First review of a sample in the books. It's long...that is why I put t he good stuff up front first for those that don't want to read the entire thing.
Razor: Merkur Progress
Blade: Gillette 7 O'clock Super Stainless (Green) (3rd Shave)
Soap/Cream: Jerry Stark Handmade Shaving Soap
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
The Penultimate Aftershave: Humphrey's Lavender Witch Hazel
The Ultimate Aftershave: A&E Shave Serum No.3
Good Stuff Up Front:
- Scent - The scent is usually not much of a factor for me...but I do like something there. This soap smells great out of the container...but really light during the shave.
- Lather-ability - While I used a fair amount of water, and some may even call it thirsty, I thought the soap was pretty easy to lather.
- Slickness - One of the slickest soaps I have ever tried.
- Cushion/Protection/Glide - Outstanding in all three. I felt like this soap was made for a straight razor user.
- Residual Slickness - Not bad, but could be better.
- Post Shave Feel - The soap wasn't drying, but I didn't feel like it added a lot either. I reached for a shave serum to add some extra hydration.
- Final Grade - Tier 1, Box 4
The Soap Sample Pass Around Box came my way the other day and I wanted to dig right in. So I went ahead and had a nice relaxing shave last night. I decided to go with the Jerry Stark Hand Made Shave Soap. Jerry Stark is the legendary straight razor maker and I guess a couple of years ago he started to make his own soap. To the best of my knowledge, I think he only makes two different soaps...a tallow version and a vegan version. While sample doesn't say...I am pretty sure this is the tallow version.
I had to look pretty hard for anything about this soap. Mr. Stark's website isn't really all that put together. But looking on Reddit, I was able to find a review that included the ingredients to this soap:
distilled water, stearic acid, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, castor oil, beef tallow, lard, glycerin, sodium lactate, lanolin, babassu oil, avocado oil, kokum butter, cocoa butter, palm oil, shea butter and coconut oil.
Jerry Stark's website says that the scent is a Redwood Ember scent. I have to admit, I have no idea what a redwood ember smells like. It turns out that a quick internet search of the term "redwood ember" reveals a fragrance oil by Bulk Apothecary. They describe this fragrance oil as "A spicy blend of cinnamon and clove that has a beautiful floral bouquet and woody undertone."
So all that being said, a deep dive of my nose into the soap and I do detect a slight woody note or maybe something earthy. But most of what I get is that subtle cherry note you have with almond scents. I definitely don't get cinnamon, or clove. I definitely don't get any kind of floral not at all. All I get is almond/cherry. It is a pleasant scent and the scent out of the container is what drew me to it.
Out of the container the scent is light but discernible. Unfortunately, this is the strongest the soaps scent will be. Because once you start lathering, the scent almost goes away completely.
I am not sure if this soap requires a lot of water or if I just felt the need to give it a lot of water. But the soap drank a good bit. It was fairly easy to work and I didn't need to unduly work the brush and the bowl. I placed the scoops of soap in my lather bowl, pressed it into the bottom. I did bloom the soap a bit...but not long. I rinsed my face with a bit of the bloom water before I completely emptied it. Then I loaded my brush for a good 20 seconds or so. Directly applied the soap to my face and worked up a nice lather. Yup...I am a face lather-er.
When this lather is optimal...man is it super slick! And in all seriousness...it might be the slickest soap I have ever tried. Imagine...a guy known for making straights makes a really slick soap. And it wasn't just slick, this soap provides some of the best protection and cushion of any soap I have tried. It's pretty darn good. On the first and second passes, the soap had that sticky shiny quality to it when you work it between your fingers. I really had high hopes for how this soap was performing.
Then I hit the third pass. Okay, it isn't like the soap stopped performing. It just was a step down from the previous two passes. I have to mention, that after each pass when I shave, I wet my face and leave the water dripping from my skin. It's something that I do that has worked for me and usually by the third pass, the lather performs its best. Yeah, not this time. It still performed well, just not as good as the other passes. If I had to guess, I might have over hydrated in the beginning. Or I may not have needed to wet my face after each pass.
I finished my shave without a nick or weeper. The shave for the most part was effortless. I tested the residual slickness with a couple of touch-ups. Residual Slickness was good...but I wouldn't say great. I have definitely experienced much worse in other soaps. The post shave feel...well...I wasn't all that impressed. The soap didn't leave my face dry, but from the ingredient list...I was expecting better. I definitely felt the need to add something to my skin for additional skin feeding...so I reached for my A&E Shave Serum.
All in all, I ended up with a DFS+. I can definitely see why those who use straight razors would like this soap. It offers maximum slickness and protection right off the bat, and I know many people prize these qualities above all else. For me, these are important qualities, but I like a total package. While this soap is excellent during the shave...I wish it had a bit more at the end of it also.
Okay, I am going to continue to use Chad
@Cvargo 's scale for soaps. If I was a straight razor shaver...this soap would likely score higher for me. But I am not. And while things like slickness and protection are important, I weigh my soaps heavily with post shave feel. And unfortunately I feel like the post shave feel with this soap lacked considerably. Not bad...but not enough either. That's why I am giving this a final grade of:
Tier 1, Box 4
I wanted to give this soap a Tier 2, Box 5 grade, but an examination of the individual components didn't let me. I think another person may give this soap a higher grade. But this is where I am at.