Okay having used this soap several times i feel like i can now write a review for it. for a quick break down of my criteria see below.

Scent *****
lather ***
Feel **

Scent: the scent is amazing, very unique and captivating the smell is very intense opening the tin but is considerably more mellow when you apply to the face. feels like a all year scent but might be two potent in the hottest months of the year. i get a very smokey woody vibe with top notes of citrus and it's very plesant i will probably pick this up in EDT form and rotate off to better performing soaps and wear smolder only as EDT.

Lather: The soap creates a passable lather and performs better than a lot of the more mass market soaps but it dosen't really compete on the same level as say Phoenix, Soap Comander, or Barrister & Mann. this soap seems harder to load (using a parker silver tip badger brush) than either of those three. and tends to require more water added more slowly than them to create enough lather for a three pass shave. the container is also small and makes loading with a wider brush more challenging i tend to get a lot of foam and protolather on the sides and my counter top before i have loaded enough soap to build lather.

Post: the post shave feel is lacking in my opinion this soap seems to be missing some of the nice things that condition your skin and leave it feeling good after the shave. frankly with out applying a good post shave balm my skin feels very dry. something that is a stark contrast to the experience i have had with Phoenix and soap commander in particular.

Overall: the soap gets a three because the scents is amazing and the lather is passable. but the post shave and packaging just leave me wanting. Outside of the stellar scent i cant find many reasons for me to want to use this soap so it's likely to be pushed further back or even out of my rotation.

I would like to address few of the one-star reviews that said the lather is not thick enough. I say people who left such reviews are either stingy and not willing to effectively rub their badger on this soap (my analysis shows 50 rotations with mild pressure using a damp badger is good enough), or their beard is made of a material other than hair (may be a tough alloy of Titanium).

Also, some people say the scent is too subtle. Although this is subjective, but I found the strength of the scent to be just fine.

I have tried many other shaving soaps, creams, foams, etc. So far, this one is the best. I will send an update if I find something better.

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 bought this soap about a month ago and it has served me well.

The scent is mellow and pleasant, with a what I perceive as notes of vanilla and sandalwood. It is light but manly and, used with a new boar brush, assertive enough to eliminate the taxidermy smell in the brush after just a few shaves.

This soap also lathers well. It takes me about 15-30 seconds to load the brush, and another minute or two to build up a dense lather in my shaving bowl. Applied to my face, I find the lather just slightly thinner than what I get from the red tube Proraso that I use as my go to shave cream, but I feel that I am able to get a closer shave with this than I do with the Proraso. It lubricates my skin well enough to protect it, but isn't so protective that it reduces the quality of my shave.

I appreciate the quality of the packaging for this soap as well. The gold tin looks good sitting on my counter with my other shaving products. It has a bit of flash, but still looks neat and simple.

For anyone looking for a good shave soap that lathers easily and smells good, I recommend giving this one a try.

I've tried about 20 shaving soaps and creams with a double edged (old fashion) razor ranging from $10 to $40 per item. This is clearly one of my very favorites. It's not as old as Truefit and Hill (founded 1805) or some of the others and I really enjoy the 'traditional' old fashioned companies but honestly this product is really good. You just cannot argue with that! I would *strongly* recommend trying their "Smolder" PRE-shave oil. It is the very best pre-shave oil I've ever found. Simply amazing (same scent as this shaving soap but somehow very soothing).