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Soap Sample Pass Around!!!

Razor: Merkur Progress
Blade: Gillette 7 O'clock Super Stainless (Green) (5th Shave)
Soap/Cream: Siliski Soaps - Toasted Almond
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
The Penultimate Aftershave: Humphrey's Lavender Witch Hazel
The Ultimate Aftershave: Figaro Monsieur

Good Stuff Up Front:
  • Scent - Amazing and one of the most consistent smelling soaps from out of the tub to the end of the shave.
  • Lather-ability - Super easy to lather without a lot of work.
  • Slickness - If you want this slick...you can definitely make it slick without compromising the consistency of the lather.
  • Cushion/Protection/Glide - Very solid in the these three aspects.
  • Residual Slickness - Very Good
  • Post Shave Feel - Elite Post Shave Feel
  • Final Grade - Tier 1 , Box 2
I'm a little behind here. I shaved with the Siliski soap yesterday, but didn't have time for the review. So, today I will be Toasted Almond and Tomorrow I will review Central Texas - Mr. Pepper.

The first thing we almost always judge a soap by is the scent. What do we all do when presented with a new tub, puck, or sample of soap? We stick our nose in it. Toasted Almond is a really nice scent. A lot of us will associate the scent of an almond soap with that light almond fragrance of a good Italian soap. Nutty, but with that slight, almost cherry scent. The scent on Toasted Almond by Siliski soap is not quite like that. It still has that cherry like almond scent to it. But I would equate this more to Amaretto than to toasted almond. And yes...I know Amaretto is an almond liqueur...but it has a much sweeter aroma than what I would consider an almond scent. Either way I like it...and I like it a lot! The scent is very pronounced and not overpowering. This is also one of the only soaps I have ever tried, in which the scent stayed the same strength from first sniff out of the tub, all the way through my final rinse of the shave!

Okay...enough abut the scent. I think you get that I like it. I am going to try to speed this one up, as I realize I am running out of time! This was a really easy soap to lather. Minimal amounts of water will get you a nice thick lather. Little elbow grease required too. Add more water and this will give you a nice slick soap. The lather maintained a pretty good consistency throughout all phases of the shave and I didn't have to worry about dissipating lather.


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The shave itself to be very nice indeed. I added a bit more water to the lather and was rewarded with a nice and super slick soap. Maybe not the slickest I have ever had...and certainly not like the Jerry Stark soap I tried earlier. But I think it is slicker than most soaps I have tried. Cushion and Protection are pretty top notch. I didn't have any issues (despite I probably should have used a new blade).

The residual slickness was really good...top tier for sure. And as with soaps that have really good residual slickness...the post shave feel was excellent. In fact! I had that really nice post shave feel throughout the work day! You know...that nice feeling your face has when you go to rub your chin because you are in deep thought and the get distracted by how good your skin feels? Yeah...that's the one. This soap has some of the best post shave feel I have experienced with a soap. So, this soap will obviously get a good grade from me.

Speaking of grades...let's get on with it. As I have stated before...I weigh a lot of my soaps by the type of post shave feel I get. That doesn't mean that I ignore the other aspects of the soap. After all...if you have a soap that can't perform but still gives you a good post shave feel...It's still not a great soap. So if I wasn't judging this soap with post shave feel in mind...I would likely put this Middle of Tier 1. But add in the post shave feel and this soap is amazing. Maybe not elite (not yet at least...I would have to shave with it a time or two before I am willing to make that statement), but pretty darn close. That's why I am giving this soap a:

Tier 1, Box 2

Like I said...it's not elite (yet), but it is pretty darn close!


TSC Soap Chart.jpg
 
Razor: Merkur Progress
Blade: Gillette 7 O'clock Super Stainless (Green) (6th Shave)
Soap/Cream: Central Texas Soaps - Mr. Pepper
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
The Penultimate Aftershave: Humphrey's Lavender Witch Hazel
The Ultimate Aftershave: Fine Platinum

Good Stuff Up Front:
  • Scent - Pronounced and lasts through the shave with little weakeninig.
  • Lather-ability - Easy to lather and easy to make into a really slick lather.
  • Slickness - Super slicj if you want it to be.
  • Cushion/Protection/Glide - Very good and better than most.
  • Residual Slickness - Pretty darn good residual slickness.
  • Post Shave Feel - It did not disappoint!
  • Final Grade - Tier 1 , Box 3
Getting caught up! This morning's shave was a delightful one! I really wasn't sure how a shave with a "Dr. Pepper" scented soap was going to turn out...but man was it a good one!

Again...doing what I do best...I stuck my nose in the tub! This stuff smells like Dr, Pepper. That syrupy cherry scent that we all love too much! AND...you can actually smell that bubbly, fizzy, effervescent-ness that a can of soda has. It's some good stuff. Yeah...I might want to buy this soap just because of this scent alone. Evidently it's an exclusive soap made for WCS. From the WCS website, they give the scent notes as: vanilla, caramel, cola, cherry, and juniper. So yeah...Dr. Pepper.

Okay! I had a great shave! I mean..a pretty great shave. I don't know if it was because I am in a good mood or if the soap was just really good! But I had a great shave. It was so good, in fact, that I assumed that this was a tallow based soap. Not so. Looking at the ingredients...I would actually consider this a relatively minimally comprised soap. The ingredients area: Coconut Oil, Stearic Acid, Shea Butter, Castor Oil, Aloe Vera, Glycerin, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Bentonite Clay, and Fragrance. Seriously though...I really thought this soap had tallow or some other kind of animal fat!

I was able to lather this soap pretty easily and with little water. The lather was a nice and rich lather without being overly thick. This lather ended up being pretty slick. Maybe not the slickest soap but pretty darn slick. Shaving with it gave me really nice protection and cushion and because it was slick...the glide was very much top notch. Residual slickness with Mr. Pepper was VERY good. Not an elite status residual slickness, but very good nonetheless. And as every soap that has really good residual slickness...the post shave feel did not disappoint. I don't think it is quite as good as yesterday's shave with Siliski Soaps, but it is not far off.

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Mr. Pepper did not disappoint. And while it wasn't quite as good as yesterdays foray with Siliski Soaps...it's not far off. I can't imagine what this formula would be like if it was a tallow version...it might just be elite! But until then...I give this soap a grade of:

Tier 1, Box 3

I will definitely consider buying a Central texas Soap in the future based off this one shave.


TSC Soap Chart.jpg






The Danger Zone!!!

About an hour and a half before the weekend begins and I can't wait. The weather here is perfect right now. I took a walk around the park that is near where I work and just soaked in the sun and fresh air. It's 65 and sunny right now with about a 5 mph wind. Just perfect.
 
Okay...the box is on the move to Mr. @Maryland998 !!! I had a great time with the soaps and there are truly some good ones in there! If any of you are interested to know...I added a few more samples to the collection.

1580049219790.png

If you are reading and debating whether you want to be on the list or not...just jump in! There is something in the box for everyone. And if I had to guess...several of the peeps on this list already will likely contribute more samples to the Box.

A big thank you to @NurseDave ! I know Dave, as well as @MrsNurseDave spent a considerable amount of time organizing, packing, and adding samples to this box. All to make our experience that much more enjoyable! Thank you so much!

A quick thought about the box in general. I have been a participant of several of these Soap Sample Pass-Around boxes...either her...or at other forums. And each time I participate in one...I ALWAYS learn something about what I like in soaps, what types of scents I like, the soap process in general. Even if you are a seasoned veteran in wet shaving...I think there is almost always something that can be gleamed from experiences like these. But if you are a newbie to the wet shaving experience...you NEED to be in this pass-around!

Here is the list as it is currently...

**Soap Sample Road Show Sign-ups Copy from here down and paste**
1. dangerousdon - Completed
2. maryland998 - en-route
3. Jaro1069
4. Dave in KY
5. Jellodancer
6. elmerPHuD
7.
8.
9.
10.
 
dangerousdon said:
Okay...the box is on the move to Mr. @Maryland998 !!! I had a great time with the soaps and there are truly some good ones in there! If any of you are interested to know...I added a few more samples to the collection.

View attachment 15767

If you are reading and debating whether you want to be on the list or not...just jump in! There is something in the box for everyone. And if I had to guess...several of the peeps on this list already will likely contribute more samples to the Box.

A big thank you to @NurseDave ! I know Dave, as well as @MrsNurseDave spent a considerable amount of time organizing, packing, and adding samples to this box. All to make our experience that much more enjoyable! Thank you so much!

A quick thought about the box in general. I have been a participant of several of these Soap Sample Pass-Around boxes...either her...or at other forums. And each time I participate in one...I ALWAYS learn something about what I like in soaps, what types of scents I like, the soap process in general. Even if you are a seasoned veteran in wet shaving...I think there is almost always something that can be gleamed from experiences like these. But if you are a newbie to the wet shaving experience...you NEED to be in this pass-around!

Here is the list as it is currently...

**Soap Sample Road Show Sign-ups Copy from here down and paste**
1. dangerousdon - Completed
2. maryland998 - en-route
3. Jaro1069
4. Dave in KY
5. Jellodancer
6. elmerPHuD
7.
8.
9.
10.
Click to expand...
Terror is one I have always wanted to try Badly !!!!
 
Looking forward to receiving this package.
I will post up my experiences with this box o goodness.
This is a great benefit of belonging to such a great forum. I truly do appreciate the work you guys put into it.
If there is room. I have a few to add to the box. Ones that made the cut and are in my rotation. That are nor currently in the box.
Not going to put what I consider mediocre soaps in the mix.
Ken
 
i have a few things i may add too if it doesn't throw the box into another price bracket...
 
Got the box!
Already spent around 40 minutes going through all of them.
While my olfactory senses are probably not as fine tuned as some. 24 of them caught my attention scent wise. Two others I am going to sample because I want to check out the performance of the base.
43E49B72-4B85-4DAE-B057-2CC408274E24.jpeg
Wild West Peace Pipe is first into the breach.
Will post my thoughts in the soap of the day.
Ken
 
Ken posted these in another thread. I thought some who are following this thread might appreciate his thoughts on the soaps.

Maryland998 said:
First post for me in this thread as a result of my participation in the Soap Sample Pass Around.
First out the gate is Wild West Peace Pipe.
I'm a sucker for a tobacco scent. This one is sweet and pleasant.
Scent is very subjective but this one for me is nice.
The factors I like to have in a soap in order of importance for me.
1. Slickness = Very Good
2. Cushion/protection= Very Good.
3.Post Shave= Very Good.
4. Scent strength= medium.
5.. Ease of lather and stability= Very Good.
Conclusion. I like it. Not a "Have to buy it right away" but on my radar.
My $.02
Ken
P.S. I now only have 25 other soaps that I have picked out of the 120+ samples.
Click to expand...
Maryland998 said:
Second soap from the sample pass around.
Lisa's Natural Herbal Creation Tashmere.
Love the scent of this soap.
The base is ok slickness and protection were average. Lather wasn't stable. Post was shave average as well.

It may be that I did not have the soap/water ratio where it needs to be. But good soaps in my opinion. Should have a big sweet spot. And not be difficult to get it to work well.
So this one is not going to make my cut.
I am really enjoying having a new soap every day to try out.
Next up Ballenclaugh Honey Tobacco.
My $.02
Ken
Click to expand...
 
Ken @Maryland998

Wild West Peace Pipe was one I almost shaved with myself. It smells really amazing! As far as the LNHC Tashmere soap goes. The scent is what attracted me to that one as well. I know we all have a YMMV thing. But if you get a chance...try that soap again...or another LNHC soap in the box. I think once you dial it in...you will have a completely different reaction to it.

Great Thoughts!
 
Hey Don.
Maybe I'll take a sample to save for later and revisit it.
I know what you mean about getting it (water/soap ratio) correct. And usually I do give things more than one shot.
Just 1. I don't want to hog a lot of the sample for myself. And not leave enough for others to try.
2. For me to think a soap is top shelf. Ease of use is a factor.
My $.02
Ken
 
Sample number 3 Ballenclaugh Honey Tobacco
These two scents go very well together. I like it a lot.
Scent strength medium strong.
Slickness and Cushion good.
Post shave feel good.
Accidently snurdled out too much. So tomorrows shave will be a repeat.
Solid performing soap. But not a "Wow!"
My $.02
Fluffy
AKA Ken
 
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