In December, I saw some posts on Facebook about a soap maker starting a business in Kansas. Part of what got me into wet shaving is artisan soaps, and I love supporting local small businesses. I had committed to doing no new software purchases in 2017, so I was pretty excited to see the website https://wheat-state-soaps.myshopify.com/ up and going on 12/31/16. He only had a couple of scents available, but I went ahead and ordered the Barbershop. Please note that I did chat with the owner and discuss some of my concerns on this soap prior to writing this, and his responses below. Judging by the order number, I was his fifth order. He said that he is considering this a “soft launch” to help get the bugs out of his system. The soap was delivered in a padded bubble envelope. It was packaged in a metal tin with a screw on lid about 3 inches in diameter. Artwork is simple and classy, IMO. Colorful and distinctive. Included waterproof labels on top and bottom, but no side labels. My tin was dented on one edge, but still fully usable. I discussed with the owner, and he will likely be going to boxes for shipping going forward. The website lists the soap as 4.5 ounces, but when I weighed it, it was 5.8 ounces, and was filled all the way to the brim. First impression of the scent was a clean powdery scent, with a little sweetness. Not overpowering. So far I have done four shaves with the soap. Three with an 8/8th Filarmonica straight razor, and one with a Barbarsol Floating Head DE. I have used a boar, badger, and synthetic brush. The first thing I noticed was that loading a brush with a smaller diameter container, filled all the way to the brim can be messy. Because my brushes are larger (24mm, 28mm, and a high loft boar,) they splay while loading to hang outside of the container. That meant I was loading primarily the center of the knot, and not the tips. It also allowed the brushes to throw lather everywhere! I ended up loading the brushes with the container sideways over my lather bowl. This let all the lather fall down when it was pushed outside of the container. I worked the lather in the bowl, and slowly added water. This soap is thirsty, but not quite as much as Stirling. I was able to get a good consistency pasty lather in the bowl, with a good amount of moisture. I then face lathered this, adding just a little water to the brush tips. Lather was very slick, and provided good cushion and glide. Took a little more work than Route 66 or Jeeves soap to build, but ended up just as slick while being a little thicker. Lather didn’t dissipate on a four pass shave, and could have held even more water. The performance of the soap was top tier, and I am happy with the purchase. Scent was very light. Great barbershop scent with sweet tones and some powder, but not very strong. Noticeable when putting the lather on my face, but didn’t fill up the room. This is a shame, because it is a great scent. My original order included a sample of Vanilla Sandalwood soap, and the scent from it is much stronger. After four lathers, there is a divot in the center of the tin, but still full on the edges. I did chat with the owner after using the soap a few times, and shared my three gripes. He is working on the shipping piece already. As far as the container, while the look of the steel tin with the label is great, it is small. Most of us build lather in the container, and it is difficult to do this. He is moving to plastic jars with a 100mm/ 4 inch opening, so there will be room to load soap even with a 28mm monster synthetic. He also stated that he is bumping up the scent strength on batches going forward. Overall, I like the soap and look forward to trying other scents after No Buy 2017 is over.
Excellent review. I enjoyed reading the feedback from the maker. There isn't much sense in discussing the down sides if the vendor doesn't have an opportunity to make corrections. It was great to see that you gave him the opportunity to improve both the soap and the container. Sent via mobile - Chris
Sandlewood is one of my favourites smells. But with vanilla. Sounds even nicer. Great review do you know if he would consider selling to the uk. Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk
Excellent writeup, Adam. If you could get a suitable lather for straight shaving that doesn't dissipate, it sounds like you have a real find.
Well done, Adam. Is it a soft soap? If so, maybe scoop it out and into a larger container? Hard soap? Wonder if he would consider refill pucks, sans container.
@Drygulch Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review. It was nice to see the vendor responding to your suggestions.
It's a mostly hard soap. I could probably scoop some out, but it's not that big of an issue, more of an annoyance. I'll bet once it's below the rim of the container, it will load better. Hmm, maybe I will scoop some out along the rim before I use it again. It's a bullfighter in gold leaf, that doesn't photograph well.
Nice review, I think I may actually know who you are talking about I was asking them about coming to one of the local meet ups!
