Evening all, just thought I would throw up some thoughts on Blackship Grooming Soaps (formerly know as Beaver Woodwright). Thanks to @Mark1966 for the sample of Queen Anne's Revenge confirming what I had already thought of Kelly's soaps.
For the purposes of keeping things simple, I'll talk to packaging, ease of lather, cushion, glide, post shave feel and scent.
Summary (tldr or can't be bothered with the rest)
Top 5 performance soap for me, and scents that you could wear day in and out and not get sick of.
Packaging
Similar to Shaver Heaven tubs, wide enough to get a large brush in with plenty of room to lather up. Labels are designed to be in character (pirate) and waterproof.
Ease of lather
With a base of coconut oil and acid, and a croapy feel, it takes very little action to load the brush well. It explodes with less water than your tallow soaps, delivering a very thick quality lather.
Cushion/Glide
This is often the area where you trade off tallow vs. non-tallow. To get the cushion inherent to non-tallow soaps, you give up glide (residual slickness). Some tallow soaps do it very well, and vice verse, some non-tallow have great glide, and this happens to be one of them. Starting to think a scatter graph may be of use
Anyways, the top soaps for glide/slickness I've found are Stirling and Labelle, which I would give 9.5 and 10/10 respectively. This would get a very respectful 8-8.5 for glide and 9.5-10 for cushion. Cushion would be similar to Catie's Bubbles or Shaver Heaven non-tallow.
Post-Shave
Kelly's added in shea butter and glycerin to the mix to help with the feel. I find that glycerin alone doesn't do a great deal, however the addition of shea butter does. MWF is probably the only 10/10 for me so far, though lots are up the top. This again would get a very respectful 8.5.
Scent (copying from website)
Queen Anne's Revenge is a bright blend of Pineapples, oakmoss, bergamont, patchouli, jasmine and vanilla.
Davey Jones this scent is a woody, amber-moss scent mixed with a spicy Bourbon and vanilla blend, the soft light scent will stay with you for hours.
Yep, had no idea what to expect from the QA. Pineapples, really? I tend to avoid fruit smells, but glad I got a sample of this one. Probably not one that I would buy, but a very pleasant scent, and not at all like I had thought. I get the oakmoss base (like Caties Bubbles LTV), with a hint of sweetness, guessing from the pineapple/vanilla and then the flowery shit. Not a single note that really stands out on either soap, but just a harmony of scents mixed together. The Davey Jones is a smidge less complex, but still blended perfectly (and possibly my favourite scent to date). Not going to try to describe it, as the description from the site does a great job.
As I said in the summary, I really enjoy using their soaps and aftershaves. It's certainly a must have in my collection, and if I ever get the chance to smell others in the range no doubt I'll be buying more. You'd do well to hoist anchor, loose the sails and set course for their waters.
For the purposes of keeping things simple, I'll talk to packaging, ease of lather, cushion, glide, post shave feel and scent.
Summary (tldr or can't be bothered with the rest)
Top 5 performance soap for me, and scents that you could wear day in and out and not get sick of.
Packaging
Similar to Shaver Heaven tubs, wide enough to get a large brush in with plenty of room to lather up. Labels are designed to be in character (pirate) and waterproof.
Ease of lather
With a base of coconut oil and acid, and a croapy feel, it takes very little action to load the brush well. It explodes with less water than your tallow soaps, delivering a very thick quality lather.
Cushion/Glide
This is often the area where you trade off tallow vs. non-tallow. To get the cushion inherent to non-tallow soaps, you give up glide (residual slickness). Some tallow soaps do it very well, and vice verse, some non-tallow have great glide, and this happens to be one of them. Starting to think a scatter graph may be of use
Anyways, the top soaps for glide/slickness I've found are Stirling and Labelle, which I would give 9.5 and 10/10 respectively. This would get a very respectful 8-8.5 for glide and 9.5-10 for cushion. Cushion would be similar to Catie's Bubbles or Shaver Heaven non-tallow. Post-Shave
Kelly's added in shea butter and glycerin to the mix to help with the feel. I find that glycerin alone doesn't do a great deal, however the addition of shea butter does. MWF is probably the only 10/10 for me so far, though lots are up the top. This again would get a very respectful 8.5.
Scent (copying from website)
Queen Anne's Revenge is a bright blend of Pineapples, oakmoss, bergamont, patchouli, jasmine and vanilla.
Davey Jones this scent is a woody, amber-moss scent mixed with a spicy Bourbon and vanilla blend, the soft light scent will stay with you for hours.
Yep, had no idea what to expect from the QA. Pineapples, really? I tend to avoid fruit smells, but glad I got a sample of this one. Probably not one that I would buy, but a very pleasant scent, and not at all like I had thought. I get the oakmoss base (like Caties Bubbles LTV), with a hint of sweetness, guessing from the pineapple/vanilla and then the flowery shit. Not a single note that really stands out on either soap, but just a harmony of scents mixed together. The Davey Jones is a smidge less complex, but still blended perfectly (and possibly my favourite scent to date). Not going to try to describe it, as the description from the site does a great job.
As I said in the summary, I really enjoy using their soaps and aftershaves. It's certainly a must have in my collection, and if I ever get the chance to smell others in the range no doubt I'll be buying more. You'd do well to hoist anchor, loose the sails and set course for their waters.
