New Vintage Blades soap = T&H Luxury Soap

[alabamalawyer]

This similarities of these two soaps was raised on another forum a few weeks ago. As a result, I decided to do a direct comparison between the T&H and Vintage Blades soaps over the coming week. I intend to use the T&H soap Sat, Sun and Monday. I will then use the VB soap the next 3 days. Each day I will use a 38C, Feather blade and Rooney 1/2 Finest brush. I will post my impressions late next week.

I did a test lathering of each last and night and took some photos. It should be noted when viewing the pictures that I usually face lather so creating the lather in the bowl was out of the norm for me. If the lather appears a bit "off" then attribute that to me and not the soap.

The soaps -- please note that I had to shave the VB soap (on the left) down to fit into the AOS shave bowl.


The VB soap after 10 swirls with the Duke 1 brush


The brush after about 35 swirls over the VB soap


The shaving mug with the VB lather


The Duke 1 after 10 swirls on the T&H soap


The brush after about 35 swirls on the T&H soap


The T&H lather


The test lather run didn't reveal any significant difference between the two. Both lathered well and produced a nice, thick lather. The scent was basically the same with the T&H having a slightly stronger lavender smell. This is probably attributable to the fact that it was just opened and the VB was opened a couple of weeks ago. I had my wife smell both and she thought they smelled the same.

More updates on the comparison to come later next week.

[joshmpdx]

Thanks for the comparison and the pic's... im interested in your outcome.

[whitebar]

I look forward to reading the results of this showdown.

[Tarsyn]

Got the vintage blade soap last week and I agree it is excellent soap. I will definitely be buying more of it. Travis

[alabamalawyer]

After using the T&H and Vintage Blades soaps the past week, I have come to the conclusion that there is little, if any, difference between them. I started last Saturday with the T&H and used it for 3 consecutive days with a Feather blade and Rooney 1/2 Finest brush. I would place a small amount of hot water on the soap to soften it while I showered. I would shave immediately after the shower. I used this same procedure with the Vintage Blades and did start a new Feather blade with it so each blade had 3 uses with each soap.

Each soap loaded easily on the brush. It would take about 20 seconds to load the brush (approximately 35 swirls) on the soap. This provided enough lather each time to complete my normal shave which is two passes plus touch-up. One day with each soap, I did a full 3 pass shave. I found each produced a nice lather. I did find that the lather with the Vintage Blades soap held up a bit better for the full 3 pass shave. By the 3rd pass on the T&H shave, the lather had thinned out a bit and lost a bit of its cushion. Both lathers did tend to dry out a bit by the 3rd pass but this could easily be remedied with a bit more soap and water added to the brush.

The scents of the respective soaps were nearly identical. Each has a light lavender scent which is barely present during the shave. Neither had any lingering scent following my standard warm and cold water rinse.

Each soap provided ample cushion and gave me a comfortable shave with no irritation. I had no sensitivity to either soap, but it should be noted that I have not traditionally had any sensitivity issues with soaps that I use.

Overall, I could not determine any strong distinguishing feature between the two soaps. The only noticeable difference was the consistency of the VB lather during the 3rd pass as noted above.

A 100g puck of the Vintage Blades currently costs $9.99 while the puck and shaving bowl costs $20.99 at Vintagebladesllc.com. It is noted on the Vintage Blades site that the cost will be $12.49 for the puck and $24.99 for the bowl/soap after the first of the year. The 99g puck of the T&H will probably run $17 with the shaving bowl option generally costing about $40.

For the price, I feel the Vintage Blades soap is an excellent option. The cost is considerably less but the soap quality equal. If you have wanted to try out T&H but hesitated due to cost, the VB soap would be an excellent alternative.

I will continue to use both soaps in my rotation and update my comments with any additional info I get from on-going use.

[Suzuki]

I asked Jim the same question and he didn't know the answer.

I haven't compared the ingredients, but it seems to be the same as T&H, which is also supposed to be the same as Culmak.

I can't tell the difference between the Culmak and the T&H (except the Culmak costs about 1/2 the price of the T&H), which is why I think its quite likely that the VB soap is the same as the Culmak, which seems to be the same as the T&H.

Confused yet...

[alabamalawyer]

I haven't compared the ingredients

The ingredients for both were listed on another site. For what it's worth, here are the ingredients for the T&H soap:

Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua, Glycerin, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Stearic Acid, Parfum, Paraffinum Liquidum, Isopropyl Myristate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Chloride BHT, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Penetate, CI-77891

and here for Vintage Blade's soap:

Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua, Glycerin, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Stearic Acid, Parfum, Paraffinum Liquidum, , Isopropyl Myristate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Chloride, BHT, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentetate, CI77891

They look the same. Obviously, this doesn't mean the ratios of each ingredient are, but...

[Austin]

Thanks Chris. It looks like VB is rebranded soap at a better price point.

[R-James]

Thanks for that

[joshmpdx]

Great Review Chris!!

what are your thoughts on Gold Dachs? which also happens to be a veggie based milled lavender soap...

[alabamalawyer]

what are your thoughts on Gold Dachs?

I haven't used it too much. I have a puck in a travel container but don't travel much so I have only used it a couple of times. I will use it the next couple of days and let you know.

From memory, it is a quality soap that lathers easily. Will update you iafter a few more uses.

[joshmpdx]

I haven't used it too much. I have a puck in a travel container but don't travel much so I have only used it a couple of times. I will use it the next couple of days and let you know.

From memory, it is a quality soap that lathers easily. Will update you iafter a few more uses.

Hey Chris, i thought i saw one or two SOTD's of yours with Gold Dachs
...Comparison Thoughts??

[alabamalawyer]

I haven't tried it again. I have it in a travel container so will probably give it a go over the Christmas holidays. I will update after the first of the year.

[Darjeeling Express]

Fabulous post Chris. Thank you.

[Darjeeling Express]

I haven't tried it again. I have it in a travel container so will probably give it a go over the Christmas holidays. I will update after the first of the year.

I look forward to a fresh thread on the Gold Dachs. Happy Holidays.

[Doc4]

This similarities of these two soaps was raised on another forum a few weeks ago. As a result, I decided to do a direct comparison between the T&H and Vintage Blades soaps over the coming week. I intend to use the T&H soap Sat, Sun and Monday. I will then use the VB soap the next 3 days. Each day I will use a 38C, Feather blade and Rooney 1/2 Finest brush. I will post my impressions late next week.

I did a test lathering of each last and night and took some photos. It should be noted when viewing the pictures that I usually face lather so creating the lather in the bowl was out of the norm for me. If the lather appears a bit "off" then attribute that to me and not the soap.

The soaps -- please note that I had to shave the VB soap (on the left) down to fit into the AOS shave bowl.


The VB soap after 10 swirls with the Duke 1 brush


The brush after about 35 swirls over the VB soap


The shaving mug with the VB lather


The Duke 1 after 10 swirls on the T&H soap


The brush after about 35 swirls on the T&H soap


The T&H lather


The test lather run didn't reveal any significant difference between the two. Both lathered well and produced a nice, thick lather. The scent was basically the same with the T&H having a slightly stronger lavender smell. This is probably attributable to the fact that it was just opened and the VB was opened a couple of weeks ago. I had my wife smell both and she thought they smelled the same.

More updates on the comparison to come later next week.

After using the T&H and Vintage Blades soaps the past week, I have come to the conclusion that there is little, if any, difference between them. I started last Saturday with the T&H and used it for 3 consecutive days with a Feather blade and Rooney 1/2 Finest brush. I would place a small amount of hot water on the soap to soften it while I showered. I would shave immediately after the shower. I used this same procedure with the Vintage Blades and did start a new Feather blade with it so each blade had 3 uses with each soap.

Each soap loaded easily on the brush. It would take about 20 seconds to load the brush (approximately 35 swirls) on the soap. This provided enough lather each time to complete my normal shave which is two passes plus touch-up. One day with each soap, I did a full 3 pass shave. I found each produced a nice lather. I did find that the lather with the Vintage Blades soap held up a bit better for the full 3 pass shave. By the 3rd pass on the T&H shave, the lather had thinned out a bit and lost a bit of its cushion. Both lathers did tend to dry out a bit by the 3rd pass but this could easily be remedied with a bit more soap and water added to the brush.

The scents of the respective soaps were nearly identical. Each has a light lavender scent which is barely present during the shave. Neither had any lingering scent following my standard warm and cold water rinse.

Each soap provided ample cushion and gave me a comfortable shave with no irritation. I had no sensitivity to either soap, but it should be noted that I have not traditionally had any sensitivity issues with soaps that I use.

Overall, I could not determine any strong distinguishing feature between the two soaps. The only noticeable difference was the consistency of the VB lather during the 3rd pass as noted above.

A 100g puck of the Vintage Blades currently costs $9.99 while the puck and shaving bowl costs $20.99 at Vintagebladesllc.com. It is noted on the Vintage Blades site that the cost will be $12.49 for the puck and $24.99 for the bowl/soap after the first of the year. The 99g puck of the T&H will probably run $17 with the shaving bowl option generally costing about $40.

For the price, I feel the Vintage Blades soap is an excellent option. The cost is considerably less but the soap quality equal. If you have wanted to try out T&H but hesitated due to cost, the VB soap would be an excellent alternative.

I will continue to use both soaps in my rotation and update my comments with any additional info I get from on-going use.

I asked Jim the same question and he didn't know the answer.

...

So ... there's the hard way and the easy way ...

[alabamalawyer]

So ... there's the hard way and the easy way ...

or the expensive way (buy both soaps and try them out) and the cheap way (just call and find out). No one ever accused me of being the brightest bulb in the box

[ctakim]

This is a high quality scientific experiment! And I consider myself a scientist!

Thanks!

[andrewinman]

just a thought...are the 2 soaps identical in size? If I bought a VB puck will it go into my T&H bowl?