I don't mean to highjack but, aside from the unscented ones are most artisan soaps stronger in scent?
A tough question for me to answer. There are certain artisan soaps which I'll never touch again and others which I cannot be without. I won't name the ones I dislike, but I will say I LOVE the Stirling soaps and the TSD soaps.
you should tell them how you feel. It can only do good. people who buy artisan soaps generally expect a stronger scent than commercial soaps.
I once told a vendor very politely about his soaps' shortcomings and he answered me very rudely. Never again will I buy anything from him. I mean never.
I also should say there are commercial soaps which I love and will always try to have in my rotation, and others which I don't like at all.
Let's see, Stirling or Williams... Barrister and Mann or Col. Conk... Tiki or Trumpers... LA Shaving Soap or Arko... This is easy. I'm with the artisans.
Reminds me of the old idiom, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."—which implies it is easier to persuade or convince people with polite disagreement than with confrontational stances.
Oh, I have another side of me also which I don't like to have to show unless it's absolutely necessary!
+1 I don't know if Joanna is an artisan or not. But she certainly makes fantastic soap! TSD lanolin + Sea Buckthorn =
honestly, I think you're mistaken about where you see the romanticism. people buy artisan products because they see high quality product with excellent ingredients and service. where the romanticism lies is with buying an old, and often dead man's product. and over time, products change and are redone. often products that are 100+ years old have been completely changed rather than refined. methods of production and ingredients have changed. and when you have an issue, you could either talk to the man who formulated your product - or a customer service representative/automated email. guess who cares more.
Exactly. I see a product that I can know what the ingredients are, contact the maker if there's a question, and help out another person trying to make a living. I don't see anyone buying soap because they think it's neat that a guy made it in his basement lol.
I don't know. Nobody here raves about the melt and pour amateur soaps. But you can't swing through a Walgreens without seeing Williams or Conk. I love MWF too, but find the others just "good." Especially Arko. I think the romanticism maybe comes in the realization that this weird, urinal puck-smelling soap that's nearly free and made in Egypt or Turkey or wherever still provides a nice lather and shave. But is it as good as, say, Tiki? Or even the seldom-discussed Ginger's Garden? No chance. If I had to choose between Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic or Arko, I wouldn't have to think to hard before grabbing the MITA. But to be fair in comparisons, I'll drop the Williams and Conk - nobody really raves about them here either. I've generally found that if there's a strong contingent of supporters in this or similar forums, there's probably a good reason for it. Whether it's artisan or traditional. I've tried soaps that I would never have even considered based on the opinions of fellow wet shavers. Another thing to consider is that many of the artisan soaps come in many different scents. If one doesn't work for you, there are options. I'd love if Tabac, for example, came in any other scent, because it's pretty much consensus that the performance is great. I'd love if MWF came in ANY scent. But hell, I can pick between two different Fougeres alone with Barrister and Mann. And with many artisans, I can ask for a special scent and probably get it. There's nothing wrong with that!
Now that is a sentiment I can agree with 100%. Another word is "custom" as is custom made. That word can run the gamut of skilled craftsmanship personalized for the purchaser, to slapped together in a garage.
