Mama Bear has made a career out of something she loves, which is making heavenly-scented products that just work. This soap is another notch in her love-scented belt.
I don't know the history of this scent design, but I do know the following things:
Price: My soap was $6.99 for a 4oz. Mama Bear's tub. You know, the tubs that, once you've finished your Mama Bear's soap, could be used for just about anything? In this case, once I'm done with this soap, I think I'll use it for salsa since it already has lime and cilantro built in.
Quality: Top notch. Soap is a very pale, transparent yellow and evenly poured in the tub. Screw top tub is of very stout construction. The soap is well-scented and has no flaws.
Scent: Ah, this is where Mama Bear shines above the rest. This soap has a very pronounced and direct lime smell with just a hint of the underlying cilantro. The word I keep coming back to is 'fresh' in trying to describe it. It is a light scent, well-suited to sunny weather and carefree days. The lime scent is very distinct and sharp, is not sweet or cloying, and is not muddled with much else. It doesn't feel like there is much of an underlying basenote anywhere, just the high-flying lime and cilantro scents. My wife, who wrinkles her nose at most of my 'old man' scented products (read: Tabac), couldn't get enough of smelling this soap. Of course, she also looooooves a good margarita, which is a point I want to make: this does not smell sweet and sugary like a margarita mix from Applebee's or some other such place. The lime and cilantro in this are very much in the sour/acid family, which is exactly where I want them to be. With a bit of tequila smell added, it would smell like a proper sugarless margarita should!
Lather: This is not Tabac and will not build giant piles of bowl-overflowing lather, but that's not why I buy Mama Bear's soaps. The lather I made was opaque, with fine bubbles, and held up through two solid passes with enough left in the brush for a third after only 25 swirls on top of the tub with a B&B Essential (not the stiffest brush ever made, if you're familiar). I face lathered this one, and it was very satisfying.
Efficacy: This was a dream to shave with. My Tech/Derby combo felt like it was ice-skating across my face, pulling off two days worth of growth with absolutely no irritation on either the WTG or XTG passes. At times, there was so much cushion that I wasn't getting any feedback from the razor, and had to touch my face with my fingers to make sure it had cut anything away! This is probably the slickest Mama Bear I've used, and I have tried about half a dozen.
Moisturizing: Glycerin soaps in general feel very moisturizing on my skin, and this is no exception.
All told, this is another Mama Bear hit, and for the price, you would be hard-pressed to find another soap that offers as much in value: slick performance, incredibly well-designed scent profile, and indisputable quality in creation and presentation. I particularly like that the scent isn't "fill-the-room" huge on this one, but still stayed with me even after the shave and some Aqua Velva.
I would really like this in a Czar's Choice Ice format, with menthol added for the summer. It would be like plunging your face into an iced-down vat of perfectly mixed sour mix or limeade, which in the summer in Deep South sounds like a brilliant idea. I hereby volunteer to product test just such a soap should the need arise.
I don't know the history of this scent design, but I do know the following things:
Price: My soap was $6.99 for a 4oz. Mama Bear's tub. You know, the tubs that, once you've finished your Mama Bear's soap, could be used for just about anything? In this case, once I'm done with this soap, I think I'll use it for salsa since it already has lime and cilantro built in.
Quality: Top notch. Soap is a very pale, transparent yellow and evenly poured in the tub. Screw top tub is of very stout construction. The soap is well-scented and has no flaws.
Scent: Ah, this is where Mama Bear shines above the rest. This soap has a very pronounced and direct lime smell with just a hint of the underlying cilantro. The word I keep coming back to is 'fresh' in trying to describe it. It is a light scent, well-suited to sunny weather and carefree days. The lime scent is very distinct and sharp, is not sweet or cloying, and is not muddled with much else. It doesn't feel like there is much of an underlying basenote anywhere, just the high-flying lime and cilantro scents. My wife, who wrinkles her nose at most of my 'old man' scented products (read: Tabac), couldn't get enough of smelling this soap. Of course, she also looooooves a good margarita, which is a point I want to make: this does not smell sweet and sugary like a margarita mix from Applebee's or some other such place. The lime and cilantro in this are very much in the sour/acid family, which is exactly where I want them to be. With a bit of tequila smell added, it would smell like a proper sugarless margarita should!
Lather: This is not Tabac and will not build giant piles of bowl-overflowing lather, but that's not why I buy Mama Bear's soaps. The lather I made was opaque, with fine bubbles, and held up through two solid passes with enough left in the brush for a third after only 25 swirls on top of the tub with a B&B Essential (not the stiffest brush ever made, if you're familiar). I face lathered this one, and it was very satisfying.
Efficacy: This was a dream to shave with. My Tech/Derby combo felt like it was ice-skating across my face, pulling off two days worth of growth with absolutely no irritation on either the WTG or XTG passes. At times, there was so much cushion that I wasn't getting any feedback from the razor, and had to touch my face with my fingers to make sure it had cut anything away! This is probably the slickest Mama Bear I've used, and I have tried about half a dozen.
Moisturizing: Glycerin soaps in general feel very moisturizing on my skin, and this is no exception.
All told, this is another Mama Bear hit, and for the price, you would be hard-pressed to find another soap that offers as much in value: slick performance, incredibly well-designed scent profile, and indisputable quality in creation and presentation. I particularly like that the scent isn't "fill-the-room" huge on this one, but still stayed with me even after the shave and some Aqua Velva.
I would really like this in a Czar's Choice Ice format, with menthol added for the summer. It would be like plunging your face into an iced-down vat of perfectly mixed sour mix or limeade, which in the summer in Deep South sounds like a brilliant idea. I hereby volunteer to product test just such a soap should the need arise.
