Homemade Shaving Soap Discussion Club

OK gentleman! Sorry for the delay in getting the samples out but they are now on their way to you all!

I look forward to your feedback!

Here's a pic of my mail bag!

Wow. Hope you get some great feedback. Thanks for doing this!

whiskeyandsawdust said:

OK gentleman! Sorry for the delay in getting the samples out but they are now on their way to you all!

I look forward to your feedback!

Here's a pic of my mail bag!
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looking forward to trying it out for sure.

Well regarded by certain members on here. If they like it I will try it, about 95% of the time I like them also.

Nice cushy lather and cost are the big ones for me. After messing around with heaps of different shave creams that were expensive and utter trash. I moved onto soaps and never looked back. The difference is ten fold. For some reason the creams made me break out with pimples and dried my face. Also the fact that 3/4 of my soaps are vintage brands, definitely cant go wrong with something that has been tried and tested for such a long time. Being a face latherer soap sticks are my bread and butter.

I am in. I pick my shave soaps based on first the scent that I think I will enjoy. But, it must be from a proven maker, whether it is an artisan or big house brand. Third is price. I don't care how good it is, I cannot spend $30 on a soap.

whiskeyandsawdust said:

Well? What criteria must a shave soap meet before you buy it? I realize everyone is different but I'm always curious what other people think. I find strangers give the most honest opinions, not sure there's anyone stranger than this group! Yes I've been lurking and watching some of you!

So what is it?
Cost? Smell? Ingredients? Brand Loyalty?

Go ahead and take a couple extra seconds and expand on your answer please. If you choose based on smell which smells? Ingredients? Which ones? Shea? Aloe? Coconut Oil? You all get the idea I'm sure!

To make it interesting I'll pick out two participants in the lower 48 or APO/FPO and ship out both a bath and a shave soap (hopefully something that meets your criteria!)

I'll pick winners 9/10!

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Easy to lather and doesn't dissipate while shaving.

Hey Brian. I received a wonderful smelling package in the mail today with your sample of soap in it. I haven't tried it yet, but I love the scent. So far, 1 of my 3 criteria have been met. My wife also loves it. Tomorrow morning I will interrupting my normal 3017ing of soaps to give this a try. Looking forward to it.

Thanks so much for the generous PIF.

I have found that I prefer soaps to creams, or at least some soaps. For me it is:
1) Scent strength. If I like the scent, I want it to last for awhile. Part of the reason I love this is because of all the wonderful and different scents that I can enjoy while I'm shaving.
2) Performance. I like soaps better now since I discovered that they seem to provide a slicker shave which gives me better protection and less irritation.
3) Price. I don't mind paying for a product that works well, but an affordable product that works well has my loyalty. It also allows me to try different scents from the same manufacturer.
4) Abailability. I think one of my pet peeves so far is the "limited production" products. What good is it to have something everyone likes, if it isn't going to be around for very long?

BTW, I received the sample of flying pig today, and can't wait to try it out! I can't quite figure out what the scent is, but it is very unique and I like it!

I received my package as well today. I already shaved this morning, but the scent is very nice. I will be test lathering and using it for sure in the coming days.

Used the soap today for the first time. The scent is outstanding. Really enjoy it. I tried using it the way I use most of my soaps (brush and soap puck soaking during showing) and it turns out that it was way too wet. I was able to get a smooth shave from it, but the lather was pretty thin. Lots of air bubbles. I will try again w/out soaking the puck and with less water. Eager to see how it does.

I tried mine today, and it built up some nice looking lather. After applying it though, it all just disappeared. I'm going to try it again with a different brush and different method. I really like the scent though!

I need to check my mail today! I will update when I am able!

The scent is truly outstanding. If you were to add a little clove to it you'd have yourself a killer fall scent.

The lather was nice and thick, but by my second pass it began to dissipate. The moisturizing effects of the soap was also great. My face felt as good as with Catie's bubbles or cella, but I had to start my lather from scratch for the second pass. I will try it again tomorrow and let you know how it goes

My face is pretty ridiculously soft right now and I keep getting wafts of that delicious orange vanilla smell

I did a couple test lathers with it, and the scent is great. I know you said it was Orange and Vanilla..the Vanilla definitely comes through..it reminds me of the Warm Vanilla Sugar lotion at Bath and Body Works (my swmbo's favorite). The soap loads up easily, but I also did get a slightly dissipating lather like the others have said. It was slick feeling, and quite moisturizing on my hands though. The scent seems to linger as well which is nice. Tomorrow I will have a better report when I use it for an actual shave. I am thinking loading more, and using a little less water than normal may help.

My package came in from Brian and everything arrived safely. The Orange Vanilla is a great smelling soft soap and the Mahogany & Citrus smells promising as well. Very similar to RR Mudder Focker - slightly more citrus and more scent overall.
I'll crack one open and see how it works out tomorrow night.

A little bit OFFTOPIC: Nice job Ian, I now have shaving soaps and cremes coming from three different countries, mostly due to this thread and your comments. So if your doorbell rings and a woman with a frying pan clanks you in the face with it, that would be my wife passing along her 'thanks'.

ROFLMAO but really, I did order a bunch of soap.

Brian

SliceOfLife said:

When I still actively bought soaps there were three criteria.

First, is it vintage? If so, buy it.
Second, I'd go by the ingredients.
Third, if it was highly recommended and extremely cheap, even if the ingredients list didn't look good I'd buy it out of curiosity (never worked out, should have stopped at #2, Dr Harris is to this day the ONLY shave soap I've found with an ingredients list that doesn't look good to me, which is still a decent performer.).

I've detailed what I look for in ingredients lists several times in the past. Potassium Stearate in a prominent position is the most important.


Oh and pass on the pif, thanks.

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Ok I finally checked my mail yesterday! I had a wonderful smelling item inside.

So I decided to use it this morning to shave with. I pushed the puck down into my lather bowl and got to town.

I lathered directly on the puck and got a pretty good lather going. The soap does lather fairly quickly. The scent also really blooms when it lathers and the vanilla is the main note with the orange there faintly.

As others have said, the lather seems a bit bubbly. I could feel the bubbles popping on my face during the pass and almost couldn't see the lather on my face by the end of the pass. I also had to re whip the lather between each passes, again nothing too major, just feedback.

However, even the almost invisible lather had great protection and slickness! I was surprised that it still did and was very happy with that!

Also, the after shave feel was great. It left my face very soft and the vanilla note stayed. Even after I bicycled to work and showered. I swear I still smelt some vanilla.

So again, thank you for your generosity with the sample. Hopefully my feedback was helpful, and I will gladly try more samples and offer honest feedback!

Received my puck as well. Smells great! Looking forward to giving it a go!