Stirling Maggard/Through the Fire Catie's Bubbles Barrister and Mann RazoRock's Artisan line In no particular order.
Cold River Reef Point Soap Commander Kell's Original Hemp RazoRock WSP Rustic Dang I still can't get it down to 5.
Enjoy, it is a great performer. My disappointment is that according to their site they are only selling the Select line at 25 bucks a pop. I bought the Classic for about $10.
Got to update my top 5. I've got a new leader. 1. Tiki 2. Mikes natural 3. Mystic waters 4. Stroppe shoppe 5. Tie between tsd, shannons soaps, and razorock.
I am quite a fan of Love My Skin soaps. I think your the only person I have seen that knows what they are lol. the Green Tweed and Blue Man are 2 of my favorites I mixed them together and it smells wonderful. I was unsure if they would be any good seeing as they are inexpensive and not commonly known.
Cattie's Bubbles Kell's Original Ogallala's TSD Love My Skin its not easy to pick a top 5 as there are so many great artisan soap vendors out there but these are the brands that IMO are an excellent value.
This is a tough one. 1/ Jack's Soap 2/ The Shave Den, only have Coconut and it is great. Better order some more. That is my wife! 3/Knockout Shave, Cool Blue 4/ Razo Rock XXX, Scent: Fresh and clean; a cross between a classic Italian colonial and an old-school barbershop! 5/ Proraso, Green and White Anyone one of these soaps can be number one, or any other number for that matter.
My updated list. Krampert's Jabonman Saponificio Varesino MWF Tabac As others mentioned, either can be number 1.....all are equally nice and provide great lather, comfortable shaves.
Tough One: 1) SaponificioVaresino 2) Wickham 3) Tiki 4) Caties Bubbles 5) Gingers Garden OK, For Me - Favorite Artisans = Those who make a consistantly GOOD product line- I have a couple favorite soaps such as: LPL & MWF that are top soaps in my rotation but only offer 1 soap so I left off list (or I expand to 7)
My Top 5 are: Catie's Bubbles Shaver Heaven Soap Commander Barrister & Mann Wholly Kaw Honorable mention: Ginger's Garden & Mama Bear
Prairie Creations Mike's Natural Stirling Em's When I find it, I will post a review and add it to the list Or maybe I have found #5? It depends on how one defines "artisan vendor". So just what is meant by the term anyway? The wetshaving forums seem to generally define "artisan soap maker" as a one or two person operation - Ye Olde Soapemaker in a quaint cottage in the middle of the woods. Certainly one or two person cottage industry soap makers would qualify, I would think. How about Van Der Hagen? After all, they are family owned and operated. And how about Chagrin Valley Soap? They are also family owned and operated, and have 10 or 12 people involved, and so have grown beyond being a cottage industry undertaking. They still make their soaps by hand, though. Here is the dictionary definition I use: ar·ti·san /ˈärdəzən/ noun a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand. synonyms: craftsman, craftswoman, craftsperson; (of food or drink) made in a traditional or non-mechanized way using high-quality ingredients. "local artisan cheeses"
Certainly most soap makers would probably be considered "artisans" but I envision it as being people working out of their home or small warehouse with a minimum of automation. Hand applied labels, graphics printed out of their computers, soaps loaded by hand into their containers. I have no way of knowing how many of these soap makers work that way but I imagine there are some. As long as the quality is there, I love supporting these small companies. It's funny how some of these soaps outperform others from companies that have been around for 50+ years!