Ariana & Evans

I bought three A&E soaps and two splashes.  Uninspiring.
All of them are being sold after one use.  Guess this is all part of the hype train same as Holy Black.

So, I will assume from reading your past posts that you like the new version of Noble Otter better than A&E? Interesting. I wish someone sold samples of A&E as well as The Grooming Dept. and also Talbot's.

Yes. However I don't think the A&E soaps are bad (they are pretty good), but I don't rank them high enough to keep.
From your list, I rank them in the following order:
Grooming Dept (truly amazing stuff)
Noble Otter
A&E
Talbot

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Is Spartacus available yet?

It is! Just purchased a set from the westcoastshaving

That must have happened today bc I was checking it yesterday. Thanks!

... A & E in its new formulation is getting top reviews, elite level reviews.  Take Ruds for example.  You can find his reviews of various iterations of A & E on the video portion of this website under Show & Tell.  He gives this new base a 95 rating putting it up there with Declaration Grooming and Wholly Kaw.  Similarly Dagwoodz (on a separate forum) rates it at a very high level.

I personally find A&E Asian Plum top tier.  I love the scent and performance of this soap.

I agree. The A&E with the goat's milk and lanolin is the new formulation (there are some with the Shaving Shop Club branding, same formulation) is in the top tier for me. I definitely agree that the 'old formulation' from A&E and SSC were good, not great, and part of that was because the soaps were outsourced and made by various artisans. The goat's milk and lanolin formulation is heads and shoulders above that.

The performance with a straight razor is top notch-very good glide and cushion, first rate post-shave feel.

And although I'm not all that big on fragrances, the fragrances of these soaps are great to my nose-the Asian Plum, So Cal Hipster, Summer Fig just make me smile.

Their soaps are very good, but I don't like that the fact that some of their scents are only available to you if you join their subscription service. There are way too many alternatives out there that are just as good or better and don't require any subscription.

I tried the SoCal Hipster last night and was amzed, great scent, slickness and post shave feel. I ordered some immediately. I dont undertand the membership fee though, What does it get you?

You also get an additional 15% discount on your first order. So 35% in total.

Their soaps are very good, but I don't like that the fact that some of their scents are only available to you if you join their subscription service. There are way too many alternatives out there that are just as good or better and don't require any subscription.

I wanted to try the Plum upon its release, and goodness knows that once something is really hyped up and then released to the wild, it can be a challenge to get your hands on some.....so I took the plunge.
As mentioned above, your first purchase is 35% off then 20% off for everything thereafter. So you pretty much get your subscription money back from your first purchase. (granted you bag at least a few items)

One thing I did notice though, is that the VIP pricing seems to be the same as everywhere else. Take Asian Plum for example...
As of the time of this post, 'The Shaving Shop Club' has it listed for $17.86 USD (for VIP members) & $24.31 USD reg.
Yet, at West Coast Shaving it's listed for $17 USD and even up here in Canada (where I am) it's listed for $24 CAD which converts to Just over $18 USD.

So, really and truly, it seems as if the only benefit from the VIP subscription, is front row seats to new releases and some exclusives. Personally, there isn't much in it for me to consider extending my subscription. I will say though, that Peter's service, communication, and interaction with the members is solid. He's well involved and wants to ensure that people are satisfied with whatever he puts out.
The FB page is good if you like to add some ideas to future releases and such. Other than that, it's mainly like any other group.

I tried the SoCal Hipster last night and was amzed, great scent, slickness and post shave feel. I ordered some immediately.  I dont undertand the membership fee though, What does it get you?

You also get an additional 15% discount on your first order. So 35% in total.

Their soaps are very good, but I don't like that the fact that some of their scents are only available to you if you join their subscription service. There are way too many alternatives out there that are just as good or better and don't require any subscription.

I wanted to try the Plum upon its release, and goodness knows that once something is really hyped up and then released to the wild, it can be a challenge to get your hands on some.....so I took the plunge.
As mentioned above, your first purchase is 35% off then 20% off for everything thereafter. So you pretty much get your subscription money back from your first purchase. (granted you bag at least a few items)

One thing I did notice though, is that the VIP pricing seems to be the same as everywhere else. Take Asian Plum for example...
As of the time of this post, 'The Shaving Shop Club' has it listed for $17.86 USD (for VIP members) & $24.31 USD reg.
Yet, at West Coast Shaving it's listed for $17 USD and even up here in Canada (where I am) it's listed for $24 CAD which converts to Just over $18 USD.

So, really and truly, it seems as if the only benefit from the VIP subscription, is front row seats to new releases and some exclusives. Personally, there isn't much in it for me to consider extending my subscription. I will say though, that Peter's service, communication, and interaction with the members is solid. He's well involved and wants to ensure that people are satisfied with whatever he puts out.
The FB page is good if you like to add some ideas to future releases and such. Other than that, it's mainly like any other group.

I just checked and it's $16.99 on both websites (aegrooming and shavingshopclub)
You don't get free/discounted shipping with the paid subscription do you?

Hmmmm. Maybe the office that you see is different because I'm in Canada. So I probably don't get as good a deal. I think I remember reading that US customers get some sort of shipping cut. Possibly even free shipping but please don't quote me on that.

Unfortunately for me, its standard procedure for shipping, ago it goes by weight and distance. My first bill was an ugly one.

Just received an A&E Spartacus set. Will be shaving with it tonight. Smells very close to Creed Aventus.