Enthusiastic thumbs up for Mystic Water shaving soaps!

[valleyrider]

From the lavender/lime sample I have I'm able to get some excellent lather out of this soap so far. Little bit dryer brush is what I typically start with for most soaps so this lathering is coming quite naturally for me.

Brucered nice scuttle there, I have one exactly like it! 1.5 db web bottom

 

[Songwind]

Inspired by brucerd, I went Full Marco for a test lather. Nice!

 

[Phog Allen]

Like I said before, dry brush, wet brush, gentle loading, aggressive loading...it never seemed to matter for me, I always got a great lather.

Yes sir. My experience as well. If the lavender is anything like the lily of the valley it may knock Castle Forbes off its spot in my rotation as my go to in that scent. And some of you know I am about as big a fanboy of Castle Forbes as there could be.

Cheers, Todd

 

[brucered]

Is that a Bonsai Lather Tree?

Amazing lather.

Like I said before, dry brush, wet brush, gentle loading, aggressive loading...it never seemed to matter for me, I always got a great lather.

Whatever it was, I'd say you nailed it! How was the shave?

i did it again this morning, but shaved with it. again, full Marco Method with a 1305 boar, 30-45 application time, 45-60sec whip time in my bowl (no water in scuttle). thick, stable, no breakdown, no bubbles, no re-whipping even needed in between passes. enough lather for 5-6 passes. i did 3 passes, and then finished with it on my face for cleanup.

amazing shave, amazing lather, some of the best i've had...

 

[JCinPA]

Well, I'm more perplexed than ever now. You and cvac are lather experts with your own series of tests out there, I'm no slouch, and several others had similar issues. Clearly this is superlative soap. I think just as clearly, there is a 'hole' in the lathering process sweetspot that one can fall into.

I agree that this is one of the best soaps I have ever used, without a doubt. If we can identify the 'hole', for want of a better description, we can help the users and the manufacturer by publicizing this so others do not fall into it. When we got problem lathers before, they were nearly unrecoverable. I'd like to see if we can figure out how (if not why) we got that result and post tips to avoid it.

This is the strangest thing that has happened to me since I started collecting lather products.

 

[JCinPA]

Why do you think I called it MYSTIC water, eh? (just kidding...)

That .... is darn funny!

You have me mystified, that's for sure!

 

[Songwind]

Why do you think I called it MYSTIC water, eh? (just kidding...)

Didn't everyone else's soap come with instructions to meditate for 5 minutes before lathering?

 

[redrako]

I had the pleasure of trying a free sample of Mystic Waters Bay Rum soap which was included with a shampoo bar sample.

I used the very dry brush (shaken and then gently squeezed) while holding the sample in my palm. It lathered very easily and was supplemented by a couple of dips into the sink water to further hydrate the lather. It was a very nice lather - thick with plenty of cushion and lubricated very well. I found it to be very moisturizing and had a nice bonus of a mild after-scent that staryed with me into the morning of light bay rum.

I have ordered three more samples (Cedar & Sage, Lily of the Valley and Lavender) along with a few shampoo bars (also excellent). I was wondering if I shouldn't just order a few pucks randomly as I suspect that they are all good, but am glad that I got to try the bay rum.

Regarding customer service, I plan on using the shampoo bar at the gym a few mornings a week, so emailed Michelle a few questions about the size of the shampoo bar, how well it could be cut with a knife, whittled, shaped etc. etc. In very short order, I had a pleasant, nicely crafted reply with a suggestion about how her husband uses the shampoo bar when he travels.
Nice way to do business - excellent product and customer service.

 

[5savages]

When I started wet shaving last December, my brother in law gave me a jar of Tabac. It was his favorite soap and it has become my all-time favorite. To return the favor, I sent him two pucks of MW soaps...Lily of the Valley and Prospect Creek. I just heard back from him and this was his reply:

I really like these; as much as the Tabac. Both smell awesome and lather like no ones business. The first time I used it I had lather everywhere! Thank you very much for the little gift. I think I will be buying some more of these in the future.

 

[Marco]

Excellent looking lather, Bruce!

 

[Bengal Tiger]

OK, I've plunged into the cult of Mystic! Got some samples yesterday from the farmers market and enjoyed some nice rich creamy lather from lily of the valley. Very little water, held the soap in my hand and loaded up, then face lathered, slowly added more water by dipping my brush. Easy. Amazing stuff. I liked the scent and can't wait to try the other samples.

I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle yesterday and she was in her tent lathering up a bowl full of big fluffy peaks. She and her husband are friendly and its definitely worth finding out their story of how they got started with shaving soaps. I support this kind of business. I bought 4 samples and she threw in a sample of shampoo bar. I will definitely be back for more.

 

[JHP]

I'm resurecting this thread because I have had wonderful results with this soap. I've been using soaps/brushes now for about 6 weeks. I've gone through RazoRock Classic and Artisan Green Tea and absolutely loved the lather they produced, but they left my skin stinging, red, and blotchy for 3-4 hours after shaving. I've used a Lilies of the Valley sample of MW for a week now and it has been WONDERFUL!

I'm completely new to this whole process of making lather, but have been making wonderful lather with MW since my first try. I've been following the directions found here -

How to make great lather from a soap.

Really excellent stuff and I love then sent of the Lilies of the Valley. So much so that I smear any/all lather left from my shave all over my face as I get in the shower in hopes of making the wonderful sent linger as long as possible! All that Shea butter can't hurt either!

Josh

 

[JHP]

Question for you guys.

Yesterday after shaving with MW it hit me that perhaps the Razorock I had been using prior to the arrival of MW might have been providing a little more beard softening. Today I went back and tried the RR, and from the first pass confirmed that it did indeed soften my beard more. Unfortunately my whole face is red and splotchy from the RR. My beard might respond to the RR better, but my skin does NOT!

You all know "Kyle's Method". I'm sure most of it is old news to you. While I don't follow his prep method exactly, I have found that applying warm water and shave soap and letting it sit for a minute or two helps a lot to soften my beard.

After my adverse reaction to the RR this morning, I began to wonder if there is something I could apply to my face to soften my beard and then shave with MW. Do you have any suggestions? This quote from Kyle's method keeps going through my head -

"Getting back to our main goal, to best prepare our facial hair for shaving, we desire to achieve the greatest amount of saturation (water into the hair) in the absolutely quickest amount of time. To do this, we need to apply an alkaline solution (damage the cuticle), apply a humectant (encourages quicker and more efficient absorption of water), and apply warm/hot water (both damages the cuticle and hydrates the beard).

By the sounds of all this, you might begin to think that the lather you normally create for shaving could possibly serve as a pretty good pre-shave prep and in thinking this, you would be absolutely correct."

So far I'm very pleased with MW. My goal is to continue to tweak the process. Do you have any suggestions for pre-shave beard softening?

Thanks!

Josh

 

[Phog Allen]

Hi Josh. Great work and do keep at it. Mystic Water is one of the very best shave soaps made. In fact it is the best I have used. And I have used quite a few. I always get a kick out of hearing a newb give a good straight up opinion about a great product. Before they have had their education about how really good/bad a product is. Keep experimenting(that's the fun) but rest assured you have already used one of the very best.

Cheers, Todd

 

[cryhavoc]

Good soaps but her Wild Lavender is great!

 

[brucered]

Good soaps but her Wild Lavender is great!

don't tell me that

I thought I was done ordering stuff.

 

[cryhavoc]

don't tell me that

I thought I was done ordering stuff.

 

[redhead shaver]

I just got her Lilac, and Wild Lavender scents yesterday. Both are amazing. I have tried 6 of her soaps now and have gotten great results with all of them. Top notch product for sure.

 

[k2clones29]

don't tell me that

I thought I was done ordering stuff.

Don't look at her website then. All of her scents are terrific, you'll want them all. Bay Rum and Orange Vanilla are my two favorites of hers, but I have the complete collection. Not a bad scent in the bunch.

 

[brucered]

Don't look at her website then. All of her scents are terrific, you'll want them all. Bay Rum and Orange Vanilla are my two favorites of hers, but I have the complete collection. Not a bad scent in the bunch.

Oh I know....I have 3 in my den right now (Rosalimone, Lav/Lime & Green Fair) and could easily add 5-6 more that I know I would like.

MW is one of my favorite soaps