JustNeem lathering difficulties

[JPDyson]

I'm having the hardest time getting my JustNeem soap to lather. My wife got it for me as a Valentine's day gift, so I'm highly motivated to make it work Not to mention, it's locally owned (Cary, NC) and run by a friend of a friend. Not that that makes it good, but it makes me inclined to give it more effort than some random soap off the shelf.

I've tried Jim's tutorial, even specifically focusing on spending lots of time loading the brush with soap and adding little to no water other than what's in the brush (after wringing it out). I'm using a Rooney 3/1 Super Silver. I almost always end up with soap that brushes away easily and doesn't feel all that slick.

Is it just a bum soap? For the record, I built great lather with cream from a tub the first time I tried.

 

[sodajerk]

Don't know about your soap but try this.

If you're not already, use a cereal-size bowl. Don't dry your brush too much - shake it two times only and don't squeeze - you want wet but not dripping. You said you did, but be sure you load the brush excessively. Put a few drops of water in the bottom of the bowl and whip. You should get some lather. Now, drip 4-5 more drops of water into the lather and whip again. Repeat. If, after three cycles, you don't have lather by now, it's the soap. That's my opinion, anyway. ) Good luck!

 

[michiganlover]

I have never heard of this product, but if you could post the ingredients, it would greatly help us figure out if this is an adequate shaving soap.

Specifically, shaving soaps in which Olive Oil is a high percentage of the ingredients (main ingredient) will not properly lather no matter how hard you try.

Shaving Soap made by Artisan vendors is pretty hit or miss, as a large percentage of them are clueless as to what a usable shaving lather should look like; they think that taking a bath soap, and adding clay = shaving soap.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Where did you get the soap? I saw some of the bath soap the other day, but nothing for shaving.

 

[michiganlover]

Where did you get the soap? I saw some of the bath soap the other day, but nothing for shaving.

http://justneem.com/collections/shaving-soap

 

[JPDyson]

I have never heard of this product, but if you could post the ingredients, it would greatly help us figure out if this is an adequate shaving soap.

Specifically, shaving soaps in which Olive Oil is a high percentage of the ingredients (main ingredient) will not properly lather no matter how hard you try.

Shaving Soap made by Artisan vendors is pretty hit or miss, as a large percentage of them are clueless as to what a usable shaving lather should look like; they think that taking a bath soap, and adding clay = shaving soap.

Blend of 100% Certified Organic Palm (Elaeis Guineensis) and Coconut Oils (Cocos Nucifera), Purified Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Sorbitol, Redbush Tea (Aspalathus linearis), Neem-infused Sunflower Oil (Azadirachta Indica and Helianthus Annuus), Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis), natural Vitamin E (Tocopherol), Titanium Dioxide, Honey, Fragrance Oil

 

[JPDyson]

Where did you get the soap? I saw some of the bath soap the other day, but nothing for shaving.

There are a couple of places where their organic soap is available for purchase in retail, but most of their stuff is online only at JustNeem.com

 

[The Nid Hog]

Thanks for the website--I'll give that a try if I can't find any locally. Are there any B&M in the Triangle with the shaving soap?

 

[JPDyson]

Not aware of anything in the B&M's other than their organic soaps in Whole Foods in NC.

 

[cvac]

My advice is this:

Get a "proven performer" shaving soap and learn how to lather that FIRST. This way you know that any problems with lathering are likely your own fault, rather than the soap.

After you figure out how to work with a proven performer, try the other stuff. If it doesn't work, you've gotten a dud and the maker simply doesn't understand how to make proper shave soap.

Right now it's impossible for us to know if the Neem stuff works or not. Like Michiganlover says "homemade" or "artisan" shaving soaps are hit or miss, usually miss. Most of these people don't know anything about shave soap or how it is supposed to work.

 

[JPDyson]

I ended up getting a good lather out of it. The trick was to leave the water sitting on top of the soap for a good 15 minutes. So, I'll have to soak it before I jump in the shower it seems, as opposed to doing it for just a couple minutes after my shower.

 

[Taipei Personality]

The Whole Foods on Wade Avenue carries the shaving soap.

I bought a tin yesterday. I tried it this morning, attempted for about 10 minutes to make a decent lather, spread the result on my face, decided not to run a razor against my skin with only lather that thin to protect it, dumped it out, washed the thin lather off my face, whipped up a nice bowl of Tabac, and had a nice shave.

I haven't given up on it yet, but it doesn't respond to my usual tried-and-true method.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Ah, that's disappointing. I thought that it would be nice to try a local soap. If you manage to coax some good shaves out of it, let us know.

 

[Taipei Personality]

Will do. I'm going to try JPDyson's method, above, although I just about ruined a puck of MWF that way.

 

[Shave Cat]

If you're going to soak a soap, monitor the softness of it, especially if you're soaking it every day. I've nearly ruined Tabac that way. If the soap's too soft, your brush won't pick it up properly. Often, soap that has become overly soft can be removed from its container and allowed to air dry.

-Clarke

 

[JPDyson]

I got the advice from JustNeem about leaving the water on it that long. Still, the best lather I could get out of it was no where near what I can reliably and easily get out of Conk's. So, yeah... disappointing.

 

[Taipei Personality]

I tried it again this morning using JPDyson's method. It yielded a much greater quantity of poor quality lather. I rinsed it off and went with Cliven.

On the plus side, the JustNeem package will make a good, albeit expensive, tin for storing flint, steel, and charcloth.

 

[wilsonent]

Came across this soap at Southern Seasons this weekend. Had never heard of it, but the salesman turned me onto it. Really liked the Wind & Sea fragrance so I decided to give it a try. (Cost was 11 bucks for a 80g tub). Soaked the puck for the time it takes to shower. Was traveling with my BBB. Gave it a few shakes, poured off the puck water, and loaded for about 2 minutes. At first I thought it wasn't going to lather, so I kept on loading. Added a bit more water, loaded some more and then face lathered. Although it took a little more effort to load, this stuff face lathered very well. No problems with a 2 pass shave. Will try it with some other brushes. This may turn out to be a good product for me.