I loves me my limes.
That's at least 3 people waiting on lime
Let's just make sure to buy him out when he gets his first batch done!Mike's Natural Soaps - an early review
- Thread starter MajorBurnz
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That's at least 3 people waiting on lime
Let's just make sure to buy him out when he gets his first batch done!
You can put me down as a fellow citrus lover, but I do like the citrusy complex scents, too. I'm thinking orange/cedar/pepper sounds heavenly and can't wait for mine to arrive. Maybe today?
Edit: Yes, it's here. It smells wonderful!
Edit: Yes, it's here. It smells wonderful!
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I'd go for a Lime soap and a Lemon soap too!
It really does, doesn't it? Great stuff!
I used Barbershop for the first time today. In short, good stuff.
Smells like a "manly" soap, as Mike describes. I really like the scent, just right as far as strength.
I would say slightly easier to lather than MWF, performs same during shave, same skin conditioning properties. MWF already had me moving away from some if my creams, Mike's has definitely contributed further to the move.
Price is excellent. Made in America, so excellent.
IMO its hard to beat. I will definitely order more and the other scents.
Also, just bought a travel soap dish from Walmart to put it in for $1. Works great.
Smells like a "manly" soap, as Mike describes. I really like the scent, just right as far as strength.
I would say slightly easier to lather than MWF, performs same during shave, same skin conditioning properties. MWF already had me moving away from some if my creams, Mike's has definitely contributed further to the move.
Price is excellent. Made in America, so excellent.
IMO its hard to beat. I will definitely order more and the other scents.
Also, just bought a travel soap dish from Walmart to put it in for $1. Works great.
I got my cake of Orange/Cedar/Pepper soap yesterday. Mike also included a sample of Rose & Cedarwood.
The first thing that I noticed was (predictably) the smell. It's a clean, sharp smell. I was hoping the orange would be the star in this mix, and I was not disappointed. It's a "fresh orange" smell, lots of orange oil and citric acid smell, not an overly sweet smell. The cedar undertone and a spicy note of pepper follow on the back end. In the bar, the scent in very powerful, and in fact made me sneeze.
Speaking of, the bar was shipped wrapped in wax paper and a corrugated paper sleeve, inside a bubble lined mailer. It arrived intact, without even the corners knocked off.
I transferred the bar to an Ikea Grundtal container. I sliced a bit off one end to give to a friend as a sample, and then trimmed the corners to fit the circle. The corners then wedged right into the sides. I could probably heat it gently and mash it down, but this is working fine. The soap is of medium density and hardness. Not as hard as MWF, but harder than Mama Bear's, Conk or VDH.
After lathering
I did a test lather last night, but didn't shave. I was recovering from brush burn, and didn't want to push it. The shave had to wait for this morning. Last night's lather was superior to this morning, but I started with my brush too dry and was adding water for close to five minutes. This morning it started off too wet and my final product was slick and very shaveable, but not quite as fluffy as I like. Still left my skin feeling great, and I had a nice close WTG/XTG/XTG shave with no nicks or irritation.
The intense smell of the bar turned into a pleasantly scented lather that kept the orange scent in my nose without overpowering it. Mrs. Songwind said she could still smell it on my skin for a little bit after the shave. I'll definitely have to find something pleasantly fruity to wear with it.
I'm going to shave with this soap a few more times (maybe just for the rest of the week solid) and write up a performance review.
​My test lather
The first thing that I noticed was (predictably) the smell. It's a clean, sharp smell. I was hoping the orange would be the star in this mix, and I was not disappointed. It's a "fresh orange" smell, lots of orange oil and citric acid smell, not an overly sweet smell. The cedar undertone and a spicy note of pepper follow on the back end. In the bar, the scent in very powerful, and in fact made me sneeze.
Speaking of, the bar was shipped wrapped in wax paper and a corrugated paper sleeve, inside a bubble lined mailer. It arrived intact, without even the corners knocked off.
I transferred the bar to an Ikea Grundtal container. I sliced a bit off one end to give to a friend as a sample, and then trimmed the corners to fit the circle. The corners then wedged right into the sides. I could probably heat it gently and mash it down, but this is working fine. The soap is of medium density and hardness. Not as hard as MWF, but harder than Mama Bear's, Conk or VDH.
After lathering
I did a test lather last night, but didn't shave. I was recovering from brush burn, and didn't want to push it. The shave had to wait for this morning. Last night's lather was superior to this morning, but I started with my brush too dry and was adding water for close to five minutes. This morning it started off too wet and my final product was slick and very shaveable, but not quite as fluffy as I like. Still left my skin feeling great, and I had a nice close WTG/XTG/XTG shave with no nicks or irritation.
The intense smell of the bar turned into a pleasantly scented lather that kept the orange scent in my nose without overpowering it. Mrs. Songwind said she could still smell it on my skin for a little bit after the shave. I'll definitely have to find something pleasantly fruity to wear with it.
I'm going to shave with this soap a few more times (maybe just for the rest of the week solid) and write up a performance review.
​My test lather
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I got my cake of Orange/Cedar/Pepper soap yesterday. Mike also included a sample of Rose & Cedarwood.
The first thing that I noticed was (predictably) the smell. It's a clean, sharp smell. I was hoping the orange would be the star in this mix, and I was not disappointed. It's a "fresh orange" smell, lots of orange oil and citric acid smell, not an overly sweet smell. The cedar undertone and a spicy note of pepper follow on the back end. In the bar, the scent in very powerful, and in fact made me sneeze.
Speaking of, the bar was shipped wrapped in wax paper and a corrugated paper sleeve, inside a bubble lined mailer. It arrived intact, without even the corners knocked off.
I transferred the bar to an Ikea Grundtal container. I sliced a bit off one end to give to a friend as a sample, and then trimmed the corners to fit the circle. The corners then wedged right into the sides. I could probably heat it gently and mash it down, but this is working fine. The soap is of medium density and hardness. Not as hard as MWF, but harder than Mama Bear's, Conk or VDH.
After lathering
I did a test lather last night, but didn't shave. I was recovering from brush burn, and didn't want to push it. The shave had to wait for this morning. Last night's lather was superior to this morning, but I started with my brush too dry and was adding water for close to five minutes. This morning it started off too wet and my final product was slick and very shaveable, but not quite as fluffy as I like. Still left my skin feeling great, and I had a nice close WTG/XTG/XTG shave with no nicks or irritation.
The intense smell of the bar turned into a pleasantly scented lather that kept the orange scent in my nose without overpowering it. Mrs. Songwind said she could still smell it on my skin for a little bit after the shave. I'll definitely have to find something pleasantly fruity to wear with it.
I'm going to shave with this soap a few more times (maybe just for the rest of the week solid) and write up a performance review.
​My test lather
Great write up, I may have to get this as I love citrus soaps
Got my Mike's order yesterday, a Barbershop bar and a very generously sized sample of the Rose & Cedarwood (thanks Mike!). I was feeling lazy this morning so I tried using it like a shave stick. The lather was nothing to look at, but it was really really slick and I got a two pass DFS with zero irritation. I can't wait to give this a proper go with my brush and bowl, as I am not a great face latherer. The scent isn't what I would personally describe as Barbershop, but it is a nice manly scent that I really enjoyed. Thanks Mike!
Yes, lemon/verbena is my absolutely favorite early morning scent. L'Occitane Lemon/Verbena is the *only* soap I've actually stocked up on, because I can *always* handle Lemon/Verbena in the mornings... Other scents, maybe, maybe not, but I'll always be able to use up any lemon scent I've got. (Just recently used some lime shaving soaps, and I don't think I can get tired of a simple lime scent in the morning either.) Maybe a lemon-lime
Songwind, I did the exact same thing as you. Those ikea grundtal containers are great.
My bar of barbershop arrived on Saturday. I think it's a very good soap. It is a bit thirsty compared to other things in my rotation but I was able to good lather from it with some practice and effort. I do find that my skin feels so great after I shave with it that I don't need to use AS which is a real plus for me.
Has anyone else tried using this soap in a scuttle? I am totally comfortable with the idea that it's just me, but I think the lather doesn't like the heat. I didn't get nearly the same thickness or staying power of lather in my scuttle that I did in a cool bowl.
I recently read a how-to of MWF that suggested the higher warmth melts the lanolin and interferes with the lather building.
I recently read a how-to of MWF that suggested the higher warmth melts the lanolin and interferes with the lather building.
I ordered a sample of all 4 soaps.. He doesnt have samples set up for sale yet but he cut me some and sent them for a pretty good price.. I'll also be posting a review on them when I receive them next week
I think that's pretty much true of any soap (or cream, for that matter). Warm lather feels great, but the heat definitely punches some holes in it over the course of a shave. It's one reason I rarely use my scuttle any more. (Not to mention the fact that the whole process is a lot faster when you don't have to fill, use & afterwards rinse a scuttle.)
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Yep, I have. I don't keep my scuttle reservoir HOT, just warm. The lather stays warm, and I've not had any issues with it drying up on me.
Add another satisfied Barber Shop user to the total. Got my Mikes shipment here in Japan a couple of days ago, and got a couple of shaves in as well. With a best badger hair brush, Mikes soap gave me a 3 pass MWF quality lather (in terms of hydration, slickness, thickness, and smoothness) in about half the time as the real MWF, and the scent has the kind of good lasting kick that Mama Bear's soaps do. That is a very good cross, indeed.
The bath soap is also superior- lots of boldness, moisturizes, and rinses clean.
The bath soap is also superior- lots of boldness, moisturizes, and rinses clean.
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Took my brush to Mike's Barbershop bar this morning. Loaded for about 20 seconds, and transferred to my bowl. Took a bit of time and more water than I would have thought, but I got plenty of lather. Nice and slick, but less cushion than I expected, I'll blame my inexperience. BUT - I got a great shave and my skin feels great! This soap is a winner for sure.
Just ordered some LIME (Just plain LIME) from Mike's web site! (Says it won't be ready to ship for a couple of days on the site, I presume still curing) but wanted to get an order in to try it out !! 
I ordered the lime and the peppermint rosemary. I really like the O/CW/BP.
