RazoRock Blue Barbershop: My First Shave With the Soap and Splash
Hello everyone, welcome back for another shave. I’m trying something new on the channel: a soap and matching splash from RazoRock: RazoRock Blue Barbershop. This set was a gift from my Italian wet shaving brother Brett. He gave it to me back in December, and he messaged me not long ago to ask if I’d tried it yet. So here it is, Brett. I’m finally shaving with Blue Barbershop.
The Soap and Splash
Both the soap and the splash are made in Italy, and they’re genuinely affordable, which makes this one of the more wallet-friendly full sets out there. If you’re starting your wet shaving journey, RazoRock is a safe bet. You’re not splurging, and you get a matching soap and splash to try together.
The base on this one is tallow-free but not vegan. It’s built on coconut oil with lanolin, so it’s a lighter animal-derived formula rather than a true vegan one. The label’s a little faded on my tub, so check the ingredients on RazoRock’s own listing if you want the full breakdown.
Out of the container, the scent is light. I’m getting citrus, something clean and almost aquatic, and there’s a bit of an herbal, medicinal edge I can’t quite place. This one’s inspired by Floid Blue. I haven’t smelled the original myself, so I can’t tell you how close RazoRock got. If you’ve used Floid Blue and you try this one, drop a comment and let me know how they compare.
Building the Lather
No scoops. I loaded straight out of the container and sprayed a little water in first, since the soap had been sitting a while. It lathered up easily, and the lanolin gave it real slickness right away.
(Small tangent if I sound extra chatty in this shave: I played golf for the first time, on a hot summer day, with some coworkers. Way more fun than I expected. Watching it on TV is boring as anything, but actually swinging a club yourself is a different story. If you’re on the fence about trying it, go try it, and find a friend who knows what they’re doing to show you the ropes. Just don’t pick a day this hot to learn.)
Back to the shave. I used my usual bowl, my Brousseau and Dov, added a splash of water, and started working the soap. The scent stayed light through the whole process; no notes really jumped out as it built. I was hoping for more once the lather got going. I kept the water light because I could tell it wanted to go airy if I pushed it, and the structure was already climbing high. It came out shiny, and I was hoping that translated to slick.
Plenty of lather in the bowl, white soap in a white bowl, so it’s hard to show on camera, but trust me, there was a lot of it. I whipped it a bit more, and it got airier still. I don’t love a thick, cloud-of-lather application, I’d rather have something creamier and lower structure, but I got it onto my face clean without making a mess.
First Pass
For the razor, I went with my RazoRock Goat on the barber pole handle, my favorite handle RazoRock makes, and it’s on theme with the soap. Fresh Gillette Silver Blue in there, going up against a day and a half to two days of growth.
As the lather sat on my face during the first pass, I picked up a little more of the scent, something clean and powdery, but the strength stayed low, maybe a 1.5 out of 10. Residual slickness wasn’t great, but it was enough to get through the buffing, especially useful if you’re going for a third pass. The Goat is efficient. I forgot how efficient. One small nick, nothing serious, but that razor doesn’t miss much. The lather itself had gone pretty airy by the end of the pass, the structure was starting to collapse, so I gave it a few more swirls before round two.
Second Pass
Second pass, against the grain, and the final one for this shave, nice and quick and relaxing. The Goat is efficient enough against the grain that it feels a little less smooth, the blade’s really engaging the whiskers for a close finish. RazoRock’s already put out a plus plate for the Goat, but as far as I’m concerned this one’s plenty efficient on its own.
I really wish the scent had more presence through the shave. I’m sure it develops more the longer you wear it, but I didn’t get much. Toward the end of the pass the lather thinned out on my face the way some vegan-adjacent bases do. Next time I’ll try building it with less water and see if that tightens things up. Applying it a second time did help, the residual slickness was better and the buffing was more comfortable. And once again, the Goat handled the tricky spots and left a close, clean shave.
The Splash
I skipped the face wash and went straight to the splash. The label alone is worth a look, old-school illustration style, and I believe the artist’s name is Philip, though I can’t quite make out the surname on my bottle. I’d used another RazoRock splash before, the Peppino, and based on that I expected a similarly good skin feel here.
The alcohol tingle hit first, nothing dramatic, and then the scent opened up. Way fresher than the soap. Now I could actually pick out more citrus, clean and aquatic, less of the powdery barbershop quality and more just fresh and bright. The dry down is quick, and there’s a light cooling sensation from the menthol on the label, which felt good on a warm evening. Skin feel was very nice, similar to the Peppino. That fresh scent held at a level that won’t clear out a room, just enough to notice and enjoy without bothering anyone else in the house.
Final Thoughts
So where does that leave Blue Barbershop? The splash, I’d recommend without hesitation. The soap, the performance is solid, but I wish the scent showed up more. At that price point it’s still a good value next to a lot of what’s out there, and if you cut back the water, or face lather it instead of bowl lathering, I’d bet the structure comes out creamier with better slickness.
If any of you have tried Floid Blue and you pick up the Blue Barbershop set, let me know in the comments how close RazoRock got. This scent is genuinely pleasant, fresh, classic, the kind of thing that works for a lot of guys.
Thanks for watching. Stay safe and enjoy smooth shaves.