Let me set the stage: Back in August (I think), there was a woman who posted in two of the Reddit shaving forums I follow saying that she was going to participate in a bike ride to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund and that she was accepting donations to CCRF for her ride. In exchange, contributors would receive 1 entry for each $5 donated into giveaways of a bunch of shaving-related gift cards.
With absolutely no expectation that I’d win anything, I contributed $25. Fast forward to mid-to late September and I see a post from the same woman saying she was trying to get a hold of a list of people to give them their prizes. And yes, my name was in the list.
I messaged her, and she told me I’d won 2 of the $50 gift cards, one for Henri et Victoria, a Quebec-based shaving soap maker, and the other for Hoffman’s Grooming, a soap maker in New Jersey.
When I got the emails with the card numbers, I started shopping. I quickly found some things to order from Henri et Victoria and placed the order, only to be contacted the next day by a rep from the company saying that they aren’t shipping most items to the US right now–Trump tariffs and all, and asked if I wanted to just hold the order until they shipped again, or just cancel it and try again after things are settled. I cancelled. Someday. Sigh. (UPDATE: this may have been shipped…we’ll see).
Hoffman’s was…trickier. Let me be clear: while I’ve frequently seen one or two of their products in SOTDs posted online, their general look or theme, I guess, is not one that I’d normally buy. They don’t make unscented products and their graphics really tend to darker, edgier themes that I just don’t vibe with. There’s a subset of this hobby that kind of embraces that darker, edgier side, and there are buyers who love that. And I’m perfectly fine with that. It just doesn’t appeal to me.
But I had the $50 to spend, so I went to work, and ordered two items (which, with shipping totaled about $46): a tub of Autism Strong soap (a fundraiser soap that sounded like it had a fairly mild, pleasant scent), and a Bushido travelling shave stick.
I quickly got the confirmation email for the order. Then confirmation it had been shipped. Then…nothing.
I waited a week, because, USPS being what it is, sending stuff through the mail is pretty hit-or-miss these days. Then I decided to give it an extra few days, just because. Still nothing. So I decided to reach out.
I sent an email to the address on the order. The message bounced back. I used the form on the website, and that got no response in a couple of days. So finally, I messaged Hoffman’s through their Instagram account.
Now, what you need to realize in this endeavor is that even makers of razors can be a small operation. And makers of lathers, balms, etc. have the potential to be even smaller. And this is the case for Hoffman’s. I got a response from the owner, saying he’s a one man show and apologized for the problem. He checked, and knew he gave it to the USPS employee, but it could not be scanned into the system because his scanner was down. So the post office somehow lost it.
So the owner repackaged the shipment, and threw in a bonus shave stick, and off it went. This time, it got scanned in and could be tracked, and a few days later, I had a box of soaps arrive on my doorstep. In it was the collection shown above: the two things I ordered, plus a bonus stick of Nocturnal Savage shave soap.
So I’ve been slipping them into the mix slowly and giving them a try. Here are the reviews:
Hoffman’s Grooming Bushido shave stick: I’ve seen people post this one a lot. Not sure why, but it seems to be a fave of the posters in the subreddit spaces. As you can see on the label, the scent is applewood, tonka bean, spice and vanilla bourbon. I can’t individually pick those aromas out, but it’s a masculine scent that is pleasant and not too strong. In fact, in my shave, I was worried it might get overwhelmed by or clash with the Nivea balm I was also using, but it worked out just fine.
The base for all of these soaps appears to be the same, which is good, as it appears to be a very nice base–a little softer than some I have, but generally lathers very well and provides excellent lubrication and slickness.
This is a good soap, and is one that I don’t think I would have bought if I had not had the gift card, but I’m glad I got it and will enjoy it.
Hoffman’s Grooming Autism Strong shave soap: I’ll be honest here, I don’t recall seeing many Hoffman’s products posted outside of Bushido, so picking another option was kind of blind. While I can put together flavors in my head for cooking, I can’t really put together scents, so it’s hard for me to know if I’ll like a scent, especially when it gets complex.
This one is described as having barbershop, lemon, bergamot, lavender, and musk in the formula, and I do get quite a bit of the barbershop and musk–it’s got that masculine, but slightly floral tone under all of that. I really don’t mind the scent, and will pass further judgement once I use it more, but it was pleasant and not overpowering.
Just like the Bushido, it lathers well, provides excellent slickness, and made for a great shave, so I’ll be happy to use this one going forward as well.
Hoffman’s Grooming Nocturnal Savage shaving soap stick: It’s kind of weird to me that this one doesn’t even have it’s name on it, but whatever. Those glowing blue eyes make up for everything.
It’s interesting that such a foreboding named and themed shave soap has such a fruity scent. The blackberry and raspberry are really at the forefront. And I could pick up the champagne while lathering, but the musk was completely lost to me. But the fragrance fades very quickly after the shave, and was really covered up by even the unscented balm I used with its first shave.
This shave soap just reinforces that the Hoffman’s shave soaps have an excellent base. It lathered very well and quickly into a nice thick, rich lather. As with the others, it’s fairly soft, which may account for the quickness to the lathering. It performed well, and was slick for the entirety of the shave.
So while this is the least favorite of the three Hoffman’s soaps, I have to say I’m really glad that they came into my collection. I would not have purchased them on my own, so having the opportunity to try them and see how well they work has been awesome.
One final thing, in response to the inevitable question: where would I rank this in relation to the other lathers I ranked in the Rating the Lathers post?
It took some thought and careful consideration, but I’ve decided on the following rankings:
Between #9 & #10: The Autism Strong falls after the the Stirling Soap Sheep soap. They have a similar feel, with perhaps a slight richness edge to the Sheep, but given a choice, I’d prefer the unscented soap of the sheep over the fragrance of Autism Strong.
Just below Autism Strong: Bushido comes just after Autism Strong, and that is entirely due to the fragrance. It’s performance is great, just like the Autism Strong, but I prefer the Autism Strong fragrance over the Bushido. And both of these soaps are, in my mind, better than the Stirling Unscented with Beeswax.
Between #14 & #15: That’s where I’m going to put the Nocturnal Savage, not because of its performance, really, but the strongly fruity scent knocks it down a bit for me. Again, it isn’t that I don’t like the fragrance itself, but I don’t really like those sweet smells in my shaving products. It does perform better than others it falls behind, but I will not be restocking this one when the time comes.
That rounds out the ranking of these three soaps and makes the total ranking 29 soaps. There are a few on the way, too, so look for those reviews soon.