Mike's Natural Soap Lime > Castle Forbes Lime

[Golden_Edge]

The ">" should be in bold and text size 100.

When I was looking for a lime scented soap/cream, Castle Forbes came recommend across the internet. Bought one. Packaging, for a ~$40 cream, sucked. Plastic jar. They can do better - glass for instance. Yes, it would be heavy, especially for a 200ml but so what. Or at least aluminum. Anyway. Scent was very good but there was something I didn't like about it - it felt synthetic in spite of the "lime essential oil" being used. Lather was (very) good, better than the other known British creams but there too, I was not impressed. It too felt synthetic. Yes, I know, it's because it is synthetic. All in all, I used it less and less and ended up selling it 3/4+ full for half the price. It found a good home, I was happy.

Continuing my search (which happened here at B&B), many of you recommended Mike's Natural Soaps in your top soap choices. Went on Mike's website, read the ingredients, I was sold. Ordered the Lime. From the natural feel, the dense/copious lather, the top class performance/cushion to how the skin felt afterwards, I can go on and go - it's gold.

Hats off to Mike.

 

[cryhavoc]

Mike's is my #1 soap and I agree the Lime very good.

 

[flask28]

Congrats!! Mike's is fantastic classic. I just picked up the Lime to add to my growing collection and it's great. I'm a big fan of the barbershop too.

 

[CoreyWoodmancy]

Mike was one of the first artisan soap makers that got a large portion of the community to start using artisan soaps. In the beginning it really was Mike’s , Mama bears , Queen Charlotte Soaps , and Mystic Waters. All fantastic soap , but I remember I really was enjoying Mike’s soap , including the bath soap and shampoo bars when they were introduced.

 

[Rhody]

I have both. I’ve always had a hard time getting a good lather with mikes. But that me. I should try it again now. I definitely understand the synthetic feel of C&F. At the time it was one of the expensive creams I bought so it had a mystique for me. Wanting to absolutely love it due to the cost.

I’ve always wanted to try mike shave sticks.

 

[Golden_Edge]

@cryhavoc - "#1"; that speaks volume since you've been in the hobby for a while.

@flask28 - glad to hear, I have the barbershop on the way from Pasteur. Looking forward to trying it.

@CoreyWoodmancy - great trivia! thanks

@Rhody - Once you do, there will be no turning back. For what it's worth, I do 5-6 swirls in the jar and then face lather. I am never after producing tons of lather in a bowl that end up being wasted. I prefer the densest possible texture (thick sour cream like) with the least amount of air. I tried lathering in bowl and there again, it produced the thickest lather out of everything I used so far. I get the mystique of C&F, I guess it applies to anything that's expensive and foreign. Don't get me wrong, it's a great cream but for me, Mike's outperforms it on performance and after-shave skin feel.

 

[BigJ]

Great comparison!!