Handmade Soaps on Etsy?

I have read a lot more posts from people being disappointed with shaving soaps from unknown ebay/etsy soap makers than I have people being thrilled. When it comes to good shaving soaps most gents here are not shy and will eagerly post favorable reviews if they stumble across something great in the wild.

Am I really understanding the tone of this thread to mean that most of these ebay/etsy shaving soap makers are good at it and you can confidently send them money knowing you will be satisfied?

gaj90027 said:

I have read a lot more posts from people being disappointed with shaving soaps from unknown ebay/etsy soap makers than I have people being thrilled.

Click to expand...

"Unknown" is the pertinent keyword here. When it comes to this market, I have faith in natural selection; those who can't do it well won't last very long and will remain relatively unknown until they fade away completely.

Am I really understanding the tone of this thread to mean that most of these ebay/etsy shaving soap makers are good at it and you can confidently send them money knowing you will be satisfied?

Click to expand...

If that's the impression you got from me, I do apologize, for that's not what I'm trying to say. I'm just saying that one should not categorically write a shaving soap off simply because it's artisan made and offered by an eBay or Etsy seller. Good artisan shaving soap does exist out there, both from folks who have their own websites (and are likely vendors here), and those whose use eBay, Etsy or similar storefronts. Sometimes I find it fun to explore the offerings.

I think you gave the best advice regarding this earler:

gaj90027 said:

If they are not mentioned or reviewed favorably here you should probably not buy them unless you are feeling adventurous or have money to burn.

Click to expand...

Better advice could not be given. And, I must admit, sometimes I feel adventurous!

@CaptainK - I think we are both on the same page then. I just wanted to make sure that we weren't advising someone new (OP has 12 posts) to just go ahead and buy any old shaving soap from etsy and expect good results. Research on the soap maker (searching or asking on B&B) is strongly advised for the new guys.

With your experience at least you would know that if a new unknown soap from etsy doesn't lather properly that it's probably the soap at fault and not your brush or your bowl or your water being hard, etc.

I received some "artisan" soaps in the mail last night from a fellow B&B member and one of the brands was Madam Scodioli's "Fiji Mermaid."

It has a great oceanic smell, but I wondered how it would perform. The soap itself is pretty soft and I squeezed the bar into one of my tin shaving soap containers with easy.



Whilst in the shower I let some hot water sit in the container and in a bowl for my Omega brush


Within about 10 swirls of the brush I had the beginnings of a nice lather going


Without much effort the Fiji Mermaid went from a solid green bar to white sea foam and I must say that I had a fantastic BBS 3 pass shave with my Otto Deutsch's "Hans!"
I'm no chemist, but for $8 per bar, this soap performed as well as any in my shave den. Well Done Madame Scodioli!

tumtatty said:

I received some "artisan" soaps in the mail last night from a fellow B&B member and one of the brands was Madam Scodioli's "Fiji Mermaid."

It has a great oceanic smell, but I wondered how it would perform. The soap itself is pretty soft and I squeezed the bar into one of my tin shaving soap containers with easy.

Whilst in the shower I let some hot water sit in the container and in a bowl for my Omega brush

Within about 10 swirls of the brush I had the beginnings of a nice lather going

Without much effort the Fiji Mermaid went from a solid green bar to white sea foam and I must say that I had a fantastic BBS 3 pass shave with my Otto Deutsch's "Hans!"
I'm no chemist, but for $8 per bar, this soap performed as well as any in my shave den. Well Done Madame Scodioli!

Click to expand...

Madame Scodioli's soaps have been discussed on B&B and are not unknown. If I recall correctly people had a great lather and shave but some people had a reaction to the strong scents. I usually don't have reactions to strong scented soaps and I would certainly give her soaps a try if I was in the market.