Review: Savonnerie Buissonniere

[boo909]

This is a (very) hard soap I purchased in SW France at Gamm Vert for 9.50euros. Mint and oat milk.

Brush: Omega boar

Scent: Smells nice, extremely minty, possibly a bit sickly for an every day shave, good for a cold though.

Lather: I found this extremely hard to lather, I'm not sure if it's the soap or me but my first attempt resulted in an extremely weak, totally useless lather, it felt like I'd just put water on my face. I think possibly I overdid it on the water.

It was hard to load on the brush but I'm hoping this will improve tomorrow after it's "broken in" a little. Second attempt was better with less water but still not great.

I hesitate to blame the soap at this early stage, I'm going to stick at it and see if I can work out how to lather it properly but today I had the worst shave I've had in ages, weepers, burn, I didn't even attempt a bbs, just really unenjoyable which is very disappointing for a 9euro soap. (My girlfriend bought me this so I really want to like it).

Would be interested in anyone's views on this soap or something with similar ingredients, I've never had this problem with making lather before (honestly, this has never happened before love ).

Verdict: Hung Jury at the moment, I'll update this after a few more shaves.

 

[boo909]

Forgot to add photos of the actual soap

Also comes in block form, still marketed as a shaving soap though.

 

[1Vader]

That lather looks terrible..

I don't bloom soaps ever but if I had this and I'm out of ideas, I'd bloom this one just to see if it will give.
Aside from that, I'd be adding water sparingly as this soap doesn't seem to be able to take it that well.

A change of brush might also help, I find it's so much easier for me to lather soaps with newer synthetic fiber these days like the plisson types and black synthetics.

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks for the review, especially the pictures.

 

[boo909]

That lather looks terrible..

I don't bloom soaps ever but if I had this and I'm out of ideas, I'd bloom this one just to see if it will give.
Aside from that, I'd be adding water sparingly as this soap doesn't seem to be able to take it that well.

A change of brush might also help, I find it's so much easier for me to lather soaps with newer synthetic fiber these days like the plisson types and black synthetics.

Blooming it may not be a bad idea actually, thanks. I normally let my pucks dry before closing them but for this I've just closed it up hoping that will help. I definitely used too much water for the first lather (no more than I'd normally use for most hard soaps, I know they're all different, but I've never had one react like this before). The second lather used a lot less, I'll dial it down even more next go. I think this is going to be one of those "spend ten minutes loading the brush" soaps too. It really was an awful experience.

 

[huck1995]

I would second blooming the soap. Based on how hard you say it is, blooming it might make it a bit easier to get enough soap loaded onto the brush. So perhaps try blooming it and starting with a bit drier brush than you typically do, and then wet it to taste on your face to see if that helps the lather? Just an idea.

 

[nemo]

Olive oil soaps don't seem to work well for shaving, at least that has been my experience. Good luck with that one.

 

[BigJ]

Olive oil soaps don't seem to work well for shaving, at least that has been my experience. Good luck with that one.

+1! Sorry! I agree. For me olive oil is a lather killer.

 

[boo909]

Olive oil soaps don't seem to work well for shaving, at least that has been my experience. Good luck with that one.

Unless I'm mistaken (and stranger things have happened) this is a glycerin soap, can't see olive oil on the ingredients, couple of other oils but no olive.

 

[boo909]

I would second blooming the soap. Based on how hard you say it is, blooming it might make it a bit easier to get enough soap loaded onto the brush. So perhaps try blooming it and starting with a bit drier brush than you typically do, and then wet it to taste on your face to see if that helps the lather? Just an idea.

Thanks for the tips. I've closed it up wet and I'll see if that makes a difference tomorrow, then I'll try blooming it.

 

[naughtilus]

Very sodium heavy base. Spice it with some shaving cream (potassium) to get it going.

 

[boo909]

Very sodium heavy base. Spice it with some shaving cream (potassium) to get it going.

Good idea, thanks, that's going on my list of things to try.

 

[nemo]

Unless I'm mistaken (and stranger things have happened) this is a glycerin soap, can't see olive oil on the ingredients, couple of other oils but no olive.

The olive oil was saponified by the sodium hydroxide and is now the first ingredient ... as sodium olivate.

 

[boo909]

The olive oil was saponified by the sodium hydroxide and is now the first ingredient ... as sodium olivate.

Ahh ok, good to know, thanks very much.

 

[boo909]

I'm wondering whether grating and mixing it with a Monsavon puck may help temper the olive oil, what do you think @nemo?

 

[boo909]

I've given it another go today and I think I'm going to have to give up with it. I managed to get a very small amount of barely shaveable lather (very sticky more akin to canned lather) with almost no water, I added 2 drops more (just two off the end of my finger) and it collapsed into a watery airy mess. It's putting me into too much of a bad mood in the mornings so I'm giving up on it.

So Final Verdict: No good for shaving, I'm punishing it for the bad moods by keeping it exclusively for cleaning my balls, it is now my Savon des Testicules (don't worry, I won't review it in that role )

 

[naughtilus]

Ingredients clearly show it's a bath soap. Your face and your balls will be grateful for the re-delegation.

 

[Bouki]

There's no stearic acid in this soap, a key ingredient in forming the sort of creamy cushioning lather we're all used to. So why isn't it there? Savonnerie Buissonniere is part of the 'slow cosmétique' movement, which seeks to make soaps in a more ecological, natural, and ethical fashion. Apparently, the use of stearic acid violates their manifesto. The movement has caught hold in France and has led to the creation of some wonderfully unlatherable shave soaps. (La Savonnerie Bourbonnaise’s Savon de rasage anesse boîte comes to mind. It's sloppy suds are very similar to the lather in your pictures. Without a doubt it's the worst lather I've ever actually shaved with. Its poor performance was outstripped only by its awful taste.)

If you want to know more about this 'organic and natural' approach to soap making, search for 'slow beauty', 'slow cosmetic', or 'slow cosmétique'. Shave soaps made this way can be very slick, and they often smell quite good, but they are entirely unstable and lack cushion or protection, which to me is the first reason for using a shave soap. You've probably found the best use for it.

 

[naughtilus]

You can't shave with ideology, as the saying goes.

 

[boo909]

There's no stearic acid in this soap, a key ingredient in forming the sort of creamy cushioning lather we're all used to. So why isn't it there? Savonnerie Buissonniere is part of the 'slow cosmétique' movement, which seeks to make soaps in a more ecological, natural, and ethical fashion. Apparently, the use of stearic acid violates their manifesto. The movement has caught hold in France and has led to the creation of some wonderfully unlatherable shave soaps. (La Savonnerie Bourbonnaise’s Savon de rasage anesse boîte comes to mind. It's sloppy suds are very similar to the lather in your pictures. Without a doubt it's the worst lather I've ever actually shaved with. Its poor performance was outstripped only by its awful taste.)

If you want to know more about this 'organic and natural' approach to soap making, search for 'slow beauty', 'slow cosmetic', or 'slow cosmétique'. Shave soaps made this way can be very slick, and they often smell quite good, but they are entirely unstable and lack cushion or protection, which to me is the first reason for using a shave soap. You've probably found the best use for it.

Interesting, thanks for the info. It truly is the worst "shaving" soap I've ever come across, it's a real shame as it was a present from my girlfriend and it's too bad to even use it every now and again and pretend it's nice. I tried it for two days and my face is a mess now, haha. On the plus side, I got to warn everyone else how terrible it is and I'm really looking forward to shaving without it tomorrow.