Tried: West Elm Sea Salt Soap [Disappointing]

So, I found out about this Sea Salt soap that sounded really neat. At $6 at West Elm it was also a pretty fair price for something to take a gamble on.

The soap and package looks like this and can be used, according to the package, both for regular face/body wash AND as a shaving soap.



Yesterday I tried it out as a facial soap and I quite liked it. Nice sea-salty-smell and my face felt clean - but not very moisturized I might add.

But, today was the 'real test' - to try it out as a shaving soap....

The tools used:



I placed the soap in a mug...and went to work with a simple badger brush.
Within 15 seconds or so I was actually really surprised to see how much lather was forming:


...and was thinking that maybe I had been too sceptical..maybe this could actually work out quite well.

But....as I lathered up on my face I noticed that the lather was very airy and thin. I tried firming it up...added some water on one side...harder, more brushstrokes, etc...but w/in a few seconds the 'lather' started to dissipate and looked like this:


Ugh....now I didn't want to have done all this without actually also TRY to shave.
So I picked up my EJ DE89L loaded with a Personna blade and.....within two strokes I decided I valued my face too much to proceed. Ouch.

So in short:
As a face soap: ok smell but has little to no moisturizing effect,
As a shave soap: just plain terrible.

I guess I'll keep it around for the pretty package but I don't see myself really using it - especially with two Stirling soaps sitting around

 

Wow...Looks terrible!

 

If you like the scent, try adding a squirt or two of KMF unscented shaving cream.
I have some Woods of Windsor soap that doesn't lather the greatest, but I like the smell. Rather than suffer with a sub-par lather, the KMF boosts it up and doesn't mess with the scent of the WoW.
The KMF will also add a bit of moisturizing.

Just FYI, the KMF (Kiss My Face) cream is available for most folks locally. I can get it at ShopRite and Wegmans.

 

I still got the package on my shelf...think I'll wash with the soap tonight...but not shave with it :-D

 

I've been so tempted to buy this soap. I'm glad I didn't. Thanks for posting!

 

It is truly dreadful but the "YMMV" may always apply of course.

In this particular case...I kinda doubt it....

 

@Darkbulb

Thanks for posting. I was thinking about trying this out but was concerned with the moisturizing and the cushion due to the composition of the soap. I will pass based on what I see in your report.

 

salt and shaving don't go together well. sounds like a nice hand soap.

 

Sounds like it might be a good body bar if you have oily skin ?

 

That was what I thought because if you get a weeper or a nick ...

 

You won't need any coffee.

 

I guess "Wise-Cracking Wookie" would have been a good title. Sorry JoAnna.

 

Ok @Mustache let's see if you can do better with the soap

 

I'll give it a try in the next couple days and post back here. Who knows, maybe they changed something since 2013....

 

I never have seen or heard of this brand of Shaving Soap...... but from the above descriptions, it brings back stinging memories of get hit with "Buckshot and Surfing in restricted areas of MCB Camp Pendleton CA." As a Navy Brat Teenager.
Can we say it leaves you with that stinging feeling?

 

Well.. I did a test lather.. Yes, this will be used strictly for washing.

I used my VDH brush. Just like shown above, it "lathered up" pretty quick and easy. But also dissipated just as fast. The wife thought it was some kind of magic trick I was doing. She said she's never seen lather disappear that fast. Lol. As long as I was working the brush, I had good coverage. As soon as I stopped, it stopped.

So disappointed. I will say, my face does feel good after a good vigorous, cleaning with this soap and a brush.

 

Sorry, but it truly is an awful soap for shaving.
BUT - I ended up rather liked it for face washing

 

Sea salt soap is actually very good for most skin types (from oily to dry)...but not for shaving. Salt soaps are made with all or nearly all coconut oil since it's nearly the only saponified oil that will lather in salt water.

 

Here is the back of this box.

Hopefully the ingredients are legible.

 

That's an unusual ingredient deck for a sea salt soap. I've never seen one where first on the ingredient list isn't coconut oil. I get the palm kernel oil, as it's nearly identical to coconut oil in it's fatty acid composition, (yes, I am a soaping science nerd), but I've never seen one with palm oil as the first.

I don't know why they market it as a shaving soap. For that purpose it gets universal negative reviews across the board.