Mama Bear soap challenge

Thank you, sir. I really like odd/original/unique items. I have never seen another scuttle like this in my life.

 

"Rose Ice" by mama bear soaps.

Imagine, if you will, walking through a beautiful rose garden in late fall: The arousing yet delicate scent all around you. You breathe in crisp air and you instantly feel alive, yet relaxed. You realize that this is going to be a fantastic day!

Well, guess what? That is what shaving with this soap feels like. The aroma is intoxicating and room-filling. The sillage is wonderful. The menthol was cooling, but not overpowering.

This is a true year-round scent.

I cannot imagine that women wouldn't like smelling this, but be careful, they may want to use it as well. Out of the several mentholated mama bear soaps I have tried (on this thread and prior), this has been the best.

The lather, cushion, and slickness were all great.

Final results:
Scent: 10/10
Scent strength - 9/10
Lather -10/10
Cushion - 9/10
Slickness - 10/10
Cooling sensation - 6/10
Lasting scent - 9/10. I have encountered very few shave soaps that have outlasted the scent of this one. In fact, I may change this to a 10/10.

These are samples, but I am going to order a puck when I place my next mama bear order. I tend to overanalyze things, but I just cannot see a downside to this one. It checks ALL of my boxes. It is not the most cooling mentholated soap I have had, of course...you can always fix that with the Shave Den's m- bomb, however it was appropriate. I would consider adding m-bomb only in the summer because it would be perfect as a spring, fall, and even winter scent as is.

Brush - Edwin Jagger best badger
Razor - 1959 e3 tto Gillette fat boy (im experimenting with DEs lately *), set to seven
Razor blade - Gillette 7 o clock super platinum
Soap - mama bear soaps "Rose Ice"
Aftershave - Aqua Velva classic ice blue
Shaving bowl - Edwin Jagger

Result: A 2-pass near BBS shave. I am convinced it would have been BBS and not "near" if I turn up the dial and use a sharper blade.
* (I am experimenting with my DE lately. It's a departure from my straight razors, I know, but I am working out the kinks. My next step is going to a full 9 setting, and after that im switching to a feather blade.)

 

SOTD:
Mama bear's "lime cilantro"

First off, there is more cilantro than lime. The scent is light and doesnt really burst on the skin...plus it doesnt last long afterwards. This is a mentholated soap, but i like the icy stuff, and this is very light menthol.

Like most all mama bear soaps, it lathers well, has great cushion, and has a wonderful face feel during and afterwards.

Final results:
Scent: 6/10 better than average, but not strong enough for me
Scent strength - 4/10 it was nice, however
Lather -10/10
Cushion - 9/10
Slickness - 10/10
Cooling sensation - 4/10
Lasting scent - 4/10 below average. It went away without lingering.

Result: A 3 pass shave with a near BBS result. I will have to move the dial to 9 next time, and/or use a sharper blade. When iy comes to the soap, I would suggest going with stirling soaps margaritas in the artic or TOBS for a lime scent over this one.

Razor - 1959 gillette fatboy set to 7 (i clearly need to go to 9)
Razor blade - Gillette 7 o clock super platinum
Brush - stirling soap co. Kong synthetic. It is a lather monster.
Soap - mama bear's lime cilantro
Additive - the shave Den's M-bomb
Aftershave - stirling soaps margaritas in the artic
Soap bowl - edwin jagger brushed nickel
Lathering apothecary mug - van der hagen
Moisturizer - bull dog

 

Has anyone tried her Barbershop scent? I'm curious how it compares to Route 66 and Stirling

 

I cannot speak to the route 66, but I have both of the others.

The stirling barbershop has a more refreshing and clean barbershop scent and lasts a bit longer.
Mama bear's "ye olde barbershoppe" is more of a savory/sweet barshop smell. My daughter says that it has a more buttery quality to it, and she's right on point with that. Its scent doesnt last as long as the stirling.

Both have very good scents and both are slightly strong smells.
Both lather well and have good cushion...I would say equally so.

They are both worth getting. I probably slightly prefer the scent of the mama bear soap, but the stirlings smell lasts longer...which I value a lot.

 

Thank you for the info. I really like the Stirling and you're right that it lasts a long time. I also like the powdery scent that it leaves. This Mama Bear's soap is going on my short list

 

Momma Bear made a batch of shave soaps (special just for me) around the scent "Obsession for Men" and she has a bath soap available to buy with this fragrance. The shave soap is currently unavailable for this fragrance. I have 13 pucks of it remaining. The quality of these are just amazing and the scent, just beautiful. You can try the bath soap of this as it's available. It smells amazing. I also buy the Bounty soap, which is a duplicate of Creed's Royal Water cologne. A 'heavenly' soft lemon scent that is one of my favorite colognes. So, Mama Bear has me covered on two of my all time favorite fragrances and I will continue to buy from her.

The only other person who has tried the Obsession for Men shave soap that Momma Bear made for me is ob1page.

 

Mama bear absolutely has sone if the best overall value out there. It all comes down to scent. Her scents are very nice, but like every other maker...there are ones that i like more and ones i like less. I tried several if the siaps before, and i had no problem committing to 60-70 of her soap samples. Money well spent.

Of course, they lather so darn well, they last a long time too.

 

I have and it's excellent, it's on deck for tomorrow morning

 

Thursday Shave

Brush- Semogue 620
Razor- Schick Fashion Razor aka the Hussy
Blade- Chinese Schick
Soap- Mama Bear's Obsession
Post Care- Crystal Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
Osage Rub
Pinaud Bay Rum

I'm continuing to focus on my injector razors. I'll be using the Hussy through this week then sending it off to @PLAla for a pass around I'm starting. There's still plenty of time to join in. It was a weird shave today, the Mama Bear's soap kept pulling a disappearing act. I've not had this trouble with it before but I couldn't get the lather to stay. What was there though was extremely slick, the Hussy just slid right through it. Three passes and I'm dolphin smooth. The alum was completely silent, the Osage Rub felt fantastic and the Pinaud bay rum complemented the Obsession soap. It's been 5 hours since I've shaved and I can still smell the soap and still can't feel a single whisker. Have a great day folks!

 

Very nice. Can you rate the slickness, cushion, scent, and lasting power of the soap?

 

The soap, like all other soaps needs water amounts adjusted to find that perfect balance between cushion and moisture and longevity. I live in a desert climate, so it's very difficult for me to maintain moisture. I often have to close the bathroom door during a shower to build up humidity before my shave. It helps.

 

Slickness- 10
Cushion- 8
Scent- 10
Lasting Power- 10

Very slick, protects well, smells just like Obsession cologne and I still smelled it 12 hours later when I was taking my shower.

 

Desert here too. I believe I had too much water when I loaded my brush. I was getting some nice peaks in the bowl although they had a lot of air bubbles in them. When I applied to my face though it just disappeared. I almost wiped everything off to start over except when I ran my hand over it I couldn't believe how slick it was. I thought "what's the worst that can happen" and tried it out. I'm glad I did.

 

Wow!! That sounds like a winner to me. I love the lasting scents

 

I tried mama bear's "rosemary mint" yesterday, but I was very busy...so no pic. I apologize.

It has finally happened. I believe I have found the worst soap in her lineup, which is a real shame because I was looking forward to this one.

First off, the smell was faint for me...pleasing, but very light. The menthol was not very strong as well. I have noticed the menthol in mama bear soaps not being very powerful as some of the other makers, but then again...I like big scents and menthol, so im a bit biased.

I have yet to try a mama bear soap that didnt lather or cushion well, until this one. I tried multiple brushes...I tried using various amounts of water...I just couldn't get this to lather well.

I should have just moved on to another soap, but in the spirit of this thread, i didnt want to just stop. I felt "the show must go on." Well, bad choice. I ended up getting a little razor burn. That hasn't happened to me in quite awhile.

Final results:
Scent: 5/10 average
Scent strength - 4/10 it was nice, however
Lather - 4/10
Cushion - 3/10
Slickness - 5/10
Cooling sensation - 4/10
Lasting scent - 3/10 below average. It went away without lingering.

Result: A 2 pass shave with a BBS result, albeit with light razor burn. When it comes to the soap, I would suggest passing on this one.

Razor - Edwin jagger laser cut diamong 3d DE
Razor blade - Feather platinum
Brush - stirling soap co. Kong synthetic, edwin jagger best badger, truefitt and hill best badger. I just couldn't get a good lather out of this.
Soap - mama bear's rosemary mint
Soap bowl - edwin jagger brushed nickel, van der hagens apothecary mug. Once again...i tried multiple things including face lathering...it fidnt work.
Lathering apothecary mug - van der hagen
Alum - razorock
Aftershave - proraso's white line AS balm (this is my heavy hitter AS balm. I needed it.)

Just don't buy it...please.

 

I presently own two Mama Bear soaps. They're the Lemon Ice and the Awakenings.

 

Both are good. I really like awakenings.

 

Me too. It's pretty cold.