Portus Cale shaving soap.

A shaving soap made in Portugal , by the same company which makes the Antiga Barbearia de Bairro shaving soap , Castelbell.I couldnt resist myself after reading so many good reviews , from http://www.shaveabuck.com , and I'm very gld I did , since it has a scent which could compete hand by hand with some of my fav UK ones , like Geo F Trumper Eucris or Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn St.


This soap comes like the good English shaving creams (Truefitt and Hill and Geo F Trumper comes to mind ) , with a carboard box and a plastic tube with 125 g (4.4 oz) of product.


The texture of this shaving soap reminds me of Van der Hagen or even the Col Conk shaving soaps , but checking the ingredients I see why this could be :


By its ingredients looks like a "pour and melt" type of soap , and this one contains SLS and lanolin on its formulation , like most of the Portuguese shaving creams made by Claus Porto and Aquiles Brito.The lather is made in no time , thanks to the SLS and the skin care properties are very high , due to the lanolin content.


You can read on the instructions that the scent is a mixed of citrics , cedar and amber , which creates an exceptional fragrance , which have conquered me just right away.This mixed of various notes makes a fresh , while invigorating scent , with character , elegance , style , class , and its perfect to use all year around.As I have pointed , this one could compete hand by hand with my beloved Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street and Geo F Trumper shaving soaps scents/colognes and , even , win , since I like that its a little bit fresher.For me , also , this scent is more sophisticated than the one from the O Melhor or Veleiro shaving creams.

And how does it lathers ? A picture is worth a 1.000 words.Here using a Truefitt and Hill 1/1 silvertip shaving brush and loaded for 15 seconds.You dont need a lot of soap to create a lot of lather , so Im sure it last more than I even realize :


And this is the final lather , after a minute :


This shaving soap reminds me of the old Santa Maria La Novella (the lanolin version) shaving cream , since the skin care and the easiness to make lather is very , very high.
The lather is extremely slick , something I could noticed right away on my first shave with it (and I like it , to be honest).This soap contains also Kaolin , which makes the razor glide with no effort at all.I didnt suffered from any skin dryeness (I didnt used the pre shave oil) , either any irritation or redness.Excellent !

If we combine a scent which is simply superb , with a great skin care properties , we have a shaving soap could be playing on a major league.OK , contains SLS , an ingredient that could be put some people off , but the lather I can get from it , the skin care , and the scent are total winners on my personal book of preferences.

Is it better than the Portuguese shaving creams like O Melhor , Veleiro , Top Secret...? Maybe not , but its scent is much better than any of those shaving creams , but the Musgo Real Classic.For me shaving its a time to pamper myself , and to enjoy a shaving cream or soap with a very nice scent is a must these days , and this Portus Cale shaving soap fits the bill perfectly.A shaving soap much better in skin care and scent than its brother , the Antiga Barbearia de Bairro one , and could be found for 26 dollars , which is cheaper than some of the UK shaving creams , like Truefitt and Hill and Geo F Trumper.