Review Henri et Victoria - Cognac and Cuban Cigars Shaving Soap

[Mark1966]

I got this recently in a trade with @stillshunter - the name was intriguing!

It is made by Claude Pilon in Canada and you can check out his website here - http://henrietvictoria.com/. Don't be put off by the lather photo on the home page - it works much better than that.

Apart from the soap range there are balms and splashes in matching scents. Canada still offers sea mail so *maybe* there is the possibility of ordering splashes for shipping that way, although it is not offered on the site.

Ingredients: potassium stearate, potassium cocoate, water, glycerine, potassium ricenoalete, parfum

Some initial thoughts and impressions (again copying @silver).

Packaging
Nothing too unusual here, clean, white plastic tubs with a very wide mouth, an elegant but simple label and only about half filled. Tub's not too deep, plenty of space to create some fantastic lather in it and easily held in one hand. While not unique it certainly is well thought out and ticks the boxes. Once again it just reinforces to me that vendors who do not think about their packaging are really only doing part of their job.

Scent
Scent is really, really nice. Described on the website as follows - 'This shaving soap smells like an afternoon game of poker sitting around smoking cigars and drinking a fine aged cognac. Definitive masculine smell, gentlemen's club. Cedarwood, fresh leather, zesty lemon, cognac and spicy tobacco.'

Latherability
First impressions - much better than the picture on the website would suggest! More to come here after a couple of uses.

Shave Performance
First impressions - top class performance. More to come here after a couple of uses.

Post shave feel
The scent lingers - which is a GOOD thing and my face feels good. Would be very interested in matching splash.

Conclusion
Well that would be a little premature at this point! I am very hopeful though ...

 

[Osman]

Recently purchased the Absinthe Henri Et Victoria and have used once. Your initial impressions are very much in accordance with mine. This is a top performing soap. Look forward to your further thoughts on this soap.

 

[filobiblic]

I've used (or have?!) their Pine scented soap.

Vegan and a simple list of ingredients make for uncomplicated soap.

 

[Mark1966]

OK, so here goes. Used three times with a break for my benchmark (Mike's Natural Shaving Soaps - Barbershop) in there as well.

'Final' [at present - I reserve the right to revisit in the future] thoughts -

Packaging
Nothing further to add. Great execution. I think I'm going to become fussy about this now after @Kerry@Phoenix&Beau and Claude here doing it so well. In fact, here goes: Attention all artisans - get a good designer for your labels if you can't do it well and THINK about you packaging - it makes a difference.

Scent
Scent is really, really nice. I would have to say that this is the strongest feature for me. I'm going to get some matching splash SOMEHOW. I'm going to Florida in February for work, would Gatineau in Canada be on the way?

Latherability
Well certainly much better than the picture on the website would suggest but not quite at the level of the P&B I've used recently or the Mikes. Very, very close but not quite for me. I'd have to say thought that it is close enough that I would suggest differences are within the margin of user error. In other words you may find it as good or better then the others.

Shave Performance
Slick with lots of glide. If I had to be critical it may lack a little in protection. A good stable lather throughout the whole shave though.

Post shave feel
As I said, the scent lingers - which is a GOOD thing. My face feels good post shave but not super nourished.

Conclusion
Being my first soap post the Spitfire was always going to be a tough act to follow, that is why I threw in the Mike's for a separate comparison point. At this stage I don't think in performance it is quite there, but scent wise it beats the Mike's for sure. I would (indeed I have) purchased again. It is a top shelf soap.

My hypothesis at present is that there will be some soaps that are 'top shelf' and some that are 'second tier'. As I said, this is a 'top shelf' soap. My guess is that between the top shelf soaps differences are likely to be impacted by other factors, including user error. So I would happily recommend all my 'top shelf' soaps to others on the basis that personal 'rankings' might vary a little.

This is good stuff!