Cold River Soap Works Classic Bergamot & Bay Performance 10/10 Very easy to work with and builds to a voluminous lather with little effort. Slickness is great, glide is superb and cushion is excellent. Face feel after the shave is phenomenal. Skin does not feel tight and I have no need for any post shave product like a lotion or after shave milk. Scent 9/10 From the CRSW website; "Bergamot and Bay is a rich, rugged complex fragrance. This blend of perfume grade essential oils results in a masculine scent with base notes of bergamot, pipe tobacco and cedar wood combined with fresh pine and soft bay leaf top notes." It really is an intriguing and complex scent. I get basically everything they say in their description. My wife loves it as well. The only thing stopping me from giving it a perfect 10 is I'd like the scent to last longer after my shave. I could smell it for about 30 minutes afterwards but then it faded. Value 10/10 I bought the puck with tub. It's a good size puck (3") and comes wrapped in a wax paper then a fiber like paper. The puck wrapping is secured with a waterproof label. The tub is plastic with a rounded screw top and is almost 4" in diameter. It also comes with a nice waterproof label. Very easy to load the brush from the large tub. I appreciate the companies that use waterproof labels. I really dislike a wrinkled, tattered, ink smeared label found on a lot of artisan soaps. Ingredients 10/10 Tallow, stearic acid, shea butter, avocodo oil, glycerin and goats milk. What's not to like? I put a little warm water on the puck while I shower and soak my brush. You can really smell the scent bloom when loading the brush. Lather builds quick in either bowl or on face. I'm a face latherer and I really appreciate the fast build time. Like I said, all the things we look for in a shave soap are there, in spades! You can really feel the skin conditioning oils doing their job after the shave. There must a good amount of in there. I've used other soaps with almost the same ingredient list and my face never felt as moisturized as with this stuff. This is quite possibly the best shaving soap I have ever used! Sorry, can't take a good picture since I'm to shaky and everything is blurry. This image is from Cold River Soap Works website.
Great review! Thanks for posting. And not that it matters to anyone participating in NBJ but if you're not...there is a 10% off code for your entire purchase on their site that ends tonight. Code is INDEPENDENCE
Nice review. I can only agree with the comments and say that I'm also a fan of Cold River Soap Works. I was the lucky winner of the American Barbershop scent, and got two thumbs up from SWMBO. If you didnt commit to "No Buy July" I recommend you take advantage of that discount.
@JR Reyes By chance, is that a Frankoma mug made in Oklahoma? (looks like prairie green, I'm testing my pottery knowledge...)
WOW!...your guess is 100% Correct! I have no idea how you knew that. I just picked it up a couple of weeks ago while doing some antique shopping downtown. I'm always on the lookout for shaving related items, and I figured I would try it out as a shaving mug. That picture was actually the first time I used it. It does a pretty good job, I just wish it had the spiderweb grooves to really help build the lather. I just might try and contact the maker to see if a custom order is possible.
I just ordered 2 pucks of the tallow version. I did so because I'm compelled to act irrationally and no longer care about the big picture due to my mental status. Hope it lathers well.
I very much like, and try to always buy things made here in the middle of the USA. (Ogallala Bay Rum is made in Nebraska, Weber Safety Razor made here in Missouri, etc.) Like so many other things here in the Midwest, Frankoma was a going concern at one time. Their quality was first rate, and all materials (so far as I know) were local. If you look up their history, they made not only cups, mugs, bowls and the like, but also some decorative stuff that is Oklahoma/Native American themed, and I like these items very much. There were several Frankoma original color schemes, but the prairie green is just fantastic in my view. While Frankoma pieces aren't really super rare & high-dollar, they are very useful and very nice to have around. I've encouraged several new wet shavers I've met to buy a Frankoma mug to make lather in, and a few have done so. I've not heard any complaints as yet. They do have a web site, http://www.frankomapottery.com/ but I don't know if the company is actively making items from local materials any longer. Best wishes and happy shaving! Mike
Yeah, I looked them up last night as well and sadly the company no longer is active. Now that I know more about their history, Im going to go back to that store and see if I can pick up some more of those pieces. It still amazes me, the wealth of knowledge that can be found here in the den. thanks for the info and history lesson. It really adds appreciation to my local find.
I used the American Barbershop for the 1st time yesterday morning. Great performance, as expected. The scent level is perfect. Strong enough that you can't smell the soap behind it but not to the point of overpowering. I get it that scents are subjective but Cold River Soap Works seems to have nailed it for me at least. Of all the artisan soaps I've used, this has got to be the best performing soap out there.
I've been using the Classic American Barber Shop for the past couple of shaves as well. It's performace and scent are top notch. I've recently realized that the "few" soaps I have all perform amazing similar. CRSW, Stirling, WSO, RazoRock, Tiki, etc. all perform at the highest level. I could reach in my soap cabinet and be happy with whatever soap I pull out for that day's shave.
I agree with you 100%..the artisan soap makers have been stepping up big time and giving the shaving community some amazing options. Having so many great soaps to choose from expands my soap collection while contracting my wallet. I can't even remember the last shave I had with a non-artisan soap. I don't see any signs of these guys slowing down...i say keep the options coming.
I'd say my favorite artisan is Mike's. I have been using his stuff for a couple years now. All the ingredients in it came together greatly and made one great soap.
I LOVE Mike's Shampoo bars. Tried some of his face/bath soaps but they were just 'ok' to me. Next I'm going to have to try his shaving soaps.
I tried my Cold River Soap Works sample of the “Classic” Savon #1 today. First, the sample size is great. There is plenty to work with unlike many samples. I put it in a jar and went to lathering. I swirled my brush for 30 seconds and had plenty of great smelling thick, cushioning lather for a 3+ pass shave. This is the 2nd “Classic” CRSW I have tried. Both have performed very well. Personally, I still prefer the CRSW “Original” soft soap by a whisker. They have done a great job on the whole line. The Classic: “Our Classic Shaving Soap is a traditional tallow based shaving soap. Many of the finest shaving soaps use tallow since it is a highly regarded ingredient due to it's ability to produce a dense, slick lather. In place of water we use raw, organic goats milk plus moisturizing oils including avocado and shea butter for a non drying, gentle shave. Extra vegetable glycerin is added as a natural humectant to combat drying and aid in building a luxurious lather.” The Scent: “Enjoy the light, aroma of lavender with fresh, green herbal highlights and soft cedar wood base notes of perfume-grade essential oils in this perfectly realized blend.” The Ingredients: “Ingredients: Raw, Organic Goat Milk, Food Grade Tallow, Stearic Acid, Shea Butter, Avocado Oil, Glycerin, Fragrance & Vitamin E.”
Nice report Bob! I got a Classic Savon #1 in a trade and I'm really liking the scent. I find it's very similar to the MdC. Performance of course is top-notch as is all the CRSW soaps.
