Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Shaving Soap . . .

What is your opinion on fine shaving creams and hard soaps? Do you like Trumpers, Coates, Taylors, Truefitt & Hill? Post your reviews and opinions here!
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ThePossum
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Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Shaving Soap . . .

Post by ThePossum »

Have heard a lot about their products. I asked my daughter to buy me a refill puck of the stuff for Christmas and so she did.

Just one problem though and I kinda expected this. The refill is actually shape for placement in the wooden bowl that is made for it. I don't like to use the wooden bowl as it is not deep enough for me to pick up enough soap on the brush without making a big mess.

So with several empty shave cream containers from T&H and C&E I want to make the Penhaligon's fit in one of them. I assume that it is okay to just trim the edges of the Penhaligon's until it fits into the container and perhaps put the trimmed pieces in the bottom of the container under the puck.

This seems like a good idea because I have read in many posts that "grating" a soap puck so it can be made into a soap stick does not affect the performance of the soap. Doing what I am suggesting is kinda like grating the puck on I will trim it and put it in a different container.

Is this the way to go? Thanks for your replies.
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Post by brothers »

Bryce, you can do it either way, trimming the edges and shoving the soap down with the trimmed off pieces around the outside edges and on top of the soap will work just fine. They will soften up just a tiny bit from the heat of your hands and they'll allow you to shove them where you want them. If you want to grate, and have a fine cheese grater, you can either grate off the edges or you can grate the whole puck then shove it down into the container of choice. There's a third way, which I have recently done, you take a kitchen knife and cut the puck into small chunks, then place them all into the container. Give the whole thing a couple of 8 second microwave bursts, just to soften them up so you can then smash the chunks all together into the bottom of the container and smooth out the top. Then let it sit for an hour or more in the refrigerator to firm it back up. The important thing to keep in mind is that it's just a bar of soap and you are the boss! :D There's no way you can mess it up, except one - if you overshoot it in the microwave, then you make a big mess out of it. :D
Gary

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Re: Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Shaving Soap . . .

Post by Thalay Sagar »

[quote="ThePossum"] I assume that it is okay to just trim the edges of the Penhaligon's until it fits into the container and perhaps put the trimmed pieces in the bottom of the container under the puck.
[quote]

Heresy! Heresy! Seriously, though, that should work wonderfully well. I assume you are putting it flat side down? You can also get some small dipping bowls at Target that work very well.
Best,
Chris

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Post by ThePossum »

Thanks guys for your confirmation of grating, trimming, whatever of the soap to make it fit in the container of choice.

Kinda figured I could get away with this but just wanted to be sure I could do it.
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Post by Thalay Sagar »

Let me know how you like the newer stuff. I've been holding off on getting a puck of the English Fern but am feeling weak.
Best,
Chris

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Post by drmoss_ca »

It's all soap: bend it, shake it, grate it, anyway you want it. I like the scents, and can cope with the performance of the Penhaligon soaps. Now imagine those scents in a tallow base and weep....

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Post by Squire »

Should work fine for you Bryce.
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Squire
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Post by ThePossum »

Got the trusty Ikea "box" grater out this morning and grated away on the Penhaligon's as well as an almost new puck of C&E Nomad soap. Worked fine and it was soo easy to pack it into the empty cream containers.

Thanks guys for your advice. I am a very happy camper this morning. Going to give the Blenheim Bouquet a drive this morning, or afternoon, whenever I get around to shaving today.

Happy New Year.
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Post by brothers »

Sounds good Bryce. I'm hoping you have a positive experience with the BB soap in the lathering department too. I really do like the fragrance of it.

You know, I really should make a point to find one of those Ikea stores to look around in. I'm sure between the wife and myself, we could find several items, such as the grater you mention, that we could put to good use.
Gary

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Post by ThePossum »

brothers wrote:Sounds good Bryce. I'm hoping you have a positive experience with the BB soap in the lathering department too. I really do like the fragrance of it.

You know, I really should make a point to find one of those Ikea stores to look around in. I'm sure between the wife and myself, we could find several items, such as the grater you mention, that we could put to good use.
Gary,

Thanks for good wishes on the BB soap. As for the Ikea grater I got it about 6-7 yrs ago while visiting my daughter in Chicago. Or maybe it was when she came home one time and we stopped at the Ikea store near the Pittsburgh airport. Here is the Ikea grater. Top row far right. I got two bases and both fine and coarse tops. Work great to avoid the big mess of grated cheese etc getting all over the counter top.
Bryce

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Post by ThePossum »

Got to give the Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet soap a test drive this morning.

I found the scent to be very pleasing, nice citrus scent.

The soap lathered fairly well. Since I face lather I kinda got a bit too much water to start and had to add more soap to the brush as I built the lather on my face. Will need to cut the water in the brush a bit to start out and also pick up a bit more soap. As I build the lather I will be better able to add a bit more water to get the lather built up well.

As for the lather, when I finally got the water soap ratio correct it made a great lather with plenty of cushion. As for slickness, it seemed like the razor was gliding on ice. Very slick but not so much that the blade did not do its job.

The BB also did a nice job moisturize the skin, in other words it did not dry out the face.

I like the BB but do not think it is worth the top $$s required to purchase it. I get similar results from my Tabac, MWF, C&E Nomad soaps. Would I buy it again, probably not but then, my daughter bought this puck for me so maybe I can get her to buy the next one!
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Post by brothers »

it's nice to hear of your good experience with the BB. If you're like me, if I take a few days to adjust my lathering technique, it gets even better.
Gary

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Post by Craig_From_Cincy »

The BB soaps I've been buying for the past couple of years have been solid performers, good lather, cushion and viscosity. On the other hand, the English Fern I bought in 2010 or so has been awful, it won't lather without super lathering with a cream.
Cheers,

Craig
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Post by TRBeck »

I'm bumping this thread to ask - and it seems there are two or three hints here - if the Blenheim Bouquet soap has improved since its initial reformulation? I know the first non-tallowate batches were not well-regarded, but I also know several reformulated brands have improved their palm/veggie formulae over the years. From what I'm reading above, would it be safe to say that Blenheim is now at least a good shave soap in its performance, if not quiet top-tier anymore?

I had some of the last tallowate stuff, sold it, and have often thought of buying the reformulated version just for the scent. I know the Pen's creams are great, so maybe that would be a better choice...anyway, I'm hemming and hawing as usual, but curious about others' recent experiences (and thankful to Craig, Chris, and Bryce for the insight they've given upthread).
Regards,
Tim

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Post by Craig_From_Cincy »

Tim,

I bought a puck of Penhaligon's English Fern right after the reformulation from tallow and its wretched. The BB I bought in 2011 & 2012 have been quite the opposite, they've been great soaps. Pen's must have undergone another reformulation that seems to have produced better soaps.
Cheers,

Craig
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Post by TRBeck »

Craig, excellent news. Thank you for the additional data point.

Also, terrible news. I don't want to want to buy it.
Regards,
Tim

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Post by churchilllafemme »

I have a bowl of Blenheim Bouquet shaving soap from last year, and it consistently lathers beautifully.
_______
John
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Post by TRBeck »

churchilllafemme wrote:I have a bowl of Blenheim Bouquet shaving soap from last year, and it consistently lathers beautifully.
<sigh> Thanks, John. I suppose at some point I will try it out. I really wish none of you had said anything, or that I had averted my eyes... :)
Regards,
Tim

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Re: Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Shaving Soap . . .

Post by tshusker »

Any opinion of the 2000 formulations of English Fern and Hammam Bouquet? I have both in the 100g hand/bar soap with Sodium Tallowate as their first ingredient. Wondering if these soaps are the "good" formulation, and whether these hand/body soaps, shaved/grated down into a bowl of choice, could be successfully used as shave soaps?

Thanks!
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Re: Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Shaving Soap . . .

Post by CMur12 »

Congratulations on your first post, tshusker!

Hand and body soaps tend to be formulated for looser suds, which is better for cleansing. Shaving soaps tend to be formulated for a tighter lather structure, to provide glide and cushion. You can use any soap to shave, with varying results. These undoubtedly fine hand/body soaps are unlikely to be well suited to shaving.

- Murray
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