Review Dr Jon's Handcrafted Soaps

[filobiblic]

A very full review of Dr Jon's Handcrafted Shave Soaps.

Back in the last few days of 2014 I bought four soaps directly from the soap maker: Classic, Hex, Big Green Monster and Anne Bonny. They took their time to arrive (no thanks to Customs) and had a few dings in the tins.

Since then there are now more soaps available including: Hydra, Savannah Sunrise, Black label, Gold label, Aphrodite and Propaganda (only available from Shaver Revolution directly). Hydra ready has an almost cult-like following.

INGREDIENTS
As provided in their website:

All of our shaving soap is made Shea butter, Mango butter, Avocado oil, Castor oil, Extra Virgin Coconut oil, Meadowfoam oil and Evening Primrose oil. We pride ourselves on the quality of our ingredients and the post shave feel that comes with it.

PACKAGING
Spectacular packaging. The artwork looks fantastic and adds character to the soaps. It gives each one a distinctive look and gives Dr Jon's an edge in a crowded artisan market. Tins get damaged more easily but look very nice.

SCENTS
The scents are nice and strong. A little different to the standard scent profiles (e.g. Dr Jon's Bay rum has tea along with lime) which is nice.

See below under each soap for my thoughts on each soap.

PERFORMANCE
The soap itself is very soft. So it's easy to load more than you want. But performance is great. Thick and creamy. Plenty of protection and glide. The lather thins a little if over-hydrated but still maintains slickness.
I'd class it as being in the middle of the top tier artisan soaps.

POST-SHAVE
The post-shave is excellent also. A lovely face feel with just a faint reminder of scent in your face.

LEGEND OF ANNE BONNY

The description from their website:

Legend of Anne Bonny
Our take on the classic bay rum scent. The Legend of Anne Bonny is made with West Indies Bay leaf essential oil, dark rum, lime, and black tea; the very same English tea that nearly cost Anne Bonny her life! Close your eyes and breath deeply, you can almost hear the waves crashing against the bow of the ship! Made with essential and fragrance oils.

My take on the Scent:
A very nice Bay Rum scent indeed. Rich and full with a little zing from the citrus. The tea mixes with the bay rum nicely. This is a quality Bay Rum soap.

CLASSIC

From the website:

Classic was our first soap, the one that brought back memories of grandfathers performing a morning ritual with pride and precision. The unique blend of lavender, cedar, lime, bergamot, vetiver, and rosemary will transport you back in time and remind you of the reason you started wet shaving in the first place. Made with essential oils.

My take on the Scent:
I can pick up the woody cedar, the citrus and lastly some florals. It's quite a pleasing 'barbershop' scent.

BIG GREEN MONSTER

The description of their scent:

Ever wondered what it would feel like to have a cold, zesty, spicy monster attack your face? You're about to find out when you let loose The Big Green Monster! Our handcrafted blend of lime, basil, and peppermint is sure to be an eye opener and a shave you will never forget! Made with essential oils.

My take on the Scent: Peppermint, Sweet Basil and Lime
The peppermint and lime come across quite strong but the sweet basil is more background. I can't make it out as readily but there is definitely that herbal note in the scent. It's a great scent for summer. Perhaps a little less 'zing' than Mike's Peppermint and Rosemary or Simpson's Peppermint and Rosemary, although not much in it.

HEX

The description from their website:

This is a soap you need to be careful with; men have been known to fall under her spell with a single shave! The spellbinding blend of black pepper, cedar, orange, and cinnamon are as close as we could get to actual magic! Enjoy. Made with essential oils.

My take on the Scent:
It's meant to have cedar, cinnamon, orange, and black pepper. The balance is off so the cedar (similar to sandalwood) overpowers the rest of the scents. Post-shave I could smell a little of the other scents (especially the orange and cinnamon).

Of the four soaps, I personally don't like Hex as much. But I think if you like the Red Proraso then you'd love the Hex.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Pros:
- packaging with retro labels are top quality and earn shelf space
- the soap scents are mostly along traditional lines but with a little difference that makes some zing

Cons:
- I personally find the soft soap is difficult to load. Very soft soap is difficult to judge how much is loaded. I tend to either load too much or too little. Due to the soft nature of the soap, I can see it disappearing more quickly than most soaps.
- It's not like Occams which a tiny bit will explode into rich lather. But it's no slouch either. When loaded with the right amount of product it will reward with a creamy lather.

Edit: Photos 3, 4, 6 & 8 are from Dr Jon's website and are not my own. All the rest are taken by myself.

 

[Drubbing]

Sorry wrong site. I seem to have come across the food styling for Jamie Oliver's latest book.

 

[gthomas04]

Sorry wrong site. I seem to have come across the food styling for Jamie Oliver's latest book.

May I be the first to welcome you to the "Flotsam, Jetsam and Backwash Club".

 

[filobiblic]

May I be the first to welcome you to the "Flotsam, Jetsam and Backwash Club".

You need to come up with a better acronym than FJaBC...

 

[stillshunter]

Great review @filobiblic

You need to come up with a better acronym than FJaBC...

Yeah what idiot came up with that sequence of words?

 

[Drubbing]

Seriously, nice photography. And I think the soap company should be paying you for them. Again, seriously.

 

[filobiblic]

Seriously, nice photography. And I think the soap company should be paying you for them. Again, seriously.

Thanks Drubs, but half of them are the company's photos! All the professionally taken shots are linked to their site.

Edit: Added the disclaimer at the bottom. Thanks Drubs.

 

[Dale.Whiley]

I'm having trouble deciding if I'm an angry loner (being remote from the majority) or I'm flotsam, jetsam and backwash that live at the low tide mark of this place.

Nah you're a top bloke Dale.

May I be the first to welcome you to the "Flotsam, Jetsam and Backwash Club".

How did you get accepted @gthomas04 ? They wouldn't accept my membership application.

 

[gthomas04]

How did you get accepted @gthomas04 ? They wouldn't accept my membership application.

Self appointed @Dale.Whiley - I just seemed to fit the criteria perfectly.

 

[Drubbing]

Thanks Drubs, but half of them are the company's photos! All the professionally taken shots are linked to their site.

Edit: Added the disclaimer at the bottom. Thanks Drubs.

Thank fuck for that. For a minute I thought you'd become the worst kind of shaving nerd.

 

[filobiblic]

Thank fuck for that. For a minute I thought you'd become the worst kind of shaving nerd.

Phew! Me too...

 

[khun_diddy]

Cons:
- I personally find the soft soap is difficult to load. Very soft soap is difficult to judge how much is loaded. I tend to either load too much or too little. Due to the soft nature of the soap, I can see it disappearing more quickly than most soaps.

On the plus side, you'll get to actually finish a soap...

 

[Mark]

I have been recently gifted a tub of Dr Jon's Classic shaving soap by @filobiblic along with some other samplers, I have to say I'm very surprised that I haven't used or heard much about this soap previously.

Scent: Vetiver, Rosemary, Lavender, Cedar and Citrus.
This was combination that was put together very well, I love vetiver but I'm very picky with it. I have come across a few that smell very synthetic and have a rather chemical smell to them by big brands. There were only two other vetiver soaps that I really enjoyed which are Shaver Heaven by @Anthony Macri and Caties Bubbles by Chris Cullen. Looks like there is a third and wonder If I will come across any more that are that good apart from those two and Dr Jon's. Although they are blended with other oils to slightly add characteristics to the scent I still found it very pleasing, complex and ingenious and would love to stock up some more of Dr Jon's soaps.

Lather: This was a no brainer, although the soap is very soft, after a few swirls with the Plisson brush I face lathered and it generated excellent flow through and I had more than enough in the brush for my 3 pass shave plus plenty left over, mind you the Plisson is a synthetic brush for those of you who don't know, as good as it is, it doesn't hold anywhere near the amount of water and lather as some of my 2 and 3 band badger knots which I'll be using with the same soap on the next shave.

Performance (slickness and cushion): The lather had a nice creamy consistent texture that has more that has more than enough protection and slickness for the shave. I used a straight razor and the shave was a breeze due to the slickness and glide that this soap had to offer. I certainly prefer vegan soaps over tallow for various reasons and this is another great example to why you don't need tallow to generate a great lather, it doesn't take much to realise that there were no comprimises in the quality of the stearic acid, fragrance/essential oils and attention to detail when this soap was produced, otherwise I would have been amongst the first to experience irritation or discomfort.

Overall, I highly rate this soap and I'm surprised that it's not mentioned as much in the shaving community, this soap was produced very carefully with a lot of thought and I would definitely rate it with some of my other premium soaps.

 

[filobiblic]

Overall, I highly rate this soap and I'm surprised that it's not mentioned as much in the shaving community, this soap was produced very carefully with a lot of thought and I would definitely rate it with some of my other premium soaps.

See that @NicktheKnife? No mention of the packaging! [emoji14]

Great review @Mark

I think @Monsta_AU loves a good Soap with Vetiver. To be honest, I don't know the different scents well enough to be able to pick them out. I know I liked this scent ("Classic") but didn't know what it was in it that I was smelling.

 

[Mark]

See that @NicktheKnife? No mention of the packaging! [emoji14]

Great review @Mark

I think @Monsta_AU loves a good Soap with Vetiver. To be honest, I don't know the different scents well enough to be able to pick them out. I know I liked this scent ("Classic") but didn't know what it was in it that I was smelling.

I actually did forget to mention the packaging, was too focused on the shave
The presentation is definitely appreciated without a doubt. +1 for that too!

 

[Dale.Whiley]

Review of Dr Jon's, Anne Bonny shave soap. I thank @filobiblic for sending me this sample. Filo sent me quite a few samples through pure generosity. I was not asking about anything but Filo contacted me and offered to send these as he thought they would be "up my alley".

The description from their website:
Legend of Anne Bonny
Our take on the classic bay rum scent. The Legend of Anne Bonny is made with West Indies Bay leaf essential oil, dark rum, lime, and black tea; the very same English tea that nearly cost Anne Bonny her life! Close your eyes and breath deeply, you can almost hear the waves crashing against the bow of the ship! Made with essential and fragrance oils.​

Initial impressions
@filobiblic sent this to me in a small plastic zip-lock bag. I like hard soaps and this soap felt almost like a cream rather than a soap. Just soft and mushy and I thought I would be lucky to get two shaves out of it. The scent was heavily lime/citrus with a bit of bay rum scent. Bay rum covers such a wide variety of scents and strengths it puts me in mind of the Castrol commercial - Oils ain't oils Sol (

) just as bay rums ain't bay rums Sol. There was also a scent that, although familiar, I couldn't put my finger on. A pleasant scent and even though I couldn't discern what it reminded me of, shave soap seemed alien from this scent. More further on.

Lather
Mashed/pressed the sample it into my wooden bowl very easily as it was so soft and loaded my badger for 15-20 seconds. Loaded the brush easily enough so I applied to my face and started to build a lather. It was a little dry so dipped the very tip of the badger in the water and suddenly there was lather abundant. Thick and creamy - full of praises for the lather, ease of and fullness.

Scent when wet
Brings the scents very much alive. Real nice. A little bay rum, a lot of citrus (a little much for my nose but pleasant nonetheless) and still that strange, familiar but pleasant aroma. The scent is a big plus for this soap.

The proof is in the pudding
Shaving with the straight was excellent. Blade just slides across the face. Another big thumbs up for this performance.

Surprises when using this soap.
What I thought would provide me with 2 shaves if I was lucky lasted over 5 shaves. It ain't as soft as it looks and feels but just keeps loading the badger. I was getting a 3 pass shave each day with ample still in the brush. A big surprise considering how "croapy" the sample felt. And that scent? After three days and still not being able the tie the scent down I asked Mr Google. BLACK TEA. My Mum often made me brew a pot for her in my younger days and that scent is definitely black tea leaves. Shave soap and black tea???? But it really does work.

Overall.
Great lather, great performance, exceptional (though outside of the square) scent. Just try it blokes. It may not end up replacing your favourite soap but you will enjoy this offering.

Again I thank @filobiblic for offering me this sample.

 

[stillshunter]

Review of Dr Jon's, Anne Bonny shave soap. I thank @filobiblic for sending me this sample. Filo sent me quite a few samples through pure generosity. I was not asking about anything but Filo contacted me and offered to send these as he thought they would be "up my alley".

The description from their website:
Legend of Anne Bonny
Our take on the classic bay rum scent. The Legend of Anne Bonny is made with West Indies Bay leaf essential oil, dark rum, lime, and black tea; the very same English tea that nearly cost Anne Bonny her life! Close your eyes and breath deeply, you can almost hear the waves crashing against the bow of the ship! Made with essential and fragrance oils.​

Initial impressions
@filobiblic sent this to me in a small plastic zip-lock bag. I like hard soaps and this soap felt almost like a cream rather than a soap. Just soft and mushy and I thought I would be lucky to get two shaves out of it. The scent was heavily lime/citrus with a bit of bay rum scent. Bay rum covers such a wide variety of scents and strengths it puts me in mind of the Castrol commercial - Oils ain't oils Sol (

) just as bay rums ain't bay rums Sol. There was also a scent that, although familiar, I couldn't put my finger on. A pleasant scent and even though I couldn't discern what it reminded me of, shave soap seemed alien from this scent. More further on.

Lather
Mashed/pressed the sample it into my wooden bowl very easily as it was so soft and loaded my badger for 15-20 seconds. Loaded the brush easily enough so I applied to my face and started to build a lather. It was a little dry so dipped the very tip of the badger in the water and suddenly there was lather abundant. Thick and creamy - full of praises for the lather, ease of and fullness.

Scent when wet
Brings the scents very much alive. Real nice. A little bay rum, a lot of citrus (a little much for my nose but pleasant nonetheless) and still that strange, familiar but pleasant aroma. The scent is a big plus for this soap.

The proof is in the pudding
Shaving with the straight was excellent. Blade just slides across the face. Another big thumbs up for this performance.

Surprises when using this soap.
What I thought would provide me with 2 shaves if I was lucky lasted over 5 shaves. It ain't as soft as it looks and feels but just keeps loading the badger. I was getting a 3 pass shave each day with ample still in the brush. A big surprise considering how "croapy" the sample felt. And that scent? After three days and still not being able the tie the scent down I asked Mr Google. BLACK TEA. My Mum often made me brew a pot for her in my younger days and that scent is definitely black tea leaves. Shave soap and black tea???? But it really does work.

Overall.
Great lather, great performance, exceptional (though outside of the square) scent. Just try it blokes. It may not end up replacing your favourite soap but you will enjoy this offering.

Again I thank @filobiblic for offering me this sample.

Great review mate!

 

[filobiblic]

Overall.
Great lather, great performance, exceptional (though outside of the square) scent. Just try it blokes. It may not end up replacing your favourite soap but you will enjoy this offering.

An excellent summary of the soap. Thanks for your thoughts @Dale.Whiley
I'm glad it turned out to be your kinda soap. [emoji106]

 

[Monsta_AU]

Tagging @Jon Eplin

 

[filobiblic]

Tagging @Jon Eplin

Oh good! Welcome Jon.

Well, @Nonick has used quite a few Dr Jon soaps by now and so he can add some more reviews/comments on the soaps he has.

I think @stillshunter has used some Dr Jon's as well by now too.

Soon there will be many more tins of Dr Jon's available...locally! [emoji14]