Spotted at Whole Foods-Mountain Sky shaving soap

[Pricklycactus]

I saw this at Whole Foods today but from looking at the ingredients, I see oil and essential oils but nothing that looks like a soaping agent but it was only a quick look but it should be on the top of the list. It is pretty cheap though.

http://www.mountainskysoap.com/soaps.php

 

[CCMphysician]

Let me know how it goes and I'll consider getting it.

-CCM

 

[mblakele]

OLDE WINDSOR - Traditional Shaving Soap - Based on an early 1800’s English recipe for the ‘gentle’ man, our smooth-but-spicy shaving bar is for those desiring a natural shave. We add cocoa butter, castor oil, comfrey extract, flax seed, and spicy essential oils to create a special shaving experience.Use a bristle brush to enjoy a creamy shaving foam.

Sale Price: $3.99

There are some reviews at https://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1551144

 

[Pricklycactus]

Wow, just what I suspected though i think you can fix it by melting it on top of a double boiler and adding some Dr Bronner's soap for lathering.

 

[michiganlover]

Wow, just what I suspected though i think you can fix it by melting it on top of a double boiler and adding some Dr Bronner's soap for lathering.

Well you can try that method, but good shaving soap is not so easily produced. Most of the artisan soaps on the market that are marked as "shaving soaps" are a total disaster of a product. Many of them contain olive oil as a primary ingredient, which more or less ensures they will be incapable of generating a lather that is adequate for shaving.

That being said, there are some wonderful artisan shaving soaps that are made by the vendors of this board.

Honestly, if you can't find a review for a product, I would stay away, unless you have extra money to spend, and just feel really adventurous.

 

[Pricklycactus]

Well you can try that method, but good shaving soap is not so easily produced. Most of the artisan soaps on the market that are marked as "shaving soaps" are a total disaster of a product. Many of them contain olive oil as a primary ingredient, which more or less ensures they will be incapable of generating a lather that is adequate for shaving.

That being said, there are some wonderful artisan shaving soaps that are made by the vendors of this board.

Honestly, if you can't find a review for a product, I would stay away, unless you have extra money to spend, and just feel really adventurous.

Fair enough, but if you happen to get stuck with a bar, a desperate fix!

Is it just olive oil that or are there other oils to be aware of?

 

[michiganlover]

Is it just olive oil that or are there other oils to be aware of?

To my knowledge Olive Oil is a lather killer. I have never heard of other oils causing any issues.

 

[RichGem]

I saw this at Whole Foods today but from looking at the ingredients, I see oil and essential oils but nothing that looks like a soaping agent but it was only a quick look but it should be on the top of the list. It is pretty cheap though.

http://www.mountainskysoap.com/soaps.php

Castor oil is your lathering agent there, tho judging by the reviews, that doesn't help.

 

[synapticmisfires]

The price per weight makes it so tempting, but I guess from the sound of the review I should sheath my SSAD. *sigh*

As far as spotting a bad shave soap: I've heard that about olive oil before and I have an olive oil soap that I use for other things, and based on how it behaves I doubt I'll ever touch bristles to it, and I'll shave with almost anything once. I do not know if this is true of all highly unsaturated fats, but I tend to be suspicious of them because of this.

 

[Pricklycactus]

Castor oil is your lathering agent there, tho judging by the reviews, that doesn't help.

Hmm, my references show that castor oil is an emollient externally and a laxative internally, nothing about it having lathering capacities.

 

[Saltysteele]

these are cold process soaps.

yes, castor is a good lathering oil, as is coconut oil. coconut oil is a good cleaner, but too much coconut oil can be drying.

just judging by the description of the shave soap, i would say this is nothing but a glorified bar of handsoap (and not even that glorified).

i make soap as a hobby, and if i've said it once, i've said it a thousand times, you can't just take a bar of soap and add clay and an oil or two and turn it into a good shave soap. yeah, you can shave with it. you can also shave with a bar of irish spring. do you want to, though? i've been researching shaving soap for over a month now, and there is little to no information on how to make a good shave soap. it takes experience and lots of time; not a trendy name and cool packaging.

just reading in their faq section, and i've found several statements that would lead me to question whether they really know what they're talking about, or just passing on what they've heard

 

[wagstaff]

"smooth but spicy" kind of scares me. That is all.

 

[brothers]

This was originally posted 3 and a half years ago, and the link no longer works. I doubt that the product exists now. I like to go into Whole Foods, and maybe next time I'm there, I'll try to remember to take a look at the soap aisle.

 

[strop]

Holy Thread Resurrection, Batman!

This brings up a point we discussed in another thread, but bers repeating. It's not the presence of olive oil, only the use of olive oil as the Main Ingredient, that causes problems with shaving soap. If it's down the list a bit, then it's worth a try.

 

[mmack66]

Here is a link to the soap in question:

http://www.mountainskysoap.com/product/olde-windsor-traditional-shaving-soap/

And here is the list of ingredients:

Ingredients
sodium cocoate (coconut /noix de coco),sodium palmate, sodium canolate(vegetable oil/huile végétale), aqua (water/eau), cinamomum camphora (howood) oil, coriandrum sativum (coriander) fruit oil, eugenia caryophyllus (clove) flower oil, citrus media limonum(lemon) peel oil, theobroma cacao seed butter, ricinus communis (castor/ricin) seed oil, allantoin (comfrey/ consoude), linum (flax seed/ lin) powder, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter/karité) fruit

The first 3 are the saponified oils, and olive oil is absent from the list, though it is possible that they have changed the formula over the years.