review of joris cake soap

Post by **Sam** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 8:34 am

i was able to buy this from gordon along with a kent soap. first off, i swear that i can not smell a smell on joris. which is fine by me. and i have only used crabtree's almond soap on one shave (too too thin) and ray's citrus spice (i liked) and a couple of home-made soaps that i got to try out (thin as well).

this soap lathers up wonderfully. i would compare it to any english cream. in fact, it says it is made in england but the ingredients were not listed. i think it would run $14 to $16 american, and u can get it through the atkinson's website. a wonderful, close shave, great lather and lubrication. unless someone convinces me othewise, this would be one soap i will always have. wish it had a fragrance like rose, almond, violet, lavender and it would be the only one id get. i may hvae to try taylors lavendar

sam

Post by **VinceFX** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 1:41 pm

Thanks for the review Sam. I have never tried Joris but based on your review I would definitely be willing to give it a try. I hear Joris is a fine brand. They make high end shaving brushes too.

If you liked the Joris soap you'll pry love the Truefitt & Hill hard shaving soap too. I recall from Gordon's past posts that he thinks the T&H soap is one of the best if not THE best in his mind.

In case anyone was wondering here is the link for the Atkinson website that Sam mentioned

http://www.atkinsonsofvancouver.com

(Click on the personal luxury link when you get there)

navajadeafeitar · Post by **navajadeafeitar** » Thu May 12, 2005 10:44 pm

I'm reviving this old thread. Just got some Joris and tried it. I like it, but I have to say that the L'Occitane shave soap seems to have a better scent and a better consistency. I used this with a TI Evide-Sonnant 5/8, and it seems like the Occitane soap provides better lubrication and is a little slicker... Granted that this is after one try, so I'll give it a few more attempts before making up my mind.

Has anyone else tried both soaps? I'd like to hear your experiences.

best,

Nirmal

JohnP · Post by **JohnP** » Thu May 12, 2005 11:12 pm

By all means tell us a little more about the L'occitane shave soap. I tried both of their shave creams and they were absolutely atrocious. Perhaps I got bad tubes but they would not lather to save my life, and at the prices they want for a tube I wasn't going to buy more to find out....
perhaps the soap is better?
As for the Joris, I can't place the scent but its one of the things I like most about the soap. Floral but not girly. Its one of those smells I would almost wear as a cologne.
John P

navajadeafeitar · Post by **navajadeafeitar** » Thu May 12, 2005 11:32 pm

John:

I don't have a very good nose for scents. The Occitane shave soap smells like the cream, but I haven't tried the cream since I thought it was over-priced and I haven't heard good things about it. I have used the soap on and off for 4 or 5 years now. I think it goes for about $12 for the refill. It provides a good thick creamy lather IMHO. When shaving with a straight razor, I prefer using the Occitane soap since it seems to give me better lubrication and is a little slicker. It lathers up well, even with the extremely hard water I have, and doesn't seem to dry up. I like it better than the Crabtree & Evelyn soaps as well, in terms of lather and scent.

Scentwise, I like the smell. I like the more cologne oriented smells like Taylor St. James and this seems to fit in with this.

best,

Nirmal

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Fri May 13, 2005 9:23 pm

Sam, et.al., Good review. I entirely agree regarding the Joris lather. I found it to be almost as rich and lubricating as the best English creams. Very good stuff. This is one of those few shave soaps with which I do not get that hint of irritation that I mentioned in the QED tread. T&H, and D R Harris's Almond are two others. Also, the old shave soaps from J. Floris, but I used tried any of them in a number of years, so I don't know how I'd react to what they offer today. But, the old ones were very richly lathering, quite like the Joris. Sam would not be posting a review of Joris soap ( probably ), except that I didn't care for the scent. To me, it wasn't 'bad' or anything like that, it just wasn't up my alley, like some of the cologne scented Taylor and T&H creams. But, Sam isn't the only one who thinks it has almost no scent, so what can I say? To me, it was rather pronounced, and tended to linger. Nirmal, I must admit that I've been remiss. I've neglected to try the l'Occitane shave soap, even thought I pass their shop weekly. Personally, I'm not wild about the scent, but still, I really should try it. It's apparently night and day, with their shave cream. The cream is absolutely horrendous, given the price, it's got to be THE worst rip-off on all of high end shaving. No one who here who has tried it has anything but scorn and disgust for it. But, conversely, the few who have mentioned the hard soap, have always been complimentary. Someone else, also posted that the l'Occitane soap reminded them somewhat of the Joris. Regards, Gordon

Enrico · Post by **Enrico** » Sat May 14, 2005 6:45 am

I have been using L'Occitaine soap both by itself, and in combination with various creams, over the last few months, and I have to agree with Nirmal regarding it's capabilities. I never experience irritation, drag, or drying out, when I use it with my injector.
I also like the smell, since I really like fragrances such as Taylor's Mr Taylor, Shave Shop, etc.

Steve