Ballenclaugh shaving soap

I am a huge Ballenclaugh fan. Performance and scent is top notch. Glad to see they are back in business, more people need to try this stuff. The scents are bold and unique, you wont have to worry about already having a soap in the same scent with Ballenclaugh since they are unlike anything else out there.

I recently reintroduced myself to the Ballenclaugh soaps, my latest acquisition being the Woodsman. I also have the Fir&Ice, Festive Parlor, and Honey Tobacco. From the four my favorite scent is the Fir&Ice. The Festive Parlor is holding the second place and the Woodsman and Honey Tobacco following very closely. I did not have a chance to shave with the Woodsman, so my opinion might still change. It is pretty strong and smokey, but I could also sense some lemon in the background.

Performance-wise Chris's soaps are awesome on all counts. Perfectly dense and protective lather with a LOT of slickness during and after the shave. The post-shave feel is outstanding - something in these soaps is very compatible with my skin to the extent that I can skip applying aftershave splash or balm completely.

Looking forward to using the Woodsman for my morning shave tomorrow!

Thanks for sharing your impressions, ANG69. I just received The Woodsman today,  and it’s airing out. That’s what I did with Vanderpool, too, back in the day. Strong scents!

The scent of The Woodsman is still iffy to me. On the one hand, I’m getting the citrus. On the other hand, the pine tar. Combined, the scent reminds me of … smoked fish. Yay, I’m going to be shaving with smoked fish!

I have to say, though, Vanderpool was an almost nauseating leather smell when I first got it, but now it’s among my favorite soaps, so maybe things will change with The Woodsman, as well. Kind of wishing now that I would’ve gone with Festive Parlor or Fir & Ice, instead of waiting for The Woodsman. The performance of Ballenclaugh is so ridiculously good, though, that maybe my thoughts will change once I’ve had a chance to use The Woodsman a few times.

ANG69, it’d be great to hear your impressions on it once you’ve had a shave or two.

Thank you for sharing your experience Matsilainen! I must say, that I had similar doubts about the scent when I sniffed it for the first time. However, today’s shave erased any trace of any doubt!

I just finished my late-morning shave (36-hour growth) with the Woodsman. I face-lathered with a large SV brush and absolutely agree that this soap performs astonishingly well. Using my Sabre L2 I was able to get a perfect BBS in three passes and a little of cleaning on the jaw. Not a slightest sign of irritation, none whatsoever! The soap is ridiculously slick and protective. Applied remaining lather while cleaning the brush and razor. My face felt awesome. I did not need any aftershave, but really wanted to pair the soap with Alt Innsbruck AS splash and was rewarded by an absolutely divine olfactory experience and further enhanced post-shave appreciation.

I have been using the Festive Parlor, Honey Tobacco, and Fir&Ice regularly and am very delighted to be able to add the fourth scent to this cohort. They all smell so differently that one might think that there are four different noses behind these excellent soaps. But I think that this is Chris’ particular talent of  putting together scent molecules in a way that every time we get an absolutely new scent with a very pronounced individual character.

In 2018 I am going to be very closely following the Ballenclaugh Soaps releases along with my most favorite new (for me) discoveries of 2017 - Talbot, Noble Otter, and GroomingDept.

Happy Holidays to EVERYONE!

I purchased 3 tubs of Chris's first Woodsmen 3-4 years ago because it is an excellent soap that came in at 7oz., I feel with all the soaps that I have and used I have always enjoyed Woodsmen. It's a superb soap, good cushion, protection, slickness, moisturizing properties, I feel it's the best soap Ballenclaugh has produced to date and I have high praise for all of the Ballenclaugh's soaps.

Last week I purchased a few tubs of the of Ballenclaugh's current offering of Woodsmen at 5.5oz (3 years after the last offering) and shaved with the old and new side by side (loaded 2 separate brushes) for 2 shaves and my opinion is that the new offering is slightly better then the original. So unless you really dislike the scent which I know psychologically can alter ones opinion of an excellent product you will not be disappointed.

As far as the uniqueness of Ballenclaugh's scent's you either love them, hate them or will tolerate at lest one. So as I see it no other company has such a scent personality so out of the mainstream of shaving. What is the purpose of Fragrances, they offer pleasant, pleasing experiences to our sense's and well being, grooming, refinement, sexuality, individuality, femininity and masculinity, relieving of stress, air freshers, appetite, memories, experiences. In my opinion Chris's scents come from memories and pleasant experiences, from a man's perspective that are unique to Chris.

What I'm going to state is only what I assume though my imagination for I believe Chris's references in creating his scents comes from life in rural Nebraska (a few years back Chris's put out an email w/photo on the damage a storm has done to his barn). I believe his scents relate (I could be out of my tree on this one) to experiences and memories in living on a farm or ranch. Scents like Leather, Honey, Tobacco, Rose, Gunpowder. His menthol soaps will wake you up to start the day, to keep you cool from the hot sun and sweat. There is another soap that i believe relate to memories I give a nod to After the Fall by L and L. One last thing his scents are strong (they fade away fairly quickly after you was you face and use a balm or splash.

I have most of the scents though my three favorites are the original Hot Barrel Rose, that brings to mind weather beaten rural rustic, horse's, hunting and flowers. The Woodsmen the cutting of tree's and pitch, the aftermath of burning bark and mulch, the odor of all these elements on my sleeve as as I wipe it across my face imagination, memories and Festive Parlor rejuvenated well worn leather.

Overall in Ballenclaugh's 4 year existence they have produced 11 scents in which usually 1 or 2 are sold at a time and if the one you like is sold out it may come back a few years later, maybe? What I also like about Chris's business model, even though it may be part time he makes enough of his soaps to satisfy his existing customers and them some.

Woodsmen
Hot Barrel Rose
Festive parlor
Vandepool
Marauder Bay
Thunder and Linen
Sour Mash
Fire & Ice
Old Barber Menthe
Icy Grove
Honey Tobacco

ANG69 and bijou, thanks for your posts! Eventually, I will build up the courage to try The Woodsman. I will try to keep in mind what I experienced with Vanderpool, which I could sum into three steps: 1) Almost nauseated by the scent strength of the new soap, 2) after airing the soap out for a while, began using it but did not completely appreciate it or know how to dial it in at first, 3) realized that I’ve begun to love the scent of the soap, and adore the amazing performance even more.

West Coast Shaving just added the line, FWIW.

Ordered!

That's awesome to see WCS is not stocking Ballenclaugh soaps. This gives more people the opportunity to try them who might otherwise have not even heard of them. Hope they stock the other scents as well.

B&C scents are unique enough to allow them to stand next to B&M IMO as being completely original.

I have been using a jar of the Festive Parlor for a couple of weeks now and the new Crypt and Portals from West Coast Shaving. Wonderful unique scents and performance. Could easily be mentioned as a favorite performer in a really crowded field.

Late to these superb soaps out of Nebraska and a big thanks to all who kept posting including bijou, SHAVEWIZARD420, Matsilainen and ANG69 for keeping the fire alive on Ballenclaugh!