So I'm down on the Gulf Coast for a few weeks, and decided to take in the hand made soap scene and did some Googling. A result that came up that had an actual store front was Marina Cottage Soap Company. Looking at their website I noticed that they had some shaving soaps in their lineup. So I decided to stop by and take a look, huff the scents, and if I liked buy one or two to try. I ended up with the Hometown Hero and the Southern Gentleman. Both have scents that are familiar, but for the life of me I can't figure out what they remind me of. Hometown Hero I think has some hints of vanilla in it, but not sure. So anyhoo, being the start of a new week I decided to use it tonight for a try. Having no experience whatsoever with Marina Cottage Soap though, I decided to do a test lather to see how it did. I'd hate to spend 30 minutes trying to lather something and not get anywhere with it. I used the Hometown Hero. As you can see it isn't a conventional soap puck. I started by soaking my Simpson Case Best Badger brush for a bit, and added some drops of water to the top of the soap. I then took my brush, shook it out well (so no more water came out with the flicks), and then began to swirl it in a Pyrex container I got at Target. As for the results... well you can see below. I didn't set a timer (though I should have), but it couldn't have been more then 10 minutes. I had Talladega Nights on in the background, and I was working mostly during a commercial break and then during part of the movie. I'd certainly say it passes the test. I added a few drops of water twice to the brush, and just kept swirling. The last three pictures are what I squeezed out of the brush. As you can see (hopefully) the soap definitely had some elasticity. I could move my finger and thumb and the soap would form a U shape and then straighten out. As for scent strength, I didn't really notice it while lathering, but after washing it off my hand, I can still smell it on my hand as I type this up. Like I said, this is just a test lather so who knows how it will perform. But so far I'm impressed. The shave comes tonight. Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
It is. I'll admit I don't play around with my lather like I did today, but having a "no name" shaving soap I wanted to see what it could do.
http://www.marinacottage.com/ It is also linked in the OP under the name. The store front itself wasn't big, I'm guessing they make the soap in the back. But on the shelf with the shave soaps, they did have a Vie Long DE razor, and a couple of brushes (I forget who the manufacturer was). The soap by itself is very slick. Once I got it out of the packaging, it kept wanting to slip through my fingers. I'm eager to try it.
The top of the puck is about the width of a credit card, the bottom a bit smaller than that. Maybe 1/8th of an inch? Its a funky shape.
So first shave with the Hometown Hero... To start with my production lather wasn't quite as good as my test lather. I don't know if I simply didn't load enough product, or what. I used the same Badger brush and bowl to lather with, and added drops of water to the brush twice. But what I did load gave me two passes and some touch ups, barely making it through my shave (nothing left in the brush when I was done). I could have loaded more product but chose not to, wanting to see how far I could stretch it. What it did give me though was slick. And my skin definitely was soft afterwards, and smooth. Almost didn't want to apply the balm.
I'm lucky. I've got three very good local soaps, though only one has a full fledged store front. 2 of the 3 happen to be in my top 5 rotation as well. WSP Route 66 PAA
If you're interested in trying one or two, I'd be happy to pick up a couple. It is under the "Cleanse" section. If you go here: http://www.marinacottage.com/goats-milk-soap/ you should see them.
OK...I was going to order the same two you got, Hometown Hero & Southern Gentleman. Shoot me a PM for the costs & I'll give you my address.
So tonight was a second shave with it. Lathering went well in the little bowl. It will be interesting to see how it does with a synthetic brush. With a soaked brush it doesn't take long at all to get product loaded on your brush. Something I am going to try tomorrow is using less water. I only added a few drops to the brush once, and it seemed to lather well with it. But when I went to touch up, I stuck my fingers in the bowl to use some of that lather and it kind of rubbed right into my skin. But it was definitely there because I took a razor to it and the razor just glided over it. And when I loaded the brush with some more product, I started getting consistency more to my liking.
I was lucky enough to receive a puck of Marina Cottage's Hometown Hero in a PIF from @COMPNOR. Upon opening the package, I was greeted with a very pleasant pipe tobacco aroma, with what I'd call a subdued barbershop scent vaguely in the background. It's easily one of the best tobacco scents I've come across. Seems nice and slick just rubbing the top of the puck with my finger. I'll of course update when I actually shave with it, but it's looking like I'm in for a treat!
Time hasn't been on my side lately, and I keep forgetting to post my thoughts on the Marina Cottage soap I received from @COMPNOR. I've had four good shaves with this soap now. The scent is truly fantastic, it's what I imagine a barbershop of the 40's or so to smell like. I get a fantastic pipe aroma at the front, with a backdrop of mild spice and a clean soap smell. Performance is good, but I find that I need to go back to the puck every pass, even with my large boar that typically holds enough lather to shave a rhinoceros... It just seems to disappear. I don't get a lot of residual slickness with this, so touch ups require relathering. The issues aren't enough to keep me from finishing the puck I have, but I'm not sure that I'll order any more, which is a shame because I truly enjoy the scent.
