No. 13 Gets Another Great Review

Thanks to Steve for his permission to post this review on Badger & Blade. 

"I just traded a soap that caused irritation for some Black Tie Razor Company soap and scented oil. They sell only an unscented soap along with a small bottle of scented oil that can be used as a pre-shave or to scent the lather. I have the Li'l Bit O'Texas scent. The soap is neither a croap nor a hard soap; it falls into that middle category like many artisan soaps I've tried. My soap arrived simply wrapped in plastic wrap (you'll get a plastic container if you buy it new), but that works great for me as I have bowls that I prefer to use for my soaps. It was easy to squish the soap into the bowl (just like I do with Mike's shaving soap bars). I put 2 or 3 drops of oil on top of the soap and gave it a try this morning with my Stirling "Kong" synthetic brush.

This soap lathers as well as anything I have used, with the possible exception of Tabac. Loads of thick, slick and cushiony lather in no time at all. The scent isn't my favorite; it's a very woodsy smell reminiscent to me of Proraso sandalwood. That said, it's already starting to grow on me, so the scent may move up in my estimation. They do sell another scent called An Affair, which is supposed to be less woodsy. Of course, you can control the strength of the scent quite easily by using more or less oil.

For those considering trying to use their own oil (as I saw in another thread), you might want to look at the ingredients list on the oil. Besides the scent oil (in this case a fragrance oil and not an essential oil), there are also carrier oils and glycerin. I'm guessing it's similar to other pre-shave oils, and if you have a scented pre-shave oil that you like I'm pretty sure that adding it to the Black Tie soap would be fine. Creating your own from essential oils, carrier oils and glycerin is probably the way to go, but it's much more effort than I am willing to put into it.

As it stands, with the Li'l Bit o'Texas oil, the Black Tie soap is high on my list and will be used regularly along with a half dozen or so other outstanding soaps".