Puck Weight: 2.5oz Price: $6 USD Scent: Mr.Grey (Lime + Woodsy basically) My water: Definitely hard (not sure how hard exactly, but at least moderately, and likely more) I had picked up this soap at a local farmers market nearby me. I had no previous experience with this seller, but I'm always open to trying new soaps -- especially ones that claim to be lathering shave soaps. Smell (8/10) - I really liked the smell of this. The lime is slightly too strong, but both myself and my better half immediately liked it upon smelling it. The lime almost goes too far, giving it a kind of pine sol scent that's very mild. Would like more woodsy, but overall not overpowering or unpleasant. Lather Time (11/10) - This thing lathered like crazy. Too easily. It made mountains of lather with almost no water -- and, great big bubbles that pop easily (will get to that later). Post shave (2/10) - There was a little slickness left over, but not a whole lot. Honestly, one splash with water and it was pretty much entirely gone. Lather (3/10) - It was maybe slightly more dense than what you'd get from a shower body gel, but no where near what it needs to be. Definitely not very dense, and not sticky enough to stay in place. The bubbles were way too big, although, unlike MWF in hard water, it didn't dry out on me at all. Overall this soap was quite painful to shave with. I had to stop and switch to some Arko to finish because the irritation was just too great after a single pass. I shot an email to the soap maker with my issues with it, and she's going to take another shot and try to make a better batch next time -- which I'm open to testing. If the lather and post shave can be improved, the scent is pretty nice. It's probably better suited as a body soap than a shave soap. Overall rating (3/10)
Been there, done that a couple times. No local soap love here, either. There are plenty of kitchen soap makers that try a recipe off the interwebs. Activated charcoal or goats milk sounded interesting and did nothing for lathering. None have impressed me like the well know artisans. That's where the amateurs differ from the artisans - getting the ingredients and procedures correct, product testing and quality control. Like the over abundance of lime in your soap - it smelled bright (+?) and caused irritation (-!). When your local soap maker has an improved batch to test let us know if it's reached an acceptable level. You just might have discovered The Next Big Thing!
I like the name and packaging. I've bought some farmer's market body soaps and shampoos but am not brave enough to try shaving with anything that doesn't have a good reputation already
I was young (er) & foolish. It was at the beginning of my Shave Journey. Saw a straight razor on a satellite TV infomercial and ordered it. Of course it wasn't shave ready when it arrived. Brought it to a local knife maker to discuss honing. "Nope - bad geometry. That's a fancy letter opener" Grah! That was before I knew about RSO's - razor shaped objects. Glad I didn't have much invested in it because I was going to save money shaving the old fashioned way! So the local knife maker also stocked "shave soap" & being a total Newb I bought a puck. Later I saw some at a flea market & bought a puck. Then there was this cute sales lady at a gift shop, & you guesses it - bought a puck. Somewhere in there I also tried Marvy brand - that one hit the bin quickly. Imagine a rancid tallow scent like spoiled ham. My father's a retired research chemist, understands the science, and might be up for a try but I suspect we'd produce no better than those I wasted a couple bucks on. I don't want 10 pounds of not very good home made shave soap. Sticking with products that review well from this point forward. Unless the sales chick is really cute.
GFTrumpers Coconut is my jam. It's technically "coconut acid," derived from the oil, which is in it. I think it slightly edges out above TOBS and Truefitt for me, personally, out of comparable soaps -- having shaved with all three.
I always follow up with a alum + balm, so I wouldn't know what it's like purely post shave with nothing else. (Lately I've been using a lot of Duke Cannon Ice Cold as my balm of choice, over when Trumpers skin food and Proraso balm. It's a pretty spot on amount of menthol for me and lasts a good 5ish minutes after applying. I'm a sucker for menthol.)
Glad you found what works for you, that's all that counts. After 5+ years assembling countless gear, I, too, have found out what works for me...and what doesn't. (Coconut Oil...good for cooking, bad for shaving)
There’s another Simply Bee soap from South Africa. I admit that the scent is nothing extraordinary - in fact it’s very mild, yet clean but the lather is a pleasure to work up and it has fantastic skincare. This is it!
That is cool that she is willing to do that. Most artisan soapmakers with sub-par shaving soap just get defensive and make lame excuses, no matter how delicately and politely the subject is broached. They don't want feedback unless it strokes their egos, which is not a serious approach to their craft. Many seem to just add bentonite clay to bath soap and call it a day. I look forward to seeing reviews of the improved soap. Great review, by the way! Just a thought, but did you invite the soapmaker here? She could send out soap samples to a number of volunteers to see what works best. A number of well-known artisans on the forums have done just that, with very good results. It is not only local soaps, as most artisans also sell nationally or even globally online. From what I have experienced, most artisan / cottage industry / amateur shaving soap is crap. Agree with you 100% that the soapmaker putting in the extra effort makes all the difference in the world. The artisans whose products we see so often on the forums are the dedicated few.
