Crabtree & Evelyn Nomad shave soap

Evening guys. I know that a number of postings have come up about C&E shave soaps these last few weeks. Sorry for the redundancy but I wanted to ask if anyone has any real experience with their Nomad shave soap? To be frank, I was less than impressed with the cake of Sweet Almond Oil shave soap I tried from them a few years ago. I'll tell you, it had no lather at all! I wound up using it for the bath and promptly gave anything but their SAO shave cream a wide berth. The other day I was nosing around their store looking at brushes and on a lark, I opened up the display of Nomad soap. I was immediately hit with a green, herbaceous, fresh scent that was very pleasing. I had always dismissed the Nomad scent because the scent of the edt, shave cream, a/s balm, and shower gel just smelled like all the other crapola modern "water" scents I have come to loathe. I just figured the shave soap was the same but weaker as most hard soaps are compared to the other products. This was the first time they had a bowl of the Nomad out on display where you could really stick your nose in it for a good whiff. Sadly the other products in the line are still off putting to me. So I am now sort of obsessing over the Nomad shave soap but do NOT want to buy an $18 cake of bath soap if you get the drift. I searched but did not discover any reviews(in the review forum)for the C&E shave soaps. Is there someone who can give me a straight up take on the lathering qualities of this soap? Thanks.

Regards, Todd

I hope I don't sound like I am criticizing you or anything, but maybe the bad experience was due to technique. I have the Nomad shave soap, as well as the Sandalwood and Sienna, and I love them ALL. I think the fragrance is the only difference between the three. I haven't used the Sweet Almond Oil soap yet, but I do have a puck. It does seem to be a totally different formula or something.

I get great lather and great shaves using my C&E soaps. My brother really loved the smell of the Nomad soap, so I gave him a "starter set" for Christmas. C&E BBB, Nomad soap in bowl, and a brush stand. I gave him a little tutorial his first time around, second time he was all on his own and got a great lather.

I use the almond soap quite often but really had to learn how to lather it well. I have hard water and the trick seems to be to use distilled! It likes a bit less water and a hard scrub on the soap........for this I use my boar brush instead of a badger and get gobs of sweet smooth lather. It does seem to dry fast as compared to say Tabac..........but then nothing really even comes close to Tabac!

I found, at first, Nomad lathered worse than Sandalwood, and shaved harsher. But when I played around with my water:soap ratio, it lathered fine. And I've gotten the same amount of lubrication from it as Sandalwood, too.

Todd.
I have not used the Nomad but I cannot imagine that C&E has a completely different soap formulation for it. The Sweet Almond Oil shave soap is, as you know, so far below acceptable that I would expect that the Nomad was the same. What I do not understand is why C&E do not "fix it" one of the mysteries of the universe I guess.

I think that now gives me permission to take my almond oil shave soap into the shower and give it a new home.........

I haven't had any problems with the Nomad shave soap (and I would recommend just buying the refill puck...saves you lots of money, especially if you don't like it).

I haven't tried the SAO soap yet, but they are definitely different looking (all 3 scents look the same versus the SAO puck which is smaller and less expensive).

I would say the shaves are very good, but not as good as Tabac and some other triple-milled soaps. That having been said, the C&E Nomad soap has not irritated my face (which is a big plus to me and my sensitive skin).

I've had the Nomad SS for about a year and it performs OK, but to be honest - I don't find myself reaching for it too often. It's good every now and then. All in all, I don't regret the purchase.

Well, so far, members that have used or own both the SAO soap and one of the scented soaps say there is a difference. I would give it a try. Like I said earlier, I think the C&E soaps are a great bang for the buck (for triple milled soaps). I am not saying they are the best, but they certainly aren't the most expensive.

i find the sao soap to be fantastic and produce amazing, creamy lather. i'm a big fan.

blacksr said:

i find the sao soap to be fantastic and produce amazing, creamy lather. i'm a big fan.

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+1. I get fantastic lather immediately from the SAO soap, and great shave. Maybe it's YWMV (Your Water May Vary) but at least YMMV.

Wow. Those of you who are getting good results from the SAO shave soap are indeed living right. I always default to blaming myself when a new shave lather doesn't perform correctly. I TRIED to get that cake of SAO soap to lather. Ultra hot water soaking of the cake, lots of water, little water, you name it. No dice. I could not get it to lather properly. I use hard soaps 98% of the time and have about a dozen different hard soaps(not counting sticks)and can manage good/great lathers with most of them. That SAO would not cooperate! Indeed, water may have been an issue but I am hesitant to blame that. I was really fond of the Nomad soap scent and that is why I thought of trying it. And yes, the refills cakes are the way to go if you are not sure. However, they bowls make nice holders for other brands of soaps if you don't like what is in them. Hence my Blenheim Bouquet shave soap in a Caswell-Massey wooden bowl that is absolutely beautiful.

Regards, Todd

No trouble getting good lather out of that soap for me, and a nice scent to boot. It is a little curious that the ASB/Cologne have such a different, "CK One" scent to them, nothing at all like the soap, which seems much more woody/spicy.

That said, the soap is good stuff. Works well, used to make great lather in the bowl for me, and now makes great lather right on my face. The scent is also not that overpowering, so it works well as a superlather base with some of the Floris sample creams I have. Also tried it with Trumper's Violet cream - nice combination there as well.

I say get it!

So, I have Sienna, and SAO soaps, and here's what I think. First, strange as it might seem, I am absolutely sure that the SAO is a different formula from the cologne scented ones. It simply performs very differently.

Personally, I do not care for the SAO. Not impressed by either the scent or performance. Take that with a grain of salt, though, as a lot of people seem to like it.

The Sienna is another matter. I really really love the scent, for one thing. Especially of the soap, even more so than the rest of the Sienna line. But that's neither here nor there to your issue. As for performance, I put it in the good, but not great category. I have no trouble getting a nice lather out of it, to start with. And it works pretty well. It is simply not as smooth or slick, though, as my favorite soaps. Also, I find it leaves my skin a little drier. Maybe a 7/10 on performance, where Tabac, L'Occitane and Harris are 9/10, and Trumper is 8/10.

-Mo

-Mo

Haven't tried anything but the Nomad. It makes great lather and the scent is amazing. I wouldn't give it as high of rating as wool fat, but it is not very far behind it. What I am dissapointed at is the scent of the Nomad EDT. It is nothing like the soap, which I put my nose up to the cake every time before using it.

Glen

I have the Nomad / Sienna and Sandalwood but not the Almond and I am not a fan of the scent. I must say that all soaps perform VERY admirably. I have not had any issue with lathering, plus the scents are very fresh.

If you are skeptical of the product just try the refill for $8 no need to purchase the bowl

TonyO said:

It is a little curious that the ASB/Cologne have such a different, "CK One" scent to them, nothing at all like the soap, which seems much more woody/spicy.

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Yeah Tony. That was exactly what I noticed. The soap had a great scent. At least in the package.

moses said:

So, I have Sienna, and SAO soaps, and here's what I think. First, strange as it might seem, I am absolutely sure that the SAO is a different formula from the cologne scented ones. It simply performs very differently.

Personally, I do not care for the SAO. Not impressed by either the scent or performance. Take that with a grain of salt, though, as a lot of people seem to like it.

The Sienna is another matter. I really really love the scent, for one thing. Especially of the soap, even more so than the rest of the Sienna line. But that's neither here nor there to your issue. As for performance, I put it in the good, but not great category. I have no trouble getting a nice lather out of it, to start with. And it works pretty well. It is simply not as smooth or slick, though, as my favorite soaps. Also, I find it leaves my skin a little drier. Maybe a 7/10 on performance, where Tabac, L'Occitane and Harris are 9/10, and Trumper is 8/10.

-Mo

-Mo

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Thanks for the take Mo. I thought maybe I was just crazy but it seems as if at least a couple more guys have trouble with the SAO soap. I was not taken with the Sienna scent but I really liked the Nomad soap scent. It is worth the price of a refill cake for me to try it. Thanks again to all who replied.

Regards, Todd