Have we seen the pinnacle of soap hype

I can remember my first introduction to "new" shaving soap hype. I'm sure there are many here who have seen this in cycles but for me it was the launch of the popularity of panna crema. Those varieties were almost unobtainable at first and some folks were getting time zone alerts.
I had missed the boat on the AOS reformulation and was eagerly scouring any mention of where i could find a tallow puck such was the thrill of unobtanium. Then came dabbling with Mike's, B&M, Stirling(older generations).
Fast forward to now and the plethora of artisan shaving soaps available. I guess my question is: are you like me, are you pretty much done?
I have so many soaps and creams at this stage that will easily last a decade. I cannot think of a scent, soap characterictic or any other "must have" criteria that will cause me the same enthusiasm i once had. Have we seen the peak of the shaving soap boom?

John

I doubt it. There still seems to be more new entrants than those exiting the market. And as long as sites like this one continue to grow, it will only encourage more to want to get involved. I do think we have a very high market saturation though now. Whether you are looking for a particular scent, tallow or vegan, more cushion or more slickness. You name it and you will easily have some recommendations to match what you want.

It's not like the folks who are making stainless steel razors, where there is a high barrier in skill and machinery necessary. Anyone with a crock-pot and the Internet to order some ingredients could feasibly follow a recipe and create soap. With such a low barrier, anyone with the time, some business sense and a customer-friendly attitude could easily get started. But I do believe it will become ever more difficult to compete.

I'm not so sure. New members join up to these forums at quite a rate and, if they become 'active', then spend months-to-years searching for the latest and greatest. That sustains the hype and explains the cyclical nature of discussions on these boards. After a while, people go full circle and either drop off the radar as active posters or hang around sounding miserly!

To answer your eventual question: Yes. A 50p Palmolive stick can give me as much joy as a £20 artisanal offering.

Don't forget that the world is full of hipsters who will, eventually, realize just how ridiculous they look and start shaving...

Burgundy said:

I'm not so sure. New members join up to these forums at quite a rate and, if they become 'active', then spend months-to-years searching for the latest and greatest. That sustains the hype

Click to expand...

+1

I believe Burgundy has it exactly right. New people join and fuel the fire. In time, their cupboards filled with soaps, they will lose the urge to try the latest and greatest.

I have soaps from 6 vendors - enough soap to last me through this lifetime and several reincarnations. They are all really good soaps, so good that I could live happily with any one of them. There are at least another 6 artisans that tempt me, but I have lost the urge to try a new artisan. I will leave that to the newbies on the forum. It is their turn.


There's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they always come out tender.
― W.C. Fields

djh said:

Don't forget that the world is full of hipsters who will, eventually, realize just how ridiculous they look and start shaving...

Click to expand...

For some reason, around here there are a bunch of overweight hipsters who all have huge beards and sideburns but shave their heads. Whenever I see them it makes me think of the Bear Force One video that went viral years ago.

Good thread. I was just thinking about this and a related question: Are all these artisan soapers making money? When I first got to B&B, it was QED, Mama Bear, and Saint Charles Shave. Now I've lost track of all of them. Are they all really selling soap?

I don't think it ever really ends, as there are always newcomers, and some of the older types never really settle, as you have. Many believe that a revolution in shave soap quality might still be out there.

I think because I'm older, I like consistency, meaning I pretty much have stuck with the same brands. Before joining B$B, I was already using CF for several years. Since joining, I have tried others, but always end up going to CF as my main cream and AS. It is nice to venture, but when something works, it is hard to let go.

I can say that I'm pretty much done in the soap department, plus I prefer creams anyway.

Interesting question. The market will weed out the winners and losers. It is harsh, but effective.

Have any soapmakers left the market yet?

I recently acquired two of the "pinnacle" Italian soaps, Santa Maria Novella and Antica Barbieria Colla, and I have quite a selection of soaps from Wm. Neumann & Co., Stirling Soap Co., Queen Charlotte Soaps, and Mike's Natural Soaps. Given the wide variety and high quality of product from these half dozen companies I cannot necessarily see continuing to purchase soaps from other companies with the feverish pitch I have been.

Like rodmonster said, I current have "...enough soap to last me through this lifetime and several reincarnations.".

Tim

The upfront investment in becoming an artisan soap maker is quite small. For a relatively small investment, along with a website, you are in business. This trend of new artisans will not only continue, I believe it will grow exponentially. Right up until the US Federal government realizes they are missing out on a money making opportunity. Then the industry will be strangled by over taxing and regulations.

But then again I am a bit of a cynic.

djh said:

Don't forget that the world is full of hipsters who will, eventually, realize just how ridiculous they look and start shaving...

Click to expand...

Damn. I'm still searching.

I have everything from Williams to MdC to B&M to palmolive to CF... And almost everything in between.

For me now it's finding the scent... I have starred using my collection as face was now too...

I think the next great frontier is Razors. While the barrier is high I think the reward is compelling. Esp of someone can figure out 3d printing a razor.

YOU HERD THAT HERE FIRST : next big thing is 3d printed Razors.

As a newbie wet shaver who has just tried my hand in soap-making, I have to agree with the assessments made on this thread, but will add one thought:

Soap-making is one way to satisfy one's urge to tinker and, as has been pointed out above, the start up cost is rather small. This might be the same reason why so many people seem to enjoy modifying Gold Dollar straight razors: low entry cost, and relatively easy learning curve. I don't mean to disparage anyone's skills, but compared to making a new razor from stratch, re-shaping one is relatively straight-forward (and so much more so when it comes to soap-making).

Perhaps the urge to tinker is what gets so many in the artisan soap game, rather than a more mercantile urge.

Like anything "new" in the marketplace I think we will see it peak, then plateau, a drop off, and it will eventually settle at the point of market saturation. But that ignores the exponential population growth, and the increasing longevity, in most of the world. Only time will tell when all of this happens but if I remember my economics, I think it's a pretty basic theory or law.

I have 12 soap pucks, 8 creams, 2 shave sticks and several samples.
At this time I have several soaps & creams (GFT, Truefitt & Hill, Tabac, TOBS, Dr. Harris, Proraso, Arko, QCS, B&M) which I am very happy with (performance and scent), so am not really in the market for new products.

There are always exceptions, if I am traveling, and find new products I cannot buy here I will try some of them.

I think there will more to come in months to follow. The ones that will have staying power are the ones that are not overhyping themselves, on social media. The ones they will be around also will those companies with outstanding prouduct and customer service too.

Human nature to get the latest greatest product, that will always keep the market thriving.

I have 5 soaps currently;
mama bears-given to me to review
prorasso green- first soap, only use it occasionally now and probably won't replace it when I'm out
col conk amber-given as a gift, don't like it, expensive poor performer.
arko- had to see what the big deal was, second favourite.
mitchells wool fat-perfect soap, perfect.
honestly I see no need to try additional soaps as I belive I have had the best smelling (TOBS jermyn st) and the best performing (MWF) as we know the scent from a soap dosnt last so going for the best performing soap is the logical rout and since MWF costs me 20 a puck here in Aus there's no reason to pay double that to get a soap shipped internationally just to find it will most likely be inferior in performance.
i am sure there are soaps out there that perform well or maybe just as good as MWF but why go looking?