In my estimation it is the best mass-produced soap ever made. Same base as Tabac but with a couple of emulsifying agents added that make its lather more stable. Fantastic performer.
Et tu Speick Stick?
- Thread starter old_school
- Start date
That's from December of 2009.
Also 12/2009 with Dead Link, so I can't check it for pics.
From reviews, it seems people have been getting some tallow-less ones since August.http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?ltr=S&t=56775&page=2
Touche. That last comment was meant more in context of learning to make soap. That said, I did stock up on tallow soaps some time ago. I bought 4-8 Palmolive sticks and a couple of Speicks in every order from Connaught Shaving from 2008 to around 2013, when I decided I could never stockpile enough and learned to make shave soap. I do enjoy many of the classic tallowate formulations, but in the end, it's all fatty acids, and good soap can be made from a variety of base lipids so long as there's ample stearic acid in there.Something doesn't sound right... I just cannot put my finger on it...
I used Speick this morning. Incredible.
I know, @TBoner, I know. (Just pulling your leg)
I am myself the proud owner of 39 Palmolive sticks but only two Speick sticks in my stash.
I will get into soap making after I retire or when I finish my soap inventory, whichever comes first.
I used tallow Speick before and I concur, it was an amazing soap.
(Just pulling your leg)I am myself the proud owner of 39 Palmolive sticks but only two Speick sticks in my stash.
I will get into soap making after I retire or when I finish my soap inventory, whichever comes first.
I used tallow Speick before and I concur, it was an amazing soap.
One major flaw of all good shaving soaps: they have a rather short shelf life.
The tallow discontinuation is confirmed from the source 
Thank you. I just ordered one on Amazon. I hope it's tallow.
Has anybody confirmed a particular source having the vintage? I'm thinking I'll get one from another website just to up my chances of getting a vintage one.
Thanks for the head-up on this. 
Tbh, I need more soap in my den like a hole in my head, but the tallow based Speick Stick is an excellent product. Placed an order.
Since La Toja has been mentioned... Imo the tallow based shave stick blows the La Toja's shave stick out of the water. With ease, my friends.
Tbh, I need more soap in my den like a hole in my head, but the tallow based Speick Stick is an excellent product. Placed an order.
Since La Toja has been mentioned... Imo the tallow based shave stick blows the La Toja's shave stick out of the water. With ease, my friends.
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- Thread starter
- #90
@TBoner
Your assessment of the new Speick ingredients would be appreciated. No coconut or palm oil references which is interesting.
Your assessment of the new Speick ingredients would be appreciated. No coconut or palm oil references which is interesting.
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@old_school Looking at the label, a few thoughts:
Stearates Speick says are veg-derived. The easy guess is palm oil, which has loads of stearic. But so do kokum and a few other butters. You can also get stearic acid by hydrogenation of liquid fats, which converts some monounsaturated and polyunsaturated acids to stearic or its almost-identical brother palmitic. This is responsible for thick and stable lather.
Laurate is saponified lauric acid, which is one of the two operative fatty acids in coconut oil. Almost certainly coconut-derived. This stuff makes fluffy/bubbly lather or, in wetshaver terms, makes a more high-structure lather. Myristic acid, also from coconut oil, does the same job in some high-end creams and tends to be less drying than lauric.
Stearic and lauric saponified with potassium makes usable soap for shaving, maybe even great depending on proportions. The trick with using full-profile lipids like tallow is that they have unsaponifiable ingredients and some polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids like linoleic or oleic. These constituent bits have an effect on skin and can add slickness. Without them you can choose to make up the difference with skin conditioning agents or additives or let the stuff stand unadorned (I see you, Martin de Candre). The latter appears to be Speick’s approach; there’s glycerin, but not a bunch like B&M uses, and possibly it’s just the stuff that occurs as a byproduct of saponification. There appears to be a tiny bit of unsaponified lauric acid, which could be there for texture - unsaponified flakes would stiffen up the lather - or skin aid - any lipid would be moisturizing. But there ain’t much.
I will likely try the new formula eventually, and I expect it’ll be okay, but the tallow version is so thoughtfully constructed that I have a hard time imagining this measuring up.
Stearates Speick says are veg-derived. The easy guess is palm oil, which has loads of stearic. But so do kokum and a few other butters. You can also get stearic acid by hydrogenation of liquid fats, which converts some monounsaturated and polyunsaturated acids to stearic or its almost-identical brother palmitic. This is responsible for thick and stable lather.
Laurate is saponified lauric acid, which is one of the two operative fatty acids in coconut oil. Almost certainly coconut-derived. This stuff makes fluffy/bubbly lather or, in wetshaver terms, makes a more high-structure lather. Myristic acid, also from coconut oil, does the same job in some high-end creams and tends to be less drying than lauric.
Stearic and lauric saponified with potassium makes usable soap for shaving, maybe even great depending on proportions. The trick with using full-profile lipids like tallow is that they have unsaponifiable ingredients and some polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids like linoleic or oleic. These constituent bits have an effect on skin and can add slickness. Without them you can choose to make up the difference with skin conditioning agents or additives or let the stuff stand unadorned (I see you, Martin de Candre). The latter appears to be Speick’s approach; there’s glycerin, but not a bunch like B&M uses, and possibly it’s just the stuff that occurs as a byproduct of saponification. There appears to be a tiny bit of unsaponified lauric acid, which could be there for texture - unsaponified flakes would stiffen up the lather - or skin aid - any lipid would be moisturizing. But there ain’t much.
I will likely try the new formula eventually, and I expect it’ll be okay, but the tallow version is so thoughtfully constructed that I have a hard time imagining this measuring up.
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- Thread starter
- #92
Thanks @TBoner. Very helpful. Makes a fella want to start making soap!
Owen Bawn
Garden party cupcake scented
- Thread starter
- #94
She does double duty on Soap Day making liniment too.
Owen Bawn
Garden party cupcake scented
"Spring Tonic!"She does double duty on Soap Day making liniment too.
...since they get used very often.
Besides, the Speick Stick should last a decade or two (or more) if stored properly. At worst, it could lose its lavender scent...
The hard realization is that you can't really stock up, that you will eventually run out. So that so much this becomes not about holding on, but about letting go.
Let it not be said that Speick stick let us down in the end, but rather that Speick stick was a great stick.
Let it not be said that Speick stick let us down in the end, but rather that Speick stick was a great stick.
@Multum in parvo, it appeared in Romania, a different presentation from the traditional one. Is this the tallow-free version?
The Speick stick is one of my favorite soaps and it's for sure my favorite if price is taken into account. I ran out a while back and hadn't replaced it yet, so I just ordered four sticks.
It says vegan in the description but not on the packaging as in the OP yet I would say dark blue = tallow free
