QED Lavender Shave Soap

[bernards66]

Evening, I really did not want to start a new thread, just to communicate my 2 cents, but I could not seem to find an existing one where this really seemed to quite fit. My apologies. Well, okay. This is hard shave soap, any of you gents that have only used the soft creams, need to keep this in mind. All hard soaps lather a little differently then the creams, and this is no exception. I thought the soap was tastefully packaged, in a sturdy plastic pot, similiar to that used for the English creams that many of us use. I can say, uneqivocally, that this is the best glycerine style hard shave soap that I've used. I've never been a big fan of gylcerine shave soaps, but this was different. The lather was richer and more lubricating then the others I've tried. Do I also think that it's superior to the traditional shave soaps that I've used? Honestly, no, not really. There are a few that I've used that, IMO, provided a slightly richer, more lubricating lather. Not many, mind you, but a few. I have that slight bit of irritation I get when I use many hard soaps. An irritation that I've come to regard as a result of not quite enough lubrication for my tough beard, and somewhat sensitive skin. Nothing major, you understand, but it's there. This is mainly why I switched to mainly the shave creams, a few years back, after using soaps for over 15 years. There are only a few hard soaps that I've used, that I don't get this reaction. The QED is not one of them. The lavender scent was very nice, I thought, clearly quality. But, personally, I did not find it to be, in any way, 'better' or higher quality then say D R Harris's or Taylor's lavender soaps and creams. Just as nice, but no better. I think that Charles hit the price point just right for this product. It's a top shelf soap, and hence, one can't expect to get it for drugstore prices. On the other hand, there are no import duties, or international shipping charges, and, no 'middlemen' except Charles himself ( in a sense ), so I would expect it to be a few bucks less then the top shelf English and French soaps. Undoubtedly, a fine product, and I would have no trouble understanding someone choosing it, but I myself, would not. Regards, Gordon

[bernards66]

Joel, Oh, I don't know, the Taylor's hard soaps do too. Yeah, the lavender has a very fine scent, but so does D R Harris, IMO. Cherrio, old chap! Gordon

[JoeDizzy]

Thanks for the review Gordon.

[Austin]

Thanks for your perspective Gordon. When something new comes out, some of us get caught up with the moment.

[Sam]

ive not tried a glycerin soap, just classic's, craptree and evelyn, joris and the kent. and the lavender scent i tried was a dried out sample of taylors. sam

[Blue As A Jewel]

craptree and evelyn

lol!!

[Coche_y_bondhu]

Hello Gordon,

If you are still getting that irritation from the insufficient lubrication of a cream or saop, may I suggest trying that Pacific Shave Oil? Next time you order from Charles, order up a bottle of it. Inexpensive with the benefits of superb lubrication for every shave and pass, irregardless of what soap, cream or manufacturer you use.

Cheers,
Richard

[karim0028]

I agree Richard, PSO seems to work wonderfully... Even with expensive shave creams like trumpers i still felt i wasnt getting enough lubrication and after using PSO the shaves were/are going great.....

-Hytham

[guenron]

Greetings Gordon!
Have you verified your hard soap issues are lubricant related? Quite often there are metallic ions in the soap (low concentrations too) that are leftovers of the saponification process. Many find these ions enter into various reactions with the acid mantle and voila! What is termed irritation. I, lucky rascal that I was when visiting in a small town in northern Italy, ran into something similar in the well water.
Oh well, that's water under the dam!
Best Regards,
Ron

[ARenaissanceMan]

Do you guys use toner after you shave? One of its benefits is to restore PH to the face. It might help with some of the irritation from the overly alkaline soaps.

[sean mac]

I was planning to make a posting today to ask about everyone's favorite lavander shave cream - how ironic that this would appear. Anyway . . .

I'm not quite sure why I want to try a lavander shave cream, but I want to. Which brand would you recommend and why? I am curious about Charles' QED shave soap in lavander, so I appreciate reading your thoughts on it. Is it the way to go, or would I do better with something else? How does it QED lavander shave soap compare to some of the other soaps / creams that are available?

[clownjuggles]

QED lavender gives me a better shave than most of my taylor creams. And smells as good as Castle Forbes Lavender!

[northadams]

For some reason (probably the essential oil sans synthetic) QED performs the best for me. Up until recently I was a huge advocate for the English creams. Maybe some of us are looking for more pure or skin friendly products but I have tried all the Lavenders out there & this EO based product seems to smell & perform wonderfully (especially with a new Vulfix 40-had to get one!)
Max

[bernards66]

Chris, While I suppose that that is a possibility, I really don't think that was my issue. This is a fairly subtle thing, but I get it with most shave soaps, including some very high quality ones. For example, the Trumper's hard shave soaps I've tried ( and I used them for years ). But when I tried your trick of adding a little Skin Food to the lather, the problem diminished noticeably. I think the Skin Food added a little extra lubrication. There are a few soaps though, where the lather is apparently 'rich' enough, that I don't really get this little problem, or whatever the reason is. Clark, I used to use toners, but eventually realized that they either made no difference, one way or the other, or in a number of cases, they annoyed my skin. I no longer use them. Sean, As you can see from the above, experiances differ. I would not want to dissuade you from trying the QED Lavender shave soap. It's not that expensive, and it is definately a quality product. However, there are others that I personally prefer. Generally, the soft shave creams seem to work better for my combination of skin and beard. I'm very partial to the lavender scent, and especially favor the Coate's Lavender cream. In hard soaps, I myself would go with D R Harris's. But you might prefer Taylors, or one of the others ( including the QED ). You'd have to try them, to be sure. Regards, Gordon

[sean mac]

Thanks for your thoughts, Gordon. With my next order, I am sure that I will purchase QED's lavander shave soap. I have only used shave creams thus far, so this soap seems like a good way to see how soaps and creams differ.

At the same time, I can see myself ordering a lavander shave cream as well, just in case the soap doesn't suit my fancy. Based on my past experience with Taylor's creams, I probably will give their lavander cream a shot.

[clownjuggles]

Sean,

If you want to try the lavender soap doesn't do it for you the only other Essential Oils lavender shave cream is castle forbes

[hedonist]

Sean,

If you want to try the lavender soap doesn't do it for you the only other Essential Oils lavender shave cream is castle forbes

And Art of Shaving

[bernards66]

Todd, You're quite right, of course, and I'll surely play around with the QED soap a bit more, at some point. But the truth is, that I've been at this so long, that I can usually tell quite quickly if a product will work really well for me, or not. As I said in the above post, there are really only a few hard shave soaps that I find entirely satisfactory ( for me ), by themselves. It's too bad, because I really am fond of using the soaps, per se, and did for many years. For whatever reason, I've never been very enamored of the glycerine style soaps, never worked all that well for me. The QED version is, however, far and away, my favourite, of the ones I've tried. Regards, Gordon