I think you're right, Chris. These old firms and classic recipes don't need to change. Once you make a perfect soap, why mess with it? How much money has Floris left on the table in the last decade as the wetshaving scene has exploded and left the sodium palmate crowd behind? Wouldn't hundreds of gu...

Interesting, Gary. I think the assumption was always that Maurer and Wirtz used one soap supplier for all of their stuff, but that may not necessarily be so. Here are the Irisch Moos ingredients. Keeping in mind that the ingredients for a good shave soap aren't all that variable, the standout point ...

Tabac – potassium stearate, sodium stearate, potassium tallowate, potassium cocoate, water, sodium tallowate, parfum, sodium cocoate, glycerin, potassium hydroxide, tetrasodium EDTA, sodium hydroxide Speick – potassium stearate, sodium stearate, potassium tallowate, water, potassium cocoate, sodium ...

I believe Irisch Moos was supposed to be the same as Tabac. That said, Speick and Tabac have almost identical ingredients list, with the only difference being the proportion of water. I've always thought they were probably the same soap. Probably/possibly all coming out of the same German production...

Excellent.

Thater 4125 24mm 2-band fan
Tim's Soap Old-School Lime ss
Edwin Jagger Barley Chrome
Personna Medical Prep day #5
Tim's Neroli-Citrus a/s splash
Guerlain Vetiver edt - current

Better day with the badger, but meh.

Love the neroli-citrus splash. Neroli, orange, lime.

Sounds great, Gary! Adding menthol crystals is great because it works with almost any splash. Does the balm just mix itself in with some shaking?

Gene, Perfumer's Alcohol is expensive, not to mention that there is a hard cap on how much one can purchase for personal use. 1.75L at only 27% of the formulation lasts a long time, and I pay less than $40 for that much here locally. Now as far as scent goes, most hydrosols don't last. Just not in t...

Gene, That's the way I do it, but it doesn't have to be that way. The main thing is to have at least 25% alcohol, which is ample for long-term preservation but not enough to burn. I find that 40% hydrosols is enough scent to overcome the witch hazel aroma but not enough to be overpowering, but even ...

I've posted about this in SOTD, but I thought I would share about homebrewing aftershave splashes for anyone who is interested. I started doing this some time ago, almost right after I started wetshaving, but things have evolved considerably. My first homemade aftershave was orange-scented isopropyl...

Thater 24mm 4125 2-Band Tim's Soap Old-School Lime Edwin Jagger DE89 Barley Personna Med Prep day #4 Homemade Lime Tonic a/s Guerlain Vetiver EDT spray Every shave is good these days, but I don't love the Thater brush. I keep it as my token badger, but I'm not sure it's even suited to that for me an...

Thanks for the review of this, Clive. Been pondering that Sandalwood one. I'm a sucker for sandalwood of every stripe. The potassium palmate, sodium palmate, potassium stearate trio leading things off is promising. That's the usual arrangement for the better veggie soaps currently available. Just lo...

Good info in this thread, too. I love SMF: http://forum.shavemyface.com/viewtopic.php?t=42449 And these two have some nice tidbits about T&H and the other similar soaps as well as "that lather" and potassium stearate. http://forum.shavemyface.com/viewtopic.php?t=50186 http://forum.shavemyface.com/vi...

Great shot, Melyus! Semogue makes some beautiful brushes.

Edwin Jagger XL Synthetic
Tim's Soap Old School Lime
Edwin Jagger DE89 Barley
Personna Med Prep day #3
Homemade Uncologne a/s
Homemade Bay Rum EDT

Is that a good thing or a bad thing, Chris? I remember the old T&H as absolutely top tier, but years and many other products and lathers have passed in the interim, and the newer T&H stuff is awful.

Chris, interesting point. I have a list of the old VB ingredients in my notes from when I was accumulating soap recipe information, but not of the Salter. I'm wondering now if I just assumed they were the same. One of the soaps just came wrapped in wax paper. No ingredients, no nothing. Was that Cul...

Edwin Jagger 25mm Silvertip Fibre
Homemade Lavender-Woods soap
Edwin Jagger DE89 Barley Chrome
Personna Medical Prep blade day 2
Homemade Un-Cologne aftershave
Homemade Bay Rum & Lime EDT

Hot process shouldn't require actual time to cure, but most recipes are written for cold process. Then, too, the longer it sits, the firmer it gets - and even relatively mild soaps seem to become milder with time. Nevertheless, you should be good to go once it cools. Looks terrific!

Edwin Jagger 23mm Synthetic
C&S Oxford & Cambridge soap
Edwin Jagger Barley Chrome
Personna Medical Prep day #1
Un-Cologne aftershave splash