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Artisan Shaving Soaps

Does anyone have any thoughts on handmade, artisan shaving soaps? I'm a definite noobie, and one of the biggest draws of wet shaving for me is the variety of soaps & scents. I've ordered Spearmint scented artisan soap, with French clay. Admittedly, I have no idea what this means (French Clay), but I like the scent of Spearmint! Any thoughts, other than that my Dad would be disappointed in my desire to smell like anything other than Dial soap? Just kidding, but thats all he ever smelled like, and I feel a little girly checking out the various fragrances! Thanks for your input.:thumbup: (I HATE emoticons!)
 
Check out some of the vendors on here: Sue "Mama Bear" makes great glycerin based soaps with every scent under the sun (even bacon!). Wendy "Saint Charles Shave" has some on sale as far as I remember in the Vendors corner And Matthew "Queen Charlotte Soaps" ... Well... I've been wet shaving a good while now and in my opinion there simply doesn't not get better than his soaps for scent, lather and moisturising.

They are all wonderful people and more than happy to help You out personally.
 
I'd say that any artisan soaper that's a participant here on B&B has a fine product.

There are others out there making great stuff, but the joker in the deck is the shaving soap that you might find at a craft fair...it might be great stuff, or it might not lather so well.

My undoubtedly flawed rule of thumb is to be very suspicious of any shaving soap that prominently features olive oil as an ingredient.
 

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
I would add to the list Chelsea's Unscented Shave Soap. Moderately priced at $3.95 per puck w/ $3.50 USPS First Class Mail shipping (for the first puck and ¢75 for each additional puck), from Suwanee, GA, (purchased on Ebay…”augustine_9” is the Seller).

These light clear pucks are 2¾ inches in diameter across and weigh approximately 3 ½ ounces each. Although not being ‘tallow or milled’, after 3 months use, I do know that this Soap lasts a long time, though alittle softer soap than a few of the glycerin soaps (Van der Hagen, I’ve briefly used before).

These are glycerin-based soaps and according to Chelsea, the unscented puck is made with "Natural White Glycerin soap, French White Clay, Vitamin E and an amazing new product called Foaming Bath Butter". The foaming bath butter produces an incredible lather and each puck is made with high quality ingredients and processes using all natural Glycerin - no harsh chemicals to irritate my face which is ‘ideal’ for my sensitive skin.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=188885&highlight=chelsea%27s

Christopher
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Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
I would say, one thing to look for when buying an artisan soap (or any soap) is to make sure it's a shaving soap to start with. And look at the ingredient list. Things like Olive oil in the ingredients makes it difficult to lather. Sometimes, it doesn't lather at all...

Having said that, some soaps don't have "Shaving Soap" printed on the label and work well to shave with. Some soaps have "Shaving Soap" printed on the label and don't work well. I would suggest trying the product or look at the reviews if there's one.
 
Start with a few from Mama Bear! You can't go wrong and you will have a standard to measure other soaps against. Mama Bear's soaps are fantastic and smell incredibly awesome beyond this World!
 
I've got a couple of MamaBear's Soaps on order and after hearing everyone's comments about them I'm drooling to finally try them.:tongue_sm

It's going to be a long couple of days...
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Checking several of these sites out now. I'll let you know how I make out. Oh, and Big Dog, awesome profile picture. I know what I'm watching tonight. Thanks, again!
 
Mongo don't know. Got to do with where choo choo go.

Be sure to check out the scene wear Gene Wilder is shaving with str8!
 
Shaving soaps are hard to make right, but that doesn't stop every soap maker out there from throwing some clay into the mix and selling it for shaving.

The basic rule with any vendor not known on the boards is "expect it to suck, be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't."
 
I now have a larger source of shave soaps to select from. I knew I shouldn't have read the post. Oh well that is why I switched.
 
I have had great luck with evanest soaps on eBay, great customer service and a great product. I have a few different ones here, I remill them into a wooden dish and they work wonderful.
 
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