In the name of full transparency I want to say from the start, I was given this soap sample to try. I did not purchase it. However, I agreed as long as I could do it on my terms, and that was, I will give the good things, and the bad things the hits and misses. this one with synthetic This one with the boar. To start with, the sample came quickly, shipping was 48 hours from the conversation to my door. That's on par with other companies-good job Size- I base a sample, by how big it is. If it is only big enough to get 1 or 2 shaves, that's not enough to develop an educated opinion. This sample is on par with Stirling, and is more than a generous amount. Scent- while not indicative of performance (Williams,Arko) it is nice for a soap to smell pleasent. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a 4. Now, this caveat is this soap was not wrapped, and the other soaps come in a box. So, all things considered with the packaging I call it neither a hit nor a miss. Lather- this is where in my opinion the most subjectivity lies. I purely face lather, no bowl, no mug, no preshave. Just from load to face to lather. I find with this soap, that the load is easy to get using a badger and a boar brush. A synthetic brush does work, but for me, it did take longer to load an acceptable amount for face lathering. I did find this soap to be THIRSTY!!! This is acceptable to me, since other soaps are as well. Again, nothing special, but nothing horrible. Slickness- on par with others, it does provide more moisture to the face than other soaps, Williams, Proraso, and the Palmolive stick and cream. I call this one a win. Post shave-again, the moisturizing aspect comes in to play. My skin fealt great after the shave, no need for a balm, even on a rainy cold Eeyore day. Ingredients- this is where the soap in my opinion excels! All natural, no added man made chemicals, nothing synthetic about it. I know other artisans do it, and when I can find it, I appreciate it being done at the price point. Conclusion, I find this soap to be on par with the top artisan manufacturers. The one thing I do appreciate is that the unscented version is made in a separate warehouse from the scented products. It's also made using essential oils, and distilled water. Once you figure out the water content that is required, it's easy sailing. I will order this soap. It has the properties I am looking for. I like the natural ingredients, I like the distilled water being used and the glycerine staying in the soap, as opposed to being separated and then re added (I learned more about soap.making than I ever thought I would.) I place this soap at the same level as Stirling, Caties Bubbles, etc. Does it have misses, yes. I think the scent could be stronger and perhaps a bit easier to lather, but then again, other soaps are just as thirsty as well. Overall, a good soap for the price made by folks that are educated in science and have done their research. Plus, all natural and from a true small business, I'll take that. Here is a link to the website should you chosec to buy. Thanks for reading, and I hope you like the soap if you try it. http://www.gmsoap.com/?mainID=3&subID=11&type=default
Glad you liked it. The appeal to me was the distilled water and the essential oils that are used. Again, in the name of full disclosure, I did not purchase the product, but I do believe I am able to give a fair review nonetheless.
Definitely a fair review. Funny enough I was looking at this product line a couple of days ago. Irony. Lol
@ordinaryshaver That was not only an interesting read and an easy review to read. It was precise and I didn't need a pot of coffee to read it. Thank you for posting it.
Thank you for the kind words. I try to succinct in my posting, while being able to convey the point. I hope that you found the review fair and balanced as well as being full of enough information to help make a decision.
Thats awesome to hear you like the Green Mountain Soaps! I had a puck of Cheaha and could not get a stable lather to save my life. Tried different brushes, water, loaded it like hell, grated it, and nothing helped. The scent was quite nice and they are one of the few "artisans" that make a triple milled soap, plus the price is excellent for a concentrated soap like this. Its too bad as i did everything possible and really wanted to like this soap.
I have heard that before. I'm not sure if it is perhaps different water? But I had no trouble with it. I really liked the scent of the sample, and I should have left it covered, but such is life. Even though it was sent to me, I wanted to do a fair review.
Nice review. I’m especially interested in the Cheaha scent, since I was raised in the shadow of Mount Cheaha.
Getting the samples ready to go out this week! Hopefully there will be lots of satisfied folks that get theirs. If you want in, come on over across the street and jump into the conversation.
Well-done report. It encourages me to do reports on 2 soaps I plan to buy this year(although they probably won't be as complete as yours).
I just try to call em like I see em. I have had the unfortunate experience of having a company send me something for review, only to find out that I had to not say anything negative or I would not get to be sent anything else. I just sent em back to the company. I won't be a shill for anyone.
I'll throw in a "me too"... I "knew" the son from another shaving board. Great family and great business. The founder is a retired NASA scientist. So, there's that.... And, I was one of the beta testers on the shave soap when they were thinking of expanding in that direction.
Green Mountain sent 2 shave soaps to be cut ad divided. 8 hand soaps and a spiced tim sample. The other company sent 4 shave soaps. Not mentioning names as to not give them publicitty. I was suprised by that as well,it literally is "rocket science"
