Canada Shaving Soap review

[SliceOfLife]

Yeah, I remember the feedback on your soap was that it behaved like MdC.

MdC was a very drying soap for me. Luckily I had purchased a large sample so it wasn't a big loss.

Whilst performance is of course YMMV, it's the cost aspect I disagree with when it comes to these super simple soaps cos let's face it, stearic acid and coconut oil are two of the cheapest ingredients in the soap making process.

Scent is what makes soap expensive (if they use expensive ingredients). I spent ten times on scenting oils what I ever spent on fats & caustics. Even pricey fats (cocoa butter, etc) don't come close to what you can EASILY drop if you are using natural and pricier scents. Shipping and packaging both were also bigger costs than the ACTUAL soap ingredients. They're the real hurdles to an artisan being successful in my opinion. If an artisan could get a larger manufacturer to package and distro for them, they could easily halve their prices and make MORE money. There probably are some larger artisans out there who've already made a model like that work for them, but I'm not familiar enough with the Artisan soap makers these days to know who they are.

 

[nav]

Scent is what makes soap expensive (if they use expensive ingredients). I spent ten times on scenting oils what I ever spent on fats & caustics. Even pricey fats (cocoa butter, etc) don't come close to what you can EASILY drop if you are using natural and pricier scents. Shipping and packaging both were also bigger costs than the ACTUAL soap ingredients. They're the real hurdles to an artisan being successful in my opinion. If an artisan could get a larger manufacturer to package and distro for them, they could easily halve their prices and make MORE money. There probably are some larger artisans out there who've already made a model like that work for them, but I'm not familiar enough with the Artisan soap makers these days to know who they are.

That's some very good insight into the soap industry. I hope it helps guys decide which soaps are good value for money and those that aren't.

The soaps which use oils/butters etc and so much cost and effort into scenting their soaps should be able to charge $18-25.

I know stirling soaps are excellent value but their scents were all very synthetic to my nose so I gave up on them. But it goes to show that 6oz of scented soap for $14 is possible.

 

[MaineYooper]

Don't know exactly how I missed this thread, but I bought a puck in May of 2021 and it looks like I haven't used hardly any! I have been using it daily for the past 7 days and am falling for it again! Great stuff. On a straight price/oz basis, it is the third most expensive soap I have, behind Ethos and House of Mammoth. But it is the one I will replace, if that time ever comes!

 

[godlike]

Don't know exactly how I missed this thread, but I bought a puck in May of 2021 and it looks like I haven't used hardly any! I have been using it daily for the past 7 days and am falling for it again! Great stuff. On a straight price/oz basis, it is the third most expensive soap I have, behind Ethos and House of Mammoth. But it is the one I will replace, if that time ever comes!

Glad you are enjoying. I am antsy about getting another puck since @Yuritau mentioned it but after 20 shaves I have barely made a dent into my current jar

 

[MaineYooper]

This week's set up, only alternating the brush.

This next photo shows the level in the tub on 10/14/21. I used the soap for a week of twice daily loading for a boar brush I was breaking in. It hardly looked any different this morning!

If I bought a second tub it may outlast me!

 

[snowman]

I might have to check this out some day. My skin tends to the oily side and I cannot stand the oil butter heavy crop of artisan soaps. They leave my skin feeling slimy. MdC on the other hand, while many say it dries their skin it is one of the best performers for me. This soap sounds right up my alley. The whole cost argument about MdC.....bah....if it works for me I dont care what folks think of the cost. A jar of MdC last years. A jar of B&M lasts days. Besides, its just soap, even the most expensive shaving soaps are affordable. Especially compared to other hobbies. I'm looking at you photography!

 

[Messygoon]

Razor: Rockwell 6S, #4 plate
Blade: Sharp Star (6)
Brush: Zenith aluminum boar, 27mm
Soap: Canada Shaving Soap
Aftershave: Proraso Aloe & Vitamin E
Growth: 24 hours
Passes: WTG, ATG, cleanup
Rating: 10/10

When I first learned of this soap in 2021, it was only available on the Canadian Amazon site. Last week I found it on the US Amazon site, and viola, here we are. Today was my first shave with Canada Shaving Soap (CSS), and here is what I learned:

CSS is hand-crafted in small batches under the eye of master soapmaker, Peter Stasiuk. It consists of just 6 ingredients:

1. Triple-Pressed Stearic Acid
2. Coconut Oil
3. Canadian-sourced distilled water
4. Potassium Hydroxide
5. Sodium Hydroxide
6. Vegetable-Based Glycerin

After aging for 5 months, it is beautifully packaged, then boxed with an accompanying handwritten letter. I already love all things Canada, but this is over the top. I mean, take a look at the letter. Ballpoint pen marks are evident. This is a actual handwritten note. Who does this in this day and age?! I LOVE IT!!!

While unscented, I detected a slight note of wet clay. Reminiscent of digging post holes and a Mother's Day planting of mom's favorite dogwood tree. Good times. But the star of the show was the dense lather cushion. It reminded me of the day I switched from canned Colgate to Williams Mug Soap: I couldn't believe the glorious difference. The Rockwell took longer to rinse, but worth the wait. The lather had a slight cooling effect, leaving my face feeling refreshed and extremely clean, even hours later.

While $33 USD is pricey, if Canada Shaving Soap lasts 2-4x longer than other artisan soaps as promised, it becomes an absolute bargain. My highest recommendation.

 

[godlike]

Razor: Rockwell 6S, #4 plate
Blade: Sharp Star (6)
Brush: Zenith aluminum boar, 27mm
Soap: Canada Shaving Soap
Aftershave: Proraso Aloe & Vitamin E
Growth: 24 hours
Passes: WTG, ATG, cleanup
Rating: 10/10

When I first learned of this soap in 2021, it was only available on the Canadian Amazon site. Last week I found it on the US Amazon site, and viola, here we are. Today was my first shave with Canada Shaving Soap (CSS), and here is what I learned:

CSS is hand-crafted in small batches under the eye of master soapmaker, Peter Stasiuk. It consists of just 6 ingredients:

1. Triple-Pressed Stearic Acid
2. Coconut Oil
3. Canadian-sourced distilled water
4. Potassium Hydroxide
5. Sodium Hydroxide
6. Vegetable-Based Glycerin

After aging for 5 months, it is beautifully packaged, then boxed with an accompanying handwritten letter. I already love all things Canada, but this is over the top. I mean, take a look at the letter. Ballpoint pen marks are evident. This is a actual handwritten note. Who does this in this day and age?! I LOVE IT!!!

While unscented, I detected a slight note of wet clay. Reminiscent of digging post holes and a Mother's Day planting of mom's favorite dogwood tree. Good times. But the star of the show was the dense lather cushion. It reminded me of the day I switched from canned Colgate to Williams Mug Soap: I couldn't believe the glorious difference. The Rockwell took longer to rinse, but worth the wait. The lather had a slight cooling effect, leaving my face feeling refreshed and extremely clean, even hours later.

While $33 USD is pricey, if Canada Shaving Soap lasts 2-4x longer than other artisan soaps as promised, it becomes an absolute bargain. My highest recommendation.

Excellent review! Also super glad it's now available on the US Amazon site!! Going to pass that info on to some friends south of the border!

 

[MaineYooper]

Razor: Rockwell 6S, #4 plate
Blade: Sharp Star (6)
Brush: Zenith aluminum boar, 27mm
Soap: Canada Shaving Soap
Aftershave: Proraso Aloe & Vitamin E
Growth: 24 hours
Passes: WTG, ATG, cleanup
Rating: 10/10

When I first learned of this soap in 2021, it was only available on the Canadian Amazon site. Last week I found it on the US Amazon site, and viola, here we are. Today was my first shave with Canada Shaving Soap (CSS), and here is what I learned:

CSS is hand-crafted in small batches under the eye of master soapmaker, Peter Stasiuk. It consists of just 6 ingredients:

1. Triple-Pressed Stearic Acid
2. Coconut Oil
3. Canadian-sourced distilled water
4. Potassium Hydroxide
5. Sodium Hydroxide
6. Vegetable-Based Glycerin

After aging for 5 months, it is beautifully packaged, then boxed with an accompanying handwritten letter. I already love all things Canada, but this is over the top. I mean, take a look at the letter. Ballpoint pen marks are evident. This is a actual handwritten note. Who does this in this day and age?! I LOVE IT!!!

While unscented, I detected a slight note of wet clay. Reminiscent of digging post holes and a Mother's Day planting of mom's favorite dogwood tree. Good times. But the star of the show was the dense lather cushion. It reminded me of the day I switched from canned Colgate to Williams Mug Soap: I couldn't believe the glorious difference. The Rockwell took longer to rinse, but worth the wait. The lather had a slight cooling effect, leaving my face feeling refreshed and extremely clean, even hours later.

While $33 USD is pricey, if Canada Shaving Soap lasts 2-4x longer than other artisan soaps as promised, it becomes an absolute bargain. My highest recommendation.

I already love the soap, but your wonderfully enthusiastic review has me thinking I need to use it again, after just having a glorious week with it recently!

Current tub level after probably 30 lathers!

 

[anoop]

I already love the soap, but your wonderfully enthusiastic review has me thinking I need to use it again, after just having a glorious week with it recently!

Current tub level after probably 30 lathers!

Do you scoop the soap out and lather in a bowl? With my MdC, I load from the tub using a brush and it looks pretty even all over the tub. This looks lumpy.

 

[MaineYooper]

Do you scoop the soap out and lather in a bowl? With my MdC, I load from the tub using a brush and it looks pretty even all over the tub. This looks lumpy.

Nope, I lather from the tub. Initially my tub looked like a 3D topo map, and still does!

 

[never-stop-learning]

Gentlemen, As per the B&B Terms of Use, B&B is a No Political Discussion site. Please take political discussions elsewhere.

I've deleted the appropriate posts.

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[godlike]

The combination of Canada Shaving Soap and a Karve Overlander.. *chefs kiss*

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I've ordered a tub. After reading this thread and the various comparisons to MdC I'm a bit worried.

In all respects I love MdC. All respects but one.

MdC is very drying to my skin. I hope this soap is in that respect unlike MdC. There's nothing here to tell me either way. In any event I'll find out myself.

My fingers are crossed.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Phoenixkh]

I've ordered a tub. After reading this thread and the various comparisons to MdC I'm a bit worried.

In all respects I love MdC. All respects but one.

MdC is very drying to my skin. I hope this soap is in that respect unlike MdC. There's nothing here to tell me either way. In any event I'll find out myself.

My fingers are crossed.

Happy shaves,

Jim

I used it yesterday.... I had an exceptional shave.... It's hard to describe. It's a no nonsense soap, if that makes sense. Unpretentious... it just works very nicely.

 

[Yuritau]

I've ordered a tub. After reading this thread and the various comparisons to MdC I'm a bit worried.

In all respects I love MdC. All respects but one.

MdC is very drying to my skin. I hope this soap is in that respect unlike MdC. There's nothing here to tell me either way. In any event I'll find out myself.

My fingers are crossed.

Happy shaves,

Jim

All I can say with confidence is that it did not dry my skin noticeably. I do not have any experience with MdC so I can't make that comparison.

 

[jesseix]

Scent is what makes soap expensive (if they use expensive ingredients). I spent ten times on scenting oils what I ever spent on fats & caustics. Even pricey fats (cocoa butter, etc) don't come close to what you can EASILY drop if you are using natural and pricier scents. Shipping and packaging both were also bigger costs than the ACTUAL soap ingredients. They're the real hurdles to an artisan being successful in my opinion. If an artisan could get a larger manufacturer to package and distro for them, they could easily halve their prices and make MORE money. There probably are some larger artisans out there who've already made a model like that work for them, but I'm not familiar enough with the Artisan soap makers these days to know who they are.

That's an interesting note Ian, especially about the shipping and packaging. I've noticed recently what some vendors and artisans are offering for shipping costs and I have to imagine that they're taking a loss on that with what postal costs are now (presumably to entice the business).
Did you ever happen to have conversations with other soapers about why loose pucks aren't produced more? I know these tubs are just getting more and more expensive, to be honest I always think it's great when places like Stirling and Siliski offer(ed) pucks on their own without the tub. I assume that it must be difficult with how soft some of the releases are nowadays, and I know that a lot of effort goes into label art nowadays which you can't really show off with a loose puck, so I do understand that side of it.

 

[anoop]

That's an interesting note Ian, especially about the shipping and packaging. I've noticed recently what some vendors and artisans are offering for shipping costs and I have to imagine that they're taking a loss on that with what postal costs are now (presumably to entice the business).
Did you ever happen to have conversations with other soapers about why loose pucks aren't produced more? I know these tubs are just getting more and more expensive, to be honest I always think it's great when places like Stirling and Siliski offer(ed) pucks on their own without the tub. I assume that it must be difficult with how soft some of the releases are nowadays, and I know that a lot of effort goes into label art nowadays which you can't really show off with a loose puck, so I do understand that side of it.

I really doubt that the elimination of the tub will contribute much savings to selling price at this price point. It also doesn't add much weight, so not sure it would result in much savings, if at all, with respect to shipping.

 

[godlike]

I've ordered a tub. After reading this thread and the various comparisons to MdC I'm a bit worried.

In all respects I love MdC. All respects but one.

MdC is very drying to my skin. I hope this soap is in that respect unlike MdC. There's nothing here to tell me either way. In any event I'll find out myself.

My fingers are crossed.

Happy shaves,

Jim

I can also say with confidence that this soap has a very very moisturizing post shave feel, very different from MdC. The main comparisons are mostly due to the similar ingredients/6 month curing time/long lasting tubs.

 

[SliceOfLife]

That's an interesting note Ian, especially about the shipping and packaging. I've noticed recently what some vendors and artisans are offering for shipping costs and I have to imagine that they're taking a loss on that with what postal costs are now (presumably to entice the business).
Did you ever happen to have conversations with other soapers about why loose pucks aren't produced more? I know these tubs are just getting more and more expensive, to be honest I always think it's great when places like Stirling and Siliski offer(ed) pucks on their own without the tub. I assume that it must be difficult with how soft some of the releases are nowadays, and I know that a lot of effort goes into label art nowadays which you can't really show off with a loose puck, so I do understand that side of it.

I didn't talk with others about it but the tubs replace molds, save on the labor or removing from the mold, allow a much softer soap (which makes a much easier lathering soap in most cases), and allows shipping in envelopes.

There's lots of advantages to pouring traced soap directly into tubs.