My orange/cedarwood/pepper arrived and I almost instantly sprung on a Lime preorder once I held it in my hands and smelled it. Can't wait for the initial shave with it.
Mike's Natural Soaps - an early review
- Thread starter MajorBurnz
- Start date
Been looking for a good orange-scented product, sounds like this will fit the bill.
Just pulled the trigger on the orange/cedarwood/pepper and the lime.
Just pulled the trigger on the orange/cedarwood/pepper and the lime.
Also just ordered and orange/cedarwood/pepper, along with a sample of the rosemary/mint. Had an email in my inbox first thing this morning from Mike, saying that my order would be shipped on Thursday and thanking me for my business. Great start so far!
I tried my sample of the orange/cedarwood/pepper this morning, and I, unfortunately, am not a fan. I love orange, I love pepper, and I like cedar, so I thought it was a no brainer. I was wrong. Other there is another component, or something about the combination that doesn't do it for me. Honestly, it reminds me of chewing on the stick after eating a creamsicle.
Up tomorrow is the Barbershop scent. If it smells as good on my face as it does in the bowl, i will have to decide whether I'm going to order a bar of it, or go back for another sample to try out the rosemary/mint. I think I missed Mike announcing that one by a day, and I'm kicking myself for my impatience! Someone please let me know how well the rosemary comes through!
Up tomorrow is the Barbershop scent. If it smells as good on my face as it does in the bowl, i will have to decide whether I'm going to order a bar of it, or go back for another sample to try out the rosemary/mint. I think I missed Mike announcing that one by a day, and I'm kicking myself for my impatience! Someone please let me know how well the rosemary comes through!
Jnyboer your location is in Georgia which is the Peach State, so tell Mike to leave out the orange and just add a peach scent. LOL! Texas would be the Yellow Rose scent, Louisiana would be crawfish etouffee....I will stop there, well one more Kentucky bourban shave cream.
Interesting, I bought a sample of the O/C/P when I sprung for the full puck of the lime
Ugh, does that mean Minnesotans would have to have Lutefisk soap?
Ugh, does that mean Minnesotans would have to have Lutefisk soap?
Shivers at the thought of a fish scented soap... LMAO... What next, cat pee for cat owners? (Oh, wait, you can always just add a drop or 2 of the veg to an un-scented soap.)
Got my email from Mike, he sent my samples out today 
Shivers at the thought of a fish scented soap... LMAO... What next, cat pee for cat owners? (Oh, wait, you can always just add a drop or 2 of the veg to an un-scented soap.)
As a fellow penguin, this should not be an issue for you.
LOL... Remember, Linus thought Tux should have a satiated look on his face just like he'd gorged on fish OR had just gotten L***...
I prefer to go with the latter...
I prefer my fish like I prefer my cats... as pets... swimming in an aquarium.
I prefer to go with the latter...
I prefer my fish like I prefer my cats... as pets... swimming in an aquarium.
Thanks for the review. Just ordered a bar of OPC and a sample of Barbershop. Been itching to try a new soap! I've been using Benton Clay's Vetiver Paradisi for a while now...which I think is excellent... but it was time to try something new.
Used the barbershop sample again this morning. This is a really nice soap. Got a wonderful lather out of it.
Earlier I posted that I really didn't like this scent.......well, it's growing on me. I still don't love it, but I'm beginning to like it a bit. Maybe it's because I'm associating the scent with the great lather and great shaves!
Earlier I posted that I really didn't like this scent.......well, it's growing on me. I still don't love it, but I'm beginning to like it a bit. Maybe it's because I'm associating the scent with the great lather and great shaves!
I got a sample of the barbershop and the Orange... LOVE the scent of both, but I can't get a decent lather from these soaps to save my life. I normally use MWF, Tabac, or Arko, and I can get effortless lather with the MWF in 30 seconds or less. I have tried all kinds of ways to get the Mike's soap to lather, and I get lather, but it's weak and doesn't cover well. It also doesn't feel slick like my other soaps.
Normally I face lather. Last night as a last resort, I bowl lathered with my Semogue brush. I got a big lather, but again it was thin and runny. Didn't coat well. I ended up having to reload the brush before each pass too... Results are even worse with my badger brush. So I'm afraid this soap is a no-go for me. It's too bad too, because I love the scent, and I love that it's an American made artisan product. So far I have tried Marco's method, the standard MWF method, and everything in between.
Anyone else having lather issues?
Normally I face lather. Last night as a last resort, I bowl lathered with my Semogue brush. I got a big lather, but again it was thin and runny. Didn't coat well. I ended up having to reload the brush before each pass too... Results are even worse with my badger brush. So I'm afraid this soap is a no-go for me. It's too bad too, because I love the scent, and I love that it's an American made artisan product. So far I have tried Marco's method, the standard MWF method, and everything in between.
Anyone else having lather issues?
I did at first, because I had trouble finding my water balance.
How long are you loading your brush? I load pretty heavily, about 45-60 seconds with a damp, not soaking, brush.
How long are you loading your brush? I load pretty heavily, about 45-60 seconds with a damp, not soaking, brush.
This is so funny. I have a bar of the Orange/Cedarwood/Black Pepper, and I have exactly the opposite experience with this soap. The soap likes tons of water. I use Marco's method and it works like a charm. Tons of thick, slick, cushioning, great-smelling lather. Effortlessly. The soap almost lathers itself.
In fact, I was planning to post this morning about how, after using it extensively, this could quite possibly be one of the best soaps I own. And that's saying something.
Conversely, I've also been using RazoRock's Limited Edition soap, which I thought I loved. But now I'm not so sure. Even though the lather I get from it is copious & stable, compared with Mike's I get next to no protection and very little glide. In fact, in terms of protection it's more akin to a melt-and-pour soap. I actually get more slickness from a melt-and-pour! I'm still experimenting w/the soap-to-water ratio but adding more water didn't increase the slickness like I hoped it would. I'm not optimistic about this one.
Have you communicated your problems to Mike? Maybe you got a dud batch?
EDIT: Yeah, I load my brush for at least a minute, if not more. Have you tried using your sample like a stick & rubbing it on your face?
Last night I loaded for about a minute... IT got to the point that foam was all over the sink, all over my hands, lowing over the bowl.... Then, I started to build the lather. Better than previous attempts, but still nowhere near my three benchmark soaps. I have tried both damp and soaking brushes. Neither has made a difference for me.
No I haven't... I hadn't really thought of doing that either - I just figure, some soaps work great for some people. There's lots of guys that just for the life of them cannot lather MWF. Doesn't make it a bad soap though. I don't dislike Mike's soap, I'm just disappointed that it wasn't able to stack up to MWF like some have said it does.
I haven't tried doing the shave stick think. My Tabac and obviously Arko are both sticks... I'll try that before I trow in the towel altogether.
Yeah, I know. I'm one of them.
Got rid of my puck ages ago. But now I'm half thinking about giving it another go...altho even if I manage to get a decent lather I never much cared for the smell.If Mike's soap still doesn't work for you even after using it as a stick (which I did once, btw, using a full bar, and it worked beautifully), I'd send him an email. He's l'artiste du savon after all, so likely you'll get an answer straight from the horse's (soaper's?) mouth.
Good luck!
I'm with Evbo on this one. I don't find it difficult to lather in the least.
