I'm a huge fan of the Valobra shave stick. It's a great soap, and it's fairly reasonable priced, if a bit small. I am also a fan of fougere scents like Trumper's Wild Fern or Penhaligon's English Fern. When I heard, then, that there was a fougere scented version of Valobra's Soft Soap (a.k.a. "Crema die Sapone purissima"), I thought "That sounds like a winner..." and then, when I heard no one on the shaving fora had tried it, and that it was only available from a single German retailer, well, I decided I would be the one!
I tracked down (a.k.a. clicked the link in the forum post describing it) the website selling it (1001seife.de -- all German, but Xenia Trost, the owner, is perfectly capable of communicating in English; drop her an email!) and got a couple of boxes sent.
When the boxes arrived, of course I opened right away, to see what was up. What I found was interesting...A brick of a sticky, putty-like soap (much like Cella, but greyer) that smelled like...Valobra. The very first reaction I had was a bit of disappointment. The fougere scent I had waited for was just like the Valobra shaving stick I had had for ages. Nice, but...nothing new. Then, some of the more floral notes started to come through, and I noticed a roundness and sweetness I hadn't noticed in the stick. These really came through in the lather--lavendar and a touch of bergamot. Very very nice; the scent has become perhaps my favorite soap scent.
I molded the soap into a topped glass bowl and tried a lather--and was so, so happy I did. Fantastic stuff...I got some of the creamiest, loveliest lather I have ever had from any soap, and some of the best shaves. I just wanted to keep using it and using it...and I have. I think this might very well be tied with MWF right now for the best thing in my shave drawer.
Man. Fantastic scent, fantastic lather...I can't recommend this soap highly enough.
2 comments:
Hi Jim,
I have a sample of the almond soft soap. I seem to spend my lather time "chasing the scruddle" around the bowl. What's the best way to use this soft soap?
Thanks,
Jay
Hey Jay, thanks for reading!
It sounds like you're treating the soap as a cream--putting a snurdle in a bowl and lathering. That sounds tough indeed!
They call this a soap for a reason...try spreading it evenly on the bottom of your bowl (like peanut butter on bread), and working your brush on top of it--just like you would with a puck of soap. That's how I do it, anyway, and it works for me!
One warning--this stuff goes pretty quick. I don't know how big your sample is, but don't be surprised if it disappears faster than you expected.
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