I recently received a 5oz puck of Mama Bear’s Soaps “Black Bear” shave soap. According to the web site this is “just tobacco leaf.. no cherry or vanilla.. just the straight scent of tobacco..”. Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Safflower , Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soybean protein (conditioner), Wheat protein and fragrance.
Back when I started wetshaving in 2011, Mama Bears was the first “artisan” soap I ever purchased. I was even more excited that they are made in my home state of Wisconsin. Since then I have purchased many full size, and sample sized pucks of shave soap, as well as certain bath soaps from Mama Bear’s.
All of Mama Bear’s Soaps are glycerin based, and come wrapped in cellophane with a color label affixed to it. I use a certain type of container I find locally to store the puck. I first cut about a 1/8th of an inch off the puck, the melt that portion and pour it into my container. Then I take the rest of the puck and set it into the melted soap and let it cool. After an hour the puck is ready to load and will not move around when swirled with your brush.
As the description says this soap is pure tobacco leaf. Since I never really ever had a chance to smell tobacco leaf I was curious. I know what certain scents pipe tobaccos and cigars give off, and there are other soap maker that usually pair it with cherry, or vanilla. Smelling Black Bear for the first time I was getting a earthy sweetness from it. After a few minutes I had a flashback to when I was very young and my mom used to stew prunes. I asked my wife to smell it to get her thoughts and straightaway she said “diapers and baby power”. In a way I get that too! All in all, a nice scent in which is strong in strength. Somewhere near a 8/8-1/2 on a scale from 0-10.
Lathering Mama Bear’s Soaps is very easy. I like to pour hot water over the puck as soon as I get out of the shower. When I am ready to shave I pour the contents onto my hand and apply it to my face as a preshave of sorts. I then take my wet brush, shake out the excess water and begin to swirl. I load the brush for about 45 seconds. I am a face latherer so I then begin to build the lather adding water a few dribbles at a time. I like my lather a bit more on the wet side, the consistency is like a loose yogurt.
Mama Bear’s Soaps provide a wonderful thick cushion with its signature slickness you get from being a glycerin based soap. Post pass face feel is on the dryer side, but nothing that I worry about. Plenty of lather to complete a 4 pass shave, and a bit of touch up. I have used badger, boar, horse and synthetic brushes with Mama Bear’s Soaps, all with the same results.
I highly recommend Mama Bear’s Soaps.
Enjoy.
Back when I started wetshaving in 2011, Mama Bears was the first “artisan” soap I ever purchased. I was even more excited that they are made in my home state of Wisconsin. Since then I have purchased many full size, and sample sized pucks of shave soap, as well as certain bath soaps from Mama Bear’s.
All of Mama Bear’s Soaps are glycerin based, and come wrapped in cellophane with a color label affixed to it. I use a certain type of container I find locally to store the puck. I first cut about a 1/8th of an inch off the puck, the melt that portion and pour it into my container. Then I take the rest of the puck and set it into the melted soap and let it cool. After an hour the puck is ready to load and will not move around when swirled with your brush.
As the description says this soap is pure tobacco leaf. Since I never really ever had a chance to smell tobacco leaf I was curious. I know what certain scents pipe tobaccos and cigars give off, and there are other soap maker that usually pair it with cherry, or vanilla. Smelling Black Bear for the first time I was getting a earthy sweetness from it. After a few minutes I had a flashback to when I was very young and my mom used to stew prunes. I asked my wife to smell it to get her thoughts and straightaway she said “diapers and baby power”. In a way I get that too! All in all, a nice scent in which is strong in strength. Somewhere near a 8/8-1/2 on a scale from 0-10.
Lathering Mama Bear’s Soaps is very easy. I like to pour hot water over the puck as soon as I get out of the shower. When I am ready to shave I pour the contents onto my hand and apply it to my face as a preshave of sorts. I then take my wet brush, shake out the excess water and begin to swirl. I load the brush for about 45 seconds. I am a face latherer so I then begin to build the lather adding water a few dribbles at a time. I like my lather a bit more on the wet side, the consistency is like a loose yogurt.
Mama Bear’s Soaps provide a wonderful thick cushion with its signature slickness you get from being a glycerin based soap. Post pass face feel is on the dryer side, but nothing that I worry about. Plenty of lather to complete a 4 pass shave, and a bit of touch up. I have used badger, boar, horse and synthetic brushes with Mama Bear’s Soaps, all with the same results.
I highly recommend Mama Bear’s Soaps.
Enjoy.
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