Soaps you've hated this year

You know what? That thread by grim got me thinking.  I was about to reply to the thread about poor reviews and say, "Hey, most of what I've tried lately is on point."  However, after running through my receipts from Maggards I found some that were definitely stinkers.  These products did not work "for me."  Not doing an extensive review but just a basic overview of the products that I hated.  Why not?

Dapper Dragon Black Dragon - this was a sample.  Perhaps not enough of the product but I hated the scent.  Straight licorice was all I got out of it.  Not my favorite, wife literally wretched after smelling it.  I thought she might actually dry heave.

Caties Bubbles New Formula Pink Grapefruit - 2 ounces. I thought sure the performance of Caties was going to finally wow me, as I've found it only mediocre in the past, lacking slickness.  It was fine.  I think it might be somewhat slicker, but not enough to make me purchase the 4 ounce version. I'm not sure I like the small container either.  At the moment, it sits in a drawer not getting any use. Wife doesn't like it either and its sad because I bought it for her to start her wet shaving adventure.  She ended up using Castle Forbes lavender because it was slicker.  Imagine that, much more expensive.

Caties Bubbles New Formula 95 liquid labels - 2 ounces.  Again, hate the tiny container.  I thought this would be a four ounce container with just 2 ounces of soap in it.  Nevertheless, this soap although great smelling, burned my face to a crisp.  Strike 2 for caties.

Caties Bubbles new Formula Tonsorial Parlour - 2 ounces.  This was fine.  I know its a different type of barbershop maybe? But its just funky as a monkey to me.  I do not care for how much lemon there is in it, and it just seems muddled and wrong.  The performance was fine but disappointing as all Caties have been to me up to this point. Strike 3, never again for Caties. Done with the brand, especially after receiving a few tubs last year that were literally crumbly goo, and having several others have zero scent strength. Personally, as another side note to caties, I do not like the 2 ounce containers.  Some others might love it, but I felt restricted when trying to lather in it.

Wholly Kaw Premium Shaving Soap - Mélange de Santal - wow this might be one of the most disappointing soaps for me this year.  Really weak scent and the scent I pick up is just barely sandalwood maybe? A little bit of woodiness, might be scent strength of 2 out of 10. Zero complexity to me with this, and it sounded like it was going to be spice and woody heaven. I hate this because the performance of the product is excellent.

Barrister and Mann Latha Original - this was a sample.  I wish I could describe this scent but all I can come up with is weird. I lathered it up a couple times, kept bringing it to my nose, and all I got was weirdness.  I'm not sure what notes I picked up but the scent just wasnt for me.

Barrister and Mann Lavanille - This was a sample. definitely dark, definitely leathery, kinda lavendery and definitely not for me.  Numerous smells and lathers couldn't make me love this one. Great performance.

Barrister and Mann Fireside - This was another sample. liquor? Thats all I got out of it.  Couldn't get past it.  Great performance. See the thing about Barrister and Mann is performance is never going to be a problem, its always going to be do I like the scent.  I did not like the scent of these three.  Luckily, I found a handful of Latha scents as well as Adagio and Cologne Russe this year.

What did you hate?  Any constructive criticism for the vendors?

Chiseled Face Summer Storm - Is that what it is called? I threw it away... I regard that soap as toxic, each sniff always cause me to be nausea.

Thankfully mine were all samples. 3 were decent size ones I got in a trade. LPL Rose de Pushkar smelled like a nasty chemical bathroom cleaner to me. Nothing like a rose. Performance was middling as well, nothing like what it was hyped to be. It went straight to the trash after one use. The other 2 from the trade were both Tiki. Fougere and Volcano both smell like cheap air freshener scents to me, straight from the can of Glade or whatever. Performance was also "meh". The other one is another vote for Catie's Bubbles. A sample of LPV from Maggard's. The scent was decent but kind of light and it burned my face a little. I couldn't get a good lather from it either the few times I used it. This I would partially blame on the sample size itself, but it was kind of goopy which made it even harder to load.

Thankfully mine were all samples. 3 were decent size ones I got in a trade. LPL Rose de Pushkar smelled like a nasty chemical bathroom cleaner to me. Nothing like a rose. Performance was middling as well, nothing like what it was hyped to be. It went straight to the trash after one use. The other 2 from the trade were both Tiki. Fougere and Volcano both smell like cheap air freshener scents to me, straight from the can of Glade or whatever. Performance was also "meh". The other one is another vote for Catie's Bubbles. A sample of LPV from Maggard's. The scent was decent but kind of light and it burned my face a little. I couldn't get a good lather from it either the few times I used it. This I would partially blame on the sample size itself, but it was kind of goopy which made it even harder to load.

I will say Caties has resolved the goopiness with the new formula so I'm betting that your sample was from the old formula. The Caties soaps I tried were from the "Luxury" line which has a harder consistency and coincidentally costs WAY more per ounce than the old formula (although again, I found it slightly slicker but still marginal compared to most). Nevertheless, you must have had a fragrance allergy from it like I did with the 95 liquid labels. It happens sometimes.

Sheesh, Fougere and Volcano both made you think of household air fresheners? Seems like I've heard good things about these two. Glad I didn't bother.

This was horrible in terms of performance. Extremely difficult to lather, IMO and performance was ... not great.
http://bit.ly/2bohb8O



This is the only soap that I bought and eventually went to the trash can.

Also one Italian Barber soap (Aquatico I think). But for the price, I didn't expect it to be that good anyway.

I did not hate Soap Commander renewal, but I didn't find the soap to be very good, just decent and the scent wasn't for me.

What did you dislike about the Aquatico? The Italian Barber line was so affordable I was thinking about ordering a few this year but figured, they're cheap you know? Not even good enough to be $3.99? If so, thats pretty terrible.

Haßlinger Coconut. Irritated my skin. Buh-Bye.

Really surprised that you think Catie's isn't that slick - especially the new formula. Personally, I put it up there with B&M and MLS. Must be my water (hard) and how I lather.

Hate is a really strong word. Like I hate shitty drivers. How I feel towards those shitty drivers doesn't match my dislike for certain shave products. That said, here are the soaps I didn't care for:
- CFG Midnight Stag - couldn't hang with the scent
- DR Harris Rose - didn't perform very well, scent was terrible
- Antica Barbieria Colla - didn't perform very well, don't like sweet almond scents
- L&L Grooming After the Rain (vegan formula) - performance and scent was meh, looking forward to trying the improved bison tallow formula
- WK Vetivertal - my tub mind as well be unscented ...

I'm a huge CFG fan, but I was unable to come to terms with the scent of Santa Paula. Thankfully, a fellow at work loved it, so he bought it off me. It went to a loving home.

None for me. I don't go buying everything so my list is pretty tight.

I hated the purchases of Proraso, Cella, and Arko...not because these soaps are terrible, but because they are not great.

But then I went on a winning streak and purchased great soaps like Nuavia, Sudsy Soapery, Pure2O, B&M and Saponificio Varesino.    I didn't know about these soaps until I did some research and exchanged PMs with a couple of experienced shavers.   Whoever says that ignorance is bliss should have his face shaved with a rusty blade.