#71
(12-08-2018, 10:35 AM)herbert7890 Wrote: And very well deserved........amazing soap base.  Now I want all my B&M soaps on that base.  I dont mind re buying all.   Slickness is just incredible.

Can’t see that happening until he runs out of inventory....if then. In fact...he did a special run of Seville in Reserve for a Reddit group this summer...but...never released it on his site for everyone. It would have been easy to commission a larger run.

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#72
(12-11-2018, 05:23 AM)frenchy Wrote: The problem with all reviews like this is that’s how he rates it for his particular face...


You state the obvious which would apply for any reviewer reviewing anything on Earth. Of course it's subjective. However, all should beware confirmation bias which for some on wet shaving forums uncannily parallels price and difficulty in obtaining. That aspect is where I respect Ruds as he has "slain" more than one artisan soap as mere hype. As he has so eloquently stated on another forum, they cannot all be elite level.

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Secretary Ramsey put his foot into it yesterday . . . in the course of his remarks he said that California “needs water and better society.”  “So does h-ll,” yelled someone in the crowd.  
#73
(This post was last modified: 12-12-2018, 05:22 PM by frenchy.)
(12-11-2018, 02:15 PM)BPman Wrote:
(12-11-2018, 05:23 AM)frenchy Wrote: The problem with all reviews like this is that’s how he rates it for his particular face...


You state the obvious which would apply for any reviewer reviewing anything on Earth. Of course it's subjective. However, all should beware confirmation bias which for some on wet shaving forums uncannily parallels price and difficulty in obtaining. That aspect is where I respect Ruds as he has "slain" more than one artisan soap as mere hype. As he has so eloquently stated on another forum, they cannot all be elite level.

Actually, he’s no different than most any other reviewer. With the notable exception of dfoulk Most of them....including Ruds.. totally hype some soaps which I found very sub-par. So..he has absolutely zero credibility as a “artisan slayer” in my eyes. In fact, that whole “killer” concept is quite laughable. Quite the opposite. I’ll make up my own mind thank you.

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#74

Cutting Edge Soap
Maricopa, AZ
(This post was last modified: 12-11-2018, 07:37 PM by dfoulk.)
Some random thoughts.

After watching hundreds of videos and reading hundreds of soap reviews I find many that I don't agree with at all. Probably most of them in fact. Especially the "here are my top ten soaps" video reviews that leave me scratching my head wondering how this or that soap made it into their top ten. I suspect that the problem might be In seeing these guys post videos constantly they have to always have something new to talk about. Their motivation, I don't know if they do it with the sole intention of helping others out, if they like getting free products or if they just like hearing themselves speak. Often times vendors will send products to the video makers with the expectation of a review which can make it difficult to be unbiased. I can't say that I blame the vendors as it's incredibly difficult to get any kind or publicity for their products outside of a review on these forums. I'm not questioning anyone's integrity as most soaps are actually pretty good, I just find that I like to be a bit more selective when giving something my highest rating. Who's right or wrong doesn't really matter as we're all trying to find out what works best for us. The other issue is that for me to truly evaluate a soap I have to use it for a couple weeks straight. Often times reviews are created from only one or two uses. This isn't long enough to accurately judge a soap.

Then there's the saturation issue as we have way more soap makers than we likely need at the moment. With the introduction of plenty of soap making knowledge and recipes easily found on the internet it's apparently not all the difficult to make an excellent shaving soap. Even something good enough that you could market and sell. It's easy to take an internet recipe, add a small tweak and you're in the soap making business. These however don't make it into my tier 1. The difficulty comes in making something truly elite and you're not going to find a simple internet recipe that will do that.

Price, scarcity, scent and packaging have zero impact on performance and how I'd rate a soap in that regard. Most of my soaps I move into Parkway Plastics wide mouth tubs and label them myself. So it's nice if they already come in this container but if they don't then no worries as I can easily move them. I've seen users rate a soap much higher because it was sold for a lower price. This makes absolutely no logical sense to me. A factor in whether to buy a soap or not definitely, but not as to how it performs. Scents are subjective and we all smell them differently so scent isn't something that I can factor in either. Will it make me want to reach for one soap over another, indeed it will, but it won't make it perform any better. The SOTD pics look great when a soap has a nice label but it's another thing that I don't care about either as I don't take the time to take pics of my daily shaves. It's just not worth the effort to me. When you take these attributes out of the equation then the performance is more accurate, or at least in my opinion it is.

When looking at what to try, what I'll tend to do is find friends and other users that value the same attributes that I do in a soap. If one of the few people that I trust highly recommends something then I'm interested. My previous experience with the soap makers other products is always a factor as well. Other than that with the new vendors I tend to take a wait and see approach to ensure that the newly introduced soap isn't just the flavor of the month. I used to rush to try everything new but I'm at the point now where if I do this then I'm usually disappointed in finding another soap that's not on par with my absolute favorites. There are plenty of new makers that get a ton of praise for a few weeks and then die out completely. If a soap is still getting truly outstanding reviews after a few months then it's likely worth trying.

This being said Barrister & Mann definitely does have the potential to release something at the elite level so I'd have to try this one myself to know if it's something truly special.

Anyway, just some of my thoughts that are probably worth what you paid for them.

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#75

Member
gone to Carolina in my mind
Two things.  First, I am grateful to dfoulk for his work and also grateful to Ruds' for his.  Thank you both (and don't let it go to your heads Smile).  Second, and getting back to B&M's new soap base ... Vespers is back in stock at Maggards.  Not surprisingly to me, stock has quickly run low, so if you want to pick up a jar, now's the time.

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Technique Trumps Tools
Skin Care Trumps Skin Repair

Be Cool, be Kind, and be Well
--  Mike --
#76
(12-11-2018, 07:30 PM)dfoulk Wrote: ...This being said Barrister & Mann definitely does have the potential to release something at the elite level so I'd have to try this one myself to know if it's something truly special...


Absolutely incredible in breadth & depth the arrogance & condescension in this remark. B&M is THE one to follow in the artisan shaving soap market. They don't plagiarize.
Secretary Ramsey put his foot into it yesterday . . . in the course of his remarks he said that California “needs water and better society.”  “So does h-ll,” yelled someone in the crowd.  
#77

Member
gone to Carolina in my mind
Vespers (Excelsior) lather is good, and I'm really diggin' the scent.  Another shave on the books.  ...


(12-12-2018, 02:53 AM)HighSpeed Wrote: 2018-12-11 SOTN

[Image: kc0POsY.jpg]

........PREP:  Grooming Dept V35 preshave
........BOWL:  JaysClay Large Blue Grip
........BRUSH:  DSCosmetic 26mm 2B Fan (Red)
........SOAP:  B&M Vespers (Excelsior base)
........RAZOR:  Blackland Sabre L2, Timeless H7 handle, GEM PTFE (4)
........POST:  warm water, Thayers Witch Hazel, Vespers AS, Vespers EDT


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Technique Trumps Tools
Skin Care Trumps Skin Repair

Be Cool, be Kind, and be Well
--  Mike --
#78

Member
AZ, USA
[Image: LM0TRgA.jpg]

I’m a big fan of B&M Reserve, and also enjoy many of the scents that Will has created throughout the rest of his line. I’ve only used Vespers in the new Excelsior Base a few times, but I’m very impressed with its performance as well as the scent. After only a few uses the performance is easily in my top three or four Soaps. The other top Soaps in my Den in no particular order are Grooming Dept., Wholly Kaw Bufala Base, Declaration Grooming Icarus Base, and Barrister’s Reserve.

As far as the scent, it’s definitely seasonal. This isn’t one that I would use in warm weather, but for the colder months I absolutely love it. I pick up Cranberries right off the top, and then I get the Fougere Accord on top of Sandalwood. It’s a lovely scent, and one I’ve been thoroughly enjoying. I’m glad I picked up the EdT to go along with this one. I’m looking forward to more scents being released in this Base.

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Hunter
#79

Super Moderator
San Diego, Cal., USA
(This post was last modified: 12-12-2018, 04:22 PM by Freddy.)
(12-12-2018, 02:26 AM)BPman Wrote:
(12-11-2018, 07:30 PM)dfoulk Wrote: ...This being said Barrister & Mann definitely does have the potential to release something at the elite level so I'd have to try this one myself to know if it's something truly special...


Absolutely incredible in breadth & depth the arrogance & condescension in this remark. B&M is THE one to follow in the artisan shaving soap market. They don't plagiarize.

To pull this one comment out of a long and thoughtful post and call it both arrogant and condescending I think is unfair.  Also, the OP did not stress in bold or red the word "potential" so reading the identical comment as originally written and as you wrote it gives a very different feel to the same words.  Indeed, reading the entire post of dfoulk, it sounds as if he thinks highly of B&M.  I imagine most, if not all, artisan soap makers have both admirers and critics and that there is probably not one that could be labeled THE one to follow for everyone.  If your statement was true then there would be only one artisan soap maker, not dozens.

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#80

Merchant
St. Louis, MO
As another soap maker, I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I’m glad Freddy did.


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