Soap store down the road!

**watch_art** · 08-03-2011, 05:56 PM

Look what I found today!

http://www.bathhousesoap.com/page/page/5069561.htm

There's a soap shop down the road from me! Yoohoo! All homemade without funky chemicals. Can't believe I've never heard of them. Daggum what a huge selection they have, too.

Course, I never would have found them b/c they're in the tourist district, and even though I live only a mile up the road, I never go through there.

Oh well, now I've got a local source for soaps. Shaving and shampoo soaps.
Yay!

**dpmtherrien** · 08-03-2011, 06:07 PM

Congrats. We should all be so lucky.

**michiganlover** · 08-03-2011, 06:11 PM

Sweet man!! I would take their shampoo bar, and shaving soap for a spin as soon as possible. I wouldn't have high hopes for the shaving soap though. Quite a few of the so called shaving soaps sold by artisan soap makers don't function properly.

**watch_art** · 08-03-2011, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by michiganlover

Sweet man!! I would take their shampoo bar, and shaving soap for a spin as soon as possible. I wouldn't have high hopes for the shaving soap though. Quite a few of the so called shaving soaps sold by artisan soap makers don't function properly.

really? why's that?

I am mostly interested in the shampoo and soap bars, though. With so many fancy scents it's a wonder they have room for plainer soaps. Good for me though as I'm not into smelly stuffs.

**jumper** · 08-03-2011, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by michiganlover

Sweet man!! I would take their shampoo bar, and shaving soap for a spin as soon as possible. I wouldn't have high hopes for the shaving soap though. Quite a few of the so called shaving soaps sold by artisan soap makers don't function properly.

I have to agree, we buy our soap from a great place in the foothills, all of it is top notch including the shampoo bars, but for the life of me they can't get the shave bar down. By their own admission it is tricky to make. Do what I did, take a shave bar for a spin then when you find out it is useless, relegate it to a shower bar.

**michiganlover** · 08-03-2011, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by watch_art

really? why's that?

I am mostly interested in the shampoo and soap bars, though. With so many fancy scents it's a wonder they have room for plainer soaps. Good for me though as I'm not into smelly stuffs.

A number of factors: the purveyors are typically clueless as to what a good shaving lather should look like, and perform like. Having never experienced a high end shaving product, they have nothing to compare against. The people they are using as test subjects also have no experience with proper shaving products, so their feedback is less than ideal. The recipe used is also not typically conducive to producing a stable lasting lather; they feature the wrong oils, and in the wrong proportions. Many of these soaps feature olive oil as their primary ingredient, a product which is a lather killer. The board has yet to see an soap with olive oil as the primary ingredient actually function properly.

Often times the "shaving soap" is little more than the standard bath soap recipe with some additional clay added, and the product poured into a round mold. No effort is made to perfect the product for it's intended purpose.

**watch_art** · 08-03-2011, 07:10 PM

I wonder if I walked in and talked with them if they would consider working on the recipe. Do you have any suggestions for ingredients I should tell them about to get proper lather?

**BrianK** · 08-03-2011, 07:40 PM

Hey, it's still pretty neat!

I'd be forced to try the Gunpowder and Lead shave soap. Now if they had a Hoppes #9 scented shave soap I wouldn't care if it worked or not! Well, maybe it'd still need to work.

**watch_art** · 08-03-2011, 08:41 PM

Yeah - the gunpowder and lead caught my attention - my wife and I both had this "what the?" look on our faces. Not sure if I could stand the smell of that.

**michiganlover** · 08-04-2011, 03:20 AM

Originally Posted by watch_art

Yeah - the gunpowder and lead caught my attention - my wife and I both had this "what the?" look on our faces. Not sure if I could stand the smell of that.

I'd would have to buy the Gunpowder and Lead, as it seems to be a reference to Miranda Lambert (who has a song called Gunpowder and Lead).

Originally Posted by watch_art

I wonder if I walked in and talked with them if they would consider working on the recipe. Do you have any suggestions for ingredients I should tell them about to get proper lather?

Try the soap first, who knows maybe it will be one of the very few that does perform properly!

**Insaniac99** · 08-04-2011, 03:35 AM

Well, they are nice and list the recipe right off the bat:

coconut oil, palm oil, castor seed oil, safflower seed oil, glycerin, purified water, sodium hydroxide, sorbitol, sorbitan oleate, soybean protein, aloe vera, bentonite clay, fragrance oil and essential oils, and colorant

**Doodi1** · 08-04-2011, 03:56 AM

Originally Posted by Insaniac99

Well, they are nice and list the recipe right off the bat:

coconut oil, palm oil, castor seed oil, safflower seed oil, glycerin, purified water, sodium hydroxide, sorbitol, sorbitan oleate, soybean protein, aloe vera, bentonite clay, fragrance oil and essential oils, and colorant

Looks good to me. If it has the right proportions it should work well.

**maxman** · 08-04-2011, 05:57 AM

I was just browsing the site. Looks like they have nice products.
I would go in and tell them how to form the puck into a nice shape for a bowl.
Too many artisan soaps I've seen are molded into a pleasing looking shape, but useless because they have to be milled into another bowl.
It's not hard to do, just annoying.

If only one of these guys would make it the same size as a Trumper, DR Harris or whatever shape it would be nice.

**Evbo** · 08-04-2011, 07:01 AM

Originally Posted by Insaniac99

Well, they are nice and list the recipe right off the bat:

coconut oil, palm oil, castor seed oil, safflower seed oil, glycerin, purified water, sodium hydroxide, sorbitol, sorbitan oleate, soybean protein, aloe vera, bentonite clay, fragrance oil and essential oils, and colorant

I could be wrong, but this seems like a more or less standard melt & pour base. Judging by this, the soap'll probably perform along the likes of a standard glycerin soap, e.g., QED or Mama Bear.

**Gwhunter** · 08-04-2011, 07:59 AM

I have a few of their soaps. Root, Submariner, Earl Grey and Bathhouse Couture. I grated them and put them in sticks and they preform very well. However the sticker on the wrapper states they are Olive Oil soaps. This is not listed in the ingredients list. I sent a request for clarification but after a week haven't had a return response. I haven't used a OO soap so what I've read doesn't seem to fit as these lather very well. They are protective, slick and leave my skin soft and moisturized. Also the scents are very nice. I was very surprised and quite impressed. I will note that the pucks in the store are closer to 3.0 ounces. So they are a little on the small side. Not sure if the web orders have bigger pucks.

**michiganlover** · 08-04-2011, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by Evbo

I could be wrong, but this seems like a more or less standard melt & pour base. Judging by this, the soap'll probably perform along the likes of a standard glycerin soap, e.g., QED or Mama Bear.

Baring a few ingredients they may have added, the recipe seems very similar to the Brambleberry Melt and Pour Shaving Soap base (which is said to produce a pretty good lather:)

Brambleberry:

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil,
Glycerin, Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbitol, Sorbitan oleate,
Soy bean protein, Wheat Protein.

BathHouseSoap:

coconut oil, palm oil, castor seed oil, safflower seed oil,
glycerin, purified water, sodium hydroxide, sorbitol,
sorbitan oleate, soybean protein, aloe vera, bentonite clay,
fragrance oil and essential oils, and colorant.

**watch_art** · 08-04-2011, 08:59 AM

Very interesting stuff! I'll be stopping by maybe this weekend and picking some things up. i could break up a bar of gunpowder and lead and mail off samples if anybody is interested.

**SkipH** · 08-04-2011, 09:13 AM

I live in NLR and found Charlene's store a couple of years ago, and have had her soaps in rotation since. My favorite is the Gunpowder and Lead. She does very good shaving soaps. They lather easily and provide plenty of slickness and cushion. Recommend highly!

**poppi** · 08-04-2011, 09:38 AM

I have been using Charlene's soaps for a couple of years with great results. My favorite SS is the Mint&Aloe, it does a nice nice job. Plenty of cushiony slick lather. I have also used the Gunpowder and Lead. Worked well but the scent wasn't my favorite. Can't speak about the others since I haven't tried them.

I have also used the shampoo and body soap bars. Most excellent.

Highly recommended as well.