Old Post Road #4 Shaving Soap (New Formula)

No. 4 is great. I love it. I use it everyday, and will reorder soon. I also use it for washing my face, and it is a great product. It makes me wonder if anyone else makes a shaving soap that can be used in either hard bar or liquid push dispenser (as with No. 4) for shaving and general usage. A great concept well produced.

Now with the travel size, I take it everywhere. This has displaced Pacific Shaving Company Oil and other shaving oils as my no fuss no muss product.

Just a final note: IMHO the sandalwood is the better of the two fragrance options.

***Edit***

Sorry to have started a new review thread, but once again the search feature failed me. After reading the positive reviews, I stand by my results.
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I don't remember where I first heard of Old Post Road, but saw a blurb on it and decided that for $7, I could give this a go.

Here's a quote from their website:


If it were only so...

First of all, the bottle resembles nothing as much as cheap hand soap. That I could live with; I'm over paying top dollar for a container. I love sandalwood, but the scent is faint and fleeting even in the bottle -- on the face, it is non-existent.

I used it EXACTLY as instructed on the rather nicely written package insert. Again, a quote:

"First, wet your face very thoroughly with hot water. Take two pumps of No. 4 in your hands and rub thoroughly into your whiskers. Then take a third pump and rub that soap into your whiskers. With your hands still soapy, take a very small amount of hot water into your hands and wet your face with that soapy water mix. Now you're ready to shave. Shave down initially, then shave up. Wet your face slightly to re-lubricate (no need for additional soap). Use your hand to feel for areas that need a closer shave (a shave down/shave up process will give you about 85-90% of a good shave). Use your razor over your wet and slightly lubricated skin until you're satisfied with the closeness of the shave. There is no need for additional soap; the residual soap with small amounts of hot water will provide all the lubrication you need at this point to give you a very close shave. The nourishing qualities of No. 4 will keep your face rejuvenated throughout the shave."​

No. 4 had no sandalwood scent on my face whatsoever. The rubbing produced a mildly slick feeling with little or no lather (which I would expect from an oil.) Within the first few strokes of my trusty Superspeed loaded with a twice-used Feather, I knew I was in trouble. All I got was skipping and dragging and pulling that reminded me of an incident when forced to used hotel hand soap.

Ok, I was determined to make this stuff work. I re-read the instructions, and did another go with hot water, a few squirts in my hands, and rubbing it on my face. Same thing.

One more go of hot water, rubbing, and a few more harsh strokes. OK, at this point I gave up. Made a quick lather using the first tub of cream I saw (GFT Almond), brushed it over the No. 4 without washing, and got my usual satisfactory shave.

I still wasn't done. The next day, I went through the entire process again, even following the directions as written. Same problems.

Sorry, guys. I respect your corporate mission, appreciate your interest in making shaving easier, but No. 4 just didn't do anything for me.

I used the original version and found it acceptable for occasional shaves. It will never replace my beloved creams and lathering soaps. But it was OK. However, OK wasn't good enough for OPR and they worked with B&B people to reformulate their soap, and with sperb results.

Again, this is not a lathering soap. It goes on smooth and in a thin layer. It will seem weird to you lather lovers, but stick with it. The slide and cushion are really good, and my Cobra Classic glided over my face like it was on skates.

The scent was mild and pleasant.

The only gripe I have is my inability to simply rinse it off. Creams like KMF, W&S, Trumpers, et al rinse off easily with water. OPR requires a wet facecloth and elbow grease to remove. But that's a small price to pay for the convenience and good shave qualities of this soap.

This is a wonderful travel companion and may well become your go-to soap, especially if you are not married to the idea of mounds of thick lather everywhere. Give it a shot. The maker has worked hard on it and has a unique and excellent product. It deserves to succeed and I hope it does!