Art Of Shaving Shave Soap

Why do I keep forgetting to use this soap? I used the AOS sandalwood shave soap today and it is definitely top shelf. Easy to lather, provides good protection and glide and for a soap, it has good skin conditioning properties. Yes, there is a slight "clay" scent among the sandalwood but I can live with that. You simply cannot beat the performance.

The only AoS soap that I've tried was the "unscented" variety, that was borrowed to me by a friend - IMHO, I found it to be very far from unscented. But the performance was top-notch, one of the best soaps that I've tried, no doubt about it.

Since then, I've leaned towards his close brother Valobra stick - conveniently milled into a Grundtal box, of course. I personally prefer the scent of Valobra.

I never tried the "Lavender" and "Sandalwood" varieties of the AoS soap, but they are definitely in my list of future "to try" items.

The clay undertones in the sandalwood has gone from "I'll deal with it" to "why can't they all be like this?". Maybe it's the performance that reeled me in, but no other Sandalwood soap comes close for me (unless you count the top shelf Mysore Sandalwood "hard cream" from Queen Charlotte). As for AoS lavender, it's up there with D.R. Harris Lavender and MdC* for me. And that's my highest praise.

*I still don't pick up on the "burnt rubber" smell, Phil. Lucky me

I love the smell of the sandalwood cream. Is it true that the soap's smell is lighter?

I have tried the lavender one and I like it a lot.As Phil I wonder why I dont use it more.Last weekend I did travel and took with me the Valobra stick (basically the same than the Art of Shaving soap) and I got two great shaves with it.
Theres a new Art of Shaving store in Utah and I should stop more often there...

(03-30-2012, 01:55 PM)TYdeFan05 Wrote: it's up there with D.R. Harris Lavender and MdC* for me. And that's my highest praise.

Is it enough different/better than DRH that I should consider adding it to my already too full drawer?

I have DRH lavender, QCS lavender and MdC. Please tell me I can pass on AoS.

(03-30-2012, 07:53 PM)MaxP Wrote:

(03-30-2012, 01:55 PM)TYdeFan05 Wrote: it's up there with D.R. Harris Lavender and MdC* for me. And that's my highest praise.

Is it enough different/better than DRH that I should consider adding it to my already too full drawer?

I have DRH lavender, QCS lavender and MdC. Please tell me I can pass on AoS.

For me is much better than Harris.Dont get me wrong,Harris is good,but skin care wise,Art of Shaving soaps are much better,at least to me.

I really love it and it's in my regular rotation, lemon at this moment. Scent is quite light but nice to me, but you just can't beat it on your face!

It is a great soap. I love it because it brings all of the benefits of Italian soaps, yet it is a hard soap with great scents. I like the performance of Cella, RR etc., but just never enjoyed the texture of the soaps themselves. I know this is a weird bias and is probably the reason I do not get along with most artisan soaps.

I recently ordered The Art of Shaving Ocean Kelp Cream. Has any one else used this? Is the performance comparable to their other creams?

From what I know of AOS creams, the main ingredients are not the same between the creams, but I haven't heard they don't preform well.

(03-30-2012, 07:56 PM)Teiste Wrote:

(03-30-2012, 07:53 PM)MaxP Wrote:

(03-30-2012, 01:55 PM)TYdeFan05 Wrote: it's up there with D.R. Harris Lavender and MdC* for me. And that's my highest praise.

Is it enough different/better than DRH that I should consider adding it to my already too full drawer?

I have DRH lavender, QCS lavender and MdC. Please tell me I can pass on AoS.

For me is much better than Harris.Dont get me wrong,Harris is good,but skin care wise,Art of Shaving soaps are much better,at least to me.

I'm the exact opposite. On scent, shave performance, and overall skin nourishment I'd put D.R. Harris and MdC ahead of AoS Lavender without question. Not by a long shot though. But hey, I'm just glad all four amazing choices are out there for us. If anyone hasn't tried QCS by now, get out from under that rock!

(03-30-2012, 09:48 PM)TYdeFan05 Wrote:

(03-30-2012, 07:56 PM)Teiste Wrote:

(03-30-2012, 07:53 PM)MaxP Wrote: Is it enough different/better than DRH that I should consider adding it to my already too full drawer?

I have DRH lavender, QCS lavender and MdC. Please tell me I can pass on AoS.

For me is much better than Harris.Dont get me wrong,Harris is good,but skin care wise,Art of Shaving soaps are much better,at least to me.

I'm the exact opposite. On scent, shave performance, and overall skin nourishment I'd put D.R. Harris and MdC ahead of AoS Lavender without question. Not by a long shot though. But hey, I'm just glad all four amazing choices are out there for us. If anyone hasn't tried QCS by now, get out from under that rock!

Martin de Candre is the Holy Grial for me (and I found it!).

(03-30-2012, 09:55 PM)Teiste Wrote:

(03-30-2012, 09:48 PM)TYdeFan05 Wrote:

(03-30-2012, 07:56 PM)Teiste Wrote: For me is much better than Harris.Dont get me wrong,Harris is good,but skin care wise,Art of Shaving soaps are much better,at least to me.

I'm the exact opposite. On scent, shave performance, and overall skin nourishment I'd put D.R. Harris and MdC ahead of AoS Lavender without question. Not by a long shot though. But hey, I'm just glad all four amazing choices are out there for us. If anyone hasn't tried QCS by now, get out from under that rock!

Martin de Candre is the Holy Grial for me (and I found it!).

On this we can agree completely

I consider AoS soaps and the Valobra Shave Stick to be the same thing, for all practical purposes, and it is my favorite soap of all. Cakes of AoS Unscented that I have used have been truly unscented. The "clay" smell is evident, but it doesn't bother me.

My next favorite is Cella, so I seem to be partial to Italian tallow-based soaps.

- Murray

I may have to pick up some more AOS soaps before they get reformulated (no, I do not have any insider information...this just seems to be the way it goes). I may have to try the Lavender.

I have and enjoy Lavender, Sandalwood and Unscented.

They are all among my very favorite soaps.
Harris and AoS are 1 and 1A in my book. They are both the best performers that I've used.

(03-30-2012, 09:05 PM)tgutc Wrote: I recently ordered The Art of Shaving Ocean Kelp Cream. Has any one else used this? Is the performance comparable to their other creams?

It's great!! no kidding!!

AOS soaps are one of my favorite shaving soaps, easily in my top 2 along with Valobra. I've used up two pucks of Sandalwood and one puck of Lavender and I have given serious thought to stockpiling both scents. It seems like the price of Valobra up about a year and a half ago and now it isn't much cheaper then AOS soap.

I have two Lavender pucks on the way.