today's shave was mediocre- C&E Sandalwood

I shaved with some old Crabtree and Evelyn Sandalwood today and the shave was so bad I just wanted to throw out the puck. It was very rough compared to using the Derby shave cream I used yesterday, left me feeling razor-burned for hours. Is this typical for this style of shaving soap? Maybe there's a reason I never finished using this stuff- I tended to gravitate to using KMF or African black soap that has lots of shea butter and goes on "snotty" rather than "peaky".

Never tried it, but just wait for Captains Choice sandalwood croap, it rocks!

Crabtree and Evelyn's sandalwood smells more like cinnamon and lavender than actual sandalwood. Which is fine. I do like the scent. But lathering is a real challenge. It's a triple milled soap and doesn't seem to have too much glycerin.

I have heard that C&E' shaving soaps, especially the newer ones, do not lather well. I was told that some of the older soaps (SOME ) lathered better due to having Potassium Palmate as the first ingredient, as opposed to Sodium Palmate, which is what their newer soap recipes have listed as a main ingredient. I have not used the soaps (based on this information for a reliable source ), BUT I did just pick up a tube of C&E's Moroccan Myrrh cream, and have been happy with the lathering, protection and over all feel. Just my .02

One of the best aspects of shaving for me is that I get to do it all over again tomorrow. Gives us all a great opportunity to try new stuff and recover from a less than perfect shave.

Welcome to B&B

Sorry to hear your venture into C&E was not successful AND that you have decided to join us.

Try blending your derby and the C&E together and see what you think of that mixture. I will use Nomad for the scent coupled with something I know will billow lather like KMF unscented to get a KILLA combo of perfect lather and off the charts smell.

Do not be shy about joining in ANY of the conversations and meeting the members. We're all good friends here on B&B

Drop into the Shave Wiki and read over some of the shaving articles. http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/ You will find a LOT of useful info in there.

If you have not already done so, stop into the Hall of Fame and tell everyone a little about yourself

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/forumdisplay.php/30-Hall-of-Fame

I decided to try again with the C&E Sandalwood today, with a fresh Personna blade and I used my Tech razor instead. It was a better shave, but this soap is nothing to write hope about (honestly it's no better than using Williams Mug Soap). C&E's Sweet Almond soap was much better, but sadly it's discontinued. I think the Sandalwood is destined for the bathtub.

They have changed their formulation.

Use it now if you like the scent but get some KMF unscented and end up with lather like this

Yeah, I used KMF a lot in the past, the Patchouli was a really nice way to start the day. I still have half a tube of the unscented stuff. KMF is great because it's super slick, very protective and moisturizing. I just wish I could get it in smaller tubes, I don't care for the pump bottles.

A couple years ago when I was going for BBS I switched to using a Gillette Sensor and some latherless cream for a while (I bought it at a dollar store). It worked well at getting a close shave and was protective, but I could never see where I was shaving. I've always wanted to try Cremo Cream.

Don't be afraid to mix and match to find something the smells acceptable and preforms exceptionally.

A drop of glycerin and Aloe in your shave bowl along with a dollop of cream and a brush loaded with soap can make for some incredible shaves.

I might try the glycerin. I vape e-cigs and I keep a lot of glycerin around. I'd have to dig out a dropper bottle though. But the long term solution seems to buy better products. I've found that cost or pedigree of shaving supplies has nothing to do with the quality of the shaves. The only thing that does seem to be true is that some of the more expensive soaps and creams have nicer scents.

This morning's shave was Williams Mug Soap and a drop of vitamin-E oil on top of the puck. The shave went really well, it performed better than C&E's soap. William's made a thin foam but the addition of oil really helped the razor glide.

I'm noticing now after a few days DE shaving, on the first and second day I got a lot of razor burn and my skin seems to now be developing an itchy, crusty feeling, like it needs exfoliating. It doesn't feel the healthiest. The shaves I've been getting have been good quality but not the smoothest, and I'd like to step up the shaving smoothness and skin care. So I got some Thayer's cucumber melon witch hazel to try out.

Products I have tried recently:

C&E Sandalwood
Williams Mug Soap
Derby shave cream
Kiss My Face unscented (this stuff is getting old should probably be thrown out soon)
Derby and Personna blades
generic Indian TTO, Gillette Tech
Omega Syntex, VDH Boar, Men-U synthetic
Thayers Cucumber Witch Hazel
Aqua Velva

The Aqua Velva performs really well at soothing razor burn, I just don't care for the scent, way too "old man" smelling. The musk smells better but I don't have any on hand, unfortunately.

I tried and tried with CE sandalwood soap. It was my first soap and the reason I didn't like soaps when I first started wet shaving. Now I know there's a world of better soaps. No more CE.

Terp61 said:

I tried and tried with CE sandalwood soap. It was my first soap and the reason I didn't like soaps when I first started wet shaving. Now I know there's a world of better soaps. No more CE.

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What kind of soaps do you like? Have you tried Williams?

I ordered some Arko in a small bowl to try out. I want to stick with cheaper brands. I like the scents of the Turkish soaps and creams, they just smell like soap for the most part (I think they are usually lemon verbena). I also like Williams scent, especially in an aged puck.

Done right, soap is really convenient to use... when I'm lazy I just keep it on the sink and face lather. I guess that's the attraction for me.

I have the new formulation nomad from C&E. I took mine out of the wooden bowl and grated it into a glass hocking bowl with lid and load it like I hate it. I also have hard water but I have come to a realization that I need more product to get a good shave. Also a few drops of glycerine on the puck before loading really helps. But u can get a good shave from it.

water hardness here in Orlando is about 8 grains. Not the hardest but not soft. The coasts and south florida have very hard water.

If you think that C.E. sandalwood is not better than Williams which CAN be lathered but is problematic (I know), it's certainly time to try something else. I'm certain that you will like Arko, one of the great bargains that makes excellent lather.

turtle said:

Don't be afraid to mix and match to find something the smells acceptable and preforms exceptionally.

A drop of glycerin and Aloe in your shave bowl along with a dollop of cream and a brush loaded with soap can make for some incredible shaves.

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Great idea. I have the same glycerin you showed but I've never looked for aloe. That's now on the shopping list. Thanks for the tip.

Half way through my last puck of Nomad.

Tried a couple pucks of the new improve C&E, $30 wasted. I don't think they would have lathered in a blender. And what lather I did get faded before I could get a razor to my face. Went to the shower, didn't even make decent shower soap.

FireDragon76 said:

I decided to try again with the C&E Sandalwood today, with a fresh Personna blade and I used my Tech razor instead. It was a better shave, but this soap is nothing to write hope about (honestly it's no better than using Williams Mug Soap). C&E's Sweet Almond soap was much better, but sadly it's discontinued. I think the Sandalwood is destined for the bathtub.

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I'm sure Hope will understand that you should try soap sampler