Lavender Creeper is one of The Holy Black’s vaunted limited release tallow formula soaps, released once a year, on a very limited scale. This particular release, (2018), sold out in just a few hours, so the demand was sky high compared to the quantity available. I was lucky enough to be able to score a tub of the soap thanks to a fellow member here at The Shaving Cadre, and after one use, can say that it was definitely worth the wait!
Before we get into the soaps performance, let’s talk a little about the packaging. The soap comes in a nice box, secured with a piece of twine, (nice touch!), and a label tag attached to the twine. Inside the box, is a beautiful ceramic dish and top, separated by a thin piece of Styrofoam to keep the top from clanking on the jar itself during transportation. For those familiar with Mitchel’s Wool Fat, the dish is very similar in build, just smaller in circumference. This comes into play later on during lathering, which I will hit on. The graphics on the lid are quite nice, with a stylistic script typical of THB’s offerings on a white background with black lettering and purple accents.
As for the ingredients, it’s actually a pretty sparse ingredient list: aqua (water), stearic acid, tallow, coconut oil, potassium hydroxide, glycerin, fragrance, koolada
Aside from the fragrance and the koolada, (or menthol X as you please), there are only six ingredients total. This harkens to some premier soaps such as Martin de Candre and WSP’s Rustic line. About that koolada; this is the same cooling agent that is found in toothpaste. It’s very good at what it does, which is provide a nice cooling sensation, without the medicinal menthol smell masking any other fragrance notes. It does tend to last longer than menthol as well, so cumulative lathering will allow the cool feeling to build throughout the shave. The fragrance is a self-distilled French lavender hydrosol which is also boosted by some lavender essential oil. That’s it…that’s all that is in this soap, and the results are pretty awesome for those who enjoy a good lavender. Off of the tub, the scent is about 2/5, so on the milder side.
From a performance standpoint, there’s quite a lot of good going on here. The biggest negative is the size of the jar. It is on the smaller side, so to avoid losing some proto-lather off of the tub pinching the knot bristles is required. I don’t think it’s required, but I did bloom the soap prior to loading. Using a tuxedo synthetic knot, the soap did take a little bit longer to load than I was anticipating, about 45 seconds in total. Using a bowl, and adding water with a spray bottle, it took approximately 2 teaspoons (9-10 sprays) of water in total to reach a nice, shiny consistency. From the 45 seconds of loading, the volume of lather I was able to create was enough for about 4-5 passes, and the consistency was somewhere between a loose yogurt and a dense merengue.
Application was wonderful, and the cushion on the soap was pretty impressive, as was the slickness. The cooling rolled in slowly, but once it started you definitely noticed it. Pleasantly, the lavender notes, while on the weaker side off of the tub, bloomed quite impressively to about a 3.5/5 once lathered. Using a Feather SS Kamisori style AC razor, the soap gave a great base for the razor to skate on. What shocked me was the amount of residual slickness this soap carries with it. Water-only touch-ups were a breeze with this soap. Stability was about as good as it gets. The lather showed no signs of degrading over the duration of the shave. Once the shave was finished, my face did feel wonderful, so the moisturizing properties are very good, about on par with some soaps such as Stirling and Wholly Kaw (tallow, non-donkey milk formula). The cooling sensation lasted for about 20 minutes after the shave, which would be perfect for those hot summer days.
All in all, this soap was well worth the wait. I happen to love lavender scents, and this is right up there with some of the best around, scent wise. The soap base is well above average, I would say outpacing some pretty stellar offerings by Stirling and Wholly Kaw. Below are the scores for each of the metrics that I track, and where it places among soap bases I’ve tried. I don't track scent strength or scent preference for review purposes, as those are wholly subjective measures.
Lathering: 7/10
Cushion: 10/10
Slickness: 10/10
Moisturizing: 9/10
Residual Slickness: 10/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 51/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
Paladin Soaps (51/55)
Martin de Candre (51/55)
Lisa’s Natural Herbal Creations Artisan Premium base (51/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Eufros (51/55)
Saponificio Varesino Beta 4.3 (50/55)
*Barrister & Mann Glissant base, Fine Accoutrements and Wholly Kaw Tallow (non-donkey milk formula) come in at 49/55, while Panna Crema Nuavia and Stirling both come in at 48/50
Conclusion: This soap really is elite level, from the packaging all the way through the performance. The only thing that it loses marks on is the size of the jar, but aside from that, it’s relatively easy to lather, and has elite level properties during the shave. Total performance puts it into a pretty elite class of soaps to include Eufros, Martin de Candre, Saponificio Varesino beta 4.3, and just short of Wholly Kaw’s wonderful donkey milk formula. With limited quantities available on the 2[sup]nd[/sup] hand market, prices for this are getting into the nose-bleed section. It’s hard to say whether it’s worth it or not to pay over the odds for this soap, or any soap for that matter. That is only a decision that the potential buyer can answer. However, if you’re able to get your hands on this soap, it will most likely be one of the top performing soaps in your den.
Before we get into the soaps performance, let’s talk a little about the packaging. The soap comes in a nice box, secured with a piece of twine, (nice touch!), and a label tag attached to the twine. Inside the box, is a beautiful ceramic dish and top, separated by a thin piece of Styrofoam to keep the top from clanking on the jar itself during transportation. For those familiar with Mitchel’s Wool Fat, the dish is very similar in build, just smaller in circumference. This comes into play later on during lathering, which I will hit on. The graphics on the lid are quite nice, with a stylistic script typical of THB’s offerings on a white background with black lettering and purple accents.
As for the ingredients, it’s actually a pretty sparse ingredient list: aqua (water), stearic acid, tallow, coconut oil, potassium hydroxide, glycerin, fragrance, koolada
Aside from the fragrance and the koolada, (or menthol X as you please), there are only six ingredients total. This harkens to some premier soaps such as Martin de Candre and WSP’s Rustic line. About that koolada; this is the same cooling agent that is found in toothpaste. It’s very good at what it does, which is provide a nice cooling sensation, without the medicinal menthol smell masking any other fragrance notes. It does tend to last longer than menthol as well, so cumulative lathering will allow the cool feeling to build throughout the shave. The fragrance is a self-distilled French lavender hydrosol which is also boosted by some lavender essential oil. That’s it…that’s all that is in this soap, and the results are pretty awesome for those who enjoy a good lavender. Off of the tub, the scent is about 2/5, so on the milder side.
From a performance standpoint, there’s quite a lot of good going on here. The biggest negative is the size of the jar. It is on the smaller side, so to avoid losing some proto-lather off of the tub pinching the knot bristles is required. I don’t think it’s required, but I did bloom the soap prior to loading. Using a tuxedo synthetic knot, the soap did take a little bit longer to load than I was anticipating, about 45 seconds in total. Using a bowl, and adding water with a spray bottle, it took approximately 2 teaspoons (9-10 sprays) of water in total to reach a nice, shiny consistency. From the 45 seconds of loading, the volume of lather I was able to create was enough for about 4-5 passes, and the consistency was somewhere between a loose yogurt and a dense merengue.
Application was wonderful, and the cushion on the soap was pretty impressive, as was the slickness. The cooling rolled in slowly, but once it started you definitely noticed it. Pleasantly, the lavender notes, while on the weaker side off of the tub, bloomed quite impressively to about a 3.5/5 once lathered. Using a Feather SS Kamisori style AC razor, the soap gave a great base for the razor to skate on. What shocked me was the amount of residual slickness this soap carries with it. Water-only touch-ups were a breeze with this soap. Stability was about as good as it gets. The lather showed no signs of degrading over the duration of the shave. Once the shave was finished, my face did feel wonderful, so the moisturizing properties are very good, about on par with some soaps such as Stirling and Wholly Kaw (tallow, non-donkey milk formula). The cooling sensation lasted for about 20 minutes after the shave, which would be perfect for those hot summer days.
All in all, this soap was well worth the wait. I happen to love lavender scents, and this is right up there with some of the best around, scent wise. The soap base is well above average, I would say outpacing some pretty stellar offerings by Stirling and Wholly Kaw. Below are the scores for each of the metrics that I track, and where it places among soap bases I’ve tried. I don't track scent strength or scent preference for review purposes, as those are wholly subjective measures.
Lathering: 7/10
Cushion: 10/10
Slickness: 10/10
Moisturizing: 9/10
Residual Slickness: 10/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 51/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Wholly Kaw Donkey Milk (52/55)
Paladin Soaps (51/55)
Martin de Candre (51/55)
Lisa’s Natural Herbal Creations Artisan Premium base (51/55)
WSP Formula T (51/55)
Eufros (51/55)
Saponificio Varesino Beta 4.3 (50/55)
*Barrister & Mann Glissant base, Fine Accoutrements and Wholly Kaw Tallow (non-donkey milk formula) come in at 49/55, while Panna Crema Nuavia and Stirling both come in at 48/50
Conclusion: This soap really is elite level, from the packaging all the way through the performance. The only thing that it loses marks on is the size of the jar, but aside from that, it’s relatively easy to lather, and has elite level properties during the shave. Total performance puts it into a pretty elite class of soaps to include Eufros, Martin de Candre, Saponificio Varesino beta 4.3, and just short of Wholly Kaw’s wonderful donkey milk formula. With limited quantities available on the 2[sup]nd[/sup] hand market, prices for this are getting into the nose-bleed section. It’s hard to say whether it’s worth it or not to pay over the odds for this soap, or any soap for that matter. That is only a decision that the potential buyer can answer. However, if you’re able to get your hands on this soap, it will most likely be one of the top performing soaps in your den.
