Fitjar Såpekokeri

Cheech;1754057 said:

As if this writing, the creams run about $31 USD. You can get the sample pack (3 scents of your choosing) for $21. $9USD shipping for Europe, and $16USD for shipping to the US.

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I would love to try some of their creams, but I can't find anything about a sample pack at the web store. Is this a special request you have to make?

I agree, these are one of the few creams I use. Interesting and unique scents with extraordianry lather. The Rose is wonderful.

I have tested around 40 creams including a broad selection of the legendary British ones and for me these are by far the best. Since then I have bought the Norwegian Fern cream and the Folgefonn creams in tubs and the Telemark cream in a travel-sized jar.

Price: the price is reflected in the quality of the product.

Quality: this cream has a very nice consistency and a little dollop is enough for a three pass shave.

Scent: the scents are mostly discrete yet distinct and very refined. You fill find a variety of interesting scents that you do not find in the mainstream. The Telemark is a nice example with its tar and pine scent: delicious.

Latherability: the creams lather like a dream. They may require a bit more water to get going than most. If you soak your brush, shake out most of the water without squeezing and apply a dollop of cream within the bristles and start face lathering you will soon have rich lather shooting out of your brush.

Efficacy: I find the lather to be thick, slick and cushy and gives an outstandingly comfortable shave.

Moisturizing properties: these creams belong to the category that have so good moisturizing properties that I sometimes forget about using an ASB.

Packaging: functional and serves its purpose, this is never really an issue for me.

These are first class shaving creams made with some of the best ingredients available and very natural too. I have Bee My Honey & Wild Thing Well Bred both scents are awsome.

The razor glide & moisturizing properties are excellent.

Go on, you know it makes sense.

I have ordered myself a Neroli Cream and a sample with Citrus kick, Fjellheim and Folgefonn.
Unfortunately, the smell from the Neroli is not very intensive. The other qualities are outstanding.
Citrus kick and Fjellheim I will reorder in the regular size.

I had a chance to get a used tub of Calmomilla from another member here in the forums. My only regret is that there isn't more cream left in the tub!

The scent is not something that I am wild about, it has a very natural smell to it. But I am starting to get used to this, creams/soaps that work very well for me don't have an appealing scent, those that do smell great disappoint me in the performance department. However, I will take a great performer over a great smelling product any day. The smell is gone within minutes anyway, a good shave will be with me for hours.

The lather is different. I face lather and I ended up with a thick, creamy layer on my face. I may have used too much cream, but I liked what I saw. The cream was very protective, the razor had a hard time cleaning the cream from my face with 1 stroke, I could safely do multiple strokes over the same area because there was still cream left behind. However, if you don't rinse your razor every 3-4 strokes, it may clog. It was not really an issue for me as I dip my razor in a mug with water every few strokes. You will also notice that you have to work a little bit harder when you get to the final rinse cycle to get rid of all the cream from your face. To me this is a good thing, it means the protection stays where I need it. I don't like lather that you take 1 stroke with the razor and the face feels squeaky clean already.

The face was left nice and soft after the shave, not dry which can happen to me with some products.

In conclusion, I really enjoy this "off the beaten path" cream and I wish there was more left in my tub as it's not cheap to get a new one shipped to the US. I will look next for the Shea Pleasure version.

I took the lead on Seth’s moving sale, and found myself with a load of these creams. I tried a couple, and thought I’d write a review. I have some of them up on B/S/T at the time of this writing, so I’ll offer that in the interest of disclosure. Hopefully, people will write their own reviews as they get them and try them. Their international site (English) is http://www.fitjarsoapinternational.com/. For now, here is my review:

Price: As if this writing, the creams run about $31 USD. You can get the sample pack (3 scents of your choosing) for $21. $9USD shipping for Europe, and $16USD for shipping to the US. For a 200ml tub (6.8 oz). For a somewhat equal comparison, below is the prices for some common creams. Fitjar is not at the top, but higher than some. Is it worth it? Your decision. Read on…

Castle Forbes Lavendar ----- $38 for 6.8oz. = $5.59/oz.
DR Harris Almond ------------- $25 for 5oz. = $5.00/oz.
Fitjar ---------------------- $31 for 6.8oz. = $4.56/oz.
Art of Shaving --------------- $22 for 5oz. = $4.40/oz.
TOBS Avacado ----------- $16.50 for 5.3oz = $3.11/oz.
Cello ------------------------- $11 for 5oz. = $2.20/oz.
Proraso Cream --------------- $11 for 5.2oz = $2.12/oz.

Quality: This stuff is unlike the other creams I have tried. In all fairness, I generally prefer soaps. However, this cream is sooo thick, slick, and protective; I may just have to change my mind. Its thick enough where I would compare it to an Italian “soap” rather than a true cream. The quality is defiantly top of the line, on par with anything you may want to stack against it.

Scent: The scents are also very different from other creams. To me, it felt like a strong undertone (and sometimes dominant) scent of wood, perhaps pine. At first, I didn’t care for it. Then, it grew on me. Its pretty hard to describe but, either way, the scent is strong in the container and mellows once lathering.

Latherability: I’m still getting the hang of lathering this. It lathers easily and well, but the cream/water mixture is different than other creams. So far, it seems to have a really wide comfort zone in terms of the mixture. Once lathered, it is solid. I’ve had other creams that had to be re-whipped between passes. This is not one of them. Only when my scuttle is super-hot have I had to add water. Otherwise, this stuff is stable as the day is long.

Efficacy: Fitjar is really something different. It works in beautifully. Its slick, and cushions and protects throughout. Maybe its just me, but this cream is unlike any other I have tried. Not meaning better or worse. Just different. I have noticed that its thick enough where I have to watch my injector so it doesn’t clog. With a straight, this isn’t a problem.

Moisturizing Properties: After I finish shaving, my skin feels smooth and moist. So far, I haven’t noticed strong moisturizing properties in any of the creams or soaps I have used. I have noticed a strong moisturizing with Fitjar. Maybe it’s the clay. Clay is supposed to do that, right? I’ll be curious to hear other reviews and how they rank it. For me, it is the most moisturizing soap/cream I have yet to use.

Packaging: Just like the picture. I like it. I think its elegant and understated. Of course, I also think Truefitt and Hill’s tubs are understated and elegant. A simple plastic tub. Not as nice as the MWF ceramic, but I don’t mind leaving it out on the counter.

Summary: A different cream. Almost as thick as the Italian soaps. Protective, slick, and forgiving in lather. A scent that is truly unique. But, at a price. Personally, I have to take into account that this is a hand-made cream. And, I have a soft spot for such things so that probably colors my judgment somewhat. For me, its worth it. I would say that if you think you’ve tried a bunch of creams and soaps, they all seem pretty similar, and you have the scratch; give it a shot. Its not the end all/be all of creamdom, but it’s its own thing.

If you haven’t tried too many creams and/or soaps, I’d say hold off. I’d say explore some of the other creams out there. And when you want to try something different, you’ll have a better perspective to appreciate how unique this is.

Have you tried the Shea Pleasure cream? How does this perform relative to the standard EO creams? I am about to place my order!

Fitjar Såpekokeri is an artisan soap company based in Norway and is run by a woman named Jorunn Hernes.



I first came about these creams after reading a review of the soaps that a gentleman posted on SMF. I later ordered the sample satchel of creams to get a sense of the fragrances of each product. The products produced by Fitjar are all natural and contain only essential oils for fragrance.

I found that all of the creams lathered equally regardless of the fragrance and thus this review is of the creams produced by Fitjar.

Price: As with any artisan soap/cream with EO only fragrance additions the price is not cheap but it is affordable and is worth it.

Quality: Artisan creams that are all natural and strictly EO are hard to come by. And when you do the creams are often poor quality or don't lather very well. These are an exception to that trend. They are not whipped like AOS creams, and are not 'cold cream' textured with a shiny sheen, but are comparable to the English creams: Harris, Floris, Penhaligons in their texture. They are all a shade off white depending on the colouring of the EO introduced to the cream.

Scent: I was not fond of all of the scents when I ordered the sample satchel. But of the many I did like seven of them and later ordered seven regular sized tubs and have been using them exclusively for the better part of a month. Some of the scents are...similar to one another. But they are not too strong and not too soft (with the exception of Fjellheim, an exceptionally strong pine scent). Of the seven I chose to buy in the full size my favourite three are Miklagard, East Indies, and Calmolilia.

Latherability: I have four brushes a Silvertip, a Finest, a Pure and a Boar; none of them has had any difficulty lathering any of these creams and they lather very very easily. They produce a thick, slick long lasting lather that doesn't dry out even when you have to spend a little more time shaving due to unexpected time delays in the shave routine.

Efficacy: The beard softening qualities of these creams are perfect. I have used a lot of products and these are my top choice. This is a personal opinion as I am prone to have sensitivity issues with most creams if used for more than 3 or 4 days consecutively. Nonetheless, the beard softening and skin protection is optimal for me.

Moisturizing Properties: I compare this to my favourite soap: Tabac; it feels just right after the shave and almost makes you want to leave off the aftershave. Not too much and not too little. A great post shave feeling.

Packaging: Pretty much the same as say a Mama Bear soap container. white base and black lid. It came from fitjar wrapped and bound with a twine ribbon, a nice touch in my estimation.


Also as these products will ship internationally to nearly all who buy them the packaging was appropriate and transit time was prompt. I ordered quite a large order including soaps etc and Jorunn split the shipment in two to save on shipping costs.

I mentioned on the SMF board that I have phased out all of my other creams due to finding Fitjar.

These creams are definitely not a gamble. They are very high quality all natural products that deserve a high ranking and that's what I give them.

On another note, Jorunn is always very prompt in answering emails and is fluent in English