Boellis Panama 1924 Shaving Soap

[leonidas]

...has anyone tried Boellis Panama 1924 Shaving Soap?

..... how does it compare to Cella or Vitos??

...is it worth the money?

[Price]

I was curious, but the description sounded too similar to cheap, proven excellent Cella for me to drop that coin.

[Blix]

It's on par with Cella, with a tad nicer scent maybe. It was worth it bought as the Razorock LE soap, but in Boellis packaging I'd pass...

[rearviewmirror]

http://badgerandblade.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=76336&title=boellis-1924-panama-shave-soap&cat=40

only 2 reviews but both gleaming with praise

[Price]

It's on par with Cella, with a tad nicer scent maybe. It was worth it bought as the Razorock LE soap, but in Boellis packaging I'd pass...

Are these the same product?

[leonidas]

....so is Razorock the same soap as Boellis just packaged differently????

....if that is true..... that is very very interesting.......

[Blix]

Are these the same product?

According to Marco they are. The full Razorock name: Razorock MCMXXIV Italian Master Barber Limited Edition
MCMXXIV = 1924

:wink2:

[leonidas]

...oh damn..... and Razorock is so much cheaper.....at least i think it is cheaper.... (i haven't done the per ounce cost calculation)

[elsmooth]

...oh damn..... and Razorock is so much cheaper.....at least i think it is cheaper.... (i haven't done the per ounce cost calculation)

If I'm looking at them properly...RR Artisans are aprx $9 for 125g...Panama comes in at $50 for 175g. The now sold out RR Artisan LE was $20 for 225g. RR wins the cost game hands down.

[Price]

According to Marco they are. The full Razorock name: Razorock MCMXXIV Italian Master Barber Limited Edition
MCMXXIV = 1924

:wink2:

Got it. Well then, I can answer the question.

I found the Razorock Artisan LE very similar to Cella. The scent is just a touch sweeter, and the consistency is slightly softer than Cella. Lather is in the same ballpark. It's excellent, but I've never done a side-by-side lather comparison between the two. It's good stuff, but for my money I'll stick with Cella.

[Blix]

Yeah I agree, it's very close to Cella, no point in buying the expensive Boellis if you already have Cella IMO...

Leonidas, there's plenty other great products to get, if you have money that burns in your pocket... :smile:

[leonidas]

Yeah I agree, it's very close to Cella, no point in buying the expensive Boellis if you already have Cella IMO...

Leonidas, there's plenty other great products to get, if you have money that burns in your pocket... :smile:


......i totally agree with you......no reason to pay more money for Boellis if it is the same as Cella............

....no money burning in these pockets........ only holes where the money has drained out......... :001_smile

[Evbo]

I have both the RazoRock LE & Boellis. And I can assure you, they are most certainly NOT the same thing.

The Boellis soap is nowhere near as soft as the RazoRock. Where RazoRock's scent is sweet & marzipan-y, Boellis's scent is much drier & more understated -- imho, it's much more elegant. Too, the version of the Boellis soap that I own is tallow-free. There's a healthy dose of stearic acid but I don't know if the stearic acid is vegetable- or tallow-based. Regardless, both are excellent products that easily generate mounds of slick, cushiony lather.

If forced to choose I'd give the edge to Boellis, if only because of scent. But again, both products are top-notch.

EDIT: I have not tried either Cella or Vitos.

[Blix]

Thanks for the input Evan. The current Boellis 1924 does contain tallow and is probably the version more similar then... :smile:

[global_dev]

nothing against RR, good products there, but to say they are exactly the same is probably a misnomer.. XXX is definitely not AdP, and Classic is definitely not Cella. it's a personal choice what is worth and performance, but i don't think i would rate another product based on RR series...

[poonjaji]

I have both the RazoRock LE & Boellis. And I can assure you, they are most certainly NOT the same thing.

Does anyone know if there have been different versions of Boellis? I think one B&B vendor has it listed as a 250gm soap and another listed as 175gm...both for the same price. I also seem to recall reading an old review - IsaccRN's or maybe your's Evan - and I got the impression it was a harder soap, not the putty like substance of RazoRock LE 1924 or Cella.

[AABCDS]

Does anyone know if there have been different versions of Boellis? I think one B&B vendor has it listed as a 250gm soap and another listed as 175gm...both for the same price. I also seem to recall reading an old review - IsaccRN's or maybe your's Evan - and I got the impression it was a harder soap, not the putty like substance of RazoRock LE 1924 or Cella.

Boellis had an inconsistency regarding the labeling of the weight of the soap. As far as I know, there is only one version. Here's my thread (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/210424-Boellis-Panama-1924-Weight-Inconsistency) about it.

[poonjaji]

Boellis had an inconsistency regarding the labeling of the weight of the soap. As far as I know, there is only one version. Here's my thread (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/210424-Boellis-Panama-1924-Weight-Inconsistency) about it.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, James. For a bit I was thinking one was selling old stock and the other new stock. :tongue_sm

[Harvitz81]

The 250g that Boellis advertises is actually the weight of the soap AND box. The soap by itself weighs in around 175g. Quite the case of shady marketing if you ask me. Personally though, I prefer it over cella for what it's worth.

[Evbo]

Does anyone know if there have been different versions of Boellis? ... I got the impression it was a harder soap, not the putty like substance of RazoRock LE 1924 or Cella.

I think there have been different versions of this soap. I thought mine was tallow-based, but tallow isn't on the list of ingredients. Never know, tho -- they could've made a mistake & just left it off the list. It certainly behaves like a tallow soap!

EDIT: While this soap is definitely harder than RR, it's still "soft" in that it's somewhat malleable by hand. Still, it's nowhere near the putty-like consistency of RR.

[brothers]

I did a comparison of the recipes of different soft soaps, Boellis, P160, Cella, RR Limited Edition, and RR Artisan. Here are my results, Boellis = P160; Ltd. Ed.= RR Artisan; Ltd. Ed. = Cella; and obviously, Cella = Artisan. I find the performance of Cella, Ltd. Ed, and the Artisan soaps to be equally excellent, but I'm one of those whose sense of smell can't find abide Cella. I did not spend the big bucks to get the Boellis because Boellis = P160, and I found that P160 has a tendency to dissipate on the brush between passes, and I don't like soaps that do that. If the recipe for Boellis had turned out to be a match for the other 3, I'm sure it would have been worth the money. So, as it stands, I still don't have Boellis.

[Evbo]

I did a comparison of the recipes of different soft soaps, Boellis, P160, Cella, RR Limited Edition, and RR Artisan. Here are my results, Boellis = P160; Ltd. Ed.= RR Artisan; Ltd. Ed. = Cella; and obviously, Cella = Artisan. I find the performance of Cella, Ltd. Ed, and the Artisan soaps to be equally excellent, but I'm one of those whose sense of smell can't find abide Cella. I did not spend the big bucks to get the Boellis because Boellis = P160, and I found that P160 has a tendency to dissipate on the brush between passes, and I don't like soaps that do that. If the recipe for Boellis had turned out to be a match for the other 3, I'm sure it would have been worth the money. So, as it stands, I still don't have Boellis.

I'm confused.

If you didn't get the Boellis, then how do you know that Boellis = P160? Comparing ingredient lists is one thing, but actual usage is another. That's like comparing one apple pie w/another just based on ingredients. On an intellectual basis, you can deconstruct it & draw your own conclusions all you want. But the actual taste is quite another matter.

I used to have P160. I sold it because I couldn't abide the smell -- it was waaaaayyy too sweet for me. As a soap, however, it performed very well. And btw, its consistency is much more akin to RazoRock than Boellis. So it strikes me that the methodology by which you arrived at your conclusion is flawed. I'm only pointing this out because to me, Boellis & P160 are 2 very different animals. If anything, P160 has more in common w/RazoRock than with Boellis.

[brothers]

No doubt you've got a good point, but from my perspective I didn't want to spend $50 knowing the recipe was not the same as the other 3, I already had the 3, and knew they performed in a manner pleasing to me. It was a buying decision not to buy blind and hope for the best. Heaven knows I've already done that WAY too many times. Maybe the process was flawed, but maybe not. One thing for sure, it was my chosen process!:001_smile