About one month ago my friend Jason (Bloozepicker) asked me with a PM if I wanted to test and evaluate a US Artisan soft soap from a brand called Maggard Razors, which I've never heard about until then. I answered positevely, saying that I was happy and excited to try a new soap, especially when Artisan made in the Italian style. My expectations for this novelty, honestly speaking, were not too high but I soon realized that I was wrong. Terribly wrong. This soap is simply exceptional and has been a huge surprise for me. From what Jason told me Maggard soaps are hand-made in Michigan (USA) by an Artisan called Maria Arman and sold on the Maggard Razors web-site. At the moment there are five scents available and I selected the Limes & Bergamot for my test, being a huge fan of citrusy fragrances. The jar Jason kindly shipped me arrived at the beginning of this week and I used it for four days in a row before arriving at this thread, with my final thoughts. So, lets start with a brief presentation of the product. The soap comes housed in a large sturdy plastic jar, weights a good 5 Oz, brings the Maggard logo on the top of the lid and shows the details of the manufacturer and ingredients list on the sides of the tub. Nothing fancy or elaborated, just a simple, well-made jar. To my eye it seems perfectly OK, but a vintage style labelling would certainly make it much more interesting and cool to look at just an opinion. Price point is quite reasonable at $12.95 and the short ingredients list with only 6 ingredients (stearic acid, coconut oil, water, lye, glycerine, essential oils) makes it very intriguing and close to what you see on high quality Italian soft soaps. Well, this soaps actually behaves like a high quality Italian soft soap. Not only, it produces an outstanding tallow-like lather without being a tallow based soap! Latherabilty is not an issue at all, Maggards soap is as easy as pie to lather up properly and abundantly, especially if you follow the Italian Master Barbers technique for soft soaps. The lather from start to finish is stable, thick, slick and fully effective for an enjoyable wet shave with both DEs and straights. The scent is a lovely and sweet citrusy mix of Lime & Bergamot. Something unique with good body and longevity that follows you for the entire process. Where however Maggards soap really shines is the moisturizing department. You get a silky soft skin afterwards, as when using a great tallow soap and this is something quite rare among vegetable soaps, even the best ones. What else to add? Id love to see this soap available in two more fragrances: a pure English Rose and a traditional US barbershop scent. In conclusion a superb all round soap that definitely deserves my seal of approval.
P.S. Below a couple of vintage-style SOTD pics with my beloved Simpson Chubby 1 Super and Fatip Piccolo.
P.S. Below a couple of vintage-style SOTD pics with my beloved Simpson Chubby 1 Super and Fatip Piccolo.
