Bluffers Guide to British Triple Milled

Hi @pjgh I’m afraid I have very little knowledge regarding ingredients and which ones are good or bad, I’m very much a know what I like kind of shaver. I am very much a triple milled soap user and like to use British products if possible. To me DR Harris is the benchmark, it’s good, solid and dependable.

I had a think though. What about Arran Aromatics? They offer two very nice scents in their triple milled soaps (Machrie and Lochranza). I always thought that they might make them on the Island but maybe that’s wishful thinking. The ingredient list is

  • Ingredients: Potassium Palmate
  • Potassium Palm Kernelate
  • Potassium Stearate
  • Sodium Palmate
  • Glycerin
  • Aqua (Water)
  • Sodium Palm Kernelate
  • Sodium Stearate
  • Palm Kernel Acid
  • Parfum (Fragrance)
  • Pentasodium Pentetate
  • Tetrasodium Etidronate
  • Linalool
  • Coumarin
  • Limonene
  • Cistus Ladaniferus Abs (Gum Rockrose) Extract
  • Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin) Peel Oil
  • Salvia Sclarea (Clary Sage) Oil.
They have recently released a new scent called Sannox which has Leather, Amber and Oud in its fragrance notes and sounds very nice. I will email them later to ask if they plan on releasing it as a shaving soap.
 
Arran, you say @NeilJ ? I was just looking at them today and finding some similarity with the Floris base.

Floris 89
Potassium Palmate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmate, Glycerin, Aqua (Water), Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Linalool, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour, Geraniol, Coumarin, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)

Arran Clary Sage & Rockrose
Potassium Palmate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmate, Glycerin, Aqua (Water), Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Linalool, Coumarin, Limonene, Cistus Ladaniferus Abs (Gum Rockrose) Extract, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin) Peel Oil, Salvia Sclarea (Clary Sage) Oil

Arran Patchouli & Anise
Potassium Palmate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmate, Glycerin, Aqua (Water), Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Linalool, Pentasodium Pentetate, Pogostemon Cablin (Patchouli) Oil, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Limonene, Citronellol, Geraniol, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Oil, Illicium verum (Anise) Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil

I can't actually find the Floris base in common with really any other soap, let alone having any historical ingredient lists. But, I do see a distinct similarity between these, so guess there's more out there.

I am still looking ...

Meanwhile, I found considerable similarity between current Floris and Ach Brito/Musgo Real formulations:
Potassium Palmate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmate, Aqua/Water, Glycerin, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum/Fragrance, PEG-7 Glycerol Cocoate, Sodium Lauryl Sarcosinate, PEG-9 Cocoglycerides, Talc, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Geraniol, Coumarin, Eugenol, Citronellol, Linalool, Limonene, Cinnamyl Alcohol, CI 77007/Ultramarines, CI 77891/Titanium Dioxide, CI 77492/Iron Oxides

... which send me down a rabbit hole where I found a couple of historical formulations.

Ach Brito/Musgo Real (2013)
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, PEG-9 Cocoglycerides, Sodium Lauryl Sarcosinate, Talc, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, CI 77891, CI 47005, Coumarin, Geraniol, Eugenol, Citronellol, Evernia Furfuracea, Linalool, Limonene, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Butylphenyl Methylpropanol

... which bears considerable resemblance to the ill-fated Soapworks base.

Ach Brito/Musgo Real (circa 2016 Reformulation)
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Potassium Palmate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Aqua (Water), Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Sodium Lauryl Sarcosinate, PEG-9 Cocoglycerides, Talc, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, CI 77007, CI 47005, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citronellol, Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Evernia Furfuracea Extract

... which I think is related somewhat to the LEA Reformulation of that era.

But, I don't particularly want to go too far down that line as it does veer away from the British lines. It was interesting to see what appears to be the Soapworks DNA finding its way onto the continent where retailers followed suit with the "classy" British names.

Maybe I'll stretch to the likes of LEA, De Vergulde Hand & Muhle since our (British) Edwin Jagger is related to these formulations.

Research is still ongoing with Floris, though and I'll say again that it does not bear a strong resemblance to any of the other British names at present. Out of interest, does anyone have any historical ingredient lists?
 
NeilJ said:
Hi @pjgh I’m afraid I have very little knowledge regarding ingredients and which ones are good or bad, I’m very much a know what I like kind of shaver. I am very much a triple milled soap user and like to use British products if possible. To me DR Harris is the benchmark, it’s good, solid and dependable.
Click to expand...

I know we enjoyed some conversation when we found that T&H was back in the game. I hear you on the DR Harris - I have Arlington (gifted by @Satanfriendly) which I enjoy very much indeed. Please do note that the Captain Fawcett soaps bear a considerable similarity to DR Harris which gives a couple of futher scent options. Notice also that MWF reformulation is in line with T&H now, with the addition of lanolin.

I'm finding that I'm landing on current British lines as my clear favourites and very much enjoy the vintage versions of Boots and Culmak. I do wish I could land on a vintage Trumpers as I had missed the boat when I came to traditional shaving (circa 2013) and my first experience with my (then) newfound favourite scent Eucris in the form of shaving soap was very disappointing, dashed again with their more recent (again, crap) reformulation. Note to Trumpers - go with the T&H base like everyone else, please!
 
I've come out of shaving retirement just for this.....


revenge of the nerds GIF
 
Really just to pin Edwin Jagger somewhere, but I'm finding distinct commonality between Edwin Jagger, Muhle, De Vergulde Hand & Carthusia with the LEA (c.2017 Reformulation Blue Base < not the red dot):

Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Aqua, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum

... which itself can also be found with Boots shaving soap from the 1990s and 2000s. Soap and stick.

It's a pretty close cluster, but offers a further distinct line of soaps.
 
Floris The Gentleman: Elite runs some slightly different ingredients to No 89, which might be expected given the different scent bases but, notably, it contains benzyl alcohol and 'Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone' (tired eyes might have missed this in the 89 ingredients). It is an excellent soap - I used it today and go back to it again and again.

Potassium Palmate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmate, Glycerin, Aqua (Water), Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Linalool, Eugenol, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Benzyl Alcohol, Citral, Hexyl Cinnamal, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)
 
I have Trumpers Rose which is superb but I am not sure what vintage it is as I bought it off eBay. It has what looks like a batch code which is 092383 with the numbers 17508 underneath. The barcode reads 5 038607 092383. I will take a photo of the ingredients tomorrow under natural light.
 
Crabtree & Evelyn

Prior to 2011, C&E shared with the Standard Company Limited base common to practically all the British big names ...

C&E Mysore Sandalwood (c.1978)
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Water (Aqua), Glycerine, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Stearic Acid, Fragrance (Parfum), Isoproyl Myristate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Chloride, BHT, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), D&C Yellow No.10 (CI 47005), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492 & CI77499)

... this is the oldest I could find.

C&E Nomad/Sienna/Sandalwood (pre-2011) < Standard Company Limited
Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Palm Kernel Acid, Isopropyl Myristate, Tocopheryl Acetate, BHT, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, Sodium Chloride, Limonene, Linalool, Amyl Cinnamal, Coumarin, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)

... reformulated on the Soapworks base following the closure of Standard Company Limited.

C&E Nomad/Sienna/Sandalwood & West Indian Limes/Morocca Myrrh (Reformulation 2011?) < Soapworks
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Bisabolol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Limonene, Linalool, Amyl Cinnamal, Coumarin, Hydroxyisohexyl-3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Hydroxycitronellal, Eugenol, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)

... and reformulated again, shortly afterwards.

C&E West Indian Limes (Reformulation post-2011?) < same as Trumpers Reformulation
Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua (Water), Glycerine, Sodium Cocoate, Fragrance (Parfum), Citrus Hystrix Leaf Extract, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Vetiveria Zizanoides Root Oil, Bisabolol, Tetrasodium Glutamate, Diacetate, Sodium Chloride, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Coconut Acid, Benzyl Salicylate, Limonene, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Eugenol, Potassium Sorbate, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491 (Iron Oxides)

C&E Moroccan Myrrh (Reformulation post-2011?) < same as Trumpers Reformulation
Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua (Water), Glycerine, Fragrance (Parfum), Sodium Cocoate, Commiphora Myrrha Resin Extract, Tetrasodium Glutamate, Diacetate, Sodium Chloride, Bisabolol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Coconut Acid, Citric Acid, Limonene, Linalool, Coumerin, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate,CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), CI 77492 (Iron Oxides)

... before giving up shaving soap sales. I'm not quite sure (yet) when Penhaligons packed up selling shaving soap and whether they got onto this formulation, but certainly did switch to the circa 2011 Soapworks base. Note that Trumpers have continued with this last formulation and to date swear blind "nobody has complained".
 
NeilJ said:
I have Trumpers Rose which is superb but I am not sure what vintage it is as I bought it off eBay. It has what looks like a batch code which is 092383 with the numbers 17508 underneath. The barcode reads 5 038607 092383. I will take a photo of the ingredients tomorrow under natural light.
Click to expand...

Appreciated. Thank you.

Best guess it'll look like this: Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Palm Kernel Acid, Isopropyl Myristate, Tocopheryl Acetate, BHT, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, Sodium Chloride, Limonene, Linalool, Amyl Cinnamal, Coumarin, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)
 
Mike Smart said:
How does Scottish Fine Soaps Compare ?
Anyone checked.
Click to expand...
Yes! Haha!

They used to have a stunning formulation, tallow-based with lanolin and in a blind test I swore outright that it was MWF. That one did have a different ingredient list to MWF and was a distinct soap presumably of their own formulation.

The latest formulation appears to be VERY related to the T&H base (Culmak?) shared by TOBS, Vulfix & now MWF.

For fun, here are the ingredient lists ...

SFS (Tallow):
Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Cocoate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Chloride, Lanolin, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Magnesium Sulphate, Sodium Sliicate, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Alpha Isomethyl Ionene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool

MWF (Tallow):
Sodium Tallowate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua, Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Parfum, AlphaIsomethyl Ionone, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Lanolin, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Silicate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Magnesium Sulphate & Tetrasodium Etidronate

SFS (Current):
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Limonene

... Cannabis Seed Oil just to be different?

MWF (Current):
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Sodium Chloride, Lanolin, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentesodium Pentetate, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium EDTA & Limonene

... Lanolin, coz it wouldn't be Woolfat without it!

T&H (Current):
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Gluconate, Linalool, Coumarin

... basically, everything up to Parfum (Fragrance) is the same. The order of the various fixatives and what-not at the end might deviate a little, mostly given the respective scent.
 
Last edited:
pjgh said:
Yes! Haha!

They used to have a stunning formulation, tallow-based with lanolin and in a blind test I swore outright that it was MWF. That one did have a different ingredient list to MWF and was a distinct soap presumably of their own formulation.

The latest formulation appears to be VERY related to the T&H base (Culmak?) shared by TOBS, Vulfix & now MWF.

For fun, here are the ingredient lists ...

SFS (Tallow):
Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Cocoate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Chloride, Lanolin, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Magnesium Sulphate, Sodium Sliicate, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Alpha Isomethyl Ionene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool

MWF (Tallow):
Sodium Tallowate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua, Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Parfum, AlphaIsomethyl Ionone, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Lanolin, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Silicate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Magnesium Sulphate & Tetrasodium Etidronate

SFS (Current):
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Limonene

... Cannabis Seed Oil just to be different?

MWF (Current):
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Sodium Chloride, Lanolin, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentesodium Pentetate, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium EDTA & Limonene

... Lanolin, coz it wouldn't be Woolfat without it!

T&H (Current):
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Aqua (Water), Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Gluconate, Linalool, Coumarin

... basically, everything up to Parfum (Fragrance) is the same. The order of the various fixatives and what-not at the end might deviate a little, mostly given the respective scent.
Click to expand...
Another great & informative write up.
I actually have both the old & the new Scottish fine soaps.
The new one i haven’t used & the old one used once.
i actually hate this new ingredient Cannabis it’s not for me, i don’t like the smell at all.
One of them is a very prominent scent
Pinnacle grooming Black Panther & the other is the Vr 2 base by A&E which name escape last me without looking back.
For me it’s something we don’t need and clearly an extra cost
 
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