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SHAVEWIZARD'S THOUGHTS

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Van Der Lovett Grey Edition- found this at Fendrihan for $7.50 for a small puck of hard soap (not sure if it's triple milled but assume so) and it comes in a box similar to the Ach Brito although a different shape. Have heard of people finding this soap at TJMAxx or Marshalls but I have yet to see that in person.


Scent is VERY similar to Stirling Sandpiper or Folsom & CO Black Powder aftershave and is quite strong about 8/10.


Performance wise i have seen a couple reviews of this soap enough to assume it could lather properly which turned out to be true. Lather could hold a good amount of water and had a texture a bit similar to Fine or Tabac, very dense creamy goodness.

The Shave went well but despite good protection from the lather I did get a touch of irritation on neck from too much buffing which I was begging for. Overall this is another one to add to the list of decent inexpensive hard pucks. since there are not very many reviews or buzz online I'm glad I took a chance on this one and have thankfully been lucky with recent soap acquisitions.
 
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Love My Skin Masculine Musk- this is a cheap glycerin ebay soap I picked up some years ago. Comes in a 1.5 oz round puck sample or a larger one if you wish. They offer many scents to choose from and with combined shipping this soap can be had for a decent price.


Scent is sweet and cologne like musk, not anamalistic. About 5/10.

Performance is just adequate. It lathers ok but cushion and residual slickness are lacking a bit which is sad to say since they offer a ton of scents and really want to like this one but honestly there are better options out there for glycerin based soaps IMO.
 
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QCS Rose Otto- what a wonderful sadly discontinued artisan. Soap is hard and has a yellow golden color.

Scent is Rose Otto, slightly sweet and is one of my favorite Rose scents. About 9/10 pretty strong scent.

Performance of both the soap & Balm is excellent! lather is creamy and has ridiculous residual slickness and face feels nice during touch ups providing plenty of protection. The balm comes in a little 1 oz pump bottle to continue the great Rose scent.
 
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Razorock Mudder Focker- weird earthy scent that is sweet without being overly sweet. About 8.5/10 and is one of the stronger RR scents IMO.

Performance is not bad despite many people putting down RR for being a cheap simple soap. Lathers fast and starts off bubbly but with a little work it thickens up. Nothing to write home about but it does the job quite well without all the bells & whistles and crazy fats & milks of many of todays artisans. Razorock soaps can be hit or miss sometimes but this was a decent shave and just goes to show that you don't have to buy a $30 soap to get a good shave.
 
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Frankensoap- Col. Conk Amber mixed with Arko & perhaps a few others and scented with Old Spice.


Made this concoction some years back when I first started and had only does it once or twice. The lather was nice and provided a ok shave. Did end up with some irritation which may have been from the blade/razor combo as I have found Astra SP blades to not work as well with my skin as other blades and can vary greatly based on the razor being used, some better than others. Finished the shave with some Vintage Avon Deep Woods A/S. Found a few bottles when cleaning out the den the other day and figured I should start using some of these silly Avon aftershaves. Some are better than others deep woods is pretty good but not as "Deep" as it sounds and is not a Pine scent to my nose but decent nonetheless.
 
Shavewizard420 said:
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Mick's Grooming Conor shave soap- went to the site and found ALL SOAPS ON SALE FOR $6.95 FOR 5 OZ. Picked up Conor then went back for 3 more tubs a few days later. With the ingredient list this was a MUST TRY and highly recommend checking this one out:) Shipping is very inexpensive as well 3 soaps for around $25 shipped. Exchanged a few emails with the owner who seems like a great guy which is always a plus when purchasing Artisan soaps. The first soap arrived with a hand written note and apparently he is from my home town which is a cool coincidence as it is just a small suburb of Detroit and this soap is out of Colorado.

Sc3nt of Conor is hard to describe the website says " complex, sophisticated, deep fragrance slightly sweet, bit spicy & warm. Oak aged bourbon, tobacco, and Cedarwood are main notes. I can't detect single notes in this blend and would say it's about 6/10 from puck but comes alive once lathered and could still smell it on my hand 30 min after the shave.


The Shave itself was VERY GOOD. I couldn't help but compare this to A&E soao base or GD. both start off a bit slow, can handle a bunch of water and if you take a few second to work the lather you will be rewarded with a creamy thick lather. The Shave went well and was very impressed with this one and look forward to many more future shaves with this artisan.
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Great review!

I grabbed a soap from that sale... Tomas. Amazing smell, a sweet tobacco with vanilla and spices, I believe. The performance was good, not the best imo, but absolutely a slam dunk for the sale price. I might have to go back and try Connor. Sounds equally nice.

Time to go shopping for some Adagio Road. That one sounds like a hidden gem, based on your review. Good catch!
 
mrdoug said:
Great review!

I grabbed a soap from that sale... Tomas. Amazing smell, a sweet tobacco with vanilla and spices, I believe. The performance was good, not the best imo, but absolutely a slam dunk for the sale price. I might have to go back and try Connor. Sounds equally nice.

Time to go shopping for some Adagio Road. That one sounds like a hidden gem, based on your review. Good catch!
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Lol I actually saw your post and after a quick Google search saw the $6.95 for 5oz price and the excellent ingredient list and figured it was worth a gamble. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention!

Adagio Road is a decent soap base, scents can be subjective but the Coconut Lime Verbena is quite nice. It reminds me a bit of Perfectly Natural Soaps in that VERY few people seem to have heard of it on the forums but those that have seem to be haooy with it. Performance wise it's worth a try IMO especially if you check out their sale area it can be had for a cheap price especially for some of the ingredients used in it's formula.
 
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Haslinger Marigold Vegan base for today's shave. First time with the new base and this particular scent as well.

The scent of Marigold is light about a 3.5/10 or so, it's slightly sweet/floral in a soapy kind of way. Not bad but not one I would reach for based on scent, at least not often.


Performance wise i couldn't really tell a difference between this and the old Tallow stuff. Both have excellent slickness and are great soaps worth trying IMO. Whipped up a thick creamy lather that held a good amount of water. Had a BBS shave with no drama. Finished off with Dragon noir.


Hope y'all Had a swell shave!
 
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Mick's Grooming Finbar-

This soap has a Green Irish Tweed type of scent (Irish Spring) and is fresh, green and clean. Not overpowering but not too giant either, would say about 6/10.


Performance wise this soap base is quite good IMO. It's not the best base I have ever used but with the numbers of soaps I have tried it's certainly no slouch. Whips up a creamy lather that likes a lot of water. Still have to experiment to find the sweet spot but no worry about the lather breaking down from the 3 lathers I have made with this base.

The Shave itself went well with just 1 small Nick on corner of my nose from not being careful. This soap is quite protective and washes away without leaving a heavy feeling on skin. Finished off with Van Yulay A/S which I've been trying to finish off for a while now and finally accomplished that goal!:)


Hope everyone had a great Shave!
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Wet The Face Christmas time- This is the older WTF soap base with Sunflower Oil. not sure what it is but this has become one of my all time favorite soaps in the den, the scent is right up my alley and i almost always seem to get a great shave from this tub. Discvered this on the BST some years back and had not heard of this artisan before and rolled the dice and it turnes out to be destiny. If the house was on fire or there was a emergency of sort this would be on the list of soaps to bring (if time allowed lol).

Scent is a fairly strong Pine/Basalm/Fir and is magnificent IMO.

Both the lather and performance are top notch in every way. Residual slickness is very good and allpwed for some buffing without consequence. Very close drama free shave. Finished off with Vintage Prince O Russian Leather. I keep wanting to give this stuff a fair chance but still not sure what to think of this vintage set, it is floral and weird smelling but smells different from day to day as well as once applied....a chameleon I'd there ever was one.


Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a safe holidays!
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The Soap Exchange Barbershop- this is a Etsy artisan that had a few loyal followers on the forums. Have had 2 small samples (Barbershop and Bay Rum) for a while now and had only lathered it up once before this shave.

Scent is typical Barbershop and smells like Mike's Natural to my nose. Texture is fairly hard but this sample is several years old which may have had a impact.


Performance was decent and provided adequate slickness and protection and the shave went well but didn't have that WOW factor which is OK since it can't happen every time or it wouldn't be as earth shattering when it does happen. Still the shave went well and finished off with some Barber Heat which has a sweet fruity scent.

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Uncle Jon's Holly Berry- UNCLE Jon has a Utube channel discussing everything from making shave soap to not being a jerk in public. He seems like a decent person who likes to interact with his customers.

Scent of Holly Berry is a mix of Cranberry and some sort of Pine. Strength is quite strong maybe 9-10 or so.

Performance is decent and whips up a thick lather without being over thirsty but can still handle water no problem. The Shave went well but did have a little neck irritation which could be from me pushing it too far which happens sometimes. Finished off with Afta, have seen this at local stores for years now but finally picked up a bottle. It smells like Vintage Old Spice and has a texture like Trumpers Skin Food or Corn Huskers Lotion .


P.S. this lather was shaking like crazy lol.
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Catties Bubbles 322- my usual Occultic shave soap saved for most major holidays, so it being Christmas figured it was time to bust out the 'ol 322.

Scent is strong pungent rotten Vetiver and beautifully done by Chris Cullen. Unlike any other Vetiver scent out there IMO and not a scent for everyone as it is a acquired taste like MT Strong & Scottish or MF'in ROAM.


Performance is just OK in my book. It lathers well but lacks protection compared to other soaps in the den. Not that it is bad but I don't rate this soap as high as Ruds or others online. This is one I use mainly for scent reasons. The Shave was OK but did get some irritation and strong burn from the Dr. Jon's Propoganda A/S which also smells great BTW and is a sweet Patchouli cologne blend.

Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Christmas!
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Van Yulay Oh Man Hard Puck-

VY has been serving up artisan shave soap for a number of years now offering several soaps bases and one of the BIGGEST scent list options of any artisan, there is literally something for everyone from Van Yulay.

Scent of Oh Man is a barbershop scent that is a little Boozey and not bad. Strength is medium-light maybe 4.5-10.

Performance is quite decent on this particular base. It has good ingredients and am glad to see this base is now offered in any scent you choose. Since I have commented in the past when this base only had 3 options and wishing it was available in some of Monikas other scents. I will have to pay Van Yulay A visit here in the next few months and pick up a few pucks to show appreciation.

The Shave was excellent and skin felt great after skipping a day of shaving so it was refreshing and well appreciated. Finished off with SC Courage Balm for a nice menthol kick with a manly scent. Life is good these days and we have a lot to be grateful for. Hope you are all doing well and staying positive in these troubled times.

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Dendi Rose- decent shaving soap from Serbia or Eastern Europe. Soap is a very hard texture for a artisan, has a simple but effective ingredient list, and can be had for a great price (less than $10. Think they sell for around $6 or so) although I got this from BST and did not purchase directly.


Scent is obviously Rose. It is clean and fresh with around 6/10 Strength, it's there but not too powerful to cause irritation.


Performance is very good and put it up there with Vreto (also from that part of the world) although I prefer the Vreto just slightly.

Shave went well with a smooth clean finish. This soap lathers fast and easy and goes to show it is not necessary for a soap to be chalk full of exotic butters & oils to perform great.
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Kell's Original Dragons blood- this is a Hemp oil & Aloe blend Glycerin soap. Sells for a cheap price and picked this up at Maggards several years ago.


Scent is a strong Dragons Blood, Incense and woodsy Nag Champa style with a touch of floral. About 9.5/10 Strength.


Performance was very good for this shave. Have had some minor skin irritation from this scent in the past but thankfully it was not present for this shave. Kell's produces a super slick lather and was quite surprised by the perfect refreshing shave results. Finished off with Reef Point DB Balm which was a perfect match scent wise.
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