The Goodfella's Smile Reviews

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There's not much out there on these soaps so thought it worthwhile starting a thread that provides some feedback on them. I've been making some basic notes as I've worked my way through my collection. Using either the discount codes for vendors or adding these to my Amazon Subscribe and Save, I've never paid more than £9 for one of these soaps and as low as £6 in some cases. I think these are a real bargain.

I'm no expert but I'd say the lather has been consistent across all of these. It bursts in to life easily and doesn't require a lot of water (I live in a soft water area). A 15 second load has always provided enough for >3 passes and is stable for the duration of the shave.

Scents (caveat - this isn't my forte):

Amber Fougere - A really nice and unique take Fougere. I think this is probably their most unique offering in terms of scent.

Sea Citrus - A sharp combination of marine scents with a citrus kick. The 'kick' has a sharp lemon undertone to it.

Abysso - I don't know what I was expecting from this scent but it wasn't this. A deep marine and cologne scent. I really like this one. Of the two marine based scents, I prefer this to Sea Citrus. Awesome graphics.

Stardust - A floral scent with a citrus rear. Once lathered, the citrus mellows leaving the floral (powdery floral) smell. It's nice but I found the scent from the lather had mostly gone by the time I was on to my third stroke of the razor.

Savage - A strong cologne scent from the tub that mellows in to a really pleasant and modern smell. I'm not sophisticated enough to describe the scent but those that like the 3T cologne based offerings should like this.

Inferno - I believe (I know - I bought it) my youngest will give this to me for Christmas. I'll add my findings to this thread once I've used it.

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The Abysso sort of reminds me of Davidoff cool water.

Glad to see these soaps getting some recognition. I tried the Furiah soap as I liked the art work (reminds me of the Dark Souls games for anyone who's into video games) and found the scent to be similar to Razorock puros or Extro's tobacco.

Their aftershaves are also good and the ones that I have used have some good longevity.
 
I've finally used it!

Inferno - There's a sweet top note to this soap that's underpinned by a dark woodsy and leather smell. It's a nice combination. Masculine and a good winter scent. My wife was nonplussed with it though. Interestingly the lather performance wasn't as great as the previous soaps. The required slickness was there for all 3 passes but there was a gradual drop in performance across those passes. Seems to have a tighter tolerance band for water.

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I really liked the Sea Citrus - a lovely smell and great lather. My only complaint was that the graphics on the lid "disintegrated" during the course of time, leaving small black bits in the sink! Didn't affect the shave though :)
 
The TGS Pino Alpestre is a nice soap. Probably made by TFS and shares the same style of tub as the Rasozero range. It has a scent that reminds me of the Rasozero Spiffero with a fresh pine fir scent over the top. I really like it. Good slickness with sufficient residual slickness for touch-ups. It was easy to get a good lather and it's seems to have a wide water acceptance range.

I also used the matching ASL which initially smelt like I was applying disinfectant to my face (probably the alcohol and fir combo) but this soon mellowed and I'm now getting the same nice scent of the soap.

This set is a keeper.

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Four new The Goodfellas Smile (TGS) soaps to review. Each very different in consistency and 3 different bases:

Re Nero: The original veggie base
New tallow base: Shibusa 2
Pino Alpestre and Chronos: New veggie AJ-1 base

I'll aim to review each of these over April.

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Great stuff! Look forward to your review. I have a tub of TGS Italian Orange and yes I totally agreed it is a good quality soap.
 
Shibusa 2 review:

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Razor: ATT H1
Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
Brush: RR 400 Noir
Soap: TGS Shibusa 2
Pre: Proraso White
ASL: RR XXX
ASB: None

TGS Shibusa 2 is this brand's take on Acqua di Parma Colonia so I thought it would pair well with the RR XXX.

I should start by mentioning that I'm not familiar with AdP but if it smells anything like XXX, I need it in my life.

From the tub, there's no obvious scent and it seems to be dominated by a sweet cocoa note. Once lathered, the scent is pleasant but very light. I had to concentrate to sense it when applied to my face.

The soap lathered with a little difficulty initially but I believe that's because my brush was too dry. I eventually got it going and the slickness was fine. Nothing exceptional but it did the job. There wasn't much in the way if residual slickness but that could be to do with the effectiveness of the H1.

I'm underwhelmed by this soap in terms of scent and performance. Its veggie brothers have performed better. I'll give it another try in the future but this isn't one I'd currently recommend based on this (admittedly single) experience.

The H1 is awesome. It's a 2 pass shaving machine. Feels lovely in the hand
 
Re Nero Review

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Razor: ER 1912
Blade: GEM (2)
Brush: Yaqi Barberpole 2 Band 24mm
Soap: TGS Re Nero
Pre: Proraso White
ASL: Osma Alum
ASB: LEA
Scent: Lacura Masculine


I wanted to shave yesterday but the ER 1912 did such a good job of removing my stubble, it was still cowering in fear the next day. So, 48 hours later it's the second shave with the 1912.

I've got a glass-like finish from 2 passes. The first pass took enough hair down I thought if go straight for am ATG finish. It cost me a small weeper under the chin and some crude language when the alum was applied but there's no irritation and my face does feel divine. I'm glad I gave this 1912 another go. Next time I'm going to go back to the gradual hair reduction methodology though!

TGS Re Nero has a blackcurrant note to it and reviews suggest it smells of Terre D'Hermes but I can't confirm this. The soap itself has that slightly grainy quality you can sometimes find in TFS, Figaro and RR soaps which meant there was a couple of tiny soap clumps on my face during lathering - a bit like grit. The lather was dense and slick and smelt nice whilst on - it's not strong enough to fragrance your bathroom though. Residual slickness seemed poor but that could be down to the efficiency of the 1912? Can't comment on the PSF as I was too busy swearing at myself in the mirror as the alum proceeded to sing a savage tune.

Ingredients:

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