Long Rifle Soap Co. Bay Rhum Shaving Soap

[WildWest74]

So, after discovering it through another thread here, I have been using Long Rifle Soap Co's Bay Rhum shaving soap. It is tallow based, and made in Wisconsin. The shop on Etsy sells many men's grooming products, including bear oils and body soaps in many unique scents.

I posted my official review in the REVIEWS section, but I wanted to make sure everyone got to hear me sing the praises.

Simply put, I love this soap. It lathers like a dream, and the scent is unbelievable. It has tremendous cushion and slip, and really gets me excited to start my day. It is tallow based, and I found that prepping the puck with a teaspoon of water before loading the brush is a vital step to getting enough product on the bristles.

There are more scents available, but this Bay Rhum is an outstanding representative of the traditional Island scent.

Also, it's important to say the the owner, Amanda, is great to work with. She has a great product, and I am definitely a fan.


Photo courtesy of Long Rifle Soap Co.

Ingredients: water, locally sourced tallow, palm stearate, coconut oil, potassium hydroxide, castor oil, sodium hydroxide, unrefined shea butter, babassu oil, fragrance, West Indies Bay, patchouli, clove

 

[jjking54]

I stopped by the Long Rifle booth at the Broadway Farmer's Market here in the Green Bay yesterday. Smelled the samples (no Bay Rhum however) but didn't pull the trigger. One, I'm in the summer sabbatical, two, I was in a hurry and needed to get home ASAP. I smelled the soaps (as well as their bath soaps which smell amazing) but walked away empty handed. Definitely want to try though

 

[WildWest74]

I stopped by the Long Rifle booth at the Broadway Farmer's Market here in the Green Bay yesterday. Smelled the samples (no Bay Rhum however) but didn't pull the trigger. One, I'm in the summer sabbatical, two, I was in a hurry and needed to get home ASAP. I smelled the soaps (as well as their bath soaps which smell amazing) but walked away empty handed. Definitely want to try though

From what I understand, her stock of Bay Rhum was cleaned out by a retailer. She should have more of the shaving soap in two weeks. Even if you pick with a different scent, go for it. The bar soap is so smooth I even use it as shampoo.

 

[Musikmann]

I will look for this company, thanks for the tip.

 

[Musikmann]

Something seems wrong at Etsy, I couldn't find any way to contact Amanda to see when her Bay Rhum will be available; contact owner does not work She provides, what appears to be, an email address but my server would not send stating it was not a valid address. I tried to use [email protected] so do you have another one for her?

 

[WildWest74]

I am sorry you are having trouble. I only ever use the "Contact the shop owner" link when I am signed into Etsy.

I do know that she told me it would be two weeks until Bay Rhum was back in stock for shave soap. Hope that helps!

 

[CBLindsay]

I was made aware of this soap via a mention on another thread as well. I checked out the website and made notes as to which ones I plan to ask for (Christmas is coming) or pickup when I feel especially lonely. The prices seemed decent (I think the weight might be less than 4oz though so maybe the price is in line with everything else). I love the name myself. As I've said in a thread I started earlier, I love buying from artisans that I can develop a relationship with.

Based on the ingredient list this soap could be on the softer side. can you tell us if it is hard or soft etc and describe the lather and such?

 

[WildWest74]

The soap is on the softer side, more so when it has been wetted. The lather is very rich and full, and slips very nicely between the fingers. It doesn't dry out quickly on the face, but stays in place well without dripping off. The cushion and glide while shaving are top notch.

 

[thetrooper]

I've been using it for over a month now, still love it and glad to see other people giving it a try. I'm lucky to have such a good product available locally. Even though its a softer soap the puck seems to be lasting. My brush loads up pretty quick but I'm not using it up any faster than other soaps I've tried.

 

[CBLindsay]

I'm pleased to hear this is a quality soap worth adding/keeping on my list of future purchases.

With so many quality artisan soaps (many fairly small startups) to choose from it occurres to me that things like scent themes/profiles and regional preference might be a significant factor in choosing different soaps. After all, we can't all be looking for BETTER soaps than what we may already have but we can be looking for variety and find great stuff along the way.

 

[Musikmann]

I am sorry you are having trouble. I only ever use the "Contact the shop owner" link when I am signed into Etsy. I do know that she told me it would be two weeks until Bay Rhum was back in stock for shave soap. Hope that helps!

That was one of the problems, for some reason, Etsy wouldn't let me sign in so I couldn't use the contact method. Yes that helps, thank you.

 

[WildWest74]

Bay Rhum Shaving Soap is back in stock!

 

[AHamilton]

Can this be bought at any local shops in Green Bay?

 

[WildWest74]

Looks like it can be!

http://www.longriflesoap.com/store-locations/

 

[Musikmann]

I have a cousin in Green Bay (De Pere to be accurate) and just spoke with him but forgot to ask if he would get some of this for me.

 

[-EdG]

Gents,

Much thanks to Jim, I was able to try this soap for my first time this morning.

I'm quite grateful, and certainly don't mean for this to sound unappreciative, but I am having a hard time making a nice lather.

It's obvious that ya'll are having a much different experience, and so it is that I implore you gents for tutelage.

You'll see below that my lather efforts, after working it for longer than I usually would, don't quite yield the results in the photo at the top of the thread.



I have the soap pressed into the bottom of the bowl. I filled the bowl with cool water and let the soap and my boar brush soak while I showered. Maybe 10 minutes. After, I drained the water, shook most of the water from my brush and started to build lather. The bowl has ridges on the inside which should be helpful in building lather, and my brush loaded quite easily and quickly. Problem I had was finding a sweet spot. Soap dried out fast, but adding water only thinned the lather, making it runny.

What say ye gents? With what sort of water to product ratio are you obtaining good results?

Two possibilities I've considered are either I was too conservative loading product, (I will use more next time for starters) or else my hard water (with a lot of limestone content) may be not playing nice.

I look forward to trying this again (and getting it right). Quite enjoyed the scent, and I have a nice post shave feeling.

Thanks!

 

[WildWest74]

This is one that, for me, needs a high product to water ratio.

I have never lathered directly on the soap, so I can only speak to my own results. I leave a tsp of water on the soap to soften it while my brush soaks, then I pour that water into my empty mug.

Then I load the brush until it's nice and full. I make mine in a large mug with high, convex inner walls, and only ever need another drop or two of water. I also noted that this soap lathers much faster with my boar than with my new Silvertip badger knot.

I hope you can get it to work. I realize that I may love it, but it's also only my second soap after EJ Sandalwood. Maybe I am making worse lather than I though!

 

[-EdG]

This is one that, for me, needs a high product to water ratio.

Allright, that worked much better.



Used a larger brush, loaded more product, and worked it in a large dimpled bowl. Still took a bit more work than other soaps I use, but she came around a produced a nice luxurious lather.

 

[dangerousdon]

The shop on Etsy sells many men's grooming products, including bear oils and body soaps in many unique scents.

I for one will not be applying any kind of oil to bears! What are they doing in Wisconsin?!

All joking aside, nice review.

 

[WildWest74]

I for one will not be applying any kind of oil to bears! What are they doing in Wisconsin?!

All joking aside, nice review.

What, doesn't everyone else call the hair on their chin a BEAR?


And I'm very glad you got a good result, EdG!