Shaving Soap Sampler by Chiseled Face — Santa Paula, Pine Tar, Sherlock, Cedar & Spice, Summer Storm, Trade Winds, Ghost Town Barber, Cryogen, and Midnight Stag — Handmade Shaving Soap

This is an excellent sampler and it gives a good sense of the Chiseled Face character. I’m pleased with the performance, scents, quality, and value. First, the soap base tallow and is a solid performer. I have no issues lathering it. Cushion, glide, residual slickness are all very good if not excellent. The scents strike me as mostly suitable for cooler temperatures: they are filled with earth, herbs, leather, smoke, spice, and wood, and are masculine. Scent projection is about 7 out of 10. They are not sweet fragrances in general. Bay Rum: Smells like bay rum with herbs and spices. It is not a sweet Bay Rum. Cedar and Spice:: Smells like old spice in a cedar chest, more cedar than spice. Not for summer. Cryogen: Insane cooling effect. Perfect for summer if you like intense menthol. Ghost Town Barber: Excellent barbershop scent with some smokiness. It is what it says it is, and is one of my favorites. Midnight Stag: This is a polarizing scent. It is smoke, diesel, and leather with animalic notes. Not a summer scent. Very manly and one of my favorite scents from any artist. I bought a large tub. Pine Tar: Don’t let the name or color fool you. This is a plain and rugged scent that does not give offense. The lack of fragrance makes it excellent for year round use. Santa Paula: Strong projection of bitter oranges and cedar. I love this but it is not for everyone. Sherlock: A scent that reminds me of a warm library when it’s cold outside. There is leather with a hint of earth and sweetness. Summer Storm: Excellent aquatic scent that reminds me of cold summer mornings in Santa Cruz. Pleasant and not too sweet. Better for cooler weather. Trade Winds: Another aquatic scent but brighter. It’s more of a spring scent than summer. The scents have an underlying character that I appreciate. I can’t wait to try more Chiseled Face soaps.

Good assortment - some of these smell very different once lathered up then they do in the jar, notably Pine Tar is overpowering in the jar but very nice and woody on your face. Their Bay Rum is great. Cryogen is, as the name implies, a fairly ridiculous level of cooling sensation. These samplers are critical, because whatever scent you choose, you will be using it for a long, long time. Each little sampler is good for maybe 6-8 shaves, and after months of use I barely see a reduction in the full-size jar I purchased. It just makes a nice lather with very little soap.

The smell of 5/10 are so pungent and overwhelmingly bad that I’m tempted to toss them. I’ll try them all to give them a fair shake, but “Cedar & Spice”, “Bay Rum”, “Santa Paula”, “Midnight Stag”, and worst of all “Pine Tar” are incredibly bad. I’ve read that these soaps work well and seen youtubers use them with nice results. My favorite in order of #1-#5 are: “Ghost Town Barber”, “Trade Winds”, “Summer Storm”, “Cryogen”(menthol), and “Sherlock”. For anyone considering purchasing these I’d recommend to just go straight for their bestseller “Ghost Town Barber” or “Cryogen” (if you like menthol). Don’t waste your money on 5 sub-par shave soaps. That being said, smell and preference is completely subjective so at the very minimum: check out the company’s main site to see the scent profiles and if you still can’t decide, then perhaps buy this. I’d recommend “Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements” samples, “Taylor of Old Bond Street” samples, or “Stirling” samples. Those 3 companies have a much wider selection that all have a majority of scents that are more universally liked. But, to each their own. Cheers.

I came to this one at a point when I was running out of my other main soap and looking to try alternatives before going with another of one of my known favorites. I like giving others a chance occasionally. I won't name the other favorites because I don't mean to advertise for somebody else. I'm here to review this one. Let's start with the shaving experience. I scooped this from the small sample container into a small bowl that is adequate for this purpose. I used the same method I use with good success with other softer shaving soaps: I'm using a good quality synthetic brush to lather, soaked it in warm/hot water for 5-10 minutes and then most of the excess shaken out, did not bloom this soap as it is a soft product and those tend not to need blooming (and sometimes work worse when bloomed) and then I vigorously applied the brush for about 30 seconds to pick up soap. I transferred over to a lathering bowl to swish around and work what I'd picked up into a nice lather, adding some water several times to get the consistency where I like it, not too thick or thin, and wet enough to be slick. Initially, it goes on nicely, feels reasonably slick, and isn't runny when lathered properly. But then as I shaved with it, I kept having it dry out too quickly before I could complete a pass, and after numerous shaves and trying different amounts of water, I just couldn't really get it to make it through a pass without drying out on me. [Updated review: Upon more experience with the soap, I got better at adding the right amount of water to get a reasonable consistency which makes it through a pass without drying out. It does take a bit of extra water added during the brush agitation process but with practice it is possible. I raised the score therefore from 3 to 4 -- but I'm still not as content with the slickness as I am with my favorites. It isn't at all bad, just not 5 star.] Now the scents are a mixed bag, as I said in the title. I see some reviews where people are criticizing other reviewers for rating it highly or lowly for scent, suggesting that this is subjective so maybe you shouldn't rate it down if you don't like the scent. Well yeah, of course it's subjective, but so is MOST of any review!!! I'll rate it lower, they'll rate it higher, and it'll average out somewhere along the way. Same with scent. Maybe it smells like sweaty buttocks to me but somebody else likes that, so they will rate it highly and I won't, and most people don't like sweaty buttocks so they too will rate it low and on the whole it will come out poorly -- it's how things work. So my SUBJECTIVE opinion of the scents? Most were pleasant, some were great, and one was downright horrid. I really did love Ghost Town Barber, Sherlock, Rum Bay, a few others. Neutral on Cryo-whatever, which smells just like Vick's Vapor Rub, and Pine Tar, which is interesting but also a bit medicine-ish, and I'm still figuring out what to make of the one that has a slight citrus scent (Santa Paula) because it also has some "earthy" (i.e., dirt) undertones that leave me kind of unsure of how I like it. This is the reality of scents. You can't please everybody and it just depends on what works for you. That's what's great about a sampler like this -- you can see, and you will probably really like something in it. I commend Chiseled Face for their boldness in trying some unconventional things, and that includes one or two of the ones I liked quite a bit. The one I absolutely DO NOT like is Midnight Stag, which they actually describe like this: "Dark, unrefined, and totally unresistible, this is a scent for those who are proud to be a man. Notes of: Russian Leather, Motor Oil, Hoppes #9, Birch Tar, Oakmoss, Gasoline, Smoke, Cedar, Cade, Bergamont, Vanilla" So if THAT is symbolic of what one who is "proud to be a man" would smell like, I will have to just turn in my "man card" because I really don't like smelling like GASOLINE, SMOKE, MOTOR OIL and BIRCH TAR. Believe me, these particular odors are predominant. I can't say that I even noticed leather (well, maybe old worn leather work boot) or bergamont or vanilla. The gasoline overpowers these. The first time I took the cap off and smelled it, I had to pull it right away because it smelled like I had just spilled gasoline all over the place. This scent is probably ideal for SOME dude whose life is VERY different from mine but I guess I'm not enough of a muscle-jock hours-under-my-car deer-hunting testosterone-dripping sort to be able to appreciate it properly. I'll forego it for the nice Rum Bay and go have a few sips of a pina colada. I guess I'd be a little worried about attracting the sort of woman who could break me in half as she's spitting her tobacco into an empty soda can. I will at least try all of the others in the pack -- this is the only one I don't think I will even be lathering because I can't deal with the smell of it for more than a few seconds. That's OK. Somebody else will love it, just not me. The several REALLY NICE scents do smell pretty terrific, though (especially the Sherlock and Ghost Town Barber, my two favorites) so I think this company does have some scents that if you're liking the shaving experience itself with the soap (from a lathering / slickness point of view), would be excellent choices. The price is right. For an artisanal soap, this one is priced well. I'm spending a bit less on ONE soap I like better but I'm also spending about 50% MORE on my #1 favorite. Admittedly that one that I do spend less on is very atypical. Chiseled Face soaps seem to fall on the lower end of the pricing for artisanal soaps so I'd say it qualifies as a bargain if you're content with the shaving experience. It's inexpensive enough that I'd suggest trying it yourself, probably starting with the sampler unless you have good reason to know which scent you're likely to enjoy. I think the descriptions of the scents provided by the company in the Q&A are accurate. One last thing about the value -- the company also indicates in the Q&A that you will get around 8 shaves or so from each mini-jar. I'd have been content with that, but even lathering generously, I seem to be getting right near double that from each. This sampler pack is giving me a lot of mileage, and I'd expect that a single scent regular size canister probably goes a long way as well.

Great set if you're looking to check out scents. As for shaving soap, it lathers up great but once applied too the face there is little to no lubrication for the blade. The smell is nice but the soap just isn't good at all. Maybe it's because it's nearly impossible to get enough on the shaving brush since the containers are barely bigger than a quarter.

This sample pack was awesome. The complaints about cost are unjustified. If it is too much for you then don't buy it. I only rate the quality and performance of the items. I will let you decide what you deem is the right amount of money to spend. The products and their size are clearly listed. The products themselves are outstanding. Great lather, slickness, and aftershave feel. This sample pack has ton of great and complex scents. Most of the scents are distinguished and many might be off putting for some. However, I liked almost all of them. Sherlock, Ghost Town Barber, Cedar and Spice, and Midnight Stag are my favorites in that order. Keep in mind that all the soaps from this pack I have tried have performed outstanding. The lather is so soft and provides a wonderful cushion during the save. The sample pack allows about 5-7 shaves per sample if you scoop out a little bit into a bowl or mug and lather with a brush YMMV. By the end you will be happy you were able to sample all of them because you may find yourself surprised as to which are your favorites. Chiseled face now has a customer for life. P.S. Do not choose to pass this product up because someone gave it one star on smell alone. Scent preferences are extremely subjective and one may prefer a scent that others detest. In my opinion giving a one star review only for the scent and not the performance is slightly irresponsible. Cheers!

While these samples all produced a terrific lather that had great cushion and protected my sensitive skin, I didn’t care for the scents. The names were interesting and the scents were varied. But none of them gave me that feeling that my dog has when he finds something “smelly” in the yard that he wants to roll around in and wear all over his body. A great shaving soap should also have a scent that makes me feel like my dog and want to rub it on my skin! I don’t get that from any of the samples in this lot. In fact some were “meh” and others made me WANT a scented aftershave to cover-up the remnants. For me, shaving is also aromatherapy. I take some time to treat my face, that is “myself” to something truly pleasurable. After trying these samples I shared almost all of them with fellow shavers as I didn’t want to just throw them out. As for value, it was a little pricey because all the samples, were so small. But it did allow me to try a bunch of different scents without having to buy a whole jar of any of them. That probably saved me money in the long run.

First, these are small samples so you won’t be able to swirl your brush around in them. There are a lot of good, if very rustic scents to experiment with. I got these after already having purchased “Ghost Town Barber”, which I love.... I was surprised just how much I like some of these - like Midnight Stag (an old coal miner distilled into a fragrance) and the crazily nostalgic (to me) Summer Storm (petrichor, woodland, and grass), and the ultra-rustic Cedar & Spice, which isn’t what you think - it smells like grandpa (Midnight Stag?) just made Grandma a new spice rack, not like stuff you might get from other makers. Worth a try if you have a brush, a bowl, are willing to scoop some out, and want to try some crazy, but unique and awesome scents.