Item Description
Em's Place is one of our online vendors that makes & sells good products but for some reason you just don't hear much about them. So, mainly out of curosity, I purchased a puck of Em's Woodstock scent glycerine shaving soap to try since I've never used it & I'm always on the lookout for another good soap. 
So without further ado, let's get down to business:
First off, the shipping from Em's was pretty fast. I ordered on Monday & had it in my mailbox by Wednesday afternoon. Considering I live almost on the other side of the country from Em's & it was mailed via standard Parcel Post at the USPS, I was impressed. The packaging on the soap was sorta blah...just plain plastic wrapping with a sticker on the front & back listing the ingredients, her address, website address, etc...not like the packaging of a fine English soap or cream where you get a glossy, pretty box that you can 'ooohhh & aaahhhh' over. It doesn't really bother me much because I care more about the product. YMMV of course.
As for ratings:
Price: I gave Em's a 7 on price because, while not expensive, it is $6.25 for a 3 oz puck which equals $2.08/oz. I have other handmade shave soaps that work just as well but cost half as much per ounce. In other words, I thought it was a tad high in relation to other similar soaps. [Disclaimer: I am not in the soapmaking business so I have no idea of the costs associated with the raw materials, EO's, FO's, etc of the soaping trade.]
Quality: Excellent. No other word needed to describe it.
Scent: The scent is not very potent...almost muted...but does come to life somewhat when lathered up. I gave it a 9 as this particular scent smells pretty much as its name implies: woody, earthy, & herbaceous. I don't particularly love it but I can't fault Emily for me not caring for a scent I picked blindly. I would say it is 'as advertised' on her website.
Lather: Excellent. Easily a 10. Easy to make, stays hydrated, good lubrication. FWIW, I always face lather my soaps so some other method may yield different results.
Efficacy: Good as any glycerine based soap I've tried. If it has a fault, I haven't found it yet.
Moisturizing: I thought it was very moisturizing. My face feels nice & smooth, very hydrated after using this soap. I always use something after the shave but I would suspect that some of you wouldn't need an A/S or ASB after using her soaps.
In conclusion, Em's Place soaps seem to me to be as good as any other handcrafted soapmaker we are used to...they just don't get talked about as much. I don't think you can go wrong if you purchase some of her soaps. She also offers a pretty comprehensive line of proprietary men's toiletry items (shave creams, aftershaves, ASB, colognes) as well as brands such as Trumpers, Proraso, Tabac, Speick, & others. Great stuff & good service. Thumbs up for Em's Place.
So without further ado, let's get down to business:First off, the shipping from Em's was pretty fast. I ordered on Monday & had it in my mailbox by Wednesday afternoon. Considering I live almost on the other side of the country from Em's & it was mailed via standard Parcel Post at the USPS, I was impressed. The packaging on the soap was sorta blah...just plain plastic wrapping with a sticker on the front & back listing the ingredients, her address, website address, etc...not like the packaging of a fine English soap or cream where you get a glossy, pretty box that you can 'ooohhh & aaahhhh' over. It doesn't really bother me much because I care more about the product. YMMV of course.
As for ratings:
Price: I gave Em's a 7 on price because, while not expensive, it is $6.25 for a 3 oz puck which equals $2.08/oz. I have other handmade shave soaps that work just as well but cost half as much per ounce. In other words, I thought it was a tad high in relation to other similar soaps. [Disclaimer: I am not in the soapmaking business so I have no idea of the costs associated with the raw materials, EO's, FO's, etc of the soaping trade.]
Quality: Excellent. No other word needed to describe it.
Scent: The scent is not very potent...almost muted...but does come to life somewhat when lathered up. I gave it a 9 as this particular scent smells pretty much as its name implies: woody, earthy, & herbaceous. I don't particularly love it but I can't fault Emily for me not caring for a scent I picked blindly. I would say it is 'as advertised' on her website.
Lather: Excellent. Easily a 10. Easy to make, stays hydrated, good lubrication. FWIW, I always face lather my soaps so some other method may yield different results.
Efficacy: Good as any glycerine based soap I've tried. If it has a fault, I haven't found it yet.
Moisturizing: I thought it was very moisturizing. My face feels nice & smooth, very hydrated after using this soap. I always use something after the shave but I would suspect that some of you wouldn't need an A/S or ASB after using her soaps.
In conclusion, Em's Place soaps seem to me to be as good as any other handcrafted soapmaker we are used to...they just don't get talked about as much. I don't think you can go wrong if you purchase some of her soaps. She also offers a pretty comprehensive line of proprietary men's toiletry items (shave creams, aftershaves, ASB, colognes) as well as brands such as Trumpers, Proraso, Tabac, Speick, & others. Great stuff & good service. Thumbs up for Em's Place.
Last week I (finally) broke open a puck of her wonderful Bay Rum; it had been sitting a few months awaiting its turn in the rotation.
It lathered readily in my mug (moderately hard water here) and felt fine as I swirled and painted it on my face. Both my badger and boar brushes got great results.
