Beyond the Face - Bath and Shampoo Bar Soaps.

[TheBurgh]

Being several months into my metamorphosis from Mach 3 and canned gel shaving to my reincarnated wet shaving self, I have been enthralled with experimenting with pre-shaves, creams, croaps and soaps. The varieties of those products, and experimental comparisons, have greatly enhanced my newfound joy in shaving.

Scattered hither and yon, on this and other forums, are tidbits of information and opinions (most being somewhat dated) regarding the thousands of new, artisanal body soap bars and shampoo bars. This is a humble attempt to update, consolidate and gather many of those and new experiences.

I now have skin in this game (pardon the pun) as I have created for myself a new rabbit hole, one in which I intend to be clean, well-scented, healthily-skinned/scalped and joyfully challenged by experimentation. I have amassed a "den" of: 9 Brands of bar soaps in 25 scents, 4 brands of all-in-one bars in 5 scents and 5 brands of shampoo bars in 10 scents. I hope that the journey in this process (which will last quite some time) will be equal to the fun of testing wet shaving products.

Have you tried (or not tried) any of these "cousins" to pre-shaves, creams, croaps and shaving soaps? Likes and dislikes? Skin reactions? Scent preferences? Brand or scent loyalties?

All experiences, opinions and reactions are welcome. Thanks for reading!

 

[nav]

I don't have access to much of the artisan stuff but I have bath soaps from Italy (SV, Nesti Dante etc), pure olive oil soaps from Greece & Turkey.

For shampoo soaps, I mostly use a local artisan brand which works well. Balances the hair so it's not dry, nor is it oily and heavy, which impedes my hair styling product.

I recently got some shampoo bars from the UK called Nature Box.
It smells and feels like some baby soaps, but works decently.

 

[mio_cuggino]

I have tried a few over the years and I have now settled on Ogallala shampoo bars and Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement shampoo bars.
For a long time I was enjoying Razorock's Son of Zeus bar soap (I have some left) but they are no longer in production.
What has been some of your preferred ones?

 

[cantujm]

I have eczema on a few body parts ( hands and torso) and need to use certain soaps to keep my skin from flaring up. I have tried a variety of artisan made soaps and have found that any of the Stirling Soap bar soaps work well for me.

I am a big bay rum fan so I always have that scent on hand. Since using their soaps exclusively for the last two years, I haven't had a flair up or any redness that is associated with eczema.

 

[Cezar]

I recently started using more artisan soaps and shampoo bars instead of the supermarket stuff. My experience with Stirling has been very good and I would recommend their products to anyone. The performance is fantastic and they have an endless variety of great scents. Quite good value for money as well.

I just ordered a few soaps and a shampoo bar from PAA. Started making my way through the soaps. They are very nice as well but I feel that Stirling’s tallow based soaps lather up more creamy and rich, and I prefer the post feel. Stirling is also a bit less expensive.

 

[TheBurgh]

For shampoo bars, have been thrilled with Mystic Waters. After thorough rinsing, hair is so squeaky clean that fingers have trouble running through the hair. Despite this success, I have many more brands on my shelf to try.

For soap bars, so far, very impressed with the Pre de Provence and Mistral brands.

 

[GoodOdour]

I rate the DR Harris shampoo bars very highly, especially the Ocean. They last a long time and do not leave a residue.