After all the stress surrounding my grandma's passing, I needed some "retail therapy". Yes, I know that's not an optimal coping mechanism; but here we are.
So since we had our first BVWSC shave with Abbate Y La Mantia soap, I was curious about the great soap quality and @djundjila@wetshaving.social mentioned that they transitioned fully to hard soaps. Even more curious, I was able to find the first soap in a german webshop that started their shift towards hard soaps: Blue Tobacco, a scent that spoke to me as a former menthol cigarette smoker. Originally, I only wanted some extra items to get free shipping - and then this happened. Clearly I've got no self control...
THE GOODS:
- Abbate Y La Mantia Tobacco Blue (Blue Tobacco) shaving soap 🇮🇹
- E&S Rasage Shaman shaving soap, plus 3 body soaps (Solstice , Barber and Azur) 🇨🇵
- HAGS Barberwood soap, witch hazel toner and beard oil 🇬🇷
- Los Jabones de Joserra Masala Connection shaving soap 🇪🇦
- Saponificio Varesino sample pack (ALL of their aftershave balms, one beard wash and balm respectively plus a "Pro Victis" skin repair cream) 🇮🇹
- Meißner Tremonia Dark Limes beard soap 🇩🇪
- Freebies: Proraso beard wash sample, some self-made thank you stuff and candy
Not going to talk about the body soaps and beard stuff, since this is a wetshaving instance. But I am really curious about the performance of all the shaving soaps!
Blu Tobacco is really as I envisioned: a pack of (unlit!) menthol cigarettes on the beach. The aluminium tin is really nice. Shaman by E&S could be quite something for colder months, off the puck it's already dark. Barberwood is a take on a barbershop scent with lots of wood notes added, so a full set was a no-brainer. After my initial scepticism, barbershop scents have really grown on me in the last years. Finally, only from reading the notes on the label, I knew I had to get Masala Connection. It's kinda like someone had taken all of my favourite individual scent notes, threw them together in a fragrance oil and made a shaving soap out of it. Voilà! Off the puck, it already smells divine. Never had anything by Los Jabones de Joserra before, but as I wanted to try as many european artisans as possible from different countries it made sense to me.
Even though I reside in Germany, I have to admit that I used more American wetshaving soaps than european ones. Unfortunately, artisans from "the old continent" tend to be overlooked. I'll try to put more of a spotlight on wetshaving software from the EU in my upcoming SOTDs... But needless to say, this concludes my wetshaving purchases for this year and the next year probably too. I can really recommend the seller AboutBodyCare though, very friendly thank you card, fast shipping and my package was even perfumed with E&S Solstice EdT.
Welcome! Glad to hear that safely razors are working well for you.
As for shaving soaps and making your own lather with a brush, there's definitely a learning curve to it but you can bet that it'll feel like a tremendous improvement over canned foam and gels! High-quality shaving soaps also don't contain any parabens, but a lot of skin-friendly ingredients. I'm a head shaver with a scalp prone to breakouts, itching and razor burn and noticed a clear improvement from switching. YouTube tutorials are your friend, it's how a lot of us used to learn the technique. Feel free to ask for recommendations here, our instance is small but pretty knowledgeable!