Wickham Soap

Gran Hermano

I reckon I'm not the only person who's been keeping an eye on the new soaps from Wickham Soaps. The good news is they went on sale today http://www.gallantandklein.co.uk/brands/Wickham-Soap-Company.html

hitemfrank

Never heard of them but that's not surprising as I'm not keeping tabs on soaps and creams. There are three of the scents that seem interesting to me - Southsea Spray, Garden Mint and the Club Cola.

At first the prices seemed a bit steep but then I noticed that it is 160g of soap. Seems a decent price for the amount.

beardybrewer

€23 for a puck of soap. I'm going to wait for a review from Gran first!

Edit: discount code - WICKHAMTBS14
pushes price delivered down to €21.60

hitemfrank

A puck of DR Harris in a nice wooden bowl is about €25 without delivery, so in comparison Wickham is perhaps a bit pricey (still not a bad price though).

However, I'm all in favour of quality artisan shave soaps. I too await a review from Gran Hermano

Gran Hermano

I ordered the club cola and garden mint varieties.
You'll be able to get smaller sizes direct within a week
http://w-soap.co.uk/?product=super-smooth-shaving-soap


Long thread on the evolution of the soap
http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/thread-23774.html

A couple of friends have tried samples and are still raving about how great it is.

Will keep you updated when it arrives and have a chance to try myself.

axelklein

I sent it this morning so it should be with you tomorrow maybe if in the UK.

beardybrewer

Bay Rum sold out already. Just as well, I was beginning to be tempted after reading all those reviews.

jpb1974

I've been using a Club Cola sample that Darron sent me a few weeks ago... it's good stuff, worth a try.

beardybrewer

jpb1974 wrote: »

I've been using a Club Cola sample that Darron sent me a few weeks ago... it's good stuff, worth a try.

For £14.50 it had better be the best freakin' shave of my life!

I'm not in to this for that many years but I think I've zeroed in on the heavy weights -

Contenders coming:
Barrister and Mann Bay Rum
RazoRock for Captain's Choice Bay Rum
Synergy Kokum Butter Shaving Soap - Bay Rum

The usuals:
Mike's
Nanny's
DRH
MWF
Palm/arko/toja/meh/but/good/etc.

I down with supporting an artisan soap but it had better really have hit upon something new. A sample will be mine!

Gran Hermano

I've tried dozens of artisan soaps over the years, majority end up as bath/shower soap as they fail somewhere as shaving soap. Mikes and Nanny's are two exceptions to the norm. Wickham is getting good reviews. A friend of mine who uses both Nanny's and Mikes is well impressed by the Wickham samples.

Hurry up postie!!!

Gran Hermano

Stock available on http://w-soap.co.uk/?product=super-smooth-shaving-soap
Has sample sizes and postage cheaper, stock shifting fast.

beardybrewer

Damnit! Enabler. Got the last bay rum to complete my bay-rum-athon on order.

beardybrewer

My bay rum tub arrived this morning.

Price: 1/10. Exorbitantly expensive but after reading the reviews and getting caught up with the excitement of the launch I decided to spurge and be a part of it. Even so, a proper tin and a sample or two would have gone a long way to taking the sting out of the price. I also expected something more for the money, either the best bay rum scent I'd ever experienced or some x-factor with the shave. Somehow I picture Fox as a white collar professional who is paid well enough to do mad hobbies he doesn't need to commercialize to make a living. So if he's going to stay up to midnight and still do his day job it had better be worth his while. I'd be the same. So, let's put value and heightened expectations aside for the time being.

Scent: 5/10. I agree the scent is very light. I want to drill a hole into the soap and stick my nose in. I didn't really notice it at all when shaving, just a little burst when taking off the lid. What I can get is a pleasant, clean bay rum with no cloves. It's nice, I just wish there was more of it.

Lather: 9/10. Wow this soap lathers like a dream. I'm so happy there is redemption where it matters. I face lathered and got about the thickest lather I'd ever gotten. For how thick it was I was expecting not to feel a thing but while the cushioning is good the slickness was just okay. It seemed very stable and I had loads more in the brush to do a 3 passes.

Presentation: 1/10. It's a cheap plastic tub with stickers. I'm guessing the soap will outlast the plastic which I'm expecting to crack.

Overall I'm going to ignore price and packaging and say 7/10. I probably won't buy it again when there are so many quality soaps equal in performance but superior in price and scent.

jpb1974

If I were you I'd post that review over at TSR.

It's an honest opinion and, having had just a sample, I too am put off by the price and the packaging.

Gran Hermano

Newkie, you pipped me to the post as i was just about to post my opinion based on two shaves.
Fair lay, your review is spot on - I just posted a photo on the "what i got in the post" thread showing the packaging for both the regular and sample sizes.
The packaging is poor, looks like an oversized petri dish. I included a pack of blades for scale in the photo. I'd prefer if the tub was deeper and narrower.
I'm not happy bowl lathering in such a large bowl and so far have just taken a pinch of soap out and lathered in a mug. It is a soft soap similar in texture to the old Italian soap/creams.

The soap is good but not amazing. I'd put it around the same level as Stirling shaving soap. I find Nanny's better on protection, scent and moisturising.
The club cola scent is nice, like fizzy cola bottles, but in my opinion the scent is weak and disappears quickly. The lather is functional and is above average on glide and cushion but it's not a big fluffy lather. I'd no nicks or weepers using the soap and skin felt moisturised afterwards, but not to the same degree as Stirlings anise or Nanny's. It only requires a small amount of soap to whisk up a lather so a tub should last a fair while (160g tub).

I went the whole hog, bought 2 full size and the other scents in sample size. I agree that it is over priced for what it offers. I'd rate it 8/10 but factoring in price would also drop it to 7/10.

jpb1974

I'm not keen on the wide tub.. a couple of weeks in and you'll have a bald patch develop in the centre in no time... just like my sample.

Gran Hermano

A quick update now that I've had a few more shaves with a couple of the other scents in the super smooth range.

Garden mint: heavy on the spear mint and the peppermint.
Bay rum: a nice spicy fragrance.

Again like the cola club neither of the above were long lasting and were mild enough on the scent front.

A little pinch of soap is all you need for bowls of lather. I think I've nailed the lather and revise what I said earlier.
It is possible to whip up plenty of perfect lather. The small amount of soap required for each shave should help offset the high enough price. Overall whilst it delivers on glide/cushion/moisturising it fails to excel on any one front, there's no wow factor. Some soaps have a knockout feature be it fragrance,moisturising or menthol kick but this soap isn't one of them.

beardybrewer

I posted on TSR and ended up having a few emails back and forth with Darron (Fox). It sounds like he is working on a hard soap which might have a lower price point. He promised a sample but not sure where he is with the recipe.

It's an interesting space to watch and was exciting to get caught up in the fun of the launch. But in the end I was in this for the scent which just didn't happen.

Gran Hermano

Newkies Guinness = A fine Gentlemen's scent which is very reminiscent of the famous Irish drink.

Looks like Wickham are testing a range of scents in anew hard soap format, included is the description of one.
Anyone care to share the background/performance?

hitemfrank

That scent doesn't sound too appealing to me.

jpb1974

The Guinness sounds rank... but certainly not any worse that Mystic Waters 'Irish Traveller' :-)

Some of the other hard soap scents do sound good though ->

Sheridans = A very rich chocolaty cardamom scent with subtle spice tones.
Spice Trade = A tribute to Old Spice
Newkies Guinness = A fine Gentlemen's scent which is very reminiscent of the famous Irish drink.
Dandyism = A scent that is very reminiscent of the swinging 60's and the Dandy fashion movement of London.
Imperial Trevor = No need to tell you what this is, should be obvious, right?
Bonds No7 = A fresh modern cologne type scent.
English Rose = is a classical scent of an English garden, adored by many for generations. It opens with green top notes of rose and geranium, surrounded by creamy white flowers on the base of woody, spicy and musky notes.
Sandalwood = The classic oriental woody note, milky, soft, sturdy, rich, with a green top note and a satisfying lingering scent.

Have to admit, I really like the soft soap, I think it delivers most of the attributes of a good soap.

beardybrewer

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Looks like Wickham are testing a range of scents in anew hard soap format, included is the description of one.
Anyone care to share the background/performance?

So I've been in contact with Darron since submitting a review over on TSR. He's a really nice, enthusiastic guy who is trying hard to make this a success. He mentioned he was working on a hard soap which was much cheaper to produce and thought he could produce some stronger, original scents as well. I'm not sure which scent I'm testing but it's very sweet with spice. Anyhow, it's a prototype soap so I won't comment further, suffice it to say he's on the right track.

Gran Hermano

Just spotted on twitter

Please feel free to share this - Whilst stocks last only! 10% OFF Super Smooth USE: twitter-10 on checkout.
http://t.co/m36u5WfEpa

OldRio

Ordered a sample of the Bay Rum on Thursday night arrived today, Monday.
Great service.
Now to try the soap.

OldRio

Ok. Tried the bay rum this week.

It was a sample. By God was it a sample. Tiny. Came in a plastic container 35mm by 45mm. Unable to use brush with this size.

I used a pinch of soap in a dish to mix. Very hard to get a decent lather.
Tried various amounts of water and soap and whilst it was OK it wasn't great.

The scent is cloves. Nice but not that very strong.

The glide and shave was grand.

Overall. It was just a bit 'meh' 7/10.

What to try next is the question?

jpb1974

Samples are never great for lathering. Probably best to take it out of the plastic container and flatten it into the bottom of a bowl to create more surface area for swirling your brush on.

beardybrewer

It sounds like maybe loading was the problem. Take a goodly sample out of the container and smear it along the bottom of a bowl. It's pretty soft so you should be able to pick up a good amount. It has a fairly wide sweet spot so which takes more water than you might guess. You get a lot of volume from this lather. I got a puck of the bay rum and while the scent is nearly non-existent the soap does perform well. Keep at it and report back.

OldRio

Thanks Newkie.
I took your advice and got a much better lather.
Needed a lot more water than I normally use but did the job.

jpb1974

No like... No thank you... I said that exact same thing. You hurt me man...

OldRio

Sorry about that. Muchooo Apologeeees.

Much prefer Nannys to be truthful.