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New-Tonka Bean Shave Co. (Sebum Gold)

I've been interested in their products, but too pricey for me right now. It's supposed to be good stuff
but as with every thing else I look at the value of the product and the price of Sebum products is too stiff for me.
 
I ordered some after I got the same email. I ordered a set of both natural and apple farm. I also got the pearl jam soap. I wish I bought the set of that too! The Apple farm and pearl jam scents are awesome! I’m not super keen on the natural yet - not really used to the Tonka bean smell yet. I’m sure it will grow on me. It’s got a nutty aroma.

I’m in the U.K. and it shipped very quickly. Very impressed with the shipping. It got hit with about £60 import costs (12 import duty, 40 vat, 8 handling fee) so that’s something to be aware of. However, mine got delivered without me paying! Win win. (They normally put a delivery slip in the letterbox with the invoice to pay - which you have to pay then they deliver).

I test lathered the pearl jam using the method described by someone else on here for the sebum tonka. Damn the lather was slick and insane. Image attached.

I then shaved with the Apple farm today but didn’t get the same lather. However, I did use a very different technique so I will recreate the 1st technique on the Apple farm next time.

For reference, the pearl jam slick technique was:
Timberwolf synthetic brush held under hot tap then water flicked out.
Swirl on soap for 30 secs.
Swirl in cold scuttle for a while. Then slowly add 1ml of water at a time from a syringe. I got to about 10ml then started adding in 5ml steps. Think I probably overloaded the brush as I got **** loads of lather and 25ml water in and there was no sign of lather break down!

In contrast, on the Apple farm, I used the same brush but did 30 swirls on the soap. Hot scuttle using kettle water. Swirl brush in scuttle, added 5ml water in one hit. The lather instead of going slick like before, went airy. Like a mousse. I added more water but didn’t get the slick stuff like before on the pearl jam. Very different. It did shave amazingly though.

In fact, I didn’t have any post shave irritation from the alum block. That never happens for me. My shaving technique was no different to usual - so the conclusion is the soap must have protected my face pretty well. More testing will confirm.

Post shave serum (Apple farm). 5 drops goes a long way. Smells brilliant. Very sweet with a bit of sharpness. My missus said I smelt like apple pie. Face feels very smooth and soft. I have quite dry skin so will be very interesting to see how this helps after 1 week of daily use.

Overall, I am exceedingly impressed with the products so far but I do need a lot more testing to give a proper verdict.

I know a lot of people may not like it because of the price, but for me this purchase is going to last years so not a problem. Plus the cost per product worked out cheaper than purchasing a pot of Martin de candre soap (which I do have samples of, I do like very much, which does perform very well, but doesn’t perform as well as the Tonka bean soap).

Hope this really long post can help others!!
 

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Rick from Sebum Gold just made an announcement that he's eliminating the Sebum line (with the exception of custom "commissioned" orders). Tonka Bean and a yet to be released value-priced brand called Fat Cheeks will be his product lines going forward.

Check the Sebum Gold homepage for the announcement.
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
Sounds like the owner realized that Sebum had, for most, priced itself out of the market. I was one who didn't care for the high price. My consideration was that I have some very excellent soaps that were way less money, and I wondered how much better Sebum could be and what was the cost per shave (after all, this how many justify MdC soaps). For me, even a soap in the $30 range would have to be a really good soap.
 
Sounds like the owner realized that Sebum had, for most, priced itself out of the market. I was one who didn't care for the high price. My consideration was that I have some very excellent soaps that were way less money, and I wondered how much better Sebum could be and what was the cost per shave (after all, this how many justify MdC soaps). For me, even a soap in the $30 range would have to be a really good soap.
I completely agree. I also did not like the way the owner insinuated that other soapmakers were essentially peddling poison (stearic acid, colloidal nickel, fragrance oil etc.) and destroying the environment by using plastic tubs. He'd also call out his prospective customers for not seeing value in his product or his costly packaging.

Now he's using a lot of the same ingredients and packaging as his competitors and charging $38 per tub of soap. I've seen reviews that day its slickness doesn't even compare to AE Kaizen, which is half the cost.

I wish him no ill will, but he won't be getting any of my business.
 
I have soaps that are good to me that it's really hard to imagine anything being that much better. Most of my soaps are in the $20 range and perform so good that he would have to do something really good (or make the soap last a good long time) to get me to part with more than $30 for a soap. We shall see, though. This community is pretty good at calling it like it is and I make some of my purchasing decisions heavily based on peer review.
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
How'd you hear about these folks? Sounds like a good company.

I heard about them here on B&B, the Aftershaves forum. I must have signed up for emails, at some point, on their site. I've never bought any Sebum products but I get their emails from time to time.
 
Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but that announcement read like a whole lot of self-righteous and holier-than-thou to me. If I were an artisan soaper, that announcement would chap me.
I have never tried any of the products. The lather pictures look nice. I wish them the best of luck, but I highly doubt I will ever be buying from them.
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but that announcement read like a whole lot of self-righteous and holier-than-thou to me. If I were an artisan soaper, that announcement would chap me.

Like I said, "interesting".

It seems like there is a lot of passion from the owner in regards to environment, hand crafting, sourcing the 'best' ingredients, etc. It must be hard to take that the mkt just wasn't having it (I'm guessing). It does strike me as a bit ironic that the pivot was to almost everything opposite their original goal. That's the free mkt for ya...
 
Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but that announcement read like a whole lot of self-righteous and holier-than-thou to me. If I were an artisan soaper, that announcement would chap me.
I have never tried any of the products. The lather pictures look nice. I wish them the best of luck, but I highly doubt I will ever be buying from them.

He's full of high end marketing BS. If the customers aren't getting (aka buying) the most over the top "good for the world and everyone" approach, they are just too stupid/cost conscious? Maybe his business appraoch was not right and the target group too niche? There are tons of unproven "soft claims" about suposed positive effects of ingredients. He is using alu spouts ..., really? Aluminum production has one of the worst energy footprints of any material:facep:. If customers pay for a luxury product obviously value for money discussion is of limited value:wink2:. Product safety should be considered when novice users are encouraged to experiment with their own formula of essential oils that will end up in a product that will be used on skin. Typically such formula needs to get evaluated for total content of allergenes based on the composition. This approach looks very "homemade" at best.
I wish their customers best of luck and I am sure I won't be buying from them.
 
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FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
He's full of high end marketing BS. If the customers aren't getting (aka buying) the most over the top "good for the world and everyone" approach, they are just too stupid/cost conscious? Maybe his business appraoch was not right and the target group too niche? There are tons of unproven "soft claims" about suposed positive effects of ingredients. He is using alu spouts ..., really? Aluminum production has one of the worst energy footprints of any material:facep:. If customers pay for a luxury product obviously value for money discussion is of limited value:wink2:. Product safety should be considered when novice users are encouraged to experiment with their own formula of essential oils that will end up in a product that will be used on skin. Typically such formula needs to get evaluated for total content of allergenes based on the composition. This approach looks very "homemade" at best.
I wish their customers best of luck and I am sure I won't be buying from them.
Well said.

I wish him well though. Anybody that has enough money to pay for his stuff should probably be separated from some of their cash, and also buy me some of his stuff so that I can see how the other half lives!

Lol, the hard lesson learned by some folks about the free enterprise system is that you are free to lose your enterprise!
 
Well said.

I wish him well though. Anybody that has enough money to pay for his stuff should probably be separated from some of their cash, and also buy me some of his stuff so that I can see how the other half lives!

Lol, the hard lesson learned by some folks about the free enterprise system is that you are free to lose your enterprise!
Well said!

How did you like his comments about "The under $20 crowd"?
 
Insulting and condescending to the potential customers is never a good idea. I’m not one to shell out hard earned cash in exchange for BS, I get enough of that for free. I guess that makes me not care about the environment, too simple to appreciate the art and majesty of his creations, and generally unworthy. No soup, err Soap for me! (It’s pronounced ˈpämpəs)
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Well said!

How did you like his comments about "The under $20 crowd"?
I resemble that remark! But seriously, I believe in the theory of "whatever the market will bare".....

And the guy may have learned a valuable lesson: it's easy to have "values" if they don't cost you something.

Example from Robert Heinlein: if a guy says he's a pacifist, punch his wife in the nose.


We should ALL aim higher than our natural instincts, but we should not judge someone else's, until they judge mine! Lol
 
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