Member
Santa Clarita, CA
I recently received a sample of what appeared to be a shaving soap in a recent order from tvbshaving.com. I contacted Paolo and he informed me this was Don Donato's tobacco shaving soap and he would appreciate my thoughts on the soap after using it. After using it I figured I would also share my thoughts here.
Wow!
That was my reaction after shaving with Don Donato's tobacco shaving soap.
The soap was an interesting texture - it was very soft, almost like a firm jelly. This is not a soap to bloom; just a nice warm soaked brush and a dollop of the soap in a bowl - or spread in the palm of your hand to load the brush before face lathering - will do.
The scent was unique - warm and complex with definite tobacco and amber notes with a not to sweet and herbal undertone. I assumed there were some light floral and herbal notes to help round out the scent. Here are the fragrance notes from the TVB Shaving website:
Head: bergamot
Heart: jasmine, leather, tobacco, cyclamen, ylang ylang
Base: musk, sandalwood, leather, tobacco, amber, powdered sugar, incense, mossy, clary sage, vanilla
When I first began building my lather I was worried it was not going to turn out well; it seemed very airy with little substance to it. I added a tiny bit more soap to my bowl and a few more drops of water, then BOOM! The lather began filling the bowl.
When applying the lather to my face (which had about 5 days worth of growth) it had a very unique feeling. It did not feel very heavy and dense like I am used to with most other soaps, yet it was very creamy. With the first pass of my Ikon DLC Slant and Personna Med Prep blade, I could definitely feel the blade running over my skin, yet there was plenty of cushion and slickness to make the razor glide without any discomfort. The slickness was so pronounced that after the first pass I was able to do an across the grain pass with no reapplication of lather. For the third pass I reapplied the lather and shaved against the grain. There was no tugging or pulling, just the feeling of efficient and comfortable stubble removal. There was plenty of lather left to do some touch ups in some trouble areas.
Once I was complete I rinsed my face with cold water and loved the face feel; it wasn't overly moisturized, it just felt clean and soft with no residue. There was no irritation, just a couple nicks in a couple areas that are normal if I go too fast... even those I did not notice until after I was done shaving.
Overall, I found this soap to be wonderful and will definitely be purchasing this and the accompanying aftershave/cologne because the scent is amazing!
Wow!
That was my reaction after shaving with Don Donato's tobacco shaving soap.
The soap was an interesting texture - it was very soft, almost like a firm jelly. This is not a soap to bloom; just a nice warm soaked brush and a dollop of the soap in a bowl - or spread in the palm of your hand to load the brush before face lathering - will do.
The scent was unique - warm and complex with definite tobacco and amber notes with a not to sweet and herbal undertone. I assumed there were some light floral and herbal notes to help round out the scent. Here are the fragrance notes from the TVB Shaving website:
Head: bergamot
Heart: jasmine, leather, tobacco, cyclamen, ylang ylang
Base: musk, sandalwood, leather, tobacco, amber, powdered sugar, incense, mossy, clary sage, vanilla
When I first began building my lather I was worried it was not going to turn out well; it seemed very airy with little substance to it. I added a tiny bit more soap to my bowl and a few more drops of water, then BOOM! The lather began filling the bowl.
When applying the lather to my face (which had about 5 days worth of growth) it had a very unique feeling. It did not feel very heavy and dense like I am used to with most other soaps, yet it was very creamy. With the first pass of my Ikon DLC Slant and Personna Med Prep blade, I could definitely feel the blade running over my skin, yet there was plenty of cushion and slickness to make the razor glide without any discomfort. The slickness was so pronounced that after the first pass I was able to do an across the grain pass with no reapplication of lather. For the third pass I reapplied the lather and shaved against the grain. There was no tugging or pulling, just the feeling of efficient and comfortable stubble removal. There was plenty of lather left to do some touch ups in some trouble areas.
Once I was complete I rinsed my face with cold water and loved the face feel; it wasn't overly moisturized, it just felt clean and soft with no residue. There was no irritation, just a couple nicks in a couple areas that are normal if I go too fast... even those I did not notice until after I was done shaving.
Overall, I found this soap to be wonderful and will definitely be purchasing this and the accompanying aftershave/cologne because the scent is amazing!
