All,
We have a soap passaround here where a box of soaps are passed from person to person. The idea is that you get to cut or scoop a small amount of any soap you'd like to try from anything in the box and then trade a couple of your favorite unused soaps for a couple from the box. All the soaps are numbered so it's kind of a game guessing what soaps are in the box. Honest reviews of soaps are posted by soap number with clues that might help you guess. So it's fun to see what's in the box when you get it and compare your guesses to what's really there. The box keeps changing and there's always a lot of great soaps to try. There's even some high end and unobtanium sample only soaps that stay in the box.
Dr. Jon of Dr, Jon's Soap Co (http://www.drjonshandcraftedsoapco.com/shop/) stumbled upon the thread, saw his name mentioned and generously volunteered to send a couple soaps for the box so that we could enjoy them. Then he decided to add a couple more to what he'd send. Then he let me pick out six that we wanted to try before choosing to just not to leave anything out and just send us one of each. I was blown away by his generosity and really excited to get to try his entire soap line. I've spoken to Jon several times in posts here and have seen him quite active on this forum. He's a super nice guy and it's common for him to post here with kind helpful advice. Now that I've passed the box on to the next person I owe Jon a big thank you and wanted to share with you how generous he has been.
This is what he sent us for out passaround box:
I tried 5 of the soaps in the box. Hydra, Savannah Sunrise, Gold Label, Black Label and Classic and all were outstanding. I really liked the scent of Anne Bonny as well and Aphrodite was something that I enjoyed as well.
First off the scents are great, I mean really nice and definitely something that I'd enjoy using regularly. I didn't keep any of the soaps from the box so that others could try them so I definitely see an order in my future.
Hydra - "Just like the multi-headed beast of legend, this soap comes at you from all angles. Our refreshing blend of orange, lemon, lime, mandarin, grapefruit, and bergamot leaves each user bitten by a different scent. No one feels the same after being ravaged by the Hydra! Made with essential oils. "This one was my favorite with such a clean fresh scent."
Savannah Sunrise - "Savannah Sunrise blends the classic fragrant fruit and floral notes of the south in perfect harmony. We brought together hints of Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Gardenia, Peach and Orange blossom to make an intoxicating fragrance that lingers on the skin". This one was oustanding as well. I'm not a big floral fan but this scent was really nice. This might well be included in a future order with the Hydra.
Gold Label - "This is one of our two unique takes and tobacco based soaps. Gold is not your traditional pipe tobacco or green tobacco scent, we have blended an assortment of fragrances to create a deep, spicy fragrance. Gold is made with tobacco, leather, amber, neroli, evergreen and clary sage fragrance oils." I love the tobacco type soaps and this and this one and the Black Label were very enjoyable.
Black Label - "This is one of our two unique takes and tobacco based soaps. Black is not your traditional pipe tobacco or green tobacco scent, we have blended an assortment of fragrances to create a sweet yet masculine fragrance. Black is made with tobacco, oak moss, lavender, strawberry, bergamot and violet essential and fragrance oils."
Classic - "Classic was our first soap, the one that brought back memories of grandfathers performing a morning ritual with pride and precision. The unique blend of lavender, cedar, lime, bergamot, vetiver, and rosemary will transport you back in time and remind you of the reason you started wet shaving in the first place. Made with essential oils."
Jon told me this one was his favorite it was a classic barbershoppe scent that I really enjoyed. Think of something similar scent wise to Barrister & Mann Seville but I did like this one a bit better.
Anne Bonny - "Our take on the classic bay rum scent. The Legend of Anne Bonny is made with West Indies Bay leaf essential oil, dark rum, lime, and black tea; the very same English tea that nearly cost Anne Bonny her life! Close your eyes and breath deeply, you can almost hear the waves crashing against the bow of the ship! Made with essential and fragrance oils." The bay rum with the black tea is a great combination. I got more bay rum and black tea than the other scents but they were definitely present and very enjoyable.
Aphrodite - "This fragrance is based on the traditional offerings of the Cult of Aphrodite. We blended rose, pomegranate, black currant and apple to make a sweet and floral fragrance that we think even the goddess herself would enjoy. This fragrance will be available on February 14th." This was a nice floral type scent as well that ranked high in my Daughter's list. I liked it quite a bit as well.
Big Green Monster - "Ever wondered what it would feel like to have a cold, zesty, spicy monster attack your face? You're about to find out when you let loose The Big Green Monster! Our handcrafted blend of lime, basil, and peppermint is sure to be an eye opener and a shave you will never forget! Made with essential oils." A very bold lime scent with a lot more going on. My Daughter really liked this one.
Hex - "This is a soap you need to be careful with; men have been known to fall under her spell with a single shave! The spellbinding blend of black pepper, cedar, orange, and cinnamon are as close as we could get to actual magic! Enjoy. Made with essential oils." This one sounded great but it didn't work for me as far as the scent goes. Personally, I just liked the others a lot better. I've been here long enough to know that we're not all going to like the same things. I can always find a scent from a soap line that I don't like. Me liking 8 of Jon's 9 soaps is much better than I expected.
The art work on the tins is by far the best I've ever seen on any soap. Quite colorful and very enjoyable. I'll have to ask Jon if he'd part with a couple stickers with my order for when I transfer the soaps I purchase to Ikea Grundtals. I do this with all of my soaps.
The scent's were great. I ranked them above according to my favorite scent wise. My Wife and Daughter ranked them as well in a different order than I did. The common theme was "mmmmm this smells nice". My Daughter's favorite was Savannah Sunrise and my Wife's was Anne Bonny.
Performance: The soaps all performed the exact same so once you try one you know exactly what you're going to get performance wise with the next one.
In lathering the soaps the lather appeared quickly but it didn't explode into a huge lather. This is more of a very slick and not overly fluffy lather that would be great for straight razor shaving. I prefer a more standard lather but I had no problem with this one at all. It's the kind of the type of lather that you get from an I'Colonailli soap. There was plenty of lather gathered from a very small amount of soap and I had more than enough for a couple more passes than the three that I enjoyed.
Slickness was definitely a good deal above average as the razor slid across my face effortlessly. Jon told me that he was going for slickness and after shave face feel and he certainly did well there.
After shave face feel was outstanding. This is a soap that you could skip the aftershave and not even notice. I did just that in fact with my first shave with Jon's soap. I wanted to see how the soap left my face feeling for about 20 minutes before applying an aftershave and it went so well I completely forgot and never went back for it. The fact that I hadn't used any aftershave didn't cross my mind until later in the evening when I was deciding what soap to use the next day.
Overall thoughts: I'd been looking at them but two things kept me from trying Dr. Jon's soaps. First off it's a wetter soap than I'm used to and some have described it as more of a shaving cream type consistency. It is a wetter soap but you can totally tell it's still a soap and not a cream. I'd prefer it not quite as fluid but that's a trade off for it's better qualities of increased slickness and outstanding face feel. Secondly the samples are expensive at $7.95. What I didn't realize is that what Jon is selling as a sample is a full sized container that is half full. The samples are worth the price considering you're getting a full sized tin, some absolutely outstanding art work and a very good amount of soap.
I'm very selective at this point and this is an excellent soap that is worthy of a spot in my shave den. I'd consider this to be an upper tier soap and I'm happy that I got a chance to try it.
Thanks again Jon!
We have a soap passaround here where a box of soaps are passed from person to person. The idea is that you get to cut or scoop a small amount of any soap you'd like to try from anything in the box and then trade a couple of your favorite unused soaps for a couple from the box. All the soaps are numbered so it's kind of a game guessing what soaps are in the box. Honest reviews of soaps are posted by soap number with clues that might help you guess. So it's fun to see what's in the box when you get it and compare your guesses to what's really there. The box keeps changing and there's always a lot of great soaps to try. There's even some high end and unobtanium sample only soaps that stay in the box.
Dr. Jon of Dr, Jon's Soap Co (http://www.drjonshandcraftedsoapco.com/shop/) stumbled upon the thread, saw his name mentioned and generously volunteered to send a couple soaps for the box so that we could enjoy them. Then he decided to add a couple more to what he'd send. Then he let me pick out six that we wanted to try before choosing to just not to leave anything out and just send us one of each. I was blown away by his generosity and really excited to get to try his entire soap line. I've spoken to Jon several times in posts here and have seen him quite active on this forum. He's a super nice guy and it's common for him to post here with kind helpful advice. Now that I've passed the box on to the next person I owe Jon a big thank you and wanted to share with you how generous he has been.
This is what he sent us for out passaround box:
I tried 5 of the soaps in the box. Hydra, Savannah Sunrise, Gold Label, Black Label and Classic and all were outstanding. I really liked the scent of Anne Bonny as well and Aphrodite was something that I enjoyed as well.
First off the scents are great, I mean really nice and definitely something that I'd enjoy using regularly. I didn't keep any of the soaps from the box so that others could try them so I definitely see an order in my future.
Hydra - "Just like the multi-headed beast of legend, this soap comes at you from all angles. Our refreshing blend of orange, lemon, lime, mandarin, grapefruit, and bergamot leaves each user bitten by a different scent. No one feels the same after being ravaged by the Hydra! Made with essential oils. "This one was my favorite with such a clean fresh scent."
Savannah Sunrise - "Savannah Sunrise blends the classic fragrant fruit and floral notes of the south in perfect harmony. We brought together hints of Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Gardenia, Peach and Orange blossom to make an intoxicating fragrance that lingers on the skin". This one was oustanding as well. I'm not a big floral fan but this scent was really nice. This might well be included in a future order with the Hydra.
Gold Label - "This is one of our two unique takes and tobacco based soaps. Gold is not your traditional pipe tobacco or green tobacco scent, we have blended an assortment of fragrances to create a deep, spicy fragrance. Gold is made with tobacco, leather, amber, neroli, evergreen and clary sage fragrance oils." I love the tobacco type soaps and this and this one and the Black Label were very enjoyable.
Black Label - "This is one of our two unique takes and tobacco based soaps. Black is not your traditional pipe tobacco or green tobacco scent, we have blended an assortment of fragrances to create a sweet yet masculine fragrance. Black is made with tobacco, oak moss, lavender, strawberry, bergamot and violet essential and fragrance oils."
Classic - "Classic was our first soap, the one that brought back memories of grandfathers performing a morning ritual with pride and precision. The unique blend of lavender, cedar, lime, bergamot, vetiver, and rosemary will transport you back in time and remind you of the reason you started wet shaving in the first place. Made with essential oils."
Jon told me this one was his favorite it was a classic barbershoppe scent that I really enjoyed. Think of something similar scent wise to Barrister & Mann Seville but I did like this one a bit better.
Anne Bonny - "Our take on the classic bay rum scent. The Legend of Anne Bonny is made with West Indies Bay leaf essential oil, dark rum, lime, and black tea; the very same English tea that nearly cost Anne Bonny her life! Close your eyes and breath deeply, you can almost hear the waves crashing against the bow of the ship! Made with essential and fragrance oils." The bay rum with the black tea is a great combination. I got more bay rum and black tea than the other scents but they were definitely present and very enjoyable.
Aphrodite - "This fragrance is based on the traditional offerings of the Cult of Aphrodite. We blended rose, pomegranate, black currant and apple to make a sweet and floral fragrance that we think even the goddess herself would enjoy. This fragrance will be available on February 14th." This was a nice floral type scent as well that ranked high in my Daughter's list. I liked it quite a bit as well.
Big Green Monster - "Ever wondered what it would feel like to have a cold, zesty, spicy monster attack your face? You're about to find out when you let loose The Big Green Monster! Our handcrafted blend of lime, basil, and peppermint is sure to be an eye opener and a shave you will never forget! Made with essential oils." A very bold lime scent with a lot more going on. My Daughter really liked this one.
Hex - "This is a soap you need to be careful with; men have been known to fall under her spell with a single shave! The spellbinding blend of black pepper, cedar, orange, and cinnamon are as close as we could get to actual magic! Enjoy. Made with essential oils." This one sounded great but it didn't work for me as far as the scent goes. Personally, I just liked the others a lot better. I've been here long enough to know that we're not all going to like the same things. I can always find a scent from a soap line that I don't like. Me liking 8 of Jon's 9 soaps is much better than I expected.
The art work on the tins is by far the best I've ever seen on any soap. Quite colorful and very enjoyable. I'll have to ask Jon if he'd part with a couple stickers with my order for when I transfer the soaps I purchase to Ikea Grundtals. I do this with all of my soaps.
The scent's were great. I ranked them above according to my favorite scent wise. My Wife and Daughter ranked them as well in a different order than I did. The common theme was "mmmmm this smells nice". My Daughter's favorite was Savannah Sunrise and my Wife's was Anne Bonny.
Performance: The soaps all performed the exact same so once you try one you know exactly what you're going to get performance wise with the next one.
In lathering the soaps the lather appeared quickly but it didn't explode into a huge lather. This is more of a very slick and not overly fluffy lather that would be great for straight razor shaving. I prefer a more standard lather but I had no problem with this one at all. It's the kind of the type of lather that you get from an I'Colonailli soap. There was plenty of lather gathered from a very small amount of soap and I had more than enough for a couple more passes than the three that I enjoyed.
Slickness was definitely a good deal above average as the razor slid across my face effortlessly. Jon told me that he was going for slickness and after shave face feel and he certainly did well there.
After shave face feel was outstanding. This is a soap that you could skip the aftershave and not even notice. I did just that in fact with my first shave with Jon's soap. I wanted to see how the soap left my face feeling for about 20 minutes before applying an aftershave and it went so well I completely forgot and never went back for it. The fact that I hadn't used any aftershave didn't cross my mind until later in the evening when I was deciding what soap to use the next day.
Overall thoughts: I'd been looking at them but two things kept me from trying Dr. Jon's soaps. First off it's a wetter soap than I'm used to and some have described it as more of a shaving cream type consistency. It is a wetter soap but you can totally tell it's still a soap and not a cream. I'd prefer it not quite as fluid but that's a trade off for it's better qualities of increased slickness and outstanding face feel. Secondly the samples are expensive at $7.95. What I didn't realize is that what Jon is selling as a sample is a full sized container that is half full. The samples are worth the price considering you're getting a full sized tin, some absolutely outstanding art work and a very good amount of soap.
I'm very selective at this point and this is an excellent soap that is worthy of a spot in my shave den. I'd consider this to be an upper tier soap and I'm happy that I got a chance to try it.
Thanks again Jon!
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