I like trying out new artisans' products. Sometimes it feels like beta testing, but it's fun to watch them improve based on feedback. I just experienced a new one that we should probably keep our eye on. Big Easy Soaps & Tinctures is already churning out a very nice product.
My order consisted of soap and splash sets of "221B Baker Street" and "Flying Fortress". They were double bagged in bubble mailers and the individual products were wrapped in bubble-wrap as well. Despite this, a small area on the bottom of one of the tubs appeared to be shattered, but since the plastic is laminated, nothing leaked. The other tub had a crack with spidering on the side, but again, there was no loss of product. The tubs are all-plastic transparent with black lids. The tub height with lid is 64 mm. The access diameter is 82.6 mm. The full tubs weighed 244 and 242 grams respectively. The soap is firm and appears to have been packed-in by hand with a very small amount of the product stuck to the outside of the tub (explaining the fragrance emanating from the mailbox). 221B Baker Street appeared to have an even off-white coloring and some of the product had crumbled and was rattling within the tub. The loose pieces were easily pressed back into the rest of the product. Flying Fortress did have some uneven coloring with darker amber spots noted throughout. The splashes were in the standard amber apothecary bottles. One of the bottles had the flow limiter separate, while the other one had it already inserted. The lids were tight and secured with black plastic tape. The labels on the both the soaps and the splashes appear to be vinyl, but the ink runs very easily when wet. There are a few bubbles that annoy me. The art does not showcase the company name very well, but the tubs do have side labels that clearly state the product's name and brand, that is, if it's still visible after being exposed to humidity. Big Easy Soaps & Tinctures does need a logo, though.
I decided to start with 221B Baker Street. The scent notes per the artisan's Etsy page are, "tobacco, opium, and black tea." As I loaded the knot the most forward fragrance was a bold, smoky, pipe tobacco sweetened with cherry and vanilla. It transformed very little as the shave progressed, but it did warm a bit with notes of maple and finally incense or maybe nag champa. I did not detect black tea, but this is my first use. I find I pick up on the more subtle notes with subsequent uses. It's a very pleasant fragrance, and it seems many artisans have some interpretation of this profile in their freshmen offerings. Big Easy Soaps does a good job of it, so if sweet pipe tobacco is your thing, you'll likely enjoy 221B Baker Street.
Earlier in the day, I did a test lather, and I discovered Big Easy wasn't necessarily thirsty, but I could push the water a good bit before destroying it. The degradation was gradual, however. Instead of that brittle threshold that goes from perfect lather to useless meringue, slickness and cushion gradually declined until I had light airy useless foam. In practice, I started with a fairly damp brush that was just on the cusp of dripping. After loading the knot for around 30-45 seconds, and scalp-lathering, I ended up with more than enough usable lather for 3 head and face passes without having to add water. The resulting bright white lather provided a dense foundation yielding good cushion, and it was slick, but residual slickness was lacking a bit. Despite using a mild shaver, I didn't try making a pass without plenty of visible lather. I often do touch-ups with just a wet palm reconstituting the slickness of the prior pass, but given the feeling I had, I wasn't confident doing that with my first use of Big Easy. Post-shave was on par with many of my preferred artisans. The paired alcohol-free splash added to that post shave. My skin feels well-hydrated and smooth. There is no tackiness. Despite the rather bold fragrance, I noted no irritation.
Overall my first use of Big Easy Soaps & Tinctures was a pleasant one, and none of the aforementioned dings will prevent me from using it again. I would imagine a slight tweak to the base, improving residual slickness and post-shave would allow them to compete with my top 5 favorites. The label issue is one that seems to plague many new artisans, so I expect that will be ironed out soon.
Soap ingredients: tallow, stearic acid, coconut oil, castor oil, kokum butter, shea butter, cocoa butter, avocado oil, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, distilled water.
Splash ingredients: witch hazel extract, aloe extract, vegetable glycerin, chamomile extract, tea tree oil, essential/fragrance oil
My order consisted of soap and splash sets of "221B Baker Street" and "Flying Fortress". They were double bagged in bubble mailers and the individual products were wrapped in bubble-wrap as well. Despite this, a small area on the bottom of one of the tubs appeared to be shattered, but since the plastic is laminated, nothing leaked. The other tub had a crack with spidering on the side, but again, there was no loss of product. The tubs are all-plastic transparent with black lids. The tub height with lid is 64 mm. The access diameter is 82.6 mm. The full tubs weighed 244 and 242 grams respectively. The soap is firm and appears to have been packed-in by hand with a very small amount of the product stuck to the outside of the tub (explaining the fragrance emanating from the mailbox). 221B Baker Street appeared to have an even off-white coloring and some of the product had crumbled and was rattling within the tub. The loose pieces were easily pressed back into the rest of the product. Flying Fortress did have some uneven coloring with darker amber spots noted throughout. The splashes were in the standard amber apothecary bottles. One of the bottles had the flow limiter separate, while the other one had it already inserted. The lids were tight and secured with black plastic tape. The labels on the both the soaps and the splashes appear to be vinyl, but the ink runs very easily when wet. There are a few bubbles that annoy me. The art does not showcase the company name very well, but the tubs do have side labels that clearly state the product's name and brand, that is, if it's still visible after being exposed to humidity. Big Easy Soaps & Tinctures does need a logo, though.
I decided to start with 221B Baker Street. The scent notes per the artisan's Etsy page are, "tobacco, opium, and black tea." As I loaded the knot the most forward fragrance was a bold, smoky, pipe tobacco sweetened with cherry and vanilla. It transformed very little as the shave progressed, but it did warm a bit with notes of maple and finally incense or maybe nag champa. I did not detect black tea, but this is my first use. I find I pick up on the more subtle notes with subsequent uses. It's a very pleasant fragrance, and it seems many artisans have some interpretation of this profile in their freshmen offerings. Big Easy Soaps does a good job of it, so if sweet pipe tobacco is your thing, you'll likely enjoy 221B Baker Street.
Earlier in the day, I did a test lather, and I discovered Big Easy wasn't necessarily thirsty, but I could push the water a good bit before destroying it. The degradation was gradual, however. Instead of that brittle threshold that goes from perfect lather to useless meringue, slickness and cushion gradually declined until I had light airy useless foam. In practice, I started with a fairly damp brush that was just on the cusp of dripping. After loading the knot for around 30-45 seconds, and scalp-lathering, I ended up with more than enough usable lather for 3 head and face passes without having to add water. The resulting bright white lather provided a dense foundation yielding good cushion, and it was slick, but residual slickness was lacking a bit. Despite using a mild shaver, I didn't try making a pass without plenty of visible lather. I often do touch-ups with just a wet palm reconstituting the slickness of the prior pass, but given the feeling I had, I wasn't confident doing that with my first use of Big Easy. Post-shave was on par with many of my preferred artisans. The paired alcohol-free splash added to that post shave. My skin feels well-hydrated and smooth. There is no tackiness. Despite the rather bold fragrance, I noted no irritation.
Overall my first use of Big Easy Soaps & Tinctures was a pleasant one, and none of the aforementioned dings will prevent me from using it again. I would imagine a slight tweak to the base, improving residual slickness and post-shave would allow them to compete with my top 5 favorites. The label issue is one that seems to plague many new artisans, so I expect that will be ironed out soon.
Soap ingredients: tallow, stearic acid, coconut oil, castor oil, kokum butter, shea butter, cocoa butter, avocado oil, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, distilled water.
Splash ingredients: witch hazel extract, aloe extract, vegetable glycerin, chamomile extract, tea tree oil, essential/fragrance oil
