Honeybee Spa shavings Soaps

I just tried Ye Olde Barbershop today and I was amazed. I did my normal routine but ended up with enough lather for about 6 passes at least. The scent was awesome, kind of powdery and just right on the money. This lather was amazingly sticky. My brush couldn't wipe it from my lathering bowl during the entire lather building stage. Nonetheless it didn't load up my razor and easily washed off. I got a great shave and don't notice any irritation after 4 passes and some touch ups. This is a very good product!

Let me be clear, I rated this product based on the fact that it costs around $4. HBS is my favorite glycerin soap.

Some people ding this soap because the fragrance is not over the top, smack you in the face strong. Let me say this, the fragrance is the perfect strength for me. I have tried to use another popular brand of glycerin soaps, but my skin will not get along with any I've tried because the concentration of fragrance oils is too high -- this is not the case with HBS. I get just enough fragrance to enjoy the shave.

This soap lathers up so well and provides an extremely slick shave. It also seems to last much longer than other glycerin based soaps. I just can't say enough good things about her soaps, and I hope she stays in business for many years to come.

Wonderful shave soap. Easy to lather and the stick form doesn't require an extended soak before use. Face feels smooth and moisturized after use. Strong scents in package (at least with the Cherry Tobacco), mild scent on face after use, no need for aftershave after use. Will definitely order again once the two sticks I have are used up.

Reasonable price, great service. Scents are wonderful with a good lather. Overall a very nice experience!!!!http://badgerandblade.com/vb/images/smilies/yellow_guys/001_smile.gif

Bought a 6 pack sampler for $23 and have used two, Cedar and Victorian Rose,I can't say enough about how nice the shaves were.

Although I am relatively new to B&B I have been using a shaving mug and brush for almost 40 years.

I started using these soaps about a year ago and I really like them.

They lather very nicely, they’re agreeable with my skin and they’re very moist too. The price makes them a world beater.

Sue is very easy to work with and is quick to respond to questions. I wanted some of her essential oil soaps that she only lists in the poured jars as pucks. She emailed me back very quickly with prices and was almost as quick to ship them when I ordered them.

She packs everything very well and she even sent me a refund for the difference when the S&H was less than she calculated. Where else are you going to find that?

For the record the essential oil soaps that I have are: Lavender, Pure Lime, and Floral Euphoria. I like them all.

I also have the Almond, Hydrogen, Caribbean Coconut, Lime, and South Seas in the standard soaps. The Almond was unusual in that the scent was hard to even detect in the mug. It wasn’t until the first time I lathered it up that it really came out. It just exploded after that. I think it just needed to know it was loved…

I use the poured jars as my travel soaps. Screw the lid on, toss it in the old suitcase and go. The jar is a light plastic and it seals tight.

She has enough of a variety of scents to keep life interesting. I am looking forward to try a few more.

If you don’t see something that you want or the way you want it – like my essential oil pucks instead of jars – just send her an email and she’ll probably be able to help you.

If you haven’t tried them give them a shot.

I tried Honeybee thanks to the reviews on this board. Both my wife and I are enamored with these soaps. The variety of scents are great. So far, I have Yazu, Coconut Lime Verbana, Fireside, Autumn Afternoon, Cherry Pipe Tobacco, and one other (name escapes me). They all perform great. I think the variety keeps me reaching for these over my TOBS, C&E Nomad, MB, and Conk, Figaro, and Cella soaps.I like that I can melt and pour these into my Ancor bowls for storage. I've had an easy time lathering with either my badger or boar brushes. The lather has been an excellent balance between protective and slick. I've also noticed that it doesn't seem to dry my face out. For both my wife and myself, these have quickly become our favorites. Hope Honeybee sticks around for a long time.Of course, as always, YMMV.

Great shave soap at an outstanding price. It lathers like a fiend and provides excellent lubrication for a zero irritation shave. I am currently using Bay Rum scented Honeybee soap and I like it as much as my Trumpers. My only complaint is that it seems to dissolve much faster than the Trumpers. For $3.50 a puck though, you cannot go wrong.

Here is the ingredients list:

Coconut Oil
Palm Oil
Castor Oil
Safflower Oil
Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin)
Purified Water
Shea Butter
Hempseed Oil
Aloe Vera
Kaolin Clay
Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent)
Sorbitol (from berries, moisturizer)
Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier)
Soybean protein (conditioner)
Wheat Protein (lather increaser)
Vitamin E


I like this soap a lot and would buy it again. The unscented soap smells like its ingredients I suppose, but I actually really like the scent. Put it close to your nose and it smells like a very pleasant clean, natural scent. The soap also lathers well (just as well as any cream I've tried) and is protective enough during the shave, though since it is a soap it shaves a bit closer than a cream.

While I wouldn't go without a balm or face moisturizer of some kind the soap definitely did not leave my face dry and tight after the shave. Actually my skin felt very nice and the soap rinsed off easily. The only downside is that my small brush needed to be reloaded with soap for the second pass and touch up shave.

Recommended.

Price - They're inexpensive, not cheap. Phenomenal cost:value ratio.

Quality - Gotta leave room for improvement. There may well be a better soap, but at what cost to find out? It'd be nice if Sue provided a plastic case option (à la Mama Bear or QED), for travel or ease of rotation.

Scent - Some I like, some less so, and a few I really like -- but there's likely going to be something for everyone. And at the price, it's worthwhile to experiment.

Lather - Less than a dozen or so swirls 'round the puck and I have all the lather I need for two passes.

Efficacy - It lubricates without being unduly slick. Doesn't leave a residue. (ugghh - I'm starting to sound like a commercial)

Moisturizing - Not so I've noticed - but it certainly isn't drying.

And Sue is wonderful to deal with -- quick & cheerful correspondence, and she even found me a scent I was looking for that wasn't listed.

HBS soaps are great IMO. The prices are great and so many scents to choose from. I own Yuzu, Sandalwood, and Victorian Rose. The only one I don't like is Sandalwood but I've nothing to compare it too as I've never smelled Sandalwood before, so maybe I just plain don't like that smell in anything.

Of all the shaving soaps I've tried these dry my face the least. I find that my face actually feels nice and elastic after my post shave routine. I use less everything to moisten my face when shaving with HBS.

Great lather and tons of it.

I just finished trying all six of my new HBS. These are the best soaps I have tried to date. I purchased Bay Rum, Yuzu, Cedarwood Amber, Eucalyptus Spearmint, Coconut Lime Verbena, and Mayan Gold. I would have to say that my favorite is Coconut Lime Verbena.

Price can't be beat.

Quality is top notch

Scent I marked down a little. Not because it smells bad but because it isn't as strong as I prefer. I can whip up Mama Bears and the smell takes over the bathroom. With HBS I can smell it but I wish it was stronger.

Lather is awesome. I can make enough lather for 3 passes and if I could save it I would have enough for 5 more. This is also the slickest soap I have tried to date, yes even compared to Tabac.

Efficacy is also top notch.

I gave it a ten in the moisturizing category. I can use my slant with a feather and get BBS and my face doesn't feel dry. No other soap has given me this same feeling in this department.

If you haven't tried these yet you owe it to yourself to try them. You won't be dissapointed.

I went to the “Bay” to purchase some of these soaps after reading this tread. Here is what I think.

Price: Very good when you buy a sample pack (especially the 6 pack). Like most internet soaps there is hidden cost in shipping which can be dramatically reduced buy buying in bulk.

Quality: Really very good. This is a poured soap like VDH or Conk’s. You can’t really compare these soaps with hard milled soaps which last longer (per ounce) and are a completely different animal. I would say that the quality of Honeybee soaps are on par with VDH or Conk’s or somewhat above. The bottom line: Perfectly good shave!

Scent: Honeybees greatest strength AND weakness
I love the fact that there are so many choices. Whatever you like you will find it in this product line. Citrus? Floral? Spicey…no problem. The fragrance oils seem to be more “commercial” than the uber quality oils in soaps like Trumper’s or D.R. Harris. In addition they tend to be one-note wonders rather than complex blends. This is neither good nor bad; it is just the way it is. When you smell single note scents they often will take you back to other similar smells. For instance the Forest Pine reminds me of Pine Sol because that is my reference point. This is not necessary a good thing. The Yuzu is not a familiar scent to me (although it is very citrusy/orangey). Because I can’t tag it to something else, I like it much more. This could be different if I was Japanese and knew what a real Yuzu smelled like. I didn’t particularly like the violet scent as I was hoping for a Trumper clone. The violet scent (to me) has more of a room freshener smell.

It does look like Honeybee is starting to experiment with more complex scents. I also tried their 4 oz Tub of “Floral Explosion” and although I could strongly pick up one scent (gardenia?) there were other notes presents. I really liked “Floral Explosion” and it seems to have a higher fragrance content so it stays around a bit longer.

Lather: Pretty good. I tend to load up soaps and then face lather. Like most soaps you have to find the right water/soap ratio but when you do the soap works great.

Efficacy: Very good. My shave was very smooth and pull free.

Moisturizing: Very good. My skin was soft and calm post shave.

As this is a glycerin based soap it is very easy to melt. I melted some of my pucks in small disposable food storage cups making them perfect for rotations or travel.

The bottom line: A very nice soap worth your consideration as it offers both value and a good shave.

Well this stuff just works for me. I finally broke down and bought one of the samplers. Every one I have tried thus far works well. They smell good and really do smell like what they claim to smell like.

I am a fan. Thanks Sue!

These are the 2nd brand of soap used since trying DE shaving. My 1st was TOBS Sandalwood.
My reaction to honeybee was "Wow does this stuff lather compared to TOBS!"
I've got Mayan Gold, Dragons Blood & Ye Old Barber Shop.
If Dragon Blood were the only Honeybee soap then i would mark it down on scent (5 - smells like sarsaparilla - yuk) & moisterising (5 - actually aggravates the skin a little).

Let me start by saying that it is often pretty difficult to impress me when it comes to shaving products. I envy those that can shave with just about anything and get great results . I have a very tough beard and sensitive skin, so my shaving substrate really needs to have it's ducks in a row. I can unequivocally state that HBS soaps provide all the discerning wetshaver's needs.

Let me first start by saying how great it is to work with Sue. Questions sent to her are answered within minutes, and she obviously is incredibly good at what she does. First-rate customer service.

Price is a real no-brainer. These are some of the most inexpensive shaving soaps on the market, and from the looks of it they seem as though they'll last quite a while. Very economical. Easy 10 for price.

Scent. Oh. My. God. I ordered her Old Spice, Vetyver and Ye Olde Barbershop. Not only do they smell absolutely incredible by putting your nose to them, the scent translates very well to lather. The Old Spice is a SPOT-ON match for Proctor & Gamble Old Spice. If you're looking for something that smells like Shulton, I'd recommend Mama Bear's Aged Spice. The Vetyver. OMFG the Vetyver. Guys, this is one of the best smelling shaving products I've ever used. It is not a traditional vetiver, but it's still very grassy, earthy and clean. Absolutely amazing! I quickly ordered bath soap, body wash and hand lotion in this scent. Ye Olde Barbershop smells very good as well. Creamy, a bit warm, sweet, powdery and I believe I detect some Bay Rum-ish scent in there as well.

Stickler for a high-quality lather, I am. It didn't take me long to get the water ratio down, and I was rewarded with lather-a-plenty. Maybe not so thick and rich as my Tabac or D.R. Harris, but very acceptable.

Quality and efficacy are off the charts. As I mentioned earlier, it takes alot for products to impress me. Well, HBS does. These soaps have EVERYthing that a sensitive wetshaver such as myself demands. They are very slick, very close-cutting and at the same time they are very cushioning as well. My face feels wonderful after shaving with HBS. I had to give moisturizing a 10 as well. No reason whatsoever for a balm or even a milk following a shave. What's better is they LEAVE my face feeling fantastic for the rest of the day.

In conclusion, these soaps are some of the best I've tried and I've tried a hell of a lot of them. The price can't be beat, the quality is AA, scents are AMAZING, they're a pleasure to shave with and they leave your face feeling great. Can't ask for much more.

HBS soaps have really worked for me. I've bought a lot of expensive soaps looking for soap nirvana and only a couple of the pricey ones have beaten the much much cheaper HBS. Yuzu is my favorite scent so far, but I've still got a bunch in plastic. One complaint is they last too long so I haven't gotten to some of them!

Jasmine - Sue's jasmine is wonderful!

Like real jasmine blossoms, this gem of a soap is luscious, sweet, not exactly pungent, but rich and dripping with fragrance. It completely avoids the common floral pitfalls and is neither perfumey (not a word) nor cloying - I dislike most florals, have tossed out a soap for being overly sweet, can't stand most all perfumes and colognes, and absolutely love HBS Jasmine.

It makes you feel like you've just stepped out into a warm tropical evening. You'll want to do more passes than you need simply to keep enjoying the scent. After the shave, if you cup your hands about your wonderfully moisturized visage, you can detect just the tiniest lingering hint of that lovely wee blossom.

The only bad part is you'll spend the rest of the day trying to smell your own face.

These are absolutely some of the best soaps on the market-period! In fact, you could pick one in your favorite scent and never have to buy another soap until it ran out(sacrilege!) and be happy.

If it was possible to rate quality higher I would because you get more than what you pay for with this soap.

I currently have Bay Rum(somehow this is the scent I remember that takes me back in time), Sandalwood Vanilla(orgasmic-trust me!), and Dragon's Blood(which I actually do not care for but the shave is so great, I figured WTH). The only reason I have 3 is because when i purchased the 6 pack sampler, I gave 3 pucks away to beginning wetshavers(stupid!-should have kept them for myself).

6 pucks for 19.99-you must be kidding? But that is the best deal on soaps out there. Sure, you can buy cheaper but this soap proves the difference between cheap and inexpensive.

I should have reviewed these long ago, but from everything I have seen, most of us feel the same way about our Honey Sue. If you have not tried any of the HBS, what are you waiting for? RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

I have read all of the hype about these soaps since I joined this board a couple months back, but I didn't believe any of it. After selling a couple of things on ebay, I found myself with some cash in the PayPal account so I figured I would give them a whirl. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner! Now, my review, as if I could even come close to doing justice.

Price -- You really aren't going to find this quality of soap for the price. Even with shipping charge, HoneyBee spa soaps are some of the cheapest around. Speaking of shipping, it is extremely fast! I ordered mine on a Sunday and got them on Wednesday morning.

Quality -- Again, the quality of these soaps is out of this world.

Scent -- I ordered a couple of different scents, but the one I started with was Coffee Mocha. All I can say about this is that Coffee Mocha really smells like coffee! It isn't overpowering, just very rich. And, the scent does linger for a while...I could still smell coffee a couple of hours after shaving. And, my bathroom smelled like coffee that night. Very nice!

Lather -- Ah, the important soap criterion...lather. Lather is just not a problem with this stuff. I gave the puck a few swirls with my Vulfix and then proceeded to lather on my face. I did three passes and still had enough for three more. The lather is nice and slick but rinses clean.

Efficacy -- From my review thus far, you can probably guess what I am going to say here. These things get the job done very well. I was shaving with a Gillette Slim loaded with a Wilkinson Sword and could not believe how smooth my face was, even without ATG.

Moisturizing -- For me, this is THE most important criterion. I have dry, sensitive skin to begin with and can never seem to keep it hydrated enough, especially during shaving. To make matters worse, I am currently "enjoying" my first Wisconsin winter, having spent most of my life in the south. The last couple of months have been hell on my face...all sorts of redness and irritation popping up in random spots. I didn't have one problem yesterday after shaving with HoneyBee soap...my face was moisturized during and after my shave.

If you have yet to try this stuff, you need to get on the ball. Be careful though, once you try it you will probably sell all of your assorted creams and soaps that have taken so long to accumulate.

Well done, HoneyBee Sue!