Ariana & Evans

This release is almost a year old, so by the way ...

Perhaps for private Shave Club members, but not the general public.

The original strained yogurt formula was released about a year ago to members of the Shaving Shop Club. It was also offered to those who attended the Maggard meetup last June. I attended and picked up a couple of tubs. I thought it was an improvement on the original formula that did not include yogurt.

 More recently Peter has tweaked that formula. Asian Pear was the first scent available in the new formula. The ingredient list is the same as the old formula, but some of the ratios were adjusted to improve performance. I have not tried the new formula, so I cannot confirm whether the changes were beneficial.

There have been some A&E soaps released into the general marketplace recently. The description of these soaps does not indicate whether they are the formula from a year ago, or whether they are now all being produced with the updated formula. I presume they are the updated formula, but because the ingredient list has not changed from the earlier formula, I cannot confirm which formula is used. Either way, they will be excellent soaps.

I've gone over the ingredients list, with some saying swine tallow, some not.. can someone confirm which scents don't contain this tallow? Thanks guys

As far as I can determine, all of the A&E soaps produced in the last year have contained both Manteca (aka lard or pig fat) and Strangisto Giaourti (strained yogurt).

I have in my collection some A&E soaps made prior to the introduction of this formula. They do not contain either pig fat or yogurt. Any soaps in the current supply chain are likely to contain pig fat.

Although lard and tallow are similar, they do have different compositions of fatty acids, so they impart different attributes to the soap. For those who object to the use of products derived from swine, there are plenty of other alternatives, including vegan soaps.

Ray, thanks for the answer.. I prefer a tallow with my soaps, just not swine. Can you tell me when the new formulation went into effect? It would be great to find some of that!

The original strained yogurt formula was released about a year ago to members of the Shaving Shop Club. It was also offered to those who attended the Maggard meetup last June. I attended and picked up a couple of tubs. I thought it was an improvement on the original formula that did not include yogurt.

 More recently Peter has tweaked that formula. Asian Pear was the first scent available in the new formula. The ingredient list is the same as the old formula, but some of the ratios were adjusted to improve performance. I have not tried the new formula, so I cannot confirm whether the changes were beneficial.

There have been some A&E soaps released into the general marketplace recently. The description of these soaps does not indicate whether they are the formula from a year ago, or whether they are now all being produced with the updated formula. I presume they are the updated formula, but because the ingredient list has not changed from the earlier formula, I cannot confirm which formula is used. Either way, they will be excellent soaps.

I haven't kept tabs on A&E, but that's only because I'm so over-soaped that I haven't kept tabs on many great soaps.  All I can say is, regardless of what exactly is in Asian Pear, it does a great job for me.

As far as I can determine, all of the A&E soaps produced in the last year contain pig fat. The new formulation as represented by Asian Pear, contains the same ingredients, but in slightly different proportions. Thus, if you have an objection to pig fat, you will have to look to another artisan.

Some other artisans who my may want to consider that have soaps that are similar in characteristics to A&E, yet are made without lard are:

Barrister and Mann Excelsior Excelsior- tallow based
Declaration Grooming Milksteak- Bison tallow based with goat milk
Grooming Department Kairos- beef tallow based
Grooming Department Nai- vegan based, no animal based ingredients 
Murphy & McNeil Aon- beef tallow and duck fat based
Murphy & McNeil Kodiak base- duck fat, beef tallow, bear tallow based with goat milk
Wholly Kaw Bufala- tallow and water buffalo milk
Wholly Kaw Siero- tallow, donkey milk and water buffalo milk
Zingari Man Sego- Beef tallow based with goat milk

Chiseled Face has just introduced a new Silk Tallow base. I participated in some of the early development testing and expect the final product to be as good as the ones listed above. I did not include it in the list as I have not evaluated the final version.

These soaps listed above are those I currently consider to be the best available. However, there are many other excellent soaps worthy of consideration.

Barrister and Mann Reserve- tallow based
Captains Choice vegan soaps and creams
Caties Bubbles vegan soaps and creams.
Cold River Soap Works is not as well known as some of the others, but their Glide formula containing tallow is excellent.
First Line Shave produces excellent soaps from beef tallow and goat milk.
Talbot Shaving is an artisan who produces excellent shaving soaps as a hobby rather than a business. Thus, supplies are limited and sell out quickly.

There are numerous other soaps that may not have all of the characteristics of these soaps, but will still give an excellent shave. The products you will like best depend upon your specific needs and preferences.

Ray, your response has been extremely helpful.. sounds like finding NOS may be possible, considering how recent the switch to the new formulation. I became kinda interested in A&E after seeing a review by Rud's , talking about the post shave, something I put a high value on.

I very much enjoy B&M, though I have limited experience, only trying 42 and absolutely loving it.. but I digress, this is a A&E thread and not wishing to side track it..

Again, thanks so much Ray

I have sensitive skin and value post-shave highly. Any of the soaps I recommended as elite soaps in my post #127 will have elite post-shave feel.

The other soaps I recommended will have excellent post shave or better.

There are some folks whose skin is on the oily side who do not like the soaps I recommend due to the post-shave feel. They may not need or want the moisturizing and conditioning properties. However, those with dry or sensitive skin are likely to enjoy the soaps I recommend.

Ray, I have dry and sensitive skin and I doubt your claim about Caties Bubbles soaps because it dries my skin.