Hello everyone! A rare but important update/blog from the AVSC crew.
As many of you know, the AVSC project started from a passion for wetshaving. After getting the basics down for bar soap for the masses, I started the very first R&D into AVSC shave soap, and it was brutal.
Shave soap is somewhat similar to bar soap making, but requires several more steps, more precise measurements, constant and active monitoring, and very, very, small batches.
The very first recipe, which had no name scheme, was truly woeful. It was the best that could be made with the budget, materials, and equipment on hand, and by every measure was objectively not good. Many customers took a chance on it, and every single penny was used towards improving the recipe and better equipment.
The second recipe came just a few weeks later, the Rustic Shave Soap recipe. Improvements in stability and lather, but still was still clearly immature. Once again, many folks bought RSS, and once again the money was used for R&D.
Then came the Vintage Shave Soap recipe. This was the first truly successful recipe, and the first we were happy with. Solubility, lather, and stability were greatly increased over RSS. The funds retrieved from the Vintage recipe were used in researching solubility maximization and the effect it had on end versions.
After Vintage came two experimental recipes, Gold Standard and Homestead. Gold Standard was a very limited and scent limited edition, and it's mission was to test high solubility methods with a ton of conditioning oil (sunflower in this case), really just to see what would happen. The end result was fascinating, intense solubility and intense conditioning, but due to a short scent range and limited quantities, it was quickly discontinued. The Homestead recipe was an experimental recipe that never hit market, and used lard as its conditioning and primary ingredient. This led to a brief experiment of waffle shaped shave pucks, that used ridges as agitation points to build lather. This was short lived however, as the ridges ended up being so tall that much lather would build up as deposits in the square pockets. They were rebatched as traditional 3 inch pucks and sold at a steep discount to minimize losses.
2023 & early 2024 introduced the Extra Virgin Olive Oil Shave Soap recipe, as well as the Farmhouse Shave Pucks. The EVOOSS recipe was a big leap towards perfecting shave soap. Great solubility, great lather, and great performance. Better than the Vintage recipe in every measure. The Farmhouse Shave Pucks were very similar to the unreleased Homestead recipe, and used organic lard and organic tallow to do the heavy lifting. These releases were the stopgap for what was to come, and the funds retrieved were set aside to finalize something cooking in the background.
In February of 2024, an epiphany was made. The EVOOSS recipe was very close to being our last attempt, but we still felt deep down it could be improved somewhere. After studying EVOOSS, and brainstorming ways of improving it, we went back to the lab. We have been waiting for the "This is it." moment, and it finally came with The Final Shaving Soap recipe.
Appropriately named, TFSS recipe is our last iteration. We are confident that any improvement (if it is even realistically possible) would have extreme diminishing returns, and would cost unrealistic amounts of money that could not be absorbed without passing it to the customer. Generally speaking, it is very challenging to have an explosive lather AND a conditioning quality in shave soap. The EVOOSS for example, added olive oil to the blend at the expense of a more robust lather. Using a trade secret technique and recipe, we were able to improve the lather, without compromising the conditioning quality with The Final Shaving Soap recipe.
TFSS recipe improves the lather, maximizes the solubility, and increases the overall quality over EVOOSS. After it was tested and confirmed, it completely restructured AVSC overnight and threw a Texas sized monkey wrench in our business plan.
To fit TFSS recipe into the budget we will be shrinking the lineup considerably. Castile Packs, Farmhouse Packs, Body Wash, and TFSS will be the complete lineup. Alpha, Omega, Classic, and Unscented will remain as the staple scents. Any and all overstock, the beard oil, EVOOSS and etc., will be stationed in the Etsy store for liquidation. Once it is all sold out, the Etsy store will adopt the same lineup as the website and Amazon. This will take a tremendous load off of our budget, which will be absolutely required for TFSS.
TFSS initial release should land somewhere between 3/15/24 and 4/15/24. Stay tuned as always, and thank you all from the bottom of the hearts of everyone involved at AVSC. Good days ahead, God bless.
Robert | AVSC