Review Catie's Bubbles

stillshunter

stillshunter

a man of resolve, a man of conviction
State Convenor - ACT
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2015 Sabbatical Fail
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Apr 24, 2014
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Pretty intimidating starting my suds sampler reviews with such a lauded soap. But as much as it will be a challenge to critique, I'm looking forward to hearing what at least one other fellow shaver thinks of the same soap and same batch.

The scent of the Black Bergamot is definitely right up my alley. Not sure if this is a singular recognised scent note, but I am assuming not. The sample isn't very fresh, so the scent is subtle - odd for a yank soap as they are notorious for a bolder more generous scent. But I do pick up whiffs of black tea - to be expected as association of bergamot is with Early Grey tea - but then there is a sweet note there too. I can't quite put a nostril hair on it but it's there. When wet the scent changes. It becomes a little more round. Now I get the citrus, I'm thinking lime....and I like that. So the scent reminds me of Dr. Jon's Anne Bonny (one of my all-time favourite scents) but is a little less rich and more linear. BUt, again, could be different with a fresh batch and full tub.

One thing that I will say most impresses me about Catie's Bubbles is their latherability. This thing is like your ideal girl as a teenager, just touch it and it's in a lather. Seriously you don't need much cream, nor much brush time and you have an explosion of lather. The lather is thick and voluminous. It can take a fair amount of water, and a bit more. It is quite tolerant and does not seem to be so finicky....but then again maybe this means there's a lot of fine tuning you can do within that 'looks acceptable' zone'. This might account for....

I find the lather looks great but it seems a little hollow. The lather appears to dissipate during the shave. I didn't try the "lather and stand" test but this is about how it performs on my face and I found that even a generous application would thin by the time I got the straight around to tail end of the pass. OK it might have something to do with other variables such as my skin prep (usually just a hot shower) but this is the same test conditions across the board with all my real-life test reviews. So when the lather is fresh and full then I get decent protection and glide, but as the lather thins the performance diminishes quite substantially. I should add that all test shaves were with a straight and so most straight shavers tend towards a wetter lather, but I even tried a drier mix and this didn't help lend the lather's much legs either. (NB: for those who wish to bring water quality into the equation, I use rainwater).

But my main point of concern with the soap is the post-shave feel. This soap really dries my skin. I expect some tightness after a straight shave, esp. as the soap stays on for longer than a DE shave (for me!), but this soap felt like it was still drawing moisture after it was rinsed off. Took two generous helpings of Emulsion to bring back some balance.

So for those who prefer the abbreviated version of the review. On the @filobiblic metric® - for me the soap is a BIN IT! (n). This is mainly based on post-shave feel. I think I could finesse the lather in some way to give it some longevity but I don't much appreciate a soap that makes me feel like that after we are done. A shame as the scent is so darn appealing too.
 
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Mark1966 said:
Well now I AM confused :)
Click to expand...
...sometimes an idea runs beyond the legs of the mind that thought it. Just be content you have a namesake.
P.S., I was concerned about putting your moniker near the proper term 'sextet' but hey here goes....so the '66 sextet® is born. Kinda glad you weren't born three years later.
 
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So it's time for me to add my 2 cents to this I guess...

First of all again many thanks to @stillshunter for this stellar idea - and straight away I also have to apologise. I know the rules state, that we should use the soap for 3 shaves in a row, but after a (I must admit bit wasteful) shave and a palm lather to further analyse the soap, I used it all up :oops:

And I have to say, this was entirely my fault - coming from hard to lather soaps like Mystic Waters and Mike's, I should have known better and showed a lighter touch when loading.

In any case - here my thoughts: I am not a tea person, but I must admit, I absolutely adore the scent of this one. So much so, that I had on my makeshift desk the whole day yesterday :D Absolutely beautiful - some Earl Grey in there but with more complexity.

As for latherability: it loads super easy - but this is of course not surprising for a coconut/stearic acid based soap and judging from the very soft consistency, I think it is also rather heavy on the KOH side of things. But getting the right lather was actually very tricky - and for me again this is very consistent with my experience with other coconut oil based soaps. Both times I just immersed my synthetic brush (Stirling Kong for the shave and WD 24mm for the palm lather) for a second in warm water, took it out and wrung it totally out. Then I started loading. And of course almost straight away a foamy lather started to appear.

For my shave I loaded a bit longer and added a couple times water to the lather. While it got a bit glossy, and had tremendous slickness, there was almost no cushion/protection there. So while my shave was super quick and easy, it was not as close as I liked. I still haven't figured out why - but I can only get a perfect shave from lather with a good cushion. Another thing I noticed, was the appearance of small bubbles, and while I didn't wait for the lather to dissipate, I suspect, that it would have over a very short time.

For the second try, I again used a very dry brush, but this time did not add any water. I got a very thick (whipped cream like) lather with a very nice cushion, but also felt between my fingers the lack of slickness. After a while I started to very slowly add water. The lather got slicker and slicker, but also started to loose its protection.

I think there is a sweetspot, where a good balance between slickness and cushion can be reached lathering this soap - but I think it's a very narrow window and tricky to find. In any case (again like with most coconut based soaps), if you wash your face in between passes, you have to dry it as well, as very small amounts of water can throw off this balance.

This for me is actually a lack of good latherability. Yes you can get super quickly a lather (in seconds if you wish) - but getting the best out of the soap requires a lot of concentration. Of course this would get better over time.

As for the post-shave feel: after reading @stillshunter review, I was afraid it would be a dry experience like MdC for me. But it was not too bad. Of course nowhere near the plumb moist sensation I get with my favourites, but also not as drying as other coconut oil based soaps, or commercial soaps with detergents etc.

All in all - I would recommend this soap to shavers, who are in a hurry and don't like to spend time building their lather. The scent is very nice and you can get a decent lather very quickly. If your skin likes other coconut oil based soaps, you might like this one as well.

On the other hand, if you are a post-shave junkie and/or are always on the lookout for perfect lather - which is super slick, yet provides a great cushion - this might not be the right product for you.
 
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@alfredus , mate, that was an excellent review indeed. A deep appreciation of soaps indeed. WOW! :notworthy:

Care to try another?...I'll be more generous in my allocation this time.
 
Thank you and you definitely don't have to be more generous - I have to learn to live within my means :cry:
 
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