Chelsea's Soap Garden Review **Lots of Pics**

[Scotto]

Good morning gents. I would like to take a moment to review some fine shaving soaps from Chelsea's Soap Garden (http://stores.ebay.com/Chelseas-Soap-Garden_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm), an eBay seller. I came across her products randomly, and was intrigued by the Ginger-Lime soap, two scents which are at the top of my favorites list. I had her site bookmarked for months before I finally got around to ordering, and now I wish I hadn't waited so long.

I got two shave soaps, one in Ginger-Lime, and another in "Katmandu" (ignore the QED shave stick):
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=303&stc=1&d=1133827831
These are glycerin-based soaps with lots of other stuff added. According to her site: "Natural White Glycerin soap, French White Clay, Aloe Vera Gel, Witch Hazel, Vitamin E and an amazing new product called "Foaming Bath Butter". The foaming bath butter produces an incredible lather" And as for the two scents, ginger lime: "A refreshing citrus blend with a subtle hint of fresh ginger on a mild musky background", and Katmandu: "A soft lingering fragrance with an intoxicating opulent base. Top notes of jasmine. Mid notes of spice, camphor and cedar wood. A rich base of patchouli, musk, powder and woody notes."

The soaps are individually shrink-wrapped and labeled. The labels are a bit on the cheesy side, but for $2.99, I can't really complain. BTW, the soaps are about 3 oz.

Feeling the soaps out of the package, they feel very slick indeed. A good sign for shaving. These are meltable - I put each soap in an Anchor Hocking glass container and nuked it for about 10 seconds to fuse it to the bowl so it didn't clink around while lathering. I didn't want to fully melt it since I wasn't sure if this would affect the scent or efficacy.

Now for the scent. If you are used to using QED glycerin soaps, these are a bit different. I am not sure if it is the matrix the scents are in, or perhaps the use of fragrance oils instead of EO's, but these don't have the purity of aroma that Charles' products do. That doesn't mean to say they are inferior, only different. Actually, the ginger-lime soap has a great scent. It really comes alive as you lather it. The Katmandu was a bit disappointing after reading the description. To me, it smells smostly like vanilla. Anyway, on to the shave.

Here is the ginger-lime, ready to go:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=891

And here is my new T&H ebony brush getting nice and wet:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=892

A few swirls on soap:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=893
A few more:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=894

Hitting the bowl:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=895
Now we are getting somewhere:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=896
Beautiful lather:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=897

This stuff produces loads of rich, luxurious, scented lather.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=898
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=899

And the "Ferman shot":
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=900

Here is my patented drying test. I lather my arm (you don't want to see my ugly mug):
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=904
and leave it for 10 minutes and get this:
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=902
No problem with the lather drying out.

The shave was great. Very slick stuff indeed. I would put this up there with QED in terms of shave quality, and for $2.99 it is a great deal. The Ginger-Lime scent is a winner. I didn't care as much for the scent of the Katmandu, but it still gave a great shave. She has other scents as well that I haven't tried.

All in all, I can recommend this product. Give it a try! For $2.99 you can't go wrong!

[HlSheppard]

Hi Scotto -

Great review. Quite a while back I recommended her products as well (it may have been on the "other forum." I came accross them randomly on e-Bay and they were my first (or one of my first) "real" soaps.

Your review is right on - they are a great value and, if I remember correctly, she offers 100% guarantee, including shipping(?).

I gave her products a shot based on the enormous amount of sales and feedback still at 100% (very impressive given the amount of flakes on e-Bay!).

I REALLY enjoyed the Bay Rum as well - and used it as a shower soap for a while (although it's REAL hard to hold on to!).

[Austin]

Scotto, great review! I may need to order some myself.

BTW great pics!

[Scotto]

Yes, she does have a 100% guarantee, including shipping.

[DoubleE]

Excellent review Scotto! Hard to go wrong at that price. Where can I put them now.....

Jerry

[roughrider]

Great review Scotto.

[Nick]

Fantastic review Scotto. Ginger and Lime are two of my favorites also, especially in combination. I have a secret family recipe for a tri-tip marinade that includes copious amounts of ginger and lime.

-Nick

[Steve]

I use the Bay Rum....it's the best Bay Rum scent I have tried for shaving.

[Drew]

Steve-
I agree the bay rum has a really nice scent, and shaves very well. With that said, I would be interested in trading a twice used cake of Chelsea's bay rum for colonel conk bay rum. Let me know if there is any interest. Thanks

Drew

[Steve]

Drew,

I have an unused Colonol Conk bay rum sitting in a drawer. It hardly has any scent at all. Is your's the same?

[Drew]

Steve-
I think my previous post was a little confusing. I have used Chelsea's bay rum soap twice... great scent, very good shave. I have never used a col. conk soap, so I was offering to trade my twice used Chelsea's soap for a col. conk bay rum.

Drew