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SHAVEWIZARD'S THOUGHTS

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Honeybee Coolwater- R.I.P Sue, she was one of the OG's in the artisan soap world and despite being a glycerin base her soap was even unique among similar bases. The soap comes either as refill pucks, huge sample pucks, or tubs and the soaps vary in color depending on the scent.

The lather from Honeybee is thick yet dense and not the typical M&P airy lather, this could be due to the extra ingredients she would add but whatever it is it works!

The Cool Water scent is close but not exact. Close enough to recognize for sure with that aquatic cologne scent that SoOO many people wore back in the day. The Mentholated Pears soap has a similar clean aquatic scent and added a slight cooling. Lovely shave that was refreshing!20210503_164003.jpg
 
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345 Soaps White Buffalo- first time with this artisan. To be completely transparent I received 2 samples for free, after exchanging a few emails with Jon he said he would send me a few samples free of charge which was far beyond what I was expecting and enters the realm of Elite Customer Service. That's one of the perks of artisan soaps, the big companies rarely do things like this plus being able to talk with the person who actually makes the soap is something special.

These samples are large and about the size of the B&M samples that they make (Terror, Strawberry, etc.) And much larger than a normal 1/4 oz sample. Soap texture is quite soft almost like a firm cream.

Scent immediately reminds me of Chiseled Face Sherlock but without that strong smoky note which I was pissed to find my sample of Sherlock was empty so went with Fougere Gothique since it has that dirty earth vibe. I have not. Checked the website for scent notes so this is a blind test.

Tried to go a little heavy to make sure enough soap was loaded to help give it a fair shot. The soap immediately disappeared with a few swirls and it started out a bit foamy/bubbly but changed texture once hydrated. The shave went well but did get 2 nicks from loosening the razor a little bit. Will have to use these soaps a bit more to make final judgement but so far it's a decent soap. If I had to say something negative about it it would be that once it's rinsed off residual slickness was lacking, meaning it rinsed clean and doesn't leave a greasy heavy residue behind which many would consider a good thing. The residual slickness was decent with no visible lather (buffing) but it was difficult to do touch ups once rinsed which could be due to water ratio. So far this is a great soap and look forward to many more shaves with 365!

Hope y'all had a swell shave:)20210529_190548.jpg
 
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Razorock Gold Label- recently picked up this Razorock Triple Milled 4 pack got them on sale for $12 and they are 3.5 oz pucks. Had the original 3 pack (Blue, Lime, and Orange) but only kept the Blue and traded/PIF'ed the other 2. For $3 a puck these may be the best bang for the buck shave soap wise, sure Williams might be a bit cheaper but many have trouble making stable lather plus many do not care for the scent. These are even less expensive than VDH these days, plus the fact that these soaps are Triple Milled means they should last longer than a softer soap.

The scent of Gold Label is suposibly the same as XXX but I haven't tried that soap so will take their word for it. It is a clean bright Citrus Colonia scent, quite nice!


Performance is excellent and much better than previous RR soap bases IMO. This one has activated charcoal which adds a black tint to the Soap itself. Soap lathers quick and can handle water to provide a creamy texture lather with all the shave metrics of a quality shave soap. The shave was superb and very refreshing!
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Razorock Black Label- like I said earlier, these Razorock soaps are a tremendous value and a purchase that you would not regret or feel guilty about. The scents are more complex that the original 3 WTP releases yet not overpowering or offensive.


Scent of Black Label is one you would have to smell to understand. It is a cologne type scent and although they call it a Barbershop Fougere it doesn't smell like any Barbershop scent out there. Slightly woodsy and perhaps a dash peppery, yet clean and fresh.


The shave went well with no issues. Pretty much same as yesterday but wanted to see how it would hold up with several shaves in a row. Face feels nice afterwards with no drying or tight skin. Finished off with CL TSM Fougere Balm.


Hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day! :)20210601_203709.jpg
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I've always been intrigued by those ridiculously cheap triple milled 4 packs but the thought of adding 4 hard soaps like that to the den from a sheer quantity perspective has kept me at bay. The scents sound nice though, and glad to see performance is good. Lather looks mighty nice! Maybe I'll have to look at the shave sticks since I'd probably slice off a little at a time to feux-3017.
 
Fightingillini22 said:
I've always been intrigued by those ridiculously cheap triple milled 4 packs but the thought of adding 4 hard soaps like that to the den from a sheer quantity perspective has kept me at bay. The scents sound nice though, and glad to see performance is good. Lather looks mighty nice! Maybe I'll have to look at the shave sticks since I'd probably slice off a little at a time to feux-3017.
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These are a excellent value and for the price are well worth it, but agree about space and the fact that they last forever.
 
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Haslinger Marigold newer Vegan base-

Man is Haslinger a magnificent soap! They tend to get overlooked due to lighter scents plus the smaller puck size, but this stuff produces some of the slickest most protective lather than any other soap. Whether the Tallow or the Vegan base either one will produce a nice lather. Shave was as close to perfection as it gets with some Hi Karate for good measure.

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Wilkinson Sword Stick- this shave stick is another one that gets overlooked by the many other stick options. It has a blue color and a slightly aquatic scent that is light and non offensive. Shave went well with no nicks or irritation and finished off with Project Leather.

Hope everyone had a swell shave!
 
Graybeard57 said:
Were you fighting the women off? I hear that's quite a problem with that splash.
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Hahaha of course! "BE CAREFUL HOW YOU USE IT!" My GF says she doesn't like it from the bottle yet the positive comments come after a bit of dry time. Have 2 bottles of this stuff one was my dad's from back in the day as a kid always thought the label looked pretty cool. Scent is a bit similar to Jade East though the newer version seems to have changed a bit like most things in life.
 
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Mystic Water Egyptian Dragon- LOVE the scent of this soap! It is mysterious, incense, nag Champa vibe to it and smells different from other Dragons Blood soaps.


This is my 2nd ED sample and if there wasn't a crazy number of shave soaps in the den, a full size would be considered for sure. Performance is very good and makes a lather similar to Shannon's Soaps or Stirling, thick and with minimal bubbles. Shave went well and finished off with nothing for a change of pace. First time with these Lord Cool blades. Picked up a 100 pk from Amazon and so far they are decent but will see how future shaves turn out.

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Mama Bears Lavender Patchouli- nice strong scent that is Patchouli dominant. This is from a small sample melted down into a Dollar Tree Tupperware bowl.

Performance of Mama Bears is not bad and can provide a decent shave. Some of their soaps are heavily scented (like this one) and can cause burning irritation for some people's skin but thankfully it behaved this time. Every now and then it is good to re-evaluate soaps from the past since our technique improves with time and opinions change as well. 20210616_214209.jpg

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Vintage Williams Tonsorial- cooked 2 pucks down and added menthol crystals and soaked in pipe tobacco (like Primo did) which added a little scent and a nice cooling effect.

Performance is excellent on these Vintage Tallow soaps! Whip up a thick lather that can handle a good amount of water without being fickle about how fast or how much has been added. Highly recommend trying pretty much any Vintage soap if given the opportunity.20210618_124051.jpg
 
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Palmolive Stick grated and smashed into container. Palmolive is a unusual soap IMO the scent is strange yet nice similar to Speick which has a weird vibe as well. These sticks used to be found for cheap but even with price increase they are still worth checking out due to longevity nd performance.

The shave went well and made sure to load heavy due to the small container. Very slick stuff and the Mickey Lee Kraken milk was icing on the cake!
 
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Province Santa- I believe this one is the Green tea but not positive. The scent is sweet and pleasant.


Performance is much better than many other French soaps IMO but is far from being a favorite Triple Milled soap in this particular den. It lathers well and provides a decent shave but feel like something is missing or it could just be the lather texture is not what I prefer. Had to rush things a bit which caused a few nicks. Hope everyone had a swell Shave!
 
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