I love supporting local businesses and local artisans. My wife and I try to hit up some nearby open-air markets like the Clover Market and some of the events at Terrain whenever we can. So, when I found out that Lebelle Soaps is located in Chester County, PA and all of their soaps are manufactured there as well, I jumped at the chance to purchase a few, specifically the Spice Bombardier and the Milione. I’ve probably been using the Spice Bombardier more just because of the time of year when I bought the soaps, but I plan on doing a review of the Milione too, as soon as the weather warms up a little.
This first thing that catches your eye with any of the soaps from Lebelle Soaps is the size. These tins are big! And for the price, they are an insane value. Of course, the question remains, are they any good? Well, the description of the Spice Bombardier drew me in immediately with notes like grapefruit, bergamot, leather, tobacco. On the soap itself the only discernable notes for me were the citrusy ones. However, in building my lather, the tobacco and leather dive bombed me right in the nose. This is a beautifully smelling soap with just the right about of balance between sweet and spice for me. The citrus opens up first and activates your senses, while the darker scents follow up and round everything out. Once I’ve finished a shave with the Spice Bombardier, I like to follow it up with Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet. It’s a classic British cologne that compliments this soap perfectly.
Performance is out-of-this-world too. With ingredients like tallow, stearic acid, coconut oil and glycerin how could it not, right? Well, I would bet that there are some soap makers out there that have the ingredients right but the recipe wrong, not Lebelle Soaps though. This soap lathers remarkably easy, with incredible slickness and cushion. You can even build your lather right in the tin because Lebelle has thoughtfully left enough room in the over-sized canister. I’ve been using this soap for the past two months and have not had a bad shave yet.
If I had to criticize Lebelle Soaps for anything, it would be the simple labeling of their soaps. However, I think I caught the tail end of the last production run, because from the look of their website an update of the packaging is already underway.
All-in-all, Lebelle Soaps “Spice Bombardier” is wonderfully crafted, incredibly priced, and an exceptional performing shaving soap. This is one of those soaps that you will keep coming back to again and again.
Regards,
Tailor & Barber