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Soap Review: Through The Fire Fine Craft, Sue Moore Grapefruit

Switched over to my Graydog silvertip (a 1305 type handle with a beautifully soft Omega silvertip) this morning, loaded brush and applied shave stick to face. Didn't have to re-apply the shave-stick for pass-2 as the knot can hold a LOT of lather and had a gosh darn pretty good shave with the Mach-3.
 
I have that same tub of soap tucked away in my soap storage locker. I have considered selling or PIFing it because I doubt I will ever use it...but I am curious about how it will smell when lathered up. My issue is that TTFFC is the one soap I have consistently failed to fall in love with. I will insert a caveat here, the "softer" poured soap version made for the Sue Moore auction was not terribly hard to lather like the harder puck versions were but the other one made for the auction did tingle a bit as well. The soap maker is/was no novice so I don't question the safety but when a soap tingles at first then gets worse when you revisit it months later it is usually a sign it is only going to get worse over time.

TTFFC has had a loyal following for years, I am sure there is a secret lathering method that will yield the results you seek. When I decided to relegate the harder TTFC soaps to shower use (I face lather in the shower as part of my evening beauty routine...it's why I am so beautiful) the lather was endless.
 
I licked the dissipating lather issue by loading like crazy.

As for the scent, it is there when lathered but is mild enough that it is easy to go "nose blind" to it during the shave. The slight tingle is still there, but it is not enough to be a show stopper for me.
 
Almost 2 weeks in with the soap, so it's time for an update.
- Still a slight tingle during the shave
- Heavy loading has resolved the dissipating lather issue
- Going to try bowl lathering on and off rather than just face lathering to see if I can get the right mix so that it is not a pseudo-paste. I generally prefer a wet lather.
- Scent is still there (puck is uncovered); noticeable from the puck but mild when lathered

I'm going to re-elevate it above the Yeti soap, but not by much for now.
 
Bowl lathering this morning still needs more work to get the right product-water ratio. Tomorrow I switch over to a synthetic (Chubby 2) and we will see if that makes a difference; so far, I have been using a boar and a silvertip with this soap.
 
While the bar is set low, today's outing using the Chubby 2, synth produced what I would consider quite a serviceable lather. We'll see how the rest of the week fares (I rotate brushes weekly) and I should have a Yaqi Sagrada arriving later this week according to Canada Post to continue synth usage.
 
After using the Chubby 2 synth for a week, I have also now used the Yaqi Sagrada for 4 days and do you know what? The dissipating lather seems to have been resolved without having to stupidly overload the brush. Using a synth, the soap falls into the "Okay" category, arising from the "Die now!" bucket. Yaaaayyyy!!!! (Still a slight tingle though)

If I didn't soak my boar/horse/badgers for 10 mins while I was showering, I would be inclined to postulate (BIG word for a 1-coffee morning! 🤪) that the natural hairs are "stealing" water from the lather, but I know that they are fully soaked. Hmmmmm? In any event, back to a Shavemac knot next week (Yaqi through to Sunday) and it will be interesting to see what happens then.
 
A resurrection and a big word! All before a pot...err...more coffee! I don't know if I should call you determined or stubborn when it comes to this soap!
 
Great, up to “okay”. If you’re determined to have bad shaves, we have some “okay” blades and razor to suggest as well.
 
I'm not going out of my way to acquire stuff for bad shaves (well, except for maybe Joshua Tree shave soap down the road. It can't be as bad as everyone says, can it?), just using what I have.
 
Bowl lathered with my Yaqi Sagrada this morning and achieved the best lather with this soap I have had so far. No tingle + no dissipating lather = a win!
 
Face or bowl lathering with my Shavemac 2-band, even with gobs of dense lather on pass-1, pass-2 has returned to dissipating lather. *blah*
 
No matter what my thoughts are on disappearing lather, the residual slickness from this soap is among the top of any product I have used.
 
Reshaped the donut into a small center hump to facilitate loading. The 5 oz puck is now exactly 2 months in of daily shaving and should last another week. Having to reload between passes has definitely sped up the consumption rate.
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Done! The adventure is complete! ~9.5 weeks for 5 oz is pretty bad from a cost pespective, but I'm glad it's ove.

I think everyone knows my opinion of this soap, but I'll provide a quick summary:

PROs: scent

CONs: weak lather, having to reload for 2nd pass

VERDICT: Pass
 
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