), Sheep Milk (locally sourced), Aloe Juice, Beef Tallow, Potassium Hydroxide, Lanolin, Meadowfoam Oil, Mango Butter, Cocoa Butter, Safflower Oil, Bentonite Clay, Sucrose Cocoate, Castor Oil, Sodium Lactate, Babassu Seed Oil, Ivy Extract, Orchid Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Allantoin, Beeswax, Organic Olive Leaf Extract, Organic Sea Buckthorn Extract, Silk Peptides
As previously stated, ingredients such as sheep milk, aloe juice, lanolin, mango butter, bentonite clay, allantoin, and silk peptides all give some great face feel as well as help give the soap some great in-shave properties.
In regards to scent, Lisa doesn’t do simple. Sometimes, with some artisans, that’s to their detriment. With Lisa’s, however, the overall feeling you get from each blend is quite well done. Here are the scent notes for the soaps I used below, as well as a little bit of my personal thoughts on each:
Smoked Black Tea: Bergamot, Sicilian lemon, orange, black tea leaves, star jasmine, white cedarwood, amber, black musk, ambrette seeds, dark olibanum, patchouli, benzoin, oud wood, cade.(fragrance & essential oil blend)
The name says it all…it’s a smokey black tea. The smoke, a product of the cade fragrance note, really is the star of the show here, with the black tea and the remaining notes giving some needed depth to the scent. I’m personally not quite a smoke scent kind of person, but all the same it’s a good scent and pairs well with leathers, and possibly tobacco type scents if you’re looking to match an EdT with it. Strength of scent out of the tub is about 2.5/5, while lathered up it blooms to about a 3/5, possibly to 3.5/5.
Coconut Oud: Raw fresh coconut fused with cocoa bean, lemon leaf, citron, vanilla and hints of amber, oud wood, cedar, ambrette seed, green rosemary, baby orchid, gala apple, dark olibanum, black musk and earthy patchouli (fragrance oil blend)
Just an absolute rockstar of a scent. Lisa really outdid herself with this one, with the oud and coconut oils really blending well together and making each other shine even more. The other notes, particularly the cocoa bean, amber, vanilla and brighter lemon leaf and apple really allow this to evolve, which is unusual for a soap. Strength of scent out of the tub is about mid-strong, 2.5/5, and perhaps blooms to about a 3/5 during the shave. (Of note, there were the occasional whiffs of something anamalic, but I think that would dissipate pretty quick by leaving the tub uncovered to air out for 24 hours.)
Gentleman's Lavender: Lavender, clary sage, orange, patchouli, cedarwood and litsea cubeba. (essential oil blend)
It smells just like lavender, but there’s so much more to it. The sage, orange, patchouli and cedar really balance out the lavender up top and make it so much more than your typical lavender, giving it a more masculine feel. Strength of scent out of the tub is on the more subtle side, at about 2/5 and it stays there through the duration of the shave.
Somali Rose: super subtle rose with soft chocolate, sandalwood, anise, musk and a twist of green moss. (fragrance oil blend)
This ain’t your garden variety rose scent, darlin. The chocolate, sandalwood, anise and musk really give a needed darkness to the very fragrant rose notes up top, while the green moss give you the sense that you’re smelling a rose on the stem, not just the blossom itself. My personal favorite out of these four. Strength of scent out of the tub is about 3.5/5, while lathered up it blossoms to a 4-4.5/5.
As far as performance goes, I used this soap base four times, once with each of the scents above. The first two days were done with a synthetic brush, and the latter two with a badger. I was able to produce a markedly better lather with the badger brushes than the synths. This is not to say you won’t get a good lather with a synthetic brush. I’m sure if I had stuck with those, I could have built a very nice lather like I was able to get the second two days. But it just seems that using the badger brush, with its additional release of water, helped out with the lathering. This soap is thirsty, but just because it needs a lot of water, don’t feed it too much, too quickly. The water band is not quite as wide as some others, and it will go from just right, (for me at least. I like my lather on the wetter side of the house) to a little too loose very quick. If you like a thicker lather, there is plenty of room for interpretation before you have to worry about the lather breaking. The best lather I was able to achieve was with the Paladin, a very dense badger knot that can hold on to quite a bit of lather. It was a little lacking in cushion, but the slickness and residual slickness were off the charts. If I had whipped it up a little more, I would have improved the cushion, but lost some of the secondary slickness, as I saw today.
So, even with the worst lather of the bunch, on Friday, this soap was still decently slick. When I added water to it, the slickness just took off. Residual slickness is where I’m finding the largest
fault with the soap, as it is so hard to dial that metric in. There is a very specific point where you get maximum residual, without sacrificing other properties. I was able to achieve it on day three, but not any of the other days. In shave slickness was exceptional, as was the post-shave moisturizing…it doesn’t get much better. As a matter of fact, this is the only soap in my den that would compete with the Declaration Grooming Icarus base for post-shave feel.
Here are the scores (as always, strength of scent and preference aren’t included since they’re so subjective):
Lathering: 9.5/10
Cushion: 9/10
Slickness: 10/10
Moisturizing: 10/10
Residual Slickness: 9/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 52.5/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Ariana & Evans Goat Milk (54/55)
Eufros Tallow (53/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk + hops extract (53/55)
Noble Otter (52.5/55)
Tallow + Steel V3 base (52/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
Soapy Science (51.5/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Conclusion: A really wonderful soap base by our TSC vendor. It’s readily apparent how much work and energy went into the making of this soap. From the much improved packaging, (which I was extremely excited about!), to the improved performance, Lisa really outdid herself here. To be brutaly honest, I wish it were a tad easier to find the ideal consistency, and the water band towards the top were a bit more forgiving. But, I can say this: when you find “the spot”, this soap will perform every bit as good as elite soaps out there. This is as good as Noble Otter’s soap base, which is my best performing “non-elite” soap…that’s saying something there. I find very little to fault about it at all, and there is so little that separates it from those elite soaps in the end…it really is splitting hairs at that point. We’re very lucky at TSC to have a vendor putting out such a great product with some great scents. Well done Lisa, you deserve to get whatever recognition comes your way after this creation. Bravo!
https://youtu.be/lo1glHIFrvQ
