eBay shaving soap makers

[Javak]

Hi all.

I have been looking through eBay for shaving accouterments; in fact, my brush, Gillette DE razor, and Feather blades are all bought from eBay. I have seen a few soap makers selling their shaving soaps on eBay, and would like to know if anyone has tried them, and how do they measure up.

 

[cvac]

Unless it's been reviewed here and gotten good marks, avoid. It will likely be fine for showering or bathing but will not work for shaving at all.

 

[KittensAndRainbows]

I've purchased a puck from Chelsea's Soap Garden, it's decent stuff. The scent (Lime Ginger) was fantastic, I found the shave not very slick, though.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

The very highest quality shaving soaps in the world are available from vendors (many who are valued B&B members) and are reviewed and recommended by those I respect. No need to throw good money after bad on eBay in my opinion when for pennies a day you can have the very best in consistent quality that a number of manufacturers and vendors you will grow to personally know and respect.

 

[kingfisher]

Honeybee Spas soaps are sold on e-bay, are they not? Read the reviews, and then buy a scent that interests you. Can't go wrong.

 

[PaulUK]

I once bought a "frankincense and myrrh" glycerin shaving soap from a UK vendor. It was the first shaving soap I ever tried. It had a beautiful smell and was actually quite good but I'd go along with the above advice. Read the soap reviews. Of course, soaps that aren't rated that highly may work for you (YMMV and all that).

 

[charismata]

Hand made shaving soap is the best. I make all my own shaving soaps (and sell a fair amount of it as well).

Hand made soap in general is the best soap you will ever find if it is made correctly.

Shaving soap from an individual is really nothing more than soap with the addition of bentonite clay for added "slip" and perhaps extra moisturizers if they don't make their base soap with enough moisturizers (I put a good amount of moisturizers in all my soaps bath, and shaving).

But therein lies the dilemma. Does the average ebayer make a quality soap with good ingredients? I would venture to guess that more often than not, you will get great soap from anyone who makes their own soap.

But Javak, I will offer you, personally, one helluva deal. Since you posted this question, I will offer you one 5 oz bar of my tobacco/cognac scented shaving soap, free of charge, for you to try as an independent reviewer.

PM me your details and I will get it in the mail.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Where do you sell this soap? That scent sounds damned intriguing.

 

[charismata]

I began just selling to friends and co-workers and giving them out as gifts at christmas. But word of mouth spread quickly.

I'm not greedy about it. I gave out a lot of free soaps along the way because everyone always came back for more.

 

[moonshine44]

Honeybee Spas soaps are sold on e-bay, are they not? Read the reviews, and then buy a scent that interests you. Can't go wrong.

+1. Good soaps!

 

[DFrancis]

Mama Bear's soap is all hand made and gets a lot of love around here.

 

[Luc]

Welcome to B&B!

If this is your first soap, I would recommend buying something that was reviewed on this forum.

 

[talibeard]

Hand made shaving soap is the best. I make all my own shaving soaps (and sell a fair amount of it as well).

Hand made soap in general is the best soap you will ever find if it is made correctly.

Not to comment on the quality of your soap, which I don't know, but I have my doubts.

There are several hand made soaps in my den made by reputable soapers but none of them can actually compete with cheap soaps like Palmolive, Cella or Arko.

Yes they are made with the "best" ingredients and only use essential oils for scent. All of them are friendly to the skin but none of them can earn a steady place in my rotation and in fact I decided not very long ago to stay away from them completely.

Two (three) reasons;

#1 I don't like the way they lather; very hard to get the right water/soap ratio and at best nowhere near the soaps I mentioned before.

#2 They are (for me) way too high on essential oils with two effects;

-A After a short period the scents start to annoy me and
-B this causes irritation in my nose, sinusses and eyes.

I get the impression soapers are more concerned about scents than they are about shaving properties. And yes, you can always get the scentless version but something in between might be nice...

Just my $0.02

 

[michiganlover]

Shaving soap from an individual is really nothing more than soap with the addition of bentonite clay for added "slip" and perhaps extra moisturizers if they don't make their base soap with enough moisturizers (I put a good amount of moisturizers in all my soaps bath, and shaving).

But therein lies the dilemma. Does the average ebayer make a quality soap with good ingredients? I would venture to guess that more often than not, you will get great soap from anyone who makes their own soap.

There is a lot more to making a great shaving soap than just taking a bath soap, and adding clay!! Most soapers believe that, and most soapers make soaps that are actually a disaster as a shaving soap! Many of them have olive oil as primary ingredient, and thus won't produce a lather that is adequate for shaving no matter how hard you try.

To the O.P.: shaving soaps on e-bay are going to be a total crap-shoot. You might find one that works, but you are just as likely to find a whole bunch that are worthless. The average soaper is clueless as to how a shaving soap is supposed to perform, and clueless as to what characteristics are most desired.

I will echo all of the others advice, and recommend only buying from established well known vendors, who we know made a top notch product.

P.S. there is one vendor on e-bay who does receive rave reviews, Prairie Creations, but she also has a website as well.

 

[charismata]

I have no problem with people doubting or questioning my soaps, or any hand made soap for that matter. I am always open to any and all feedback from anyone who has tried it, as I'm sure most soapers are. That is how they arrive at a formulation that people desire.

Through years of feedback, I believe that I have perfected the art.

Lather is the number one consideration for me, with every soap (bath and shaving) and that was the first thing that I perfected to my satisfaction.

Lather is the one property that people immediately notice about a soap. Everything else is very subtle (fragrances, moisturizers, pigments).

I am a straight razor shaver. So as well as feedback from others, I test it out every day when I shave.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

I have no problem with people doubting or questioning my soaps,..............
...........................

Through years of feedback, I believe that I have perfected the art.

Wow! Welcome to Badger & Blade, I hope you enjoy the community you have joined. Your comments, insights, and opinions are valued and could occassionally come under debate and question

 

[michiganlover]

I have no problem with people doubting or questioning my soaps, or any hand made soap for that matter. I am always open to any and all feedback from anyone who has tried it, as I'm sure most soapers are. That is how they arrive at a formulation that people desire.

Through years of feedback, I believe that I have perfected the art.

If you are producing a top of the line product, that works as intended, we gladly welcome you into our ranks, and look forward to having yet another product to choose from.

Most of us are understandably skeptical of new soaps being offered by artisan soapers, as the number of products that are superb, and work well, is overshadowed by the number of products that are an utter disaster.

There are even a few mainstream lines (Caswell Masey, Burt's Bees, to name a few) who can't get things right, and produce a product that is useless.

 

[charismata]

I appreciate it.

I have sent a few bars out to members here over the last couple days, as well as a free bar to Javak as promised.

I look forward to hearing from those individuals and I'm sure others will hear from them as well.

 

[GFlanagan3]

Honeybee Spas soaps are sold on e-bay, are they not? Read the reviews, and then buy a scent that interests you. Can't go wrong.

I have to agree one of the first soaps I tried ...good stuff and I am a repeat customer

Mama Bear's soap is all hand made and gets a lot of love around here.

I am working my way there...I won't abandon Honeybee but I want to try Mama Bear....can you have TOO much good soap?

 

[Gray Wolf]

I bought a 3 puck sample pack from a seller on e-bay.
Artifact Soapworks sent me sandalwood, old spice, and bay rum.
The scents are pleasing to me, and they all lather like crazy!
I would buy from her without worry.