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Running out of soaps to try

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
FWIW...I have had problems with skin reactions to Sterling soaps...

It could be the fragrance intensity. Stirling make both (very) strongly scented soaps and lightly scented soaps. Try the citrus scents, they’re usually mild, and the unscented. Samples are cheap. Of course, if you have a sensitivity to lanolin that could do it too.
 
It could be the fragrance intensity. Stirling make both (very) strongly scented soaps and lightly scented soaps. Try the citrus scents, they’re usually mild, and the unscented. Samples are cheap. Of course, if you have a sensitivity to lanolin that could do it too.
I tried about a half dozen of the soaps and had issues with several. Mind you...the stinging and redness was bothersome, but not scary bad. I have ULTRA-sensitive skin. Worst reaction I have ever had was to Oleo (old name) Providence which is/was a sweetgrass based scent in their canard base. Had several of the canard base soaps that were among my best ever. But that one lit my face up like Christmas. None of the Sterling samples came even close to that. Just minor redness and stinging.
 
It could be the fragrance intensity. Stirling make both (very) strongly scented soaps and lightly scented soaps. Try the citrus scents, they’re usually mild, and the unscented. Samples are cheap. Of course, if you have a sensitivity to lanolin that could do it too.
I've had issues with a few of them. Some of them bother my nose and some of them bother my skin. Not terribly, either way, but enough that I won't take a chance on a tub without spending some time with a sample first. There doesn't seem to be a correlation between scent intensity either, or fragrance based versus essential oil based, for that matter.
 
I can add the following to the list of tried soaps.

Stirling Sandpiper
Abbate Y La Mantia Krokos
La Troja
Floris 89 hard soap


Stirling and Abbate Y La Mantia were excellent. I can fully understand why Stirling gets the rave reviews. Definitely a keeper.

I did not enjoy La Troja or Floris 89. Both of these caused a mild skin reaction for me and I will not be using them again. Both lathered well but in terms of performance Floris was the superior product.
 
After repeated bouts of SAD, I am starting to run out of new soaps to try. Is this the light at the end of the tunnel? Am I finally reaching the bottom of the soap rabbit hole?

Below is a list of all the things I have tried so far (often multiple scents of each). I dabbled in American artisans early on but decided to focus on European makers. This is mainly due to local availability and the high shipping costs from the states. I have also made the decision not to chase vintage or out of production soaps. As far as I'm concerned if they're gone they're gone. There are too many good current production soaps to worry about it. I am also not a fan of croaps.

Are there any must try soaps that I am missing? I have mixed feelings about reaching the end. In some ways it's a relief but it's also been a lot of fun playing around and trying different things.


Acca Kappa (on order)
Antica Barbieria Colla
Acqua di Parma
Ariana & Evans
Arko
Barrister and Mann
Baume BE
Castle Forbes
Czeck and Speak
DR Harris
Fitjar Islands
Floris (on order)
Gillette Sentive
Haslinger
Klar Seifen
La Troja (on order)
Lothur (on order)
Martin de Candre
Meisser Tremonia
Mike's Naturals
Mitchells's Woll Fat
Musgo Real
Nancy Boy
Palm Olive
Panna Crema Nuavia
Pre de Provence
Proraso
Razor Rock
Santa Maria Novella
Saponificio Varesino
Sebum Gold
Simpsons
Speick
Tabac
Taylor of Old Bond Street
Truefitt and Hill
Wholly Kaw
Zingari Man
No Cella is a glaring ommision.
Trumpers is as well, the violet is fantastic but its triple milled and needs a good going at to load up properly.

Another recommendation is Dr.K Lime. A small artisan priducer but uses all natural ingredients and its non tallow. Probably one of the best performing soaps I've ever used. Great stuff.

Molton Brown is decent and cheap enough. Smells nice too.

Boots shave stick is great.

Not all TOBS are equal. The platinum soap are superb.
 
No Cella is a glaring ommision.
Trumpers is as well, the violet is fantastic but its triple milled and needs a good going at to load up properly.

Another recommendation is Dr.K Lime. A small artisan priducer but uses all natural ingredients and its non tallow. Probably one of the best performing soaps I've ever used. Great stuff.

Molton Brown is decent and cheap enough. Smells nice too.

Boots shave stick is great.

Not all TOBS are equal. The platinum soap are superb.
Which Cella would you go for? There’s Cella and Cella Bio. Is one of them better for sensitive skin?
 
After repeated bouts of SAD, I am starting to run out of new soaps to try. Is this the light at the end of the tunnel? Am I finally reaching the bottom of the soap rabbit hole?

Below is a list of all the things I have tried so far (often multiple scents of each). I dabbled in American artisans early on but decided to focus on European makers. This is mainly due to local availability and the high shipping costs from the states. I have also made the decision not to chase vintage or out of production soaps. As far as I'm concerned if they're gone they're gone. There are too many good current production soaps to worry about it. I am also not a fan of croaps.

Are there any must try soaps that I am missing? I have mixed feelings about reaching the end. In some ways it's a relief but it's also been a lot of fun playing around and trying different things.


Acca Kappa (on order)
Antica Barbieria Colla
Acqua di Parma
Ariana & Evans
Arko
Barrister and Mann
Baume BE
Castle Forbes
Czeck and Speak
DR Harris
Fitjar Islands
Floris (on order)
Gillette Sentive
Haslinger
Klar Seifen
La Troja (on order)
Lothur (on order)
Martin de Candre
Meisser Tremonia
Mike's Naturals
Mitchells's Woll Fat
Musgo Real
Nancy Boy
Palm Olive
Panna Crema Nuavia
Pre de Provence
Proraso
Razor Rock
Santa Maria Novella
Saponificio Varesino
Sebum Gold
Simpsons
Speick
Tabac
Taylor of Old Bond Street
Truefitt and Hill
Wholly Kaw
Zingari Man
Laugar of Sweden. If you like Fitjar soaps, Laugar is a step up in my opinion.
 
Austria to Australia ;)

Unfortunately the page is in German only so google translate.


vegan and organic with lots of skin goodies

Cedar

Ingredients (INCI): Sodium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Aqua, Potassium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Lanolin, Theobroma cacao seed butter*, Vitis vinifera seed oil*, Helianthus annuus hybrid oil*, Amaranthus caudatus seed oil*, Cedrus atlantica wood extract, Rosmarinus officinalis leaf extract, Parfum, Sempervivum tectorum extract*, Eugenol, Limonene

Vanilla

Ingredients (INCI): Sodium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Aqua, Potassium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Lanolin, Parfum, Persea gratissima oil*, Vitis vinifera seed oil*, Theobroma cacao seed butter*, Vanilla planifolia fruit extract, Tocopherol, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder*, Benzyl benzoate

Spike/Speick

Ingredients (INCI): Sodium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Aqua, Potassium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Lanolin, Parfum, Persea gratissima oil*, Vitis vinifera seed oil*, Theobroma cacao seed butter*, Tocopherol, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder*, Linalool, Geraniol, Eugenol, Citronellol
 
Austria to Australia ;)

Unfortunately the page is in German only so google translate.


vegan and organic with lots of skin goodies

Cedar

Ingredients (INCI): Sodium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Aqua, Potassium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Lanolin, Theobroma cacao seed butter*, Vitis vinifera seed oil*, Helianthus annuus hybrid oil*, Amaranthus caudatus seed oil*, Cedrus atlantica wood extract, Rosmarinus officinalis leaf extract, Parfum, Sempervivum tectorum extract*, Eugenol, Limonene

Vanilla

Ingredients (INCI): Sodium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Aqua, Potassium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Lanolin, Parfum, Persea gratissima oil*, Vitis vinifera seed oil*, Theobroma cacao seed butter*, Vanilla planifolia fruit extract, Tocopherol, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder*, Benzyl benzoate

Spike/Speick

Ingredients (INCI): Sodium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Aqua, Potassium cocoate*, -olivate*, -castorate*, -stearate, Lanolin, Parfum, Persea gratissima oil*, Vitis vinifera seed oil*, Theobroma cacao seed butter*, Tocopherol, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder*, Linalool, Geraniol, Eugenol, Citronellol
No need to translate. German is my first language 😉

Unfortunately it doesn’t look like they ship to Australia…
 
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G’day Tomo. An Australian soap is Whispers from the Woods - “All things nice” has a superb sandalwood and honey scent. Another brand is Salt Lake Soaps from Queensland - “Persian Lime and Lemongrass is excellent for summer.
 
Which Cella would you go for? There’s Cella and Cella Bio. Is one of them better for sensitive skin?

Go for the Red... tallow version - the bio is also meant to be good, but you're really going to want to try or ought to try the Cella Red at some time or another... unless you despise the smell of Marzipan/Ameretto.
 
Go for the Red... tallow version - the bio is also meant to be good, but you're really going to want to try or ought to try the Cella Red at some time or another... unless you despise the smell of Marzipan/Ameretto.
The Ameretto scents tend to light up my face. Extra Extra Bio might be the safer bet.
 
I was eying up SKOGSRA (jumiper).

I have all of them and I had a reaction to Ragnarok (all cedar...so if you have cedar allergies...not a good idea). Both Alvdans and SKogsra are fantastic, but the juniper is not what you'd expect...it is way more coniferous and piney than what one might assume. Therefore, Alvdans is certainly the safest bet scent-wise.
 
I've added a few more soaps toe the tried list. I think I'm done now. That's 43 soaps that I've tried. Assuming that I haven't missed any.

Abbate y la Mantia
Acca Kappa
Antica Barbieria Colla
Aqua di Parma
Ariana & Evans
Arko
Barrister and Mann
Baume BE
Castle Forbes
Czeck and Speak
DR Harris
Fitjar Islands
Floris
Gillette Sentive
Haslinger
Klar Seifen Classic
Klar Seifen Charcoal
La Troja
Laugar
Lothur
Martin de Candre
Meisser Tremonia
Mike's Naturals
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Musgo Real
Nancy Boy
Palm Olive
Panna Crema Nuavia
Pre de Provence
Proraso
Razor Rock
Santa Maria Novella
Saponificio Varesino
Sebum Gold
Simpsons
Speick
Tabac
Taylor of Old Bond Street
Truefitt and Hill
Wiener Seifen
Wholly Kaw
Zingari Man
 
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