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Rose Rock Apothecary's Cypress Lime ...The one area this soap fell a little short was post shave feel. That is not something I worry about too much. I have oily Mediterranean skin and I can always get a good post shave feel with a great post shave product...

This matters in a review, I specifically look for "fell short" in post shave feel or neutral or even drying for the same reasons you stated.  I expect a shave soap to shave well.  Not to leave my skin feeling like I took a header in bucket of TakiLube...  But my face is odd.  

Other than the ease with which it lathered, nothing jumped out at me as being either mind blowing or deficient. It was a really solid performing soap in all respects. I took a look at the website and noticed that Black Tie offers free US shipping on orders $15 and up. That makes buying a "test tub" a really great deal. If I was introducing someone to wet shaving, I might point them in this direction for a tub of soap that offers little fuss and nice results...and for a good price.

Good to hear.  Once I whittle inventory down this is the next acquisition.

Your reports are quite useful.  Thank you for taking the time!

No problem...this pass around has been really eye opening. I have to admit, I am getting tired of lathering from samples. I just got B&M Terror and am excited to use it for the first time, so I am going to take a one day sample break tomorrow, then finish off my turn with the samples over the weekend.

I have been emailing with Sharon at Rose Rock Apothecary. She said that they had discontinued the shave soap line a while back, but have gotten enough email inquiries to warrant bringing it back. She said to look for it in the "coming weeks." I am definitely buying at least one tub. I might shave with a different scent of it before passing the box on just to confirm my feelings about it. The pass-arounds that dfoulk has organized might be responsible for the return of Rose Rock soaps.

I hear you on the "drying" thing. I live in CT. It gets hot and very humid in the summer. Sometimes I need a "drying" soap and splash to not feel like my face is totally waterlogged, especially if I am planning on being outdoors. The opposite is true in the winter, when it is super dry outside and inside. That's when I break out the Sudsy soap and balm, which is way too much for me in the warmer, wetter months.

Quick update...

Yesterday I went to the barbershop, so I thought B&M Reserve Cool and Epsilon Blue was a good combo. Also yesterday, the B&M Terror (Excelsior base) set my friend bought for me came in the mail. I took a break from the box to use Terror this morning.

Both soaps require a fair bit of work to lather. Both take a good deal of water. Both are great soaps in their own right. Post shave on Excelsior is noticeably better. I think it's also a little slicker than the Reserve. Scent strength was great on both. Residual slickness could be be better on both. I thought I used enough water, but maybe I could have gotten away with more.

The main takeaway is that Excelsior is a better base, IMO, but it wouldn't stop me from buying B&M soaps in older bases if I really liked the scent.

I apologize that these recent reviews are sort of rushed. I work on the weekends and I'm leaving for vacation on Monday. I am sending the box to A. Feitar this morning. I pre-scraped tomorrow's sample into a bowl so I can get the box out before leaving on Monday morning.

Beehive Crisp Alpine stream...Here's another really easy to lather soap. The cushion seems to be the strong point of this soap. It was easy to make a nice creamy lather. I tend to prefer thicker, pastier lathers, but this worked well with my CG Lvl 2, which is the most mild razor I use on a regular basis. This would be another good beginner soap due to how quickly and easily good results come. The scent was nice, but far too weak. It was the weakest scented soap I've tried in the box so far. That might be a plus for some people, however. Scent aside, the performance was very good.

Today was Eufros Brisa Oriente...very nice soap, indeed. Here's yet another where not one thing in particular stood out, other than its spicy, unique scent. Paired with DG Chaipre splash, it was an excellent combo. Most of the Eufros scents in this box didn't really excite me. If ever I buy a Eufros soap, it would most likely be during a Pasteur Pharmacy trip, where I could smell them all. Either that, or go for a "sure bet" scent for me.

I don't have much more to say. I doubt there is a bad soap in this box. Going in, I knew it was going to be tough to hold a candle to Lisa's and T+S. That proved true in the end. Here are my three big takeaways...

I had never used DG bison base prior to this and I REALLY liked it. Overall, it might have been my favorite soap in the box. Except for a tub of DG bison, I don't have any plans to buy more soap in the next few weeks. At some point, I need to evaluate it against Icarus.

The T+S scents are like no others. I might collect samples of all that are available just to use as a "scent library." Like them or not, I have not smelled another brand of shaving soap with the depth and intricacy of scent that these soaps had. I already owned Sicily. I made notes that say, "buy Boreal & West Indies at some point."

The biggest surprise was Rose Rock Apothecary's soap. This soap really resonated with me. I will definitely buy a tub when it's available again. The sample box was worth it to me if only for this discovery.
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I've never tried Pannacrema Nuavia. I'd like to compare it against some of these top tier soaps.

As great as all these soaps are, my gold standard soap (for performance), Grooming Dept donkey base, is still on top. A GD donkey base soap with an agreeable T+S scent would be the ultimate soap for me.

Thanks again, dfoulk!

I received the soap sample box today and looked through for artisans I have not tried yet. I make a preliminary pile of ones I want to shave with and also a pile of ones I would like to test lather.

Tallow and Steel was one I was really excited to test lather; I had read many great reviews of this soap. Upon smelling them, I noticed they are very complex scents. I smeared some of the Boreal, Madagascar and Morocco in test bowls and lathered each individually. My first reaction was that the lather scent evolved once water was added to the soap. These are all strong scents and I don’t know if I will like them. The test lathers were all very dense and creamy so I will shave with probably Madagascar in the morning.

On a side note, after doing all these test lathers, I went back and found my old dried up puck of Mitchell’s Wool Fat. I had given up on it previously because I did not like the airy lather I was getting. After doing some research, I found that this puck likes to be soaked in water to get the surface soft and loaded extra long on the brush. After doing this, I was able to generate a really nice lather was was super slick and cushiony.

Based on Pork’s previous review, I tested and shaved with Rose Rock Apothcary’s Cedar Lavender.   WOW!  I had never heard of this one before.  It lathered into a creamy and very shiny soft lather that provided excellent results.  The lather held a ton of water and was slippery.  I did some research online and I can’t find much about Rose Rock  Their website is down and from what I read it appears that shave soap is not their main gig. They mostly make aromatherapy items. Regardless, they stumbled upon a great shave soap.

Based on Pork’s previous review, I tested and shaved with Rose Rock Apothcary’s Cedar Lavender.   WOW!  I had never heard of this one before.  It lathered into a creamy and very shiny soft lather that provided excellent results.  The lather held a ton of water and was slippery.  I did some research online and I can’t find much about Rose Rock  Their website is down and from what I read it appears that shave soap is not their main gig.  They mostly make aromatherapy items.  Regardless, they stumbled upon a great shave soap.

Heck yeah, that is some good stuff. I can’t wait until it’s rereleased. I want to get the grapefruit and ginger scent.

This morning I smeared a sample of Tallow and Steel’s Himalayas in my copper lathering bowl. As I started to add water droplets and lather, I realized I really found the scent objectionable. The Jasmine scent was overwhelming and cloying. I dumped the bowl in the sink and washed out my brush. I am sorry T&S, despite the great performance reviews, I just don’t like any of their scents.

I still needed a shave so I opened the drawer and pulled out Grooming Dept.’s Jasmine and Civet. The Jasmine scent was well balanced and I had a wonderful close shave.

After all these samples and a few years of trying different soaps, I am going to cull my herd of soaps down to just Grooming Dept., Barrister and Mann, Martin de Candre and Murphy and MCNeil. These work the best for me.

I had another great shave this morning with Rose Rock Cypress and Lime. Whomever gets the sample box next should really try Rose Rock. It doesn’t get much discussion on the forums and it exceeded my expectations.

I had another great shave this morning with Rose Rock Cypress and Lime.  Whomever gets the sample box next should really try Rose Rock.   It doesn’t get much discussion on the forums and it exceeded my expectations.

I most certainly will!