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As a Navy man shaving is a daily ritual with rare exception, I used barbasol for years because it worked and it was cheap. As I grow older I tend to enjoy the finer things in life, one of which being Smolder shave soap by The Blades Grim. I balked at the price at first, I could get 7 cans of barbasol for 15 dollars, but I read some reviews and gave it a shot anyways. I never found myself needing a fancy shave bowl with this soap, I just lather up some suds on my wet brush and go to work like the uncouth heathen I am.
There are two main reasons why I will recommend this soap to anyone; 1. Despite shaving nearly everyday this soap has lasted me a whole year, which frankly is down right impressive for 4 Oz's of anything, let alone something I use almost everyday. 2. The smell! I dunno much about aroma therapy and I'm not loyal to any particular deodorant (I tend to pick whichever one I hate the least) but I have one cologne and one shave soap because in them both I have found a sent that I personally love that doesn't break the bank, is manly among my peers and dark enough to be mysterious yet sweet enough to be enticing to women. Smells are a hard thing to quantify and I won't bother trying what hundreds of others have already spelled out. I look forward to shaving because of this soap, the scent is strong enough to last for awhile after you shave, both on your face and in the bathroom and one can could easily last you a year (if you don't feel the need to become a soapy Santa Claus everytime you shave) you could ask for more but I expected less and have been very very pleased.
PS. NOT a sponsored endorsement, this is my personal opinion, paid for the product in full and will continue doing so until I die or the company goes out of business, hopefully the former.
I have been on a huge shaving kick, recently. I have purchased many, many shaving products in the recent past. I have purchased everything from various pre-shave oils to shaving creams to shaving soaps to aftershaves (and even as far as colognes of my favorite shaving cream fragrances!). While perusing various Taylor of Old Bond Street products, I stumbled upon this gem. I read many of the reviews and descriptions of the fragrance and decided to give it a try.
First, the fragrance is very difficult to describe. I know people have tried, but what I smelled just couldn't easily be put into words. I shall try anyway to help a new buyer. It is a very masculine scent. It is fairly sweet, but has a slight smoky side that tempers the sweetness. When people said "smoky," it honestly worried me. I didn't want to walk around smelling like a campfire. However, that is not the case. The smoky aspect is subtle, but necessary. A friend of mine bought this product and said he detected a hint of vanilla. I would say this is fairly accurate; however, do not let the word "vanilla" turn you off. It had that slight sweetness of vanilla, but as I said, there's a subtle, yet distinct smoky scent that really helps to smooth out that sweetness and add a bit of a musky, manly odor. I have various sandalwood products and I'll say this was a deeper, sweeter, more masculine scent. My wife isn't a big fan of the sandalwood, but she did like this fragrance. I agree with everybody else when they say this fragrance is something else. It is absolutely wonderful. To put it into perspective, I loved the Taylor of Old Bond Street "Sandalwood" fragrance so much so that I purchased the Sandalwood pre-shave oil, shaving cream, aftershave, and cologne (for those days that I don't shave). I am now regretting that decision. After having used this "Smolder" fragrance, I have a new champion. This is something else entirely from the other fragrances I've experienced. Anyone who was a fan of Sandalwood will love Smolder. That friend previously mentioned (the one that mentioned Vanilla) owns several Bay Rum scented products. He is starting to really appreciate this Smolder just as much or more than his Bay Rum. I bought the Smolder pre-shave, as well. I cannot get enough of this fragrance. I wish they made an aftershave with this fragrance.
Now, let's talk the lather/soap. I had read one reviewer's comments stating that his lather was really thin, causing his blade to skip. However, in my opinion, he was not making the lather properly. One reviewer posted a YouTube video, and you can clearly see from his video just how thick you can make your lather. He essentially made a paste, showcasing the strength of the lather that you can build. I easily had one of the best lathers yet with this soap. I left my brush to soak in my shaving mug in hot water while I took a shower. When I got out, I gave the brush two solid flicks to remove the bulk of the water, but not all. I then used the brush to work up a good lather on the soap. I dumped out my mug, and when I felt I had a good lather going on my brush, I picked up my mug, and continued to work the brush around the inside of the mug. This thinned out the lather a little bit from the latent water still clinging to the mug. I then lathered up my face. I will honestly say this gave me the smoothest, nicest, thickest lather I have had yet. This was by far much better than the Taylor of Old Bond Street shaving creams I had been using. I will say the margin for error is thinner with this shaving soap as opposed to shaving creams, but if you do it right, you will have a much better lather. My blade did not skip once. My blade just glided over my face and took the hair off with ease. This was by far the best lather and shaving experience I had to-date. Various other shaving creams that I have used simply produce too thin of a lather or nothing that really stood out. The lathers produced were, at best, mediocre. This lather did not run, it clung to my face, it smelled amazing, and gave me a very close and comfortable shave. My Taylor of Old Bond Street collection may start to collect some dust in my cabinet as I work through this The Blades Grim shaving soap.
In summary, this product was worth every dime. It is very reasonably priced and gave me one of the best shaving experiences I have ever had. The fragrance is masculine and warm. The lather you can build is thick and smooth. I will be buying more of this in the future.
Okay I want to start out by saying the guy who said this stuff smells like John Wayne at a campfire must have envisioned himself and Jand the Duke having a marshmellow roast. It is very sweet and not in the least smoky.
Would I buy it again.... yes, but only because of the super thick lather it produces when the brush is loaded.
Pros
Very nice thick lather
Cons
Not a great lubricating soap.
Smells kind of like a blend between roasted marshmellows and old cotton candy (it's not offensive, but surely not the masculine scent described by some on this site)
My razor doesn't seem to have the "glide" that it has with some other soaps ( I avoided naming others so that it doesn't appear I am promoting another product... I always discount those reviews as probably someone trying to sell me something else)
So, if heavy thick lather is your number one concern, then this is the soap for you. If some of the other things I listed are a consideration, then you might want to keep looking.
I just used this shave soap for the first time about ten minutes ago. I've only been shaving with a double edge razor for a couple months now, so take that into consideration. Smell is really important to me. The smell reminds me exactly of tanning lotion I've used in the past. It's not a bad smell, but it doesn't give you that great 'I just shaved' smell that I personally like, either. As performance goes, so far this performs better than the few other soaps I've tried. Definitely feel a slickness to it that I haven't felt with the other soaps.
Maybe I'll warm up to it, but right now the smell just reminds me too much of tanning lotion, and it's just an alright smell.
Edit: -October 10- I've used this shave soap quite a bit now, and I still don't love the smell. I think a more relatable description of the smell might be to compare it to the smell of makeup. It smells very similar to that. Again, not a bad smell, sort of powdery vanilla, but definitely not a masculine smell that I tend to gravitate towards. However, I have found if I use Poraso's green aftershave the two smells play off each other pretty nicely. And as far as performance goes this soap is still at the top. So, considering all that, I bumped it up from from three stars to four. But I doubt I will buy this again unless they come up with some scents that are more appealing to me.
I won't try to describe the scent of the soap as I think it has been adequately done. I will echo others sentiments though, it does have an amazing smell to it unlike any other soap or cream I have.
When I made the first lather with the soap, I found myself thinking there was something wrong. The lather did not seem to form and suddenly explode in the bowl like TOBS products would. As I continued working it, adding small amounts of water, I made enough lather I felt I could get at least a two pass shave from. When I began lathering it on my face, I realized it was still going to continue to form so that was a nice surprise.
I will preface by saying I used a fresh Personna blade in my Matador.
The quality of shave was in a word, excellent. This soap provided a very smooth and comfortable shave. The soap was very slick and did not seem to dry out at all. The residual slickness was very nice and was likely enough I could have done another pass without re-lathering, although I do not do this except in small areas. The scent was slightly subdued during the shave but still very nice.
After shaving, I realized this soap doesn't form like TOBS or other soaps will in a bowl. For me at least, it takes a little longer than other soaps to form the lather but it only seems like another minute or so. Even after this, I find the lather does not look like a can of Barbasol exploded in your bowl. I have come to believe this is likely just the nature of the soap.
DO NOT LET THIS FOOL YOU, This soap will still provide an excellent quality shave despite the different lather it makes. Maybe I am not doing it right, but it still does very well for me.
The tin the soap comes in seems to be sturdy enough to mix in, even surviving a drop from my bathroom sink onto the floor.
Overall, very nice soap. Quickly becoming one of my favorites.
Feature Product
- All Natural - No harsh chemicals for reduced irritation
- Thick Lather - For perfect glide with any razor
- Long Lasting - Save money and get a superior shave all at the same time
- Screw Top Lid - Securely protects your soap from outside contaminates
- American Hand Made - Supports the U.S. economy wall promoting fair Labor & product quality standards
Description
4oz The Blades Grim Gold Luxury Shaving Soap Add the synergy of shaving experience. Enjoy a luxurious shaving experience with our Highly Praised The Blades Grim Shaving Soap. This soap creates a nice thick lather in seconds, for a perfect glide with your razor for an ultimate experience and superior protection. A Warm and toasty mix of Orange Peel, Mandarin, Coriander Leaves, Star Anise and Venezuela Tonka.
Scent is awesome. I'm becoming more appreciative of good shave soaps as a newbie wet shaver. This is a good one. I have sensitive skin and end up with red irritated bumps if I shave every day with anything but the slickest soap. No irritation at all when using this stuff. It loads & lathers like a champ. This will last a LONG time since I need very little on the brush to get a good lather. I use a lathering bowl which really helps. I used to try to lather on my face or in my hand which was more time consuming.
I purchased Dr. Jon's (Anne Bonny) and Phoenix (11235) shave soaps at the same time. I also recently found the Proraso soap at the local Bath & Body Works (C.O. Bigelow) and have used that a few times. I am having a tough time deciding which one I like best. The Smolder smells the best. I think the Phoenix one is the slickest and gives the best shave of them all. They all eclipse the Art of Shaving sandalwood soap I started using when I first began the wet shave experience (Although the scent of the Art of Shaving soap is pretty nice, just not the best soap for a shave).
I have ordered the smolder aftershave and some unscented preshave oil (so I can use it with any of the 4 or 5 shave soaps I have of various scents). Using a pre-shave oil is sweet. I have some sandalwood scented oil which completely eliminates the risk of irritation with a good soap. I will definitely be buying more Blades Grim products. Cinder has me intrigued. I think that will be my next soap purchase. Nothing but praise!
I have been slowly changing the way I have been shaving by going to the more traditional method. I must say that I have been so very satisfied with all my changes. Finding a good high quality shave soap was the last thing I was needing. I am not going to lie the packing is what drew me to this product at first glance I have a fascination with the grim reaper. I looked at their product description and I said "wow those things together seem like they would smell amazing!" Needless to say that I was 100% correct. The way this product smells is just beyond astounding if you ask me. The lather I get when I use this product is just perfect for that wet shave I desire and honestly I would buy this product over and over and over. Heck I might even start buying it for other people to convince them that they need to start using shave soap instead of that nasty shaving cream.
I am very happy that I discovered this and the other wonderful wet shave products by The Blades Grim. The Smolder shaving soap is a truly unique and wonderful product. It is a soft soap, not creamy but not a hard block either. I've read some reviews that mentioned a paper inner wrapper that the reviewer found irritating; that was not present in mine - it appears The Blades Grim listens to its customers and did away with this packaging. While the soap is softer than some wet shave soaps, it seems to me that it will last nearly as long, and since it quickly produces a wonderful lather I appreciate the softer texture of the soap. The smell is wonderful. Others have tried to describe it - I am not sure I can put it into words. First, "Smolder" is a perfect name for it, as the soap does have a somewhat smoky smell - think browned butter or toasted creme brûlée. Along with this sugary smokiness there are hints of vanilla, citrus, and exotic wood - and although this sounds like it could be one big, chaotic mess it is actually blended perfectly into a subtle, pleasing, and tastefully masculine scent (no hint of the "muskiness" that so many products seem to think men's products should give off). More importantly, the soap is just plain good at its main job - preparing your beard for a wonderful wet shave. It is not too oily but left my skin feeling moisturized. It is the best soap I've found for my rather sensitive skin - I usually dislike shaving but using this soap, paired with Smolder aftershave, I actually look forward to shaving. Using the two products together also leaves behind a soothing feeling and a noticeable but not overpowering scent that is very pleasant. I am very happy about this purchase and I believe most men will find this a very enjoyable shave soap that is surprisingly inexpensive considering its evident quality. Highly recommended.
I thoroughly, genuinely like this soap. I've tried and used many different brands of luxury shave products, and I sincerely enjoy this 'Smolder' scent. It's clean and masculine, yet with that added smokiness that I found unique; and that's not always an easy thing for shave companies to do...if you've smelled one...sort of thing. It lathers nicely and I found that to achieve my particular preferred density, I needed only a little more water than I did for a forever favorite, Proraso. This stuff from The Blades Grim is very good. I only wish I could use it more often.
I don't know if it's the lye saponification or something else, but I find my face, not burning exactly, but I have to (I hate to) admit that it does get irritated when I use it. And that is a shame because, as stated already, I do very sincerely like the product.
I'm relatively new to the whole old-school wet-shave thing and I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with various products, but I think this might just be the end-all of shave soap. There's plenty of other comments and reviews that describe the incredible smell and they aren't lying. This stuff smells absolutely brawny. I'm not one for colognes, perfumes or smelly stuff in general but I wouldn't mind smelling this stuff all day long. The scent sticks around (for me) maybe a good hour after the shave and it's definitely not over-powering. On top of smelling good it works great, too! It's a little creamier than I was expecting it to be. I would compare it's texture to slightly softened butter. You can easily smush it with your finger unlike bar soaps. It melts and lathers easily and gives a great silky shave. The tin is really nice, too. Other soaps I've tried come in a recloseable clamshell package that's absolutely worthless to store the soap in. The tin is easy to open and easy to get the soap out. All the soap is actually stuck to the lid so when you pull the tin apart you can get to the soap without scooping it out. GENIUS! It's a tad bit expensive but I'd say its well worth the price. I'll keep buying this stuff as long as they keep selling it.
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