Gannet squad alert! New formula - TESTING

So much makes so much sense now Martini, so very very much sense. Do not despair! You can leave this dangerous addiction behind now and set up America's first ever branch of CaneToad Lickers Anonymous. One day at a time is all it takes; you have to believe that!!! We're here for you Marly, we really are. You might want to see the 'What law would you make' thread in the lounge which is discussing similar problems right now. Are you dealing in Cane Toads? O.K. best not to answer that here..... is that illegal? Our prayers are with you. PM me any time if you need support, although I can't claim to be a Cane Toad Lickers sponser, 'specially since you haven't set that up yet.
Here's one for ya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbBfIDJidOU - couldn't find one that began 'My names '*' and I'm a toad licker - but I'm sure this'll hit home.
 
Looking good Sharon - don't forget to announce what you intend to call it so the rest of us will know what to order.
How about "Nanny's Magnus (great) shaving soap" ?"
 
Well, whipped up a bowl full this morning with the NF brush.
First impressions, nice consistency of the soap and scent OK but not my choice (but then that been laid down that scent is not the test) I scooped some soap out and smeared it into my bowl and spread out as per Sharons recommendation! Lather generated well if not better than most soaps and creams i use. I had 3 passes and no problems at all, the soap provided excellent slide and lubrication and was easy to reapply in passes 2 & 3, when there are no real whiskers to cling to.
I scooped about a 1/3 into my bowl, which is what i do with some soaps of a similar consistency and was shocked that it was nearly all gone at the end of the shave. I may swirl my brush on the soap tomorrow and see what difference this makes to the shave and amount used.
I have sensitive skin, that reacts to certain chemicals/additives badly and first indicators are all good on this front, so thats a result for me!

In summary.
Good soap and preforms well, it was very quick to produce a full and luxurious lather, maybe i would prefer it a little firmer but that would not be a deal breaker for me. Would i buy again based on this sample....yes, in a different scent.
Name...just can not think of anything but i will turn my mind to it today

nice one Sharon!
 
Got mine yesterday and post to that effect, but it seems to have not made it through the ether. Ho hum... Anyway, attempt two.

The tin is fabulous and my become my travel tin. Cheers Sharon :)
The smell is lovely. A definate hint of grapefruit and very clean. Equally well endorsed by Mrs 72. I think the ladies vote counts twice when it comes to smell.

I used my smallest brush (Simpson Keyhole) and a bowl to lather in with soft Lancashire water. A very easy lather I found, and much like Cella very white. I then did a partial face lather before doloping the rest on. It felt nice on my face but by then the scent, or at least it's effect on me, was fading (no bad thing in my book).

The shave was slick. I have been restricting myself to my feather Artist with a pro blade, and just one pass. I am trying to improve my technique so am limiting myself to one pass as I have been experiencing a bit of razor burn with two. This was super smooth, I avoided cutting myself, and had no sting on the alum afterwards.

I applied a little Nivea sensive balm and moisturiser as normal. An hour and half later no hint of dryness.

First impressions, this is a winner :)

Recently I have been on another of Nannys and Cella. I can't see what the fuss is with Cella. After today I think it is dead to me.

I will do a few AB comparisons to Nannys other formulas over the next few days.
 
Shaved with the new soap this morning and I can can this is definitely a winner for me and I think a revelation.

I used about a 2-almond-size chunk of soap because I have found in the past with NSS if you don't use enough it can fizzle out, so I made sure that wouldn't happen for the test. I needn't have worried because in fact that was way more than I needed. Infact afterwards when washing up my lather bowl I found almost half of the soap I used still stuck in the ridges of my bowl, so the amount of soap used was probably triple what I needed.
I smeared the soap around the surface of the bowl with my fingers and started to brush work. At first a little bubbly but later settled down to a thick cream. It seemed to take a little longer to build the lather and have a glossy sheen which reminded me of how Stirling soaps work.
Although I bowl lather I don't simply paint the lather onto my face but continue to build the lather there. This lather has really good coverage and adhesion; I'd say slick. I ran my finger over my newly lathered face and I could still see the lather clinging on. I find that gives great protection.
Again the slickness and "greasiness" reminded me of Stirling, which is a great property. The lather settles to a kind of an emulsion rather than a cream which I find gives the very best performance; again reminds me of Stirling.
The properties of the lather remained throughout 3 passes and about 20 minutes or more with no signs of degradation. I also found no skin reaction to the lather which I sometimes have slightly to some soaps.

Post shave my skin felt a little tight (similar to how to Murdock shave cream behaves, BTW that's a very expensive cream). I'm not sure if was because of any drying, skin actually felt young again! Perhaps it could do with a little more moisturising effect but not at the expensive of any performance of the current formula. Anyhow that's what ASBs are for which can be chosen to suit the weather etc. I used my mildest ASB Trumpers Coral Skin Food and the final result was fine.

So in summary, this is the best NSS I've tried. All of the slickness of Stirling without the slightly oily skin conditioning. Performance is about the best I've used of any soap. This for me was a revelation and I can say I was genuinely excited using it.

Well done Sharon, top performer, beats my faves of Down Home Summer and Vanilla which surprised me. I haven't even mentioned the scent which was wonderful too. I would like to see this soap in DHS scent too. Grail not fail.

My SOTD link here
 
Part two...

Full shave this morning. Same brush.

Lather is produced VERY quickly and I can confirm my thoughts on the whiteness. This soap is brighter than anything else I'm using. Don't think this effects the shave but it's interesting.

The shave produced some bad and some good news.

Bad news. It is my habit to use a smear of preshave, originally oil but now Noxzema cream. This soap does not tolerate this. The result was immediate lather collapse on my skin. Painting some of the lather on the back of my hand did not result in a collapse so it's fairly clear the cream is to blame.

Good news. I thought of washing my face and starting again but decided bravely to carry on with the reduced lather. Fortunately and surprisingly, there was no great reduction in slip and cushion so I was able to enjoy the shave. The soap is excellent and once fully hydrated with somewhat more water then most, produces good cushion, glide and little end-of-pass drying. I got an excellent shave with, I think, a bit less AS burn than usual.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try without the pre-shave treatment.

So far, it looks as though this is a soap I would buy. Love this particular scent too.
 
33neog0.jpg


OK so I got me a bowl full of lather and it was easy, nice, slick and thick with not much effort, my Vie-Long horse seamed to like this soap and its not the only one.

I did little prep apart from hot wash, no preshave products today so that I could see how the soap performed on its own. Very fresh grape smell not too strong not too weak. The lather went on a treat and stayed consistent over my 3 pass shave.

Feedback from the alum was a minimum and in my usual trouble spots and my skin feels nice and soft.

So Holy Grail or Epic Fail....... Holy grail definitely.

Let me know when it goes into production as you will have an order from me.

Jim
 
I used my sample this morning. I found it to lather quite easily. The lather was nice and thick and very slick, which in what I like. I usually do a two pass and a bit of a touch up and found that after the second pass I didn't have much lather left in my brush (synthetic). Not really an issue though as I'll load more soap next time.

In short it reminded me of Super Smooth crossed with Stirling in that it lathers easily and is very slick. It also leaves my face nicely moisturised post shave. I'll use it a few more times but first impressions are that I'd buy it.

P.s. I really like the scent. It's not strong either which is a plus for me. How about Nanny's Epic Soap?
 
Initial impression, an excellent soap Sharon..But bear with me I would like to experiment further and compare with other soaps to get a more rounded impression...

I love the smell, very Grapefruity, light and summery...As has been said in an earlier post, I found my skin feeling tighter after the shave, maybe tighter is the wrong word, younger feeling is probably a better description...which believe me, is a very good feeling in your late sixties....And NO tingling irritation whatsoever which I get with some soaps, Kent and MWF....

Similar in performance, though slightly better than the Original, but without the oily after feel of the Olive oil soap...Definitely a soap I will buy, especially in this scent, whatever it is ( please do tell )

Definitely GRAIL and not fail in my opinion...and thank you for giving me the opportunity to test this out.
 
As far as I can judge, there's only one thing wrong with this soap - it's not in production!

Thank you, Sharon, for the best shave I have ever had and with the best result I've ever achieved. I thought I knew what BBS meant but now I know I've only ever had Billiard Ball Smooth before - now I've had Baby's Bum Smooth, soft and plump and so you want to smell it, cuddle the naked baby.

I've spent a small fortune on soaps and creams, especially creams, looking for the right one - to give me a perfect shave. In the end, the perfect soap arrived as a free sample!

Using familiar hard ware - DLC on a bronze Templ8 modified Epee, a new Lab Blue fresh in from America, gecko's latest masterpiece in maple burl and a Whitehead bowl - I squdged some Holy Grail into the bowl and swirled in some soft water and lather appeared all but instantly - and grew thicker and more prolific with a very few more swirls. Soon as I put the brush to my face I knew I was into new territory - here I had a semi-hard soap going on like I was using an expensive cream - thick, easy, wet, snowy white tight lather. I put it on over my usual prep of pre-shave oil straight out of the shower and then Proraso pre just before shaving.

It shaved like an expensive cream, the blade gliding through the lather, over my face but so smooth, so easy - and leaving behind enough to shave over without re-lathering, a touch-up here or there. The WYG took the stubble to very short, XTG and it was gone, ATG and the baby's bum appeared. It was so good I was incredulous! This is what the search has been about - the zenith of trad DE shaving. How do you get a 'good to be alive' feeling from a shave? When it is perfect, smooth, as when a project comes together, it starts up immediately and purrs, the dovetail clicks into place.

There is no point trying to compare this soap with any of the good and very good soaps we've been treated to recently because I'd inevitably finish up saying detrimental things about them, nor to commercial products - not until you get to the very expensive creams, anyway. It is just way out in a new league of its own - the Superb or Superlative League. If I was to be stranded on a desert island, take only one soap or cream, I'd dither between Xpec and Holy Grail. Xpec I know and trust and had many excellent shaves from it. Holy Grail is new but has just given me the best shave I have ever had - so I'd choose it, well, I would if it were available to choose, anyway! So at the moment - Xpec. After Sharon gets organised - Holy Grail. For me, it really is that good!

As for names - nothing clever or making reference to its background, but something simple. As this soap is going to be the centre of Sharon's business, I'd call it 'Signature'. The Signature Range, in pots at least as fancy as Jaboman's, with a special discount for TSR members because this should be an expensive product to buy (and for all I know it is an expensive product to make!) and I've already spent so much looking for this soap, but before Sharon masterminded and created it.

Congratulations, Sharon, on a superb shaving soap. I'd like to put in an order for the biggest sized pot you end up selling it in, please. Very firm and definite order! Oh! to be able to shave like this every day, day after day - smooth, slick. You have made an elderly man's face feel like young skin!
 
I will keep it short.

Arrived yesterday so used it this morning with my regular setup of face lathering with my best face lathering brush the Semogue 1800 and the famous £1.89 Reimei 3 piece from DX.com loaded with a Super Sainless SuperMax blade.

I did the first wtg pass with the Holy Grail and the second with my favourite Nanny soap the French Lavender OO.

Scent: I can smell passion fruit but I see what the other say about grapefruit, it's there as well.

Lather: 7 out of 10, I like very thick lather that some cream and soaps like the Maca or MWF can give, this soap is not on the same level. The lather is thinner but do provide adequate protection.

The ATG pass with the brush washed properly and the Lavender OO is more like 9 out of 10 for thickness and protection. Sorry but I don't exactly know what cushioning or gliding really mean, all I can say the OO formula is slicker than the grail and the residue left after allow for touch ups.

I tend to use one soap for at list a week so there will be another four shaves with the grail so watch this space.

Thank you for letting us try the product Sharon, not want to sound crass or direct but soap makers of the better species has to rely on us hairy faced monkeys to test face shaving so I try to be as honest as possible :sleepy::icon_razz:
 
Thanks for all the f/b so far gents. I'm surprised at the tight feeling, as I find it moisturising. I ought to know having spent two 20 minute sessions this morning with a face full of lather - I did feel ridiculous, but not dry. :) Still, if it's makes skin feel younger, maybe I should rethink and sell it as a beauty product.
Bechet, I thought from pictures and videos I've seen that Jabonman used the same tins as I use, only with a paper label on them? Has he changed this?
Goldcrest; the scent is called Bamboo and White Grape. I currently have this in stock with goat milk in the original recipe, and also without G/M.
Keep the names coming chaps; my currents favourites are Magnus Soapus and Signature. I'm getting the feeling that those of you who have tried my other soaps are preferring this, but I welcome more comparisons - would be a shame if I stopped making the others only to find one of them was better.
Shemen Zait, I note what you say and can see that the olive oil soap might give a better slippy residue, that was one of the reasons that I thought olive oil could actually add something to a shaving soap. But I'm surprised that you don't find the lather thick, as I find it really thick. Still, no doubt it will perform differently to an extent with different water, brushes, techniques etc. And you are of course correct, I must rely on you hairy ones for the acid test of how this perform in action.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom