Mistral Men's Black Amber Bar Soap, Black Amber

These bars are big, I ended up cutting them into quarters and keeping 3 different ones in my soap tray at a time. They're all amazing soaps, so good that I stopped using shampoo and just use the soap to wash my hair and beard now. They all lather great and if you don't let them soak in dampness between uses they last a really long time. I'm a big hairy dude and I get about 12 showers from a quarter bar.Sandalwood Bamboo - This is probably my favorite simply for it's staying power. Nice woody masculine scent that will stay with you most of the day.Black Amber - Very close second. This has the silkiest lather I find and leaves my skin and body hair really soft. The smell is really nice but also a bit soapy.Cedarwood Marine - Smells great but I find it doesn't last very long. Using it as hand soap now and will probably last a year or longer, lol.Teak - This is an interesting one. Could very easily be number 1 for a lot of people. It has the silky lather like Black Amber, and a very unique(to me) scent. It's probably the most subtle of all the Mistral soaps I've tried, but the scent doesn't fade quickly either. Great choice if you just want an amazing soap and only the people really close to you to know it.In the end I can't choose so I keep Teak, Dark Amber & Sandalwood quarter bars in the shower and just grab whatever I'm in the mood for. Get a nice soap dish that drains the water away and they'll last a long time.I also bought a bar of the Citrus Oak and while it's also a great soap I didn't care for the scent much, had kind of a musky old man smell to me.

I love Mistral soaps, and in particular the Teak Wood. But what I love even more is my partner's reaction of burying her face in my neck over and over and saying, "You smell SO GOOD." She never says "Your soap smells so good" so it seems that the soap, like a good men's cologne, combines with my natural scent into something really special. I love the scent. It's not overpowering or shouty, it's clean, refined and has that hint of Euro-mystery where your scent stands out from the crowd in a "Whoa, what was that, come back here" sort of way. It's an Aston Martin, not a Camaro. It turns my lady into an octopus. It puts a smile on my face when I use it, it lasts forever. It is worth every penny in every way. Well done, Mistral.

Pros:- This is a LARGE bar of soap, about the size of two standard bars combined. It is 8.8 ounces. So you can view this as two 4.4 ounce bars of soap. I like this. Some people won't.- This soap has a complex, masculine smell that is very pleasing. Yes, that's a subjective take on the scent, but ALL opinions about the QUALITY of the smell are subjective. I like this. Some people won't.- This soap was intentionally made without ingredients that I consider unhealthy for human use: there is/are NO alcohol, parabens, or phthalates.- This soap did not dry out my skin like some other soaps do. I like the way it made me feel clean without drying me out.Cons:- This is expensive soap. 8.8 ounces of soap for $15. To put that in perspective, a standard bar of Ivory Soap weighs 4 ounces and cost about $1.50. So a comparable 8 ounce bar of Ivory would cost about $3.00.That makes this soap around 5 times the price of Ivory.- The great smell of this soap will not be found on your skin after you shower. The scent washes away when you rinse. Heck, the scent on the bar itself was half the strength 24 hours after my first shower with it.Unknowns:I do not know how long this bar will last. It may be that value per ounce of this soap is much higher than standard soaps. I have bought some fancy hand-made soaps that seem to dissolve like cotton candy in water lasting a week to 10 days at the most despite costing $5-$7. So far this bar seems like it will be lasting for a long time. But it is too early to tell. I will try to update this review once I have taken my very last shower with it.EDIT: Today is November 7. This bar of soap lasted just about exactly a month. 4 weeks and 3 days to be exact. Averaging 1 bar per month at $15 a bar means I'd be spending $180 a year on soap. It is good soap. But not worth that for me. I'll keep looking for something more affordable. I really thought I'd get at least 2 months out of a bar that size.

I love this scent mixed with my vanilla scents.. talk about kicking it up a notch.. I will say alone it's quite drying.. sad.. not hydrating at all.. but if you use with a hydrating product. You'll do fine. This smells so good. Even if I take a quick shower and run to the store. Someone is asking me what are you wearing.. between this soap and the method body coconut rice milk shea butter. And then use the EOS 24-hour moisture vanilla cashmere body lotion. You can add on other body butters and oils. I always say layer up for hydration..That combination is so yummy. So delish..You smell like a grown up snack. It will make women and men turn their head. Gay straight doesn't matter. They will sniff you up. Especially if they love scents... Better warming. Soothing. Comforting. Soft. They have an ebb and flow not sharp.. the vanilla takes any hard curves from it... Chef's kiss..Don't use it alone. And if your man does. Please hydrate him. He's going to need it... I hydrating soap to add. Sorry y'all. You missed the hydration mark on this one. Tobacco vanilla Castile soap.. oh yeah.. that was some vanilla cashmere as well. So good.I do not like flowers. I do not like tutti frutti. Never have never will. I am on the warm side. More of a tropical soft side. I like scents that enveloped me with comfort triggers. I find florals. And fruits. Quite off putting too many. Never have I had anyone stop me dead in my tracks and beg me please tell me what are you wearing. And it's always a combo of something. I'll tell you I do not gate keep. Edible warmth. Heaven to me. You can even throw a food on top of the edible warmth. In the fruit category. Such as apple. Pear even peach. But it's a rarity to find good ones. I don't like the ones everyone else likes today. No thanks it would be really nice if someone came out with the bright crisp apple oil. Anywho. Love the soap adore it. Love it love it love it love it.. it smells so good. The kind of sniff that you will sniff your man's skin. Into your nostrils.. you will huff sniff him. Haha enjoy.

For the Bourbon Vanilla Mistral soap:First, people need to understand that soap (any soap) is not meant to coat you in fragrance all day long. If you want that, then use the soap and couple it with the cologne that you can spritz on as you see fit, but just know there is 100% such a thing as overdoing it. We have pheromones, the fragrance is just meant to be pleasant, not overbearing.Scent: I think it smells great and I get compliments from others about it. It's a masculine scent that's warm and inviting.Size: The bar is a healthy size, so it lasts quite well. Don't drop it on your toes.Cleaning: It does a good job of making me feel clean. I don't get any waxy or oily residue. This bar will leave some streaks in your shower, but thankfully... it's soap... wipe it with your hand in the shower and it goes away easily. Not rocket science.Price: Look this is expensive soap. There's no two ways about it. But for the size of the bars, the quality of clean, the fragrance, and the soap's longevity... I think it's acceptable. Let me put it this way, Dr. Squatch is only ten cents cheaper per ounce and those soaps last no where near as long or, to me, smell anywhere near as good. For that extra dime, I'd give Mistral a shot and Bourbon Vanilla is a favorite of mine. (Also Amber Noir, that's some intoxicating citrus)