Wholly Kaw Monaco Royale shaving soap (Tallow and Donkey Milk)

I have been , as I have expressed on a recent thread , about the quality of some of the latest shaving soap artisan releases and this new Monaco Royale with Tallow and Donkey Milk have been nothing less than SUPERB with capital letters.

I have tried so far , from this brand , I mean , the vegan Fougere Bouquet and the tallow Vetivertal and both of them have really more than satisfied me , due to their great skin care and scent wise properties.

Well , this Monaco Royale have even gone the extra mile in the skin care department.

The ingredientes list is simply a combination of the goodness of lanolin , with Tallow and other butters like Kokum , Shea and Cocoa.Until there , the regular Tallow version that Wholly Kaw have been offering.But then , the inclusion of Donkey Milk , like some of the French soaps have been offering us in the past (Savon de Moulin) and that have made a difference in the quality of the lather



The soap comes in the regular white plastic jar , with the green label (the vegan version has a yellow label) and 4 oz of soap.

I noticed that this soap is slightly harder than the vegan and regular tallow version I own.

And the lather , my friends , is nothing less than great.Using the new Semogue Barbear Classico synthetic brush here.Loading the soap for 15 seconds :



And after over a minute building it the lather on the palm of my hand :



This soap is a water thirsty one , don't be shy adding water to it.But as you can see in the pic , it would reward you with an extra thick lather.And when I say thick , trust me , is thick.

I feel that this lather , literally , stick to my skin.I also thought that due to its thickness it wasn't going to be slick at all , but I was wrong : the lanolin and the butters make it slick , like a good shaving soap should be.

Shaving with it have been a pleasure for my extra dry skin , leaving it nourished after the shave.I can only say thanks ! to that.

And it's scent is quite a nice one.Wholly Kaw says this about it :

Scent notes:

Top notes: Lavender, Bergamot, Neroli, Petitgrain

Middle notes: Oakmoss, Cedarwood, Tonka Bean, Ambergris*

Base notes: Guaiacwood, Agarwood, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Labdanum and Musk

Well , that says a lot and at the same time we need to smell it to really knows how good smells.For me it's like a combination of the fresh notes of Tabac mixed with Penhaligons Opus 1870.Thats how I would describe it.
Manly scent , not very overpowering , but last during the shave.Perfect for Spring and Summer months.

This tallow version has a price of 23.99 dollars , while the vegan one if a little bit cheaper , 18.99 dollars.

While I haven't tried the vegan version , and this soap is more expensive than some others out there , I find it to be excellent in the skin care department and scent wise.Once again , very happy with it and even more happy to see how shaving soap artisans are still releasing amazing ones.

I couldn't agree more Tieste! Everything you said is spot on. This is a fantastic offering from Wholly Kaw and it has shot straight to the top of my rotation!

+1 this was my first wholly law soap and i was blown away. picked up the fougere bouquet also and they my be the only two soap i use this spring.

I've been really enjoying Fougere Bouquet tallow the last couple of weeks. I think MR will be next to try once I finish this one off, thanks to your fine review.

I've been really enjoying Fougere Bouquet tallow the last couple of weeks. I think MR will be next to try once I finish this one off, thanks to your fine review.

Their Fougere is my favorite fougere that I've tried. Their Dark Vetiver is also excellent. I think WK is generally an under appreciated brand. They make excellent soap that smells great.

I've been really enjoying Fougere Bouquet tallow the last couple of weeks. I think MR will be next to try once I finish this one off, thanks to your fine review.

Their Fougere is my favorite fougere that I've tried. Their Dark Vetiver is also excellent. I think WK is generally an under appreciated brand. They make excellent soap that smells great.

Couldn't agree more. Fougere's usually do not work for me, but I love WK's. Haven't tried Dark Vetiver, another rough category for me. I'll probably quit while I'm ahead.... I have not tried the vegan formula, but the tallow is as good as any right now.

Received Monaco Royale last week. It is an absolute superb performer. Probably my favorite soap right now.

Wholly Kaw truly have found a good formulation.

I was thinking about the artisan shaving soaps , and how things have changed from the earlier melt and pour ones (Mama Bears , Kells , etc) to the first tallow ones I tried , which were the Prairie Creations back in 2010 , (do you remember them , Freddy ) to all the ones we have these days : Stirlings , CRSW , B&M , T&S , Mikes , Mystic etc.This "competition" have made that artisans are truly looking to deliver better and better soaps every year and this WK is a good example of it.Well done to all of them.

Yes, I do remember Prairie Creations and still use the Prairie Creations Douceur de Cando Rose shaving soap. However, you're right, Teiste, things have certainly grown and grown since then and quality is constantly improving.

WK tallow formula is superb in everyway. Haven't tried This particular one, but love the scent of Chypre rose concerto, Lav Sublime Concerto, and Fern Concerto......damn am I tired of typing concerto lol.