PAA General Thoughts?

As it is said so often in shaving circles, YMMV! There's room for everyone - use whatever works. Obviously we all have different experiences.

I've got a lot of PAA products. Seriously. But B&M is gaining a lot of ground, fast. I have 16 tubs and a couple less splashes. I'd have more but didn't really get into them until later on (or I'd surely have a half dozen or more than I do now). Thinking back on a lot of the things I passed on... Had I only known! Like the Fougéres and even older stuff. That doesn't happen anymore; I just buy it all. :p

I liked PAA - about a year ago (I have more products from that era than most people have altogether.  I still use and enjoy them, but...)  The value in the products was there and the scents were mostly unique and interesting.  The soap and aftershave performance was also north of average.  Alas, in that timeframe, a lot more artisans have come on the scene and/or existing ones - that have raised the bar (considerably) when it comes to performance and in some cases, value as well.  Not to mention much more mature, well-developed (complex) scents.  I don't see spending $25 for a PAA aftershave.  I might suggest PAA slow down and stop releasing a new, half-arsed scent every week and go back to developing more original, complex scents - and continue to improve the soap base.  Alas, my days of buying PAA are pretty much over.  I've moved on to top-tier offerings by the likes of B&M, CRSW, SV, etc.  Life's too short and the shaves too few to settle.

I remember when you posted this post on htgam google+. There were some interesting responses.

I have only ever used 1 B&M soap, Night Music, so take what I am about to say with a huge grain of salt...

I did not like it at all. I know it is a thirsty soap, so let's clear that up right away, and my water is not overly hard. I have no issues lathering anything from Williams Mug soap to Captain's Choice.  I have never had difficulty with any soap except Crabtree & Evelyn and Barrister & Mann.

In both cases, no matter what I try, I end up with either sticky, unusable crust, or runny, watery bubbles, both of which are useless for shaving. I even tried super lather and uber lathers with the C&E to absolutely no avail.

I'm not blaming the soaps as far too many people like both varieties for it to be the fault of the soap. However, for whatever reason, I cannot make either soap work for me.

And I suppose that is why "YMMV" is such a popular phrase in this hobby...

Regarding the "tendrils"...I've never experienced that with PAA, but I have a tub of Shave Revolution "Bourbon Room" that does this. It lathers fine, and performs well, but loading the brush is...odd...I get great, long strings of goo coming off the soap, connected to the brush tips. Not sure what it is...

I'm sorry to hear that, Chris. Perhaps Latha is more your speed? I'd be happy to send you a jar if you PM me your address.

Outstanding gesture, Barrister_N_Mann !

Go for it, BadDad ! Latha is a really good soap.

As it is said so often in shaving circles, YMMV!  There's room for everyone - use whatever works.  Obviously we all have different experiences.

I've got a lot of PAA products.  Seriously.  But B&M is gaining a lot of ground, fast.  I have 16 tubs and a couple less splashes.  I'd have more but didn't really get into them until later on (or I'd surely have a half dozen or more than I do now).  Thinking back on a lot of the things I passed on...  Had I only known!  Like the Fougéres and even older stuff.  That doesn't happen anymore; I just buy it all.  :p

B&M has the ground in my den too. It's the combination of amazing scents and outstanding performance that has me buying nearly every new scent released.

I don't use nor have tried PAA AS and only recently began trying the soaps. The V3 or most current version I find to be actually quite good and can hold it's own from my experience. The Crown King base is very good as well.

Have you tried the new formula BoarderPhreak ? Just curious as to your thoughts.

I do agree and love B&M, particularly the glissant base. CRSW I find solid; SV doesn't wet my whistle as such as I think it good but not great.

I have tried both the Synergy v3.x and Crown King based soaps, and they're at least... Different - than Synergy 2.x.  I'll have to try the CK base more, so I don't have much of an opinion to offer there right now.  Synergy 3.x is certainly slicker than 2.x, but the lather is flatter (and not creamier per se).  I don't know that I'd call it "better."

I definitely prefer what I call top-tier soaps as they also add a lot of face feel and "exotic" ingredients.  And make of it what you will, but I like tallow and lanolin.  That's not to say vegan formulations are lacking (hell, look at Saponificio Varesino).  The three I mentioned are pretty much my benchmarks these days.

Interesting as with the current formula I get a nice balance of cushion and slickness with solid in-shave and post-shave. Definitely a hydroamorous [yes, I just made that up ] soap that I can load up with water for slickness but plenty of cushion too.

If you enjoy in particular top tier soaps with exotic ingredients and haven't tried Tallow + Steel I would strongly recommend them. Ryan @ Tallow + Steel renders his own tallow, includes lanolin, silk as well as avocado, coconut and castor oils in his formula. They are a new comer but among the best soaps I have ever used in 12 years of wetshaving.

He predominantly uses essential oils which I feel provide a richer, more rounded scent and collaborates with a perfumer on the scent profiles. In fact, my wife, who thinks this entire hobby is bizarre particularly based on my historic disinterest in man-pampering, has declared Grog the best scented soap I have ever purchased out of the 100's tried. Pretty strong endorsement coming from her!

"hydroamorous"

I like it! We need to add that to the DFS dictionary.

HYDROAMOROUS SHAVING SOAP!

I have only ever used 1 B&M soap, Night Music, so take what I am about to say with a huge grain of salt...

I did not like it at all. I know it is a thirsty soap, so let's clear that up right away, and my water is not overly hard. I have no issues lathering anything from Williams Mug soap to Captain's Choice.  I have never had difficulty with any soap except Crabtree & Evelyn and Barrister & Mann.

In both cases, no matter what I try, I end up with either sticky, unusable crust, or runny, watery bubbles, both of which are useless for shaving. I even tried super lather and uber lathers with the C&E to absolutely no avail.

I'm not blaming the soaps as far too many people like both varieties for it to be the fault of the soap. However, for whatever reason, I cannot make either soap work for me.

And I suppose that is why "YMMV" is such a popular phrase in this hobby...

Regarding the "tendrils"...I've never experienced that with PAA, but I have a tub of Shave Revolution "Bourbon Room" that does this. It lathers fine, and performs well, but loading the brush is...odd...I get great, long strings of goo coming off the soap, connected to the brush tips. Not sure what it is...

I'm sorry to hear that, Chris. Perhaps Latha is more your speed? I'd be happy to send you a jar if you PM me your address.

That is an extremely generous offer but it is really not necessary. I intend to give Latha a fair trial soon, and the Night Music was a PIF that I won, so I did not lose out at all.

However, that is easily the best display of customer service I have ever seen. I can't commend you enough.


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I haven't used their soaps but I'm sure they perform nicely I tried five of their aftershave samples and was not impressed with their scents at all way to sweet... the sandalwood was pretty nice but that was it ....now the scents are okay in the soap but not as aftershave. I took one of their aftershave cologne samples mixed it in an unscented soap and that was perfectly acceptable but like I said as an aftershave wayyyyy too sweet....on to the next manufacturer ...Stirling....

I have only ever used 1 B&M soap, Night Music, so take what I am about to say with a huge grain of salt...

I did not like it at all. I know it is a thirsty soap, so let's clear that up right away, and my water is not overly hard. I have no issues lathering anything from Williams Mug soap to Captain's Choice.  I have never had difficulty with any soap except Crabtree & Evelyn and Barrister & Mann.

In both cases, no matter what I try, I end up with either sticky, unusable crust, or runny, watery bubbles, both of which are useless for shaving. I even tried super lather and uber lathers with the C&E to absolutely no avail.

I'm not blaming the soaps as far too many people like both varieties for it to be the fault of the soap. However, for whatever reason, I cannot make either soap work for me.

And I suppose that is why "YMMV" is such a popular phrase in this hobby...

Regarding the "tendrils"...I've never experienced that with PAA, but I have a tub of Shave Revolution "Bourbon Room" that does this. It lathers fine, and performs well, but loading the brush is...odd...I get great, long strings of goo coming off the soap, connected to the brush tips. Not sure what it is...

I'm sorry to hear that, Chris. Perhaps Latha is more your speed? I'd be happy to send you a jar if you PM me your address.

That is an extremely generous offer but it is really not necessary. I intend to give Latha a fair trial soon, and the Night Music was a PIF that I won, so I did not lose out at all.

However, that is easily the best display of customer service I have ever seen. I can't commend you enough.


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Barrister_N_Mann, send me BadDad's tub of latha.

in all seriousness, latha is pretty damn hard to beat at $11.

I've never used any HTGAM/PFF/PAA products before (which is also true of a lot of artisan products out there), but I did give Miami Libre a sniff when CaD314 sent me some for the Movember donation drive last year and it smelled awesome.