Anyone ever heard of this company? I was searching artisan soap makers and found this company on the web: http://www.thesoapexchange.com/soaps/beer-and-shave-soaps/ They have some interesting scents selections and for only $6.50 a 4.5 oz. tin ($3 flat rate shipping), I may give them a shot. Before doing so, I thought I would ask if anybody in the greatest shave forum in the world has tried this company. Thanks guys. Derhey
I have also never heard of the company. I guess you may have to get one or two pucks to let us know how you find the soap! The ingredients look fine and they seem like they would produce a nice lather. Good luck.
I agree celestino. I will order up a couple of pucks and give them a shot. I was actually just on their site, reading about how they make their soap...sounds like they use quality ingredients and make a very natural product. I am thinking Juniper Cove (description sounds like Strop Shoppe Baker Street) and either Cool Water or Green Tea Citrus. Look back for a full report in a week or two.
Thanks fram, now I am questioning whether to try this company or not (the use of olive oil was a concern for me). Hahaha...I like the addition of Bentonite Clay though, I have heard good things about the mineral in soaps. I will let you know what it's like.
Bentonite clay is great for shaving soaps; it reduces razor friction. As for olive oil, my shampoo bar contains it & lathers like crazy.
My soap arrived from The Soap Exchange Monday; very fast shipping. This morning I anxiously tried my new Juniper Cove puck with my HTGAM Symmetry Open Comb razor and an Astra SP blade. The puck is very solid. I whipped up a decent lather with my Omega boar brush and added some water to the mix in my bowl. The smell was very similar to (although not as strong as) Stop Shoppe Baker Street...very pleasant. I will try again soon, but the lather seemed a bit thin even after I reloaded the brush from the puck in an attempt to thicken the lather. It's a very mild yet slick soap. It went on very thin but did a nice job allowing my razor to slide through. As I said, it's very slick and I am guessing that comes the Bentonite clay (which seems to add a slight earthy smell). I am not giving up hope on getting a thick lather, I think it will just take a little practice. The price of the soap is excellent ($6.50) as well as a flat $3 shipping fee. It may not be my favorite soap (yet) but it is definitely not my least favorite by any means. Although it produced a thin lather on my first attempt, it did protect well and resulted in an excellent smooth shave with three passes (wtg, xtg, atg). Thanks for your patience on my first soap review. Let me know if any of you give this company's soap a shot as well...I look forward to seeing if you agree with my analysis.
I received mine today also. Kudos to Soap Exchange to providing these samples to our community, as I received mine from a TSD offer code posted on another thread. Look for it on SOTD in December! Will post a copy here also.
I received mine today as well...Barber Shoppe like Troy. I took a quick whiff and was very impressed by the scent. More to come soon.
Sweet! My scent was Cool Water. Once I get clear of No Variation NOVember, I will issue a full report.
No apologies ever for an honest review. The fact that you took the time to write it and post it for our consumption makes it worthy! Keep it up!
I, too, received my complimentary puck of Cool Water yesterday. I gave it a try this morning with disappointing results. The lather was thin and airy. However, I didn't have much time to really work with it this morning. I will give it another try this evening when I have more time and can really play with it. It seemed very slick; I just couldn't get a good lather. More to come as I try to figure out this soap.
I am not sure if the Cool Water puck contained Bentonite clay, but I think that plays a huge factor in the slickness. So, I originally tried the Juniper Cove and thought it was a descent soap (solid slickness but the lather left something to be desired). Today I tried the Barber Shoppe Beer Soap (I noticed that it does not directly say "shave soap"). I noticed that is isn't as slick as the Juniper (possibly because of the lack of Bentonite clay!?!). Furthermore, the lather was simply not that of a shave soap. I worked the puck hard and the lather that was produced did not hold up in the least. The Juniper Cove soap was usable but I don't think I can use the Barber Shoppe soap for shaving.
Cool water lists bentonite. I posted a shot of the product tin and label here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-haul-november-2014.41132/page-12#post-747993
Somebody say Arko? (I love Arko!) This is actually the only soap that has clay in my den, unless any of my TSD soap stuff does (I simply can't recall). I doubt TSD soap does. Precisely none of my faves so far have contained clay. Will be new experience for me when I try it.
Good to know. I don't have labels in front of me, and didn't look. I do like the TSD stuff I have, as far as scents go, but honestly not enough shave data to really comment intelligently, but people seem to like the TSD stuff. Most of my shaving is mass market soap like Arko, Proraso, et al. Clay is just another ingredient that can be in soap. I think artisan makers use it as insurance on good razor glide, like you state. I have no real stance on it. I either like a soap or I don't. Remember soap is YMMV.
Many also DO use the clay as it has some good natural benefits besides the slipperiness it yields to shaving soaps. The clay has it's place in the manufacturing of good quality shave soap. Different methods and ingredients are used to achieve the same end: a quality shave soap.
