Prairie Creations OLD SPICE Tallow Shave Soap

Topgumby;1617384 said:
Let's start off this review with full disclosure. I am not a highly trained connoisseur of tallow soaps. I don't have an advanced degree in dermatology, I am not a steely-nosed scentologist, nor do I have a laboratory with an assistant named Igor where I can dissect and analyze the component parts of shaving soap.

I am also slightly prejudiced in my outlook on this product because of the fine customer service, conscientious communication and willingness to go above and beyond merely filling an order that this vendor displays.

With that out of the way, this soap rocks. We are talking Buddy Holly never died and goes on to slay disco before it happened rocks. As a humble neophyte wet shaver who thought creamy tallow goodness was only available overseas or by borrowing from the past, I'm blown away by this soap.

Price: I should go to jail for paying so little for so much quality.

Quality: Well, it could come in a fancy Ironwood bowl with a rendition of some long-dead English Dandy looking bored on a gilded label, instead of in a plastic TTO dish that's clearly and attractively labeled. The stuff inside is quality through and through, however.

Scent: It smells like soapy Old Spice. Not exactly like the Shulton OS, but close. There is a scent "bloom" when you build your lather, but mostly it's fairly understated, not overpowering. My only less than perfect rating comes from personal preference for a stronger scent, and the desire not to come across like a Eastern Bloc gymnastics judge.

Lather: The lather is moist, plentiful and lasts as long as a that Chick Flick you agreed to watch in exchange for the John Wayne movie last week. I leave my face lathered for at least two minutes before I shave as part of my prep, and I'm used to having to bring the brush back in to play before proceeding with the shave. Not with this stuff.

Efficacy: "ef·fi·ca·cy, Date: 13th century: the power to produce an effect."
That's what that word means! If the effect you are after is glide, cushion and protecting your tender skin from that nasty ol' razor blade, this stuff has efficacy in Spades. My styptic pencil just made friends with the Maytag repairman.

Moisturizing: Bring in the amplifier from "This is Spinal Tap", because we need to go to eleven on the moisturizing meter. This stuff could be sold as a brush on moisturizing product. It's embarrassing - I want to use words like soft, smooth, supple, soothing and luxurious in connection with my face. The dirt road that is my ugly mug has been paved over with tallowy goodness.

A short time ago I was pondering on how the rich, creamy American made tallow soaps of the past, like the original Old Spice and vintage Williams shave stick, were seemingly lost forever, showing up only as ghosts at antique shops and auction sites.

Now I find the good old days are back, better than ever, and available for a song from Prairie Creations.

Price : The price is really a great value considering your getting a tallow soap.

Quality: Krissy makes her soaps in small batches and a lot of time, care and testing go into each product until she's ready to sell it.

Scent: For me the scent is just right. I tried several times over the years to use Old Spice but thought it was too strong and the smell didn't seem to fade as the day went on. I realize for many here at B & B that that would definitely be a plus but for me not so much. This scent is softer and doen't have the staying power.

Lather: I struggled to get the lather right with this soap. I couldn't get it to produce mounds of thick, rich lather like other soaps but it did still result in an excellent shave.

Efficacy: Even with the thin lather it still was nice and slick and provided and irritation free bbs shave.

Moisturizing: Excellent. I probably could have got away without using an aftershave balm.

I received two tubs of Prairie Creations soaps for Valentine's Day. One was the Old Spice scented Aloe base.

While I found the scent to be quite good....not lingering but a nice OS scent while shaving, I was essentially unable to ever achieve a dense creamy lather with it.

I loaded my brush very heavily with soap for face-lathering. After many trials I never achieved one shave with the sort of dense lather I have come to expect from a tallow based soap. I did achieve a slick thin lather that in my view defines "lack of cushion". Shave quality was good due to the slickness, but the lather just had no quality at all for me.

I have to rate this soap as one to avoid. Not worth its relatively low cost.

I had high hopes for this soap, based on observations like those above, but I am just mystified as to how to lather this stuff.

I have a weeks worth of reports tagged onto this thread, starting at the end of page 2 and carrying over to page 3.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=130997

I've been using this soap almost exclusively for the past two weeks in order to post a review.

Price: This is IMO prabably the best bang for your buck for any tallow soap on the market.

Quality: Krissy really places attention to detail. She makes the soaps in small batches in order to ensure that your getting a quality product with a nice scent.

Scent: soap scents tend to discipate the longer they sit on the shelf. Looking at the born on date on the side of the jar, I knew I was getting a superior product. The scent was exactly as described. It was enough to have a lingering smell but not too overpowering.

Lather: I gave this a 7 because for me it did whip up into a meringue like cream as with Tabac or MWF. The lather was very slick (Moreso than Tabac or MWF) and I received an excellent shave with it.

Moisturizing: The tallow and aloe really adds something to this soap. My skin really seemed soft after using this soap. I've tried other soaps where your face feels dry after the fact. Not with this product.

Overall, I really enjoyed this soap and I plan to try others in her line-up.

Let's start off this review with full disclosure. I am not a highly trained connoisseur of tallow soaps. I don't have an advanced degree in dermatology, I am not a steely-nosed scentologist, nor do I have a laboratory with an assistant named Igor where I can dissect and analyze the component parts of shaving soap.

I am also slightly prejudiced in my outlook on this product because of the fine customer service, conscientious communication and willingness to go above and beyond merely filling an order that this vendor displays.

With that out of the way, this soap rocks. We are talking Buddy Holly never died and goes on to slay disco before it happened rocks. As a humble neophyte wet shaver who thought creamy tallow goodness was only available overseas or by borrowing from the past, I'm blown away by this soap.

Price: I should go to jail for paying so little for so much quality.

Quality: Well, it could come in a fancy Ironwood bowl with a rendition of some long-dead English Dandy looking bored on a gilded label, instead of in a plastic TTO dish that's clearly and attractively labeled. The stuff inside is quality through and through, however.

Scent: It smells like soapy Old Spice. Not exactly like the Shulton OS, but close. There is a scent "bloom" when you build your lather, but mostly it's fairly understated, not overpowering. My only less than perfect rating comes from personal preference for a stronger scent, and the desire not to come across like a Eastern Bloc gymnastics judge.

Lather: The lather is moist, plentiful and lasts as long as a that Chick Flick you agreed to watch in exchange for the John Wayne movie last week. I leave my face lathered for at least two minutes before I shave as part of my prep, and I'm used to having to bring the brush back in to play before proceeding with the shave. Not with this stuff.

Efficacy: "ef·fi·ca·cy, Date: 13th century: the power to produce an effect."
That's what that word means! If the effect you are after is glide, cushion and protecting your tender skin from that nasty ol' razor blade, this stuff has efficacy in Spades. My styptic pencil just made friends with the Maytag repairman.

Moisturizing: Bring in the amplifier from "This is Spinal Tap", because we need to go to eleven on the moisturizing meter. This stuff could be sold as a brush on moisturizing product. It's embarrassing - I want to use words like soft, smooth, supple, soothing and luxurious in connection with my face. The dirt road that is my ugly mug has been paved over with tallowy goodness.

A short time ago I was pondering on how the rich, creamy American made tallow soaps of the past, like the original Old Spice and vintage Williams shave stick, were seemingly lost forever, showing up only as ghosts at antique shops and auction sites.

Now I find the good old days are back, better than ever, and available for a song from Prairie Creations.

Krissy at Prairie Creations has created a beautifully scented tallow soap that lathers beautifully and provides great glide. The scent is very nice & extremely clean - although I don't have the original Old Spice to compare it to I enjoyed using the soap a lot. It lathers superbly and feels great on your skin.

At the risk of heresy, given a choice, I'd recommend this above the well respected Tabac and MWF soaps, and at the price it's being sold for it's an absolute steal. If you're new to tallow and want to give it a try this soap has to top your list. Don't let the cheap price fool you, it holds it's own against soaps costing several times more and I can't image feeling the need to continue looking for another brand.

Highest recommendation. :thumbup:

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Prairie Creations OLD SPICE Tallow Shave Soap

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