Who is observing Artisan April this year and which artisanal soaps are you planning to use? I will be using this month to try new artisans such as Jeeves, & K Works, as well as artisans who are new to me such as P&B, Van Yulay, and Ginger's Garden. Maybe we could use this thread to support artisans we know and like and let others know about their products.
I'm pretty much all artisan at this point, at least my soaps. My creams are Coates, Bigelow, TOBS, and Tabac, but I really don't use those very often. The rest of my den is artisan.
I'm trying a new soap for the month of April, it's actually made not very far from me in Casa Grande, AZ. The name of the company is Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and the scent I went with is Gondolier. I've only used it once so far but I loved it. I may be buying the after shave to go with it. Great scent and easy to lather. It's just coincidental that I bought it for Artisan April but it's nice that it worked out.
I just discovered a Québecois artisan named Claude Pilon who is a biochemist and lawyer. He makes his own soaps, balms, aftershaves, etc; but, he also makes his own brushes, strops, and such. His soaps can be purchased from Maggard (which avoids international shipping for us in the US); however he has his own site as well. The name is Henri et Victoria--after his son and daughter. I haven't tried any of his soaps yet, but I will add them to my list. I should also add that 5% of his sales are given to charity. Henri et Victoria Site
Soaps: Stirling, Mikes, Mystic Waters, Barrister and Mann, Cold River Soap Works and and a home Tallow soap from a friend here in Adelaide Razors: Wolfman, BBS-1, RRSS V1 and Above The Tie Brushes: Paladin, Rudy Vey Shavemac If somebody would make artisan blades, I'd be set
The regular soaps in rotation: MdC, L'Occitane Cade, Route 66, Valobra, RazorRock, and MWF. I suppose only Route 66 and possibly MWF meet the 'hand-made, smaller quantity' definition of 'artisan.' Route 66 would be an easy choice to stick with: great performance and terrific scents!
I'm working my way through Route 66 samples. They might last all month but if they don't then I'll be using MWF, Mystic Waters Lime or, Sterling MitA to finish out the month.
My favourite artisan shaving soap is a cream, well it is a croap. Queen Charlottes Soaps. I use it allot in the winter because it performs great in the scuttle with very hot water.
Stirling all month for me, with a little dose of Soap Commander and Chiseled Face thrown in for good luck.
QCS Celestial Woods was among the first soaps I ever sampled, and not one I have tried since has come close; it remains my absolute favorite soap/cream fragrance. I therefore went back recently and got a full tub, this time in cream version. I'd actually call both cream and soap versions croaps, more or less. I noticed H&V a while back but didn't try anything from Claude until recently when I ordered the Fall's Lumberjack, which was just dropped in my mailbox - along with a Desperado soap from another countryman of yours, Soapy Bathman. I can't really comment much on either yet. I am just recovering from the flu and my nose is still not up to standard. I can detect a pleasant, somewhat sweet scent from the latter while the former smells more or less nothing right now. Have to return on that count. Performance wise, full score to Soapy Bathman, though -- today's lather was probably top5 ever, on par with what I have experienced with MdC, SdM and Stirling Scots Pine Sheep (which contains mutton tallow; only one I've ever come across). I have only palm lathered Fall's Lumberjack so far and have to return on that count too. I can safely say that I have observed Artisan April for all of April this year
Was that the new formula soapy bathman soap? (softer consistency vs the very stiff/almost triple milled hardness of the old formula) I'll be using Haslinger this month-an artisanal process and product, albeit a well established and long standing one.
Yup. Believe it's the third and last formulation. Never tried the previous ones but heard some took issue with at least the first, hard version.
Ahh, good to know. I had the older version and I never really had a problem with it, but I had a touch of irritation from the scent. Would be interested to hear a more in-depth review after you've had a few more shaves with it.
CRSW, B&M, Strop Shoppe (a little late to support this one but oh well), Stirling, Caties Bubbles, Country Club. Those are my favorite artisans. Just got some Route 66 soap samples, will try those out too.
I love my artisan soaps. They seem to want to make the best products possible, and care about their customer base. There really are some great artisans out there, and it is fun trying new ones, samples are an easy way to check a soap out without shelling out $20 blindly.
Ginger's garden, SDM, CB, B&M, SC, Tiki, Chiseled Face, Wholly Kaw, TTFFC, etc. So many great choices and scents to choose from, so little time.
Great thread @MarshalArtist I ordered from Shaving Shop Online a jar of soap and aftershave of Colonia. This is Peter from YouTube Shaving with Charky website. Soap Commander. TFS. RR. And the list goes on and on.
Gentlemen. There's a new sheriff in town. A British town, that is. Phoenix and Beau. It's the big software thing over at TSR currently - and now I know why. Just had four samples delivered, one unscented; one with cedar and lime (Citra); one with peppermint, lemon and rosewood (Solaris); and one with sandalwood, pepper and cardamom (Sanskrit). Lovely scents, if a bit citrusy (understandably so..) for my taste, and they easily produce copious amounts of slick lather. Only palmed it, not shaved yet. www.phoenixandbeau.uk
