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institut Karite?

Greetings from an old rookie. Decided to return to my roots...traditional razors and brush. Been a long time. My first razor was an old Gillette single-edge.

Anyway, I bought my first shaving soap from some good reviews...institut Karite. I have French blood from my father's side and I like a lot of things from France...like Chanel Platinum EDT, Bordeaux, French film noir, etc. Well, I got the institut Karite and it's scent isn't agreeing with me. I smell licorice and other sharp scents. I prefer more woody, earthy, citrus scents and toned down fragrance.

Any feedback about institut Karite? Any suggestions for a better soap match for me?

Thanks gents.
 
hello retturn welcome back lol, if you love woodsy scents i would strongly take a look at castle forbes cedarwood and sandlwood cream, its very hard cream which you can load from the bowl lasts me a long time as you do not need much so dont let the 38 dollar price scare you off but it is a great product and has a gret woodsy scent
 
hello retturn welcome back lol, if you love woodsy scents i would strongly take a look at castle forbes cedarwood and sandlwood cream, its very hard cream which you can load from the bowl lasts me a long time as you do not need much so dont let the 38 dollar price scare you off but it is a great product and has a gret woodsy scent
Sounds like the right soap for me. I'm on it...thanks!
 
anytime but you may want to hang out a bit to see if anyone else comes along with a suggestion you will have more then a few to look through, but i will say that the CF CS is my favorite soap i have in my den at the moment it reminds me of sitting around the fire at the cottage
 
It's unfortunate - IK is a fabulous performer. It made me consider veg soaps as a serious option. The only French soap I know of that fits the bill is Cade. Although the scent is out of this world, the performance is horrific and finicky.

I haven't tried any exceptional sops with those specific scents. However, you may consider DR Harris Marlborough soap and the above mentioned CF cream. DR Harris Arlington and CF Lime are great.

This looks like it can be a hot topic. As syngent mentioned, give it some time. A lot of vets. around here with great advice to spare.
 
It's unfortunate - IK is a fabulous performer. It made me consider veg soaps as a serious option. The only French soap I know of that fits the bill is Cade. Although the scent is out of this world, the performance is horrific and finicky.

I haven't tried any exceptional sops with those specific scents. However, you may consider DR Harris Marlborough soap and the above mentioned CF cream. DR Harris Arlington and CF Lime are great.

This looks like it can be a hot topic. As syngent mentioned, give it some time. A lot of vets. around here with great advice to spare.
Yes...I'm getting too eager. That's when I mess up.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I'll check DR Harris Marlborough out as well.
 
anytime but you may want to hang out a bit to see if anyone else comes along with a suggestion you will have more then a few to look through, but i will say that the CF CS is my favorite soap i have in my den at the moment it reminds me of sitting around the fire at the cottage
Roger that...
 
IK smells like extra strength laundry detergent. It's like a punch in the nose.

It does perform well though.
 
If you want to try another shea butter soap, Pre De Province is a great, clean and light citrus scent. If this one irritates your face as well, shea butter may not be for you. If you want something without she butter, your options are endless.
 
Another poster mentioned L'Occitane Cade, but complained about its performance. Soap preferences are an individual thing, but it works well for me. There are 78 reviews of Cade posted, so take a look for yourself: http://badgerandblade.com/reviews/s...&title=-l-27occitane-cade-shaving-soap&cat=40 . The scent is a bit like juniper.

People may jump on me for this.....but I found the smell of IK and Cade to be quite similar. I am one of the people who thought Cade was a rather poor performer as well. But like you said, many people like it!
 
If you want to try another shea butter soap, Pre De Province is a great, clean and light citrus scent. If this one irritates your face as well, shea butter may not be for you. If you want something without she butter, your options are endless.
I'm not seeing where anyone says anything about their face getting irritated, but if so, shea butter isn't necessarily the culprit. The IK also contains lanolin, where the other main French shea butter soaps (PdP, Provence Sante) do not. Lanolin is an irritant for lots of folks.
 
I never had a problem getting good lather from Cade. To me it lathers up fine. I get the same thick, creamy lather I get from any other hard soap that's not a dud. I could lather it in my sleep and don't use any special technique. Just a lot of soap/loading time, just like I do with every other hard soap I use.

Cade is the only French woodsy soap I can think of. There are a bunch of other good French soaps that I actually like a bit better but none of them have the woodsy scent like Cade.
 
If you want woodsy, may I recommend Queen Charlotte Soaps' Celestial Woods. I too enjoy woodsy scents, and this is my favorite. Plus the performance of QCS products is stellar.
 
eShave has an Orange/Sandalwood scent that I think sounds appealing, but I haven't used it. (It's a cream, not a soap, though.)
 
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