Dr Henk's Formula #4

Now that's strange, several people stating that they find the smell reminiscent of De Vergulde Hand. I checked last night (i still have an almost brand new cake of DVH in my shaving closet), and that confirmed what I thought: I don't smell any resemblance at all. Oh well, it appears that everybody so far found the smell agreeable.

I may still want to revert to the scent I originally intended for my shaving soaps, even though I think that this one, while somewhat subdued, is actually very suitable: a mixture of cedar and bergamot. I've also gotten in a few samples of other wood scents (notably pine and juniper), which appear to be useful, AND..... tada..... I've located a few promising candidates for a leather scent. How about a leather/cedar/bergamot mix?

Henk
 
well if your asking for scent requests then i'd be in favour of a Aqua Velva clone :hungrig the wife would like Blue Stratos :roll:

a copy of the original Old Spice would do very well but i suspect an artisian such as your good self would rather make something unique
 
hando said:
well if your asking for scent requests then i'd be in favour of a Aqua Velva clone :hungrig the wife would like Blue Stratos :roll:

a copy of the original Old Spice would do very well but i suspect an artisian such as your good self would rather make something unique
Click to expand...

Mmm, I think cloning existing scents is way beyond me. Maybe for some of these scents 'open source alternatives, so to speak, are available (there are such things, you know...).

Henk
 
finished my first go with this soap and here's my report

Brush - 404 mix

scent:- i still get the DVH connection but now detect lemon as well, definately no cedar :? very mild as well

lather:- took a little bit more product than other soaps to get going but all was well in the end. i did have to revisit the cake before subsequent passes though, nice and slick providing good glide.

moisturising:- as Henk says soaps don't moisturise so i'll say i didn't dry my skin in any way, unlike DVH

as this is what i'd call a clay soap i will use Olivia's for my next shave for comparisson but from memory this soap is better as you can actually make a lather that's more like traditional soaps do.

finished with Alum but no a\s to see how the skincare was afterwards, 1hr later and no worries at all
 
No, this one doesn't have any cedar. All of that went into my 'failed' batches (numbers 1-3). I have a healthy supply of hand soap...

Most of the responses so far are pretty much aligned with my own experience -- good lather, needs some product to get there, but not difficult to build. I do have the experience that the second and subsequent passes actualy give better lather than the first, though that may be due to the fact that my face is wet when I do the first lather pass...

Need more fragrance, and may need to look into the softness.
 
Mine arrived today; looking forward to using it.

Loving the smell and putty/plasticine feel; very different.

Dank U well, Henk.
 
Ok, first impressions:

Love plasticine consistency: could it not be sold as Morph? <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.firebox.com/product/2186/My-Own-Morph">http://www.firebox.com/product/2186/My-Own-Morph</a><!-- m -->

Smell. I like it. Or rather I liked it, until my wife said it smelt of toilet cleaner.

Lather: thinnish, took some work but no worse than many non-tallow soaps. I'd love to hear Tony (Antdad)'s take on this as he's Die Ober-Lathermeister.

Lubrication: fantastic. Best I've ever had with a soap.

Overall: I like it. A lot. Keep the putty softness, keep the slick clay, change the smell (my wife thinks I fished it out of a urinal; the mad Dutch scientist sending stuff for free was too unbelievable).
 
Ollie I reckon your wife has a supersensitive nose! :D I thought this stuff was very pleasant and nothing like any toilet cleaner I have smelled.Do I remember you giving up on proraso because she didn't like the smell of that too?
 
comparrison time chaps as last night i used the Olivia's soap i have, the only other clay soap i own.

discovered 2 things actually.
first off Henk's soap is a lot easier to work with and you can achieve a more creamy lather if that's what you want.
by accident i left my cake of Olivia's to pre-soak a lot longer than i normally do with any of my soaps, a good 5 mins, and that made a big difference.
a lot easier to pick up when loading the brush but this benefit was lost when going back for more during subsequent passes.
Olivia's is as hard a cake as a tripple-milled soap to begin with.
Henk might not want to go much harder with his formula :?

so for me (based on 1 shave each) Henk's is superior to Olivia's and therefore the best clay soap i've tried :D
 
Funnily enough I did the same: head to head Olivia vs Henk

Henk is the hands-down winner: love the lubricious clay, I can blade buff my top lip long after the soap has seemingly gone (when Tabac would need a re-lather).

No nicks, no rash.

Great stuff Henk! If you do one in lemon/citrus and one in woody/leather (patchouli? sandalwood?) it would equal or surpass any soap so far.
 
Just writing to say that this stuff is great.

Love using it.

Maybe doing two versions of it in -- one in Sandalwood and one in Peppermint (i.e. a evening and morning version, respectively) but for smooth shaving it's the tops.

Thanks Henk!

PS if you were in on the PIF: use lots of soap and only a little water, takes a bit more brushing than a tallow soap but the it's a triumph of quality over quantity: very slick and slippery . . . lovely.
 
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