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Mike's hand made soaps from Brooklyn.

MIKE's NATURAL SOAPS (A different poll)

  • Handmade in the U.S.A.

  • Handmade in Ann Arbor, MI

  • Doesn't matter


Results are only viewable after voting.
I have found Mike's to require a whole lot of water, but added slowly (I use a scuttle). I swirl between passes and like a looser lather for the clean up work. It really does a nice job cushioning and moisturizing.
 
I'll definitely give these ideas a try. Attime6 - thanks for the link to that thread. I somehow missed that one when trying to find answers to my problems with Mike's.
 
I've been hitting my Mike's samples hard the past few days. Today was Rose & Cedarwood. Great scent and the performance is incredible..... right up to the last pass the lather is slick and creamy and stable. It's amazing stuff.

Ben
 
Todays shave was with Mike's Hungarian lavender, the third and final tin from my recent order, using a $6 Vostok razor with a Gillette Rubie on it's 4th shave, once again the lather burst forth and the scent was just amazing, I'm so glad I pulled the trigger on these soaps, despite the high postage costs involved in getting them to Australia, it was still worth every penny.

Other soaps I've tried (not Artisan) just don't seem to leave the face as moisturised as Mikes soaps, often I can't go back and touch an area up without dabbing a bit more lather on as I would experience razor judder, but I found today I could easily go back and touch an area up without any lather due to the softness of my face and the residual slick layer.

I've now got a couple of QCS on the way, so it will be interesting to compare. Either way I think I'm set with enough soap for a while yet.
 
I just got a half dozen of Mike's samplers and haven't tried the Hungarian lavender yet, but it seemed pretty subtle in scent compared to the others. I did try the Rose and Cedarwood one and it had a slightly unpleasant scent when I started lathering with it. Maybe it's just a matter of chemistry with my water, but I did not get the amazing lather that others have talked about with Mike's soaps; caveat: I don't spend 5+ minutes whisking and whisking away to get a best-possible lather - I spent about 15 seconds loading my brush and then face lathered for 30 seconds. It was an ok, but not particularly slick or cushion-y lather.

I have a lot of soaps, and I don't know that I can get any of them to lather decently in 15 seconds. I don't spend 5+ minutes making lather either; takes me about a minute with whatever soap I choose (except MWF - that one takes longer). Point being, take a deep breath & take a little more time to make your lather. Try to enjoy the process. You'll be amply rewarded.
 
??? Where do I say that I spend 15 seconds making lather? My face lathering technique works well with other soaps. I just didn't think that Mike's Soaps were that impressive.

I took it from here: I spent about 15 seconds loading my brush and then face lathered for 30 seconds.

My point is simply that I can't get any of my soaps to lather decently if I only load my brush for 15 seconds. If there's not enough product on the brush to begin with, doesn't matter how long you spend face-lathering. But hey, if it works for you with other soaps then more power to you.
 
Used this again last night.... just wonderful. I've been using up all of my Mike's samples and the performance of all of them is out of this world.... but the scent of Hungarian Lavender is one of my favorites from Mike's. Mike's soaps lather is some of the most stable lather throughout the entire shave.

Ben
 
Received Mike's Hungarian Lavender earlier this week and I love the earthy natural lavender scent and the performance is out of the world . I also received the Vetiver which I'll be using today. Very much looking forward to it.
 
I have a tin of Barbershop and samples of Lime and Orange Pepper coming sometime this week. I can't wait to try them with my new OCMM coming in this week also! There is so much good press about this soap and he is local, I figured there is no way I can't try them out.
 
Here is one I just whipped up. After looking through this thread, I had to go try some of the tips for Mike's. I added water quite slowly, and must say this is the best-looking lather I've gotten from Mike's yet. Too bad I already shaved today. The soap is Mike's Bay Rum, and the brush is a Semogue 730HD. Though I've only had a few brushes, I am very impressed with the Semogue silvertip so far!

 
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I posted this in the Reviews area too.

Got 2 samples of Mike's Natural Soaps Hungarian Lavendar Shaving Soap.

The soap is soft, and can be easily molded into any container you wish.
The smell is quite pleasing. In fact, it's addictive. The soap lathers incredibly easily, and with a little work
turns into thick, very rich lather. Like I said, the bar produces incredible amounts of lather, but doesn't seem to make a dent in it - so you get alot for your money.

Gives a nice, close shave and protects incredibly well against irritation.

Gives great protection, and leaves the skin feeling incredibly soft & smooth after a shave - and it lasts a long time.
The smell from the soap is subtle and not overpowering when washed off.

Even though it has Tallow and other stuff in it, it is non-comodegenic.

This and Cella are now my absolute two favorites. Once I run out of Cella, I'm sticking with Mike's only.

Highly recommended.
 
Yep Mikes is up there with the best I've tried (Tabac & MWF being my other favourites and Mike's kicks their backsides on scent). I have a brain bowl of MdeC on the way and will be very interested to see how it compares to Mikes. Suffice to say its got a shot at the title...
 
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