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Maybe just personal preference but to me your lather looks a bit wet.  I always start out with a dryer brush and add water about 4 to 6 drops at a time repeating as necessary and watching the lather change slowly. This way I can stop when it's right instead of trying for the soap to match the amount of water I already have.  I mention this only because you mentioned having trouble getting the lather on the first sample right due to bowl lathering for the first time in a while.  The lather on the second soap looks very similar to the first.  I found both soaps to perform a little better for me than what you're experiencing.  Definitely enjoying the reviews so far though.    

Someone else's pic from a while back but this is what I shoot for.

Long Rifle – Hunting Lodge (test-lather only)

That is generally the type of lather I can get when face-lathering, especially with Mystic Water, Mike’s, B&M, and Oleo. I used your suggestion to do a test-lather on Long Rifle Hunting Lodge. Here’s the result:




Still some air bubbles but there is more “shine” to this lather and it didn’t feel as “fluffy” as the previous lathers. Thank you for the advice!


The scent is a tobacco/leather/bay rum combination according to the website. The leather stands out most prominently to me followed by the tobacco. This scent-profile is one of my favorites. The scent-strength is 7/10.

Wholly Kaw – King of Oud

The scent on this one…..oh, my! I was in Maggard’s this past week and I kept coming back to the King of Oud. Based on the name alone, I wouldn’t have guessed there were any other notes but, per the Wholly Kaw website, the scent contains:

Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Clary Sage, Rose, Aldehydes and Pink Pepper
Middle notes: Angelica, Rosewood, Galbanum
Base notes: Agarwood or Oud, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Patchouli and Amber

Once I read the Top Notes, I realized why it was so appealing…the Rose. But with such a strong base, the Rose scent is toned down enough that I would never call it a Floral-forward scent. This one has rocketed to the top of the wish list

“An Affair” by BTRC is already in the den and not only do I enjoy the scent but the lathers as well. I didn’t intend to shave with any of the BTRCs because I am already familiar with the soap. But, at the very least, I wanted to give each of the scents a good sniff. I tested each of the scents with no prior knowledge of the scent notes. After sniffing “Black Velvet”, I was so absolutely intrigued by scent and had to use it for one of the shaves.

The scent on BV is almost straight-up black pepper. I learned later from the website it is simply Black Pepper and Vetiver. The vetiver helps calm a scent that, for many, can be overpowering. Personally, I am a big fan of freshly ground pepper…both scent and taste. The scent strength is only about a 5 which, when it comes to pepper, is probably a good thing. I’m not sure I would be fan if the scent strength were a 9 or 10. The scent strength stayed about the same throughout the shave.

I don’t have any Pepper-forward scented witch hazel or aftershave. So Stirling Vetiver WH and Wholly Kaw Fern Concerto were used as substitutes.

Overall, I am absolutely loving this scent! I have found myself coming back to give it a quick sniff several times over the past day and a half.

Razormaster – Toivo

Today’s shave was with the Razormaster Toivo. There are eleven scents from Razormaster in the box but there is only one that is going to make you throw your head back, grab your nostrils, and cringe til your teeth hurt…and that’s Toivo! Seriously, the other scents are really very well blended but there was something about Toivo that I couldn’t resist this morning. The scent is Pine Tar and I would rate the scent strength at 8 or 9. I have a sample of Chiseled Face Pine Tar and, to my nose, the scent strength on CF is a little lighter as compared to Toivo…but only a little bit lighter

Today, I spread a thin layer of the soap in my suribachi bowl and put a few drops of water on it while I got my 6S ready. I then loaded up my 28mm SilkSmooth and after a few seconds of loading, I proceeded to face lather. This method seemed to work well and the soap provided good cushion and really nice slickness. The residual slickness felt good as well as I went over several spots without re-lathering. Post-shave was really nice…I am writing this nearly 14 hours after the shave and my face still feels great. Overall, this soap was very surprising to me because of how well it performed and how good my face felt.

Le Pere Lucien

After using a bold and strongly scented soap yesterday, I wanted a more mellow easy-going scent today. The box has so many samples to choose from but, after reading many of Bouki's posts on Le Pere Lucien, I had to give this soap a try. So today's shave was with Abricot (Apricot)...and the scent is just like the name says. The scent-strength is mid-tier, definitely not on the level of Toivo, but not so light that you can't enjoy it either.

I put a small scoop of the soap into the suribachi bowl and used the Maggard 30mm tuxedo for about 20 seconds. I then went to face-lathering. I still ended up with a little too much water but not so much that I couldn't get a good shave with the lather. What impressed me the most with this soap is that even though I admit the lather should be much better, the slickness was simply top-tier. On several areas of my neck and chin, I didn't re-lather and had zero issues. Post-shave is also top-tier. It's been about nine hours since I shaved and my skin still feels great

The box will be shipped to Kehole tomorrow afternoon. And although I didn't get to shave with each scent, I did take the opportunity to smell each one and test-lather a few as well. Several of them are nice scents but, just not for me. Thankfully, I was able to smell them prior to making a purchase.

What I learned form this experience is that I need to start using my samples more often so that I get comfortable using the sample/bowl lather method. But, more importantly, I now have several soaps that are now on the "wish list" or "must-have list". A couple of those include the BTRC Black Velvet, a scent I never would have purchased as I would not have thought I would enjoy the scent notes. Another is the Razormaster...and, yes, Toivo may end up being the one I choose but any of them would be welcome in the den. Smooth Operator, which I did shave with but didn't get around to doing a review, was really a great soap. I used the Red Cedarwood & Rose which, to my nose, smelled like wet cedar off the sample. But, once lathered, the rose scent was prominent. It paired up extremely well with Chatillon Lux Rose Santal AS. Le Pere Lucien will also one day find it's way to the den as the slickness and post-shave were impressive. Trust me, there are others that deserve to be on this list but these were the ones I really enjoyed.

I'm still debating what to use for tomorrow's shave. But Wild West Shaving (either Snake Oil or Billy the Kid), Sudsy Soapery Delor de Treget, or Tallow + Steele Boreal are the ones I'm leaning towards. I have never shaved with WWS, so it's at the forefront now. I've shaved with the other two but really want to try the scents. Oh well, we'll see how I feel in the morning before making any decision.

Thanks again dfoulk for doing this...it has really been beneficial for me

If you’ve never used tallow & Steel I would HIGHLY recommend trying boreal.

Wild West – Snake Oil

So, for the last shave of the sample box, I decided to go with Wild West Snake Oil due to the fact I had never tried Wild West shave soap. And I am so glad I decided to give it try. The scent profile on their website is “Mystery and Intrigue”, but additional searches found it was based on the old Old Spice formula. I have a bottle of the grey stopper Old Spice and the two scents were very similar.

The overall performance of the soap is what I found most impressive. I tried something a little different for me…I smeared the scoop into the bowl, put two drops of water on it, and then prepared everything else. I then took a completely dry brush and started the lather. After a few seconds, the soap was gone from the bowl but the brush looked as if it didn’t have any product. When I started face-lathering, it wasn’t doing much so I dipped the whole brush in the sink water and went back to the face. The lather exploded at that point. At first, it was “airy” but after a few minutes, I ended up with a nice creamy lather that provided great protection and slickness.

Wild West is going on the “wish list” I posted yesterday. I would certainly be willing to get the Snake Oil scent but the Kodak scent was also very nice.

I've been enjoying the reviews so far. No rush at all, but know that you have my approval to send the box to Kehole at your convenience. He's a good friend and I already have his contact information.