Capra Goat’s Milk Shaving Soap
5/5
I started shaving my head and parts of my face with a double-edged safety razor, brush and shaving soap in 2020 as a lockdown pursuit. I have since tried three shaving soaps – Trumper’s Rose, Haslinger Honig, and Signature Soaps Capra. I can say that the Trumper’s Rose is useless ; that the Haslinger Honig is quite good; and that the Signature Soaps Capra is the best by a comfortable margin.
The Capra shaving soap is a stiff, beige-coloured paste. While unfragranced, it has the very slight scent of its ingredients which disappears when lathering. For some reason I find this scent slightly citrussy although perhaps others would disagree.
I use the soap by scooping a good-sized lump onto my finger and squishing it into the bottom of a flat-based bowl with tall sides. I then dab my wet but not soaking shaving brush into the soap until the soap is gradually absorbed through the entire brush (this might not be all the soap in the bowl – there’s usually some left to top up the brush for a few passes). Once the brush is fully loaded, I lather it onto my head rather than lathering the soap in the bowl. I can then tell whether the lather is too pasty – in which case a few drops more water are needed – or whether it’s too thin, in which case it needs more soap.
This way I get enough slick, protective lather for two passes on my whole scalp and one pass on my cheeks. I find it to give superior protection compared to the Trumper’s or Haslinger, neither of which I now ever touch.
The fact that it’s unfragranced is an advantage – it means the shaving soap doesn’t have to match the scent of other fragrances you are using.
I still need to proceed with caution when shaving, but that goes without saying when shaving my whole head with a DE safety razor. But I find that when I use a fresh blade and when I get the lather just right, the Signature Soaps Capra lets me shave my whole head and face without a single scratch, any irritation or dryness – a feat which no other soap has achieved.
Tom, London