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Mike's Natural Soaps - an early review

I got my package from Mike, in the mail today! I'm posting my "Early Review" here, because it seems appropriate. I shaved with the Barber Shop and smelled...and almost ate the other scents (Lavandin-Eucalyptus, O/CW/BP, and Peppermint-Rosemary).
First things first - the scents are by far the most wonderful I've smelled in a shave soap! The only soap that holds a candle to them, to me is Proraso (weird, I know, but it illicits fond memories and a feeling of being in a classic European barber shop). I think I'm one of the lucky few to have either gotten a haircut, shave or buzz in almost every country I've visited. Ok, back to the fun stuff.
Barber Shop: the scent is sweet, yet masculine. To me, it's reminiscent of Sienna, but with something a little bit less in your face about it. To me, the patchouli really stands out, while the bergamot rounds it all out. Beautiful, almost intoxicating stuff.
Lavandin-Eucalyptus: this one smells like AOS Lavender and Proraso made a beautiful love child. Depending on the "sniff", you either notice the warm, soothing scent of lavender, or the cool, slighty medicinal (in a good way) quality of the eucalyptus. To me, I detect a nice almost spicy faint hint of camphor. All in all, it's the nicest lavender scented soap I've smelled.
Peppermint-Rosemary: it smells like a blend that I'd love to use to season a nice rack of lamb...oh wait...I have.... It's herbaceous, slightly woody and bright. Once again, A+!
Orange/Cedarwood and Black Pepper: all I have to say is, "wow"!!! It smells more of satsuma than I expected, and I am pretty sure I detect a touch of distant campfire mixed in there somewhere. This one will be my next soap purchase. Hands down.

On to the performance/lathering. I used it to shave with an aggressive Shark blade, in my Aristocrat Jr, on my first attempt lathering it. Arrogance, or excitement, I'm not sure, but it wasn't what I had hoped on my initial pass. I scrapped it, switched to my Wee Scot, took a good wet brush to the tin and loaded my brush for about 45 seconds. I then took it to my face and built a rich, creamy lather. In use, it reminded of MWF, and QCS, but was slightly denser. To me, this is great, as I like a thick and slick lather, rather than a fluffy or light one.
To play around, I kept adding water and mixed some up in my mug. With this combo, I got a glistening cloud of lather, but one that was far less airy than many soaps. One of my favourite soaps is Cade, which to me is light, and soft. Well, Mike's seems like it's going to be right next to Proraso, on the podium, with Cade, La Toja or MWF. However, the feel of it couldn't be any more different than Cade.

I often find adjectives are the best way to sum up an experience. Here are some that come to mind:
Dense
Silky
Exotic
Local
Gorgeous.
 
I've got a block of the unscented and it's tops on my list at the moment. I'm relatively new to this sport, but have been through a few soaps and cremes already, and just love how easy this one is to later, how slick it is and how good it is to my face. Mike is also great to work with. I've had problems in the past with scented stuff, so I'm sticking with the unscented, alas.
 
If you like one, you'll like the other. They're very different, but hit the same notes in the nose. Both are beautiful!
 
I've been trying to restrain myself but I think I'm going to have to break down and order several pucks. Every night after work I find myself eyeing his website.
 
I've been trying to restrain myself but I think I'm going to have to break down and order several pucks. Every night after work I find myself eyeing his website.

You need to do it! Mike makes amazing soaps! i just got some a few weeks ago and, holy sh*t are they phenomenal. Sorry about that, but since he is a New Yorker, i thought it an appropriate exclamatory remark! Hehe.
You will not be disappointed! Superb, thick, creamy, slick lather in 10-15 seconds with a Semogue boar.
 
I've been trying to restrain myself but I think I'm going to have to break down and order several pucks. Every night after work I find myself eyeing his website.
I did that till he got the soap in tins , then I pulled the trigger on the barbershop 2 tins on for me and one for my friend for a bday gift , my only regret is not getting samples of other scents .
 
All right, finally did it. Barbershop, Rose and Cedarwood, and Orange Cedarwood & Black Pepper on the way. Looking forward to giving them a try.
 
Let me know what you think. It is my favorite scent of Mike's, though I haven't tried Barbershop yet.

Just received my orange, cederwood, and black pepper on Friday. It was shipped on Monday. It is almost like a local vendor to me. The shipping time is very fast from NY to Toronto.

+1 on restraining from purchasing until these soaps were available in tins. That just made it perfect for me. I really like the size of the tin too. I can hold it easily in my hand while swirling my brush. The PdP tin is a bit small for me.

I used it last night but I will write my review about it sometime next week after couple more uses. I found it easy to lather though and the scent was very nice. Reminded me of T&H preshave oil except this was a much better and more authentic scent. Perhaps because there are only essential oils used in this product. Really like the ingredients list!

What other scents use only essential oils from Mike's?

Mike was also kind enough to send a free sample of the rose & cedarwood. Really appreciate that. Does anyone know Mike's username here by the way? Seems like he is busy making these high in demand soaps as I don't see him posting much here!
 
Here's a tip: if you like the scent of any Mike's Natural Soap but wish it were a little less potent, mix it in with some of his Unscented shaving soap.

Case in point: Barber Shop has a fabulous scent, but I find it a bit overpowering. So I lined the bottom of a mango wood shaving bowl with Unscented, then kneaded in what was left of my sample of Barber Shop. The result was a toned-down Barber Shop scent that was just right! :thumbsup:

I've become fixated on Mike's soaps and have been using little else for the last week or two. They produce the most protective lather of any soap I've tried. I never thought anything would replace MWF as my soap of choice, but MNS may end up doing just that. First-rate product, made in Brooklyn (where I was born and raised). :clap:

All right, finally did it. Barbershop, Rose and Cedarwood, and Orange Cedarwood & Black Pepper on the way. Looking forward to giving them a try.

I've tried samples of all three, and they're all great. Ordered a whole bar of the Rose & Cedarwood, and will definitely be ordering a whole bar of Barber Shop. OC&BP is a wonderful scent, just not for me. I'm not big on orange.
 
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All this talk about Mike's soap has made me curious. Have never tried MWF and was considering ordering a puck, but then some have said here that Mike's soap is just as good as MWF, and then there was the great price on samples. So last night I ordered three ( Barbershop, Peppermint and Rosemary, Pine and Cedarwood). Wondered about Lime samples since the Lime was sold out, but am sure that I will be happy with the three I ordered.
Customer service is great, had an email from Mike this morning stating that my order would ship today.
 
Wowwwwwwwwwwssss! Used the orange today for the second time and a great BBS shave with a R41+Feather combo. No irritation, no blood and guess what? No aftershave balm needed as well in this weather! Face feels nice!

Scent is growing on me and I just LOVE the ingredients. No fragrance oils for the scent I have, only essential oils. This is my most natural soap/cream I have. Honestly, unless you are allergic/have problem to any of the three ingredients (lanolin, shea butter, tallow) there is NO reason for anyone on this site to not have Mike's Natural Soaps in their rotation. I'm a big fan of these three ingredients and there are not many (maybe none?) other soaps on the market that contain all three.
 
Wowwwwwwwwwwssss! Used the orange today for the second time and a great BBS shave with a R41+Feather combo. No irritation, no blood and guess what? No aftershave balm needed as well in this weather! Face feels nice!

Scent is growing on me and I just LOVE the ingredients. No fragrance oils for the scent I have, only essential oils. This is my most natural soap/cream I have. Honestly, unless you are allergic/have problem to any of the three ingredients (lanolin, shea butter, tallow) there is NO reason for anyone on this site to not have Mike's Natural Soaps in their rotation. I'm a big fan of these three ingredients and there are not many (maybe none?) other soaps on the market that contain all three.


I am glad to hear you like them. The orange is my favorite. I am going to order a barbershop sample soon, as everyone seems to rave about it.
 
What do you think Mike's "unscented" soap smells like? It definitely has a subtle fragrance, but I can't quite make up my mind what it reminds me of most.... Anyone else feel like the unscented has a slight performance edge over the other "flavors"?

I think my first full tub purchase will be either lavandin & eucalyptus or unsecented.

To me, the Unscented has a kind of buttery, soapy smell, pleasant and mild. I haven't noticed any performance edge over the scented soaps. As I said here, you can cut any of Mike's scented soaps with Unscented to tone down the scent. Or, to put it the other way around, you can add scent to Unscented by mixing it with one of the scented soaps.
 
Just got my order in for two of Mike's shave soaps. I really wanted the Orange and Pepper (forget the other) so ordered that as a bar and the other in a tin. Can't wait.
 
Love how Mike does business. An order is seamless. He announces on the website which order dates are being filled, sends you a tracking number, and you get fresh bars or tins of soap a few days later.

I think it's the best artisan soap made today and I've tried a ton. Perfect ingredient list made in proper order.

No need for colorful labels. It's about the soap.

One of the first who just gets it.
 
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