I do remember, on a latherhog awards video, when Rod was accepting his award, he said he was standing by a flock of "future mutton tallow" sheep. I know he briefly discontinued Mutton because the tallow prices were getting too high, so maybe this is his plan to bring them down–and, it could also mean a reinvigoration or expansion of the scent line.
Super Soap Shave off bracket
- Thread starter akh223
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #42
Match 27
March 19
WSP Citrus Blast in Rustic vs. A&E Kaizen in K2e
I had a mix-up on Sundays shave, and accidentally started using Noble Otter, so I decided to just have a regular shave with it. Then, Sunday night I decided to try a new soap...That being said....I didn't shave on Monday, so I had a bit more growth when I started this matchup.
WSP just seems to explode with lather right off the puck when I start loading. This is one thing I always notice about the WSP; it makes lather fast! It was slick, and had good performance for the shave, but I could definitely feel a difference with a bit more than a single days growth. It was enjoyable, but not as smooth as usual with WSP. I attribute that to maybe it being a bit thinner of a lather than other soaps? Post shave was pretty good.
A&E Kaizen - There is a definite difference in the loading experience with this soap. Where WSP starts to make a lather right on the puck....Kaizen stays drier and just loads more in to the brush. It probably leads me to overload the brush with soap? I was careful to add plenty of water and man did it make a great lather. I could definitely tell a difference in the shave. With the Kaizen soap the whiskers just seemed to disappear under the lather, and I couldn't feel them being shaved off. It may have been just a hint slicker than WSP, but not by much. It was a great shave, and the post shave was good.
Winner is A&E Kaizen.
WSP is eliminated, but had an absolutely marvelous run. It took down other soaps that I thought would stomp it. I do have some other Head to head matchups I would like to do with it. Specifically, I want to do:
Nordost vs. WSP.
WSP vs. Electric Sheep (rematch of Match #10 Feb 21: Stirling Electric Sheep vs WSP Citrus Blast. WSP Citrus Blast just barely ever so slightly edged out Stirling in this one.)
So, the next match will be the Noble Otter vs. A&E Kaizen (K2e) for all the marbles.
March 19
WSP Citrus Blast in Rustic vs. A&E Kaizen in K2e
I had a mix-up on Sundays shave, and accidentally started using Noble Otter, so I decided to just have a regular shave with it. Then, Sunday night I decided to try a new soap...That being said....I didn't shave on Monday, so I had a bit more growth when I started this matchup.
WSP just seems to explode with lather right off the puck when I start loading. This is one thing I always notice about the WSP; it makes lather fast! It was slick, and had good performance for the shave, but I could definitely feel a difference with a bit more than a single days growth. It was enjoyable, but not as smooth as usual with WSP. I attribute that to maybe it being a bit thinner of a lather than other soaps? Post shave was pretty good.
A&E Kaizen - There is a definite difference in the loading experience with this soap. Where WSP starts to make a lather right on the puck....Kaizen stays drier and just loads more in to the brush. It probably leads me to overload the brush with soap? I was careful to add plenty of water and man did it make a great lather. I could definitely tell a difference in the shave. With the Kaizen soap the whiskers just seemed to disappear under the lather, and I couldn't feel them being shaved off. It may have been just a hint slicker than WSP, but not by much. It was a great shave, and the post shave was good.
Winner is A&E Kaizen.
WSP is eliminated, but had an absolutely marvelous run. It took down other soaps that I thought would stomp it. I do have some other Head to head matchups I would like to do with it. Specifically, I want to do:
Nordost vs. WSP.
WSP vs. Electric Sheep (rematch of Match #10 Feb 21: Stirling Electric Sheep vs WSP Citrus Blast. WSP Citrus Blast just barely ever so slightly edged out Stirling in this one.)
So, the next match will be the Noble Otter vs. A&E Kaizen (K2e) for all the marbles.
- Thread starter
- #43
- Thread starter
- #44
Match 28
March 20
THE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP!!
A&E Kaizen K2e vs. Noble Otter Neon Sun
Shaved with both. Kaizen on the right side and Noble Otter on the left. Both were great. Slick, cushiony, protective, good post shave......
At this point....I honestly cant determine that one is better than the other in any particular aspect. I will go again tomorrow and flip the sides, to see if I have any unknown bias or preference of one side or the other.
Regulation time is over...overtime here we come!
March 20
THE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP!!
A&E Kaizen K2e vs. Noble Otter Neon Sun
Shaved with both. Kaizen on the right side and Noble Otter on the left. Both were great. Slick, cushiony, protective, good post shave......
At this point....I honestly cant determine that one is better than the other in any particular aspect. I will go again tomorrow and flip the sides, to see if I have any unknown bias or preference of one side or the other.
Regulation time is over...overtime here we come!
Interesting! I haven't tried any Noble Otter before but I absolutely love the Kaizen K2e. I have a sample of Noble Otter Plunder I'll have to try this week.
We've discussed offline how at the top of the bracket, it may be very difficult to determine differences between the elite tier soaps.
I'm extremely interested to see how this ends up.
I'm extremely interested to see how this ends up.
- Thread starter
- #47
Match 28..continued
March 21
THE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP -First Overtime!
A&E Kaizen K2e vs. Noble Otter Neon Sun
Shaved with both. No clear winner yet. I am going to do one more try...side by side, where I can move from one to the other immediately.
To be honest, at this top level the only thing I can easily tell for both soaps is if I make the lather a bit too dry. Add a bit of water, and presto....they are equals again.
Another thing I have realized is that some of the very top performing soaps are also the most fickle when it comes to making a great lather. It seems they don't perform well unless they have the exact correct amount of water. While other soaps perform almost as well, but at a wider range of hydration. I made a graph to illustrate my point. The black line is a "better" soap, but only if you get the water just perfect, and its a smaller window that you have to hit. The orange line would be a "worse" soap when judged by pure performance. However, the orange line soap would be an easier soap to make perform well repeatedly with varying levels of water. You give up a bit of performance, but you gain a lot of forgiveness in your lather making. The lines may not show it exactly as it is, but it gives you an idea of what I am referring to.
And, for giggles, lets review what happened the first time these two met in the 3rd round...
Second overtime is tomorrow....maybe 3 or 4 OT's by the end of the weekend.
March 21
THE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP -First Overtime!
A&E Kaizen K2e vs. Noble Otter Neon Sun
Shaved with both. No clear winner yet. I am going to do one more try...side by side, where I can move from one to the other immediately.
To be honest, at this top level the only thing I can easily tell for both soaps is if I make the lather a bit too dry. Add a bit of water, and presto....they are equals again.
Another thing I have realized is that some of the very top performing soaps are also the most fickle when it comes to making a great lather. It seems they don't perform well unless they have the exact correct amount of water. While other soaps perform almost as well, but at a wider range of hydration. I made a graph to illustrate my point. The black line is a "better" soap, but only if you get the water just perfect, and its a smaller window that you have to hit. The orange line would be a "worse" soap when judged by pure performance. However, the orange line soap would be an easier soap to make perform well repeatedly with varying levels of water. You give up a bit of performance, but you gain a lot of forgiveness in your lather making. The lines may not show it exactly as it is, but it gives you an idea of what I am referring to.
And, for giggles, lets review what happened the first time these two met in the 3rd round...
Second overtime is tomorrow....maybe 3 or 4 OT's by the end of the weekend.
This is going to be a razor-thin victory
- Thread starter
- #49
Second and Third overtime did not yield any definitive results.
For OT 3 I decided to use a different brush, and the only thing that happened is I was reminded that I dont like the Omega badger/boar mixed bristle brush that I have. Both soaps lathered ok with it, but it has some prickliness that i no longer care for.
The only real differentiator I have noticed using these two side by side....it seems that the A&E is a tiny bit easier to lather and get to where its a really good lather. The NO takes just a tiny bit more work to get the lather right.
So, to finally end it....I will declare A&E Kaizen (K2e) as the grand champion.
I wouldn't have any argument with someone who performed this same test and came up with the opposite result. Its just way too close for me.
I am also fine with choosing between these two based on some personal preference you have. Scent, packaging, price, etc.
The goal of this bracket was to judge strictly on the performance of the soap base, and based solely on that, here is my final rankings at the end of the bracket.
1. A&E Kaizen K2e (6-1)
2. Noble Otter (4-1)
3. WSP Citrus Blast - Rustic base (3-2)
4. Electric Sheep (3-2)
5. Nordost (4-2)
6. Caties Bubbles (2-2)
7. Zingari Man (2-2)
8. Fine American Blend (2-2)
9. WSP formula T (1-2)
10. Stirling Pharos Dreamsicle (1-2)
11. Shannon‘s soaps pina colada (1-2)
12. Razorock Caribbean holiday (1-2)
13. Sudsy Soapery - (0-2) - Eliminated by B&M Nordost and Caties Bubbles, two that i suspect will finish pretty high. I feel like this would knock out other soaps still in the bracket.
14. Mudder Focker - (0-2)
15. Tabac - (0-2) - Thought this one would do a bit better.
16. Seafort Sea Ice Lime (0-1) -dq'd by Menthol.
I would also like to do a round robin of the top 6 soaps or so. To allow them all to go against each other and see how it would shake out.
For OT 3 I decided to use a different brush, and the only thing that happened is I was reminded that I dont like the Omega badger/boar mixed bristle brush that I have. Both soaps lathered ok with it, but it has some prickliness that i no longer care for.
The only real differentiator I have noticed using these two side by side....it seems that the A&E is a tiny bit easier to lather and get to where its a really good lather. The NO takes just a tiny bit more work to get the lather right.
So, to finally end it....I will declare A&E Kaizen (K2e) as the grand champion.
I wouldn't have any argument with someone who performed this same test and came up with the opposite result. Its just way too close for me.
I am also fine with choosing between these two based on some personal preference you have. Scent, packaging, price, etc.
The goal of this bracket was to judge strictly on the performance of the soap base, and based solely on that, here is my final rankings at the end of the bracket.
1. A&E Kaizen K2e (6-1)
2. Noble Otter (4-1)
3. WSP Citrus Blast - Rustic base (3-2)
4. Electric Sheep (3-2)
5. Nordost (4-2)
6. Caties Bubbles (2-2)
7. Zingari Man (2-2)
8. Fine American Blend (2-2)
9. WSP formula T (1-2)
10. Stirling Pharos Dreamsicle (1-2)
11. Shannon‘s soaps pina colada (1-2)
12. Razorock Caribbean holiday (1-2)
13. Sudsy Soapery - (0-2) - Eliminated by B&M Nordost and Caties Bubbles, two that i suspect will finish pretty high. I feel like this would knock out other soaps still in the bracket.
14. Mudder Focker - (0-2)
15. Tabac - (0-2) - Thought this one would do a bit better.
16. Seafort Sea Ice Lime (0-1) -dq'd by Menthol.
I would also like to do a round robin of the top 6 soaps or so. To allow them all to go against each other and see how it would shake out.
Very entertaining. Which version of Tabac was it?
- Thread starter
- #51
I’m sure it’s the tallow version. I have had it for over 5 years.
Would likely mean a ton of sales for Stirling, too . . . you know, Executive Man freaks needing to get it in sheep, too.
Last edited:
Yes, please!
I tried a sample of Varen recently and was pleased with it. I've got sample pucks of Electric Sheep and Scots Pine ready to go too. They all smell good, even if Electric Sheep smells like an Off citronella candle.
As a card-carrying Executive Man freak, though, I need Executive Sheep in my life. I can already see the cover art.
We need to get in contact with Stirling about this right away. I figure we're in for 10% of the profits, just so long as we can keep James Garner's estate at bay.
This community deserves a suit wearing sheep. Preferably with shades.
I've found the same, regarding hydration, to be true for my shaving soaps and creams. Also the curve shifts for different types of products. My hard pucks work best with a slicker/wetter lather while my soft Italian soaps and shaving creams deliver peak performance with a denser and creamier lather. Each product type needs to be dialed in. Sounds like you've analyzed this even further and found that each individual soap needs to be dialed in.
You can't have a super shave soap shave off without Arko.
