Noble Otter, out of Houston, TX, has really gained a substantial following among soap-a-philes over the previous six months since the release of their remodeled brand. They changed, and improved, not only the packaging of their product, but the product itself. The new formulation is slicker, more cushioned, easier to lather, and in a great tub with very tastefully done labeling. From a scent perspective, they have six soaps that will pretty much cover all the bases for whomever is out there. They have a leather-type smell in Flying Hide, a version of barbershop in Barrbarr, black tea and vanilla in The Noir et Vanille, a smokey woody scent in Lonestar, unscented in Bare, and a coniferous type scent in today’s offering, The Trail.
As noted, the packaging is top notch. I really enjoy it when a soap maker goes the extra mile to provide both waterproof labeling, (this is WET-shaving after all), as well as a side label that is properly placed (not askew). The style of the labels is not much more beyond simple, but very tastefully done. I really do enjoy the packaging, if you can’t tell. The tub that the soap comes in leaves plenty of room for loading straight from the tub. All in all, very well done. The ingredients are printed right on the side label.
The notes for The Trail, as listed are: Pine, Fir, Sage, Lavender, Oakmoss, Juniper, Rain
The ingredient list is also listed on the side label, and shows that this soap is full of great skin food, to include coconut milk, aloe vera, lanolin, bentonite clay and tussah silk. Here’s the full list below:
Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Coconut milk, Aloe Vera, Glycerine, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Lanolin, Tucuma Seed Butter, Kokum Butter, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Bentonite Clay, Tocopheral Acetate, Citric Acid, Watermelon Extract, White Willow Bark Extract, Tussah Silk
Scent off of the tub is mid-strong, at about a 3/5. The fir and pine notes are predominant, with hints of the sage, oakmoss and lavender creeping just underneath the surface. You can’t really smell the juniper as an individual scent note, but it does lend itself and accents all the other scents. Quite unique for sure. The scent is very well blended. It’s reminiscent of a more complex version of Stirling’s Ozark soap…very much a coniferous scent. Loading occurs very quickly. A 15-20 second load provided enough soap to do six passes. It is on the thirstier side of the house for soaps, taking about 3 tsp+ of water to get to where I like it. I’ll have to really test the water band out on this soap to see how much water it can actually take off of a 15 second load before breaking.
Cushion and primary slickness are excellent, scoring near the top of the scale. They could be slightly better, but that would be nit-picking if I’m honest. Residual slickness is also extremely good, though is where this soap is weakest out of all the metrics. Once lathered up, the scent really blooms out to a 4/5 strength of scent, with the fir and pine really taking center stage and overshadowing the rest of the scent notes. With that being said, each time I took the brush to the face, I would get the hint of something else before the fir/pine took over again. It’s as if the other scent notes were a struggling swimmer in a rolling ocean; you get a momentary glimpse of them in between the waves before they’re swallowed up again. It all works together, however, and gives a nice pine-forest scent to the soap. Post shave moisturizing is most excellent. My skin felt very moisturized during post shave ministrations, to the point where I probably could have gone without any kind of post-shave product.
Here are the scores for The Trail. Strength of scent and scent preference are not included as they are too subjective to include in these metrics.
Lathering: 10/10
Cushion: 9.5/10
Slickness: 9.5/10
Moisturizing: 9.5/10
Residual Slickness: 9/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 52.5/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Declaration Grooming Bison Tallow (54.5/55)
Ariana & Evans Goat Milk (54/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (53/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Martin de Candre (51/55)
Eufros Tallow (51/55)
Conclusion: This shave re-confirmed for me that this is a stellar soap base, one of the best that I own. It’s easy to load/lather, (so will be a great soap for someone just getting into wet-shaving and inexperienced with making lather), has great scent strength and complexity, and has phenomenal properties during and after the shave. If you’re a fan of the coniferous type scents, this really should be a part of your soap stash, and at a somewhat reasonable $4 per oz price point, it’s not overly expensive considering the company it keeps from a performance standpoint. What you’re going to get for that is a superior product, with superior packaging…in the opinion of this writer it’s worth the extra $1-1.50 oz premium you pay for it. Hopefully Noble Otter expands the amount of scents they have available, as a nice citrus and a lavender scent would be, to me, very welcome additions.
https://youtu.be/-5JRFPg__ZM
As noted, the packaging is top notch. I really enjoy it when a soap maker goes the extra mile to provide both waterproof labeling, (this is WET-shaving after all), as well as a side label that is properly placed (not askew). The style of the labels is not much more beyond simple, but very tastefully done. I really do enjoy the packaging, if you can’t tell. The tub that the soap comes in leaves plenty of room for loading straight from the tub. All in all, very well done. The ingredients are printed right on the side label.
The notes for The Trail, as listed are: Pine, Fir, Sage, Lavender, Oakmoss, Juniper, Rain
The ingredient list is also listed on the side label, and shows that this soap is full of great skin food, to include coconut milk, aloe vera, lanolin, bentonite clay and tussah silk. Here’s the full list below:
Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Coconut milk, Aloe Vera, Glycerine, Potassium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Lanolin, Tucuma Seed Butter, Kokum Butter, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Bentonite Clay, Tocopheral Acetate, Citric Acid, Watermelon Extract, White Willow Bark Extract, Tussah Silk
Scent off of the tub is mid-strong, at about a 3/5. The fir and pine notes are predominant, with hints of the sage, oakmoss and lavender creeping just underneath the surface. You can’t really smell the juniper as an individual scent note, but it does lend itself and accents all the other scents. Quite unique for sure. The scent is very well blended. It’s reminiscent of a more complex version of Stirling’s Ozark soap…very much a coniferous scent. Loading occurs very quickly. A 15-20 second load provided enough soap to do six passes. It is on the thirstier side of the house for soaps, taking about 3 tsp+ of water to get to where I like it. I’ll have to really test the water band out on this soap to see how much water it can actually take off of a 15 second load before breaking.
Cushion and primary slickness are excellent, scoring near the top of the scale. They could be slightly better, but that would be nit-picking if I’m honest. Residual slickness is also extremely good, though is where this soap is weakest out of all the metrics. Once lathered up, the scent really blooms out to a 4/5 strength of scent, with the fir and pine really taking center stage and overshadowing the rest of the scent notes. With that being said, each time I took the brush to the face, I would get the hint of something else before the fir/pine took over again. It’s as if the other scent notes were a struggling swimmer in a rolling ocean; you get a momentary glimpse of them in between the waves before they’re swallowed up again. It all works together, however, and gives a nice pine-forest scent to the soap. Post shave moisturizing is most excellent. My skin felt very moisturized during post shave ministrations, to the point where I probably could have gone without any kind of post-shave product.
Here are the scores for The Trail. Strength of scent and scent preference are not included as they are too subjective to include in these metrics.
Lathering: 10/10
Cushion: 9.5/10
Slickness: 9.5/10
Moisturizing: 9.5/10
Residual Slickness: 9/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 52.5/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Declaration Grooming Bison Tallow (54.5/55)
Ariana & Evans Goat Milk (54/55)
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (53/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Martin de Candre (51/55)
Eufros Tallow (51/55)
Conclusion: This shave re-confirmed for me that this is a stellar soap base, one of the best that I own. It’s easy to load/lather, (so will be a great soap for someone just getting into wet-shaving and inexperienced with making lather), has great scent strength and complexity, and has phenomenal properties during and after the shave. If you’re a fan of the coniferous type scents, this really should be a part of your soap stash, and at a somewhat reasonable $4 per oz price point, it’s not overly expensive considering the company it keeps from a performance standpoint. What you’re going to get for that is a superior product, with superior packaging…in the opinion of this writer it’s worth the extra $1-1.50 oz premium you pay for it. Hopefully Noble Otter expands the amount of scents they have available, as a nice citrus and a lavender scent would be, to me, very welcome additions.
https://youtu.be/-5JRFPg__ZM
