Tiki Bar Soap is a one-woman artisan soap-maker out of Alabama who recently added shaving soaps to her offerings. Until just this week, they were basically in testing and you had to message her on Facebook to buy them. They are now available through her site. The vegan formula was particularly intriguing to me, as I heard that a customer came to her with the ingredients list from MdC and asked if she could replicate it. What she ended up with, I had heard, is not exactly the same ingredients or a knockoff of MdC, but still a really nice soap. On the other hand, I usually prefer tallow soaps, so I wanted to try her tallow formula, too. First, the vegan formula: until now, I have never met a vegetable oil-based soap that I truly loved. But this, the lather is thick, dense and moisturizing. Because of the lather, I actually got mixed up and convinced myself it was the tallow formula until I looked at the tubs again later. I haven't tried MdC, but I understand it's a fairly hard soap, and that only a tiny amount of product is needed. I can't say either of these apply to Tiki Bar vegan formula. I molded the puck into the tub it came with without much trouble, and loaded it for a pretty normal amount of time. EDIT 3/1/2014: I now load this soap for only about half the time I do most other soaps. That is plenty, and too much can result in a "sticky" lather. The tallow on the other hand is extremely soft, almost a croap. It makes this beautiful, soft lather that is still dense enough for good cushion and protection. It's also a very high quality product. Both formulas gave me a nice, moisturized shave, both in-shave and afterwards. Good moisturizing is an important criteria for me and one where a lot of otherwise nice soaps and creams have failed for me. If I had to pick one, tallow lover though I am, I think it'd be the vegan formula. Scents: you can get either formula is the same set of scents; I got The Captain and Set Sail. The Captain is described as "bold, distinctive, unforgettable. A blend of pipe smoke, cherries, ozone, and molten lava." I definitely get the pipe smoke, and it's definite pipe *smoke,* not tobacco. Cherry and other sweet notes are there, too; imagine you're drinking Mr. Pibb while Uncle Larry smokes his pipe in a leather recliner. That'd be my description. While I love this scent, I found it dissipated pretty quickly. It was there while I was loading and lathering, but faded away while I shaved. Smelling Set Sail in the tub, I mainly got lavender and a bit of mint. It felt a little more floral than what I usually like. Lathering it, though, the mint became more prominent, even with the lavender or perhaps even taking over as the main scent, and other not-quite-identifiable background notes came out. Tiki Bar says that Set Sail "transports you to a far away land where fields of herbs bloom. A simpler time, where you can relax and unwind." I didn't find it relaxing; I found it extremely refreshing. Initially I preferred The Captain. After lathering each a couple times, I'd say it's neck and neck. Price: at $14 for a 4-5 oz. puck with tub, or $10 for a refill puck, it's neither a bargain nor would I say it's particularly expensive. In the future I will probably just buy refill pucks and supply my own container. I can't say Tiki Bar has become my favorite soap; Stirling's performance and moisturization are just perfect for me, and it's about half the price. But Tiki Bar is right up there and right away has earned a spot in my regular rotation.
Have a puck of Surfs Up on the way. Have heard wonderful things and I do expect it to live up to all the hype. Can't wait.
I had my cart all loaded up with a refill puck. Go to Check out: $10 for puck + $6 shipping +$1 Alabama Tax = $17 for a puck. I really want to try this soap and have heard great things about it, but it has to kick Sterling's ass for me to spend $17 on refill.
Am I right that she doesn't have tallow in refills right now or until 2/5? I want to try the Captain scent. Sounds great.
I am not sure about that, but if you can send her a message through Facebook, she will reply quick and is very easy to work with. Can probably also send an email through her website.
Very nice review. I bought a MdC clone DdC. But I've never used MdC so I have no compassion. Again great review!
I look to try this soap hopefully in the not so near future (I've spent too much already this month!). Looks like the market for quality artisinal shave soaps has really heated up since I took up wetshaving.
Thanks for posting this. I'm in her area and I want to give it a try too. I'd like the price to be a little nicer, but I also like to support local businesses whenever possible.
Check her Facebook page, she seems to be selling at local events fairly often, so you could probably save shipping by buying from her directly.
Sure thing. I'm about an hour and a half away from her, but she does sell in a few health food stores local to me. It's my own inertia more than anything that's kept me from trying it out.
UPDATE: in my original post I said that I loaded the vegan formula for a normal amount of time. Since then, I've moved to loading it for only about half the time I do most other soaps. That is plenty, and too much can result in a "sticky" lather.
I tried Tiki a couple nights ago. I got the worst shave of my life. The first pass was normal, but the second pass was a nightmare. The lather had no slickness and no cushion. My face and especially my neck were filled with cuts. I am trying to figure out what I did wrong. It's kind if disappointing because I was really looking forward to trying it. Edit: I won't give up on this soap.
I was reminded of the TV Series "Adventures in Paradise" this morning. It starred Gardner McKay as skipper of the schooner "Tiki III". I got my first jar of Tiki Bar Shave Soap yesterday. It is the Set Sail scent. I used it today face lathering with my Whipped Dog Synthetic knot. It loaded quickly, easily producing a great thick, cushioning lather. The scent is spectacular. It is a combination of lavender, mint, rosemary, and cedarwood. I will have to leave it others to compare it with MdC, but this is an excellent soap….even in my HARD water. Amanda, the owner, has a PHD in Chemistry. She has tried to reverse engineer MdC with her ingredients. Amanda also included a puck of a new scent: Cucumber & Mint.
Hi Friends, i just received my Tiki Soap with the scent "Spice Island". I have to say,that i love the scent deeply. Amazing. It´s a fruit bomb. For my nose it smells like fresh Mangos with a light citrus touch. Ideal for summer. So,what i did,is pressed the soap in a container.Now it looks like this: But let me say,that "pressed" is the wrong word...it´s such a soft soap that you can easily put the soap in nearly every container without problems. So,i test lathered the soap (my first shave with it will be tomorrow) and was very surprised. I used my HJM Black Silvertip Fibre brush with a little amount of water. Seconds after swirling on the soap i had very fine,rich,thick lather. Facelathered and i can´t come to another result: It´s definetly one of the best soaps out there. For me the PannaCrema is the best soap out there,but the Tiki soap is nearly on the same level. I have to wait for the shave tomorrow,but the lather is very nice,the scent is wonderful and the skin feel is very very good too. I will be ordering this soap (and the other scents) again. Curious how the other soaps smell like. @Bobcat: Your description of the Set Sail sounds very nice too. Seems that you love the soap too. Greetings Thorsten
That´s a soap i would like to test too. LA Shaving soap. I´ve heared and read many good things about it. But that´s another thing. In the next time i will get a "Surf´s up" from a German Forum member. Hope that it smells as good as my Spice Island. Amanda seems to make very good soaps.
Thorsten, did you get the vegan or tallow? I'm guessing tallow, as I believe that's the softer of the two. I'm usually a tallow soap guy, but Tiki's vegan is even better for me.
