Taking stock of artisan soaps

[KarlMaldensNose]

Sorry, not a big review with great hi-def pics of lushious lather. I only want to come up with a list of artisan soap (and cream) makers known to us here at B&B as I have orders planned with a couple right now (Mike's Natural Soap and Mystic Water). I've been very happy with those I've tried so far and would eventually like to try them all out. Here's what I've come up with so far, please feel free to join the party:

-- Malaspina Soap Factory (tried)
-- Queen Charlotte Soaps (tried)
-- Mama Bears Soap
-- Mike's Natural Soap (ordering now)
-- Mystic Water Soap (ordering now)
-- Al's Shaving Products (Al Raz) (tried)
-- Honeybee Soaps
-- Charsimata Soaps

Did I miss any?

 

[kingfisher]

Dunno.

Of those, I've tried Mama Bear, Queen Charlotte, Mystic Waters, Al's, and Mike's Naturals. All of them are good products. I don't use creams, but Al's cream is as good as any cream I've ever tried.

Of the soaps, I like Mystic Waters best, but QCS and Mike's are really nice, too. Finally, I still like Mama Bear soaps, mostly for their easy lather and incredible scents.

 

[eth]

[...] artisan soap (and cream) makers known to us here at B&B [...]

As in "artisan has a user profile at B&B" or "artisan that B&B users can think of"?

When is an artisan no longer an artisan? Mama Bear's soaps are sold online at big name (in the shaving world) vendors. RazoRock sells products made by several artisans (the Artisan and La Famiglia lines, I'm not sure who makes the classic line), yet you do not list RazoRock or the respective artisans (maker of Artisan line is unknown, maker of La Famiglia line is Tcheon Fung Sing).

 

[KarlMaldensNose]

Okay, we'll add RazoRock Artisan soaps. I don't know anything about Tcheon Fung Sing other than that it is a "company" that's been making soaps for more than fifty years, so that's a no-go in my definition of artisan. Mama Bear counts. Doesn't matter where her soaps are sold. She could become official soap maker for the Vatican and still be artisan if she continued making her soap by hand, in reasonably small-ish batches for quality control, and personally oversaw all aspects of the operation from ingredient selection and purchasing to packaging. It's not my intention to get technical about who/what is considered artisan. I think you guys know what I mean. I just want to get a list going for all of us so in the future when we're looking to try an artisan soap we'll have something to refer to.

 

[5savages]

Ogallala Bay Rum Company
Calani

 

[eth]

Okay, we'll add RazoRock Artisan soaps. I don't know anything about Tcheon Fung Sing other than that it is a "company" that's been making soaps for more than fifty years, so that's a no-go in my definition of artisan. Mama Bear counts. Doesn't matter where her soaps are sold. She could become official soap maker for the Vatican and still be artisan if she continued making her soap by hand, in reasonably small-ish batches for quality control, and personally oversaw all aspects of the operation from ingredient selection and purchasing to packaging. It's not my intention to get technical about who/what is considered artisan. I think you guys know what I mean. I just want to get a list going for all of us so in the future when we're looking to try an artisan soap we'll have something to refer to.

Well, I don't really know what you mean, but we can leave it at that.

I do consider TFS an artisan, because to the best of my knowledge the soaps are made in small batches, and by old traditional ways. The fact that it has been a successful business for a long time only proves that they make stuff people keep buying. Saint Charles Shave and Fitjar Såpekokeri (or Fitjar soap, if you like) are artisans worth mentioning as well.

 

[Barbiere di Figaro]

If one of the aspects of an Artisan would be that he or she would produce soaps in a traditional way, (as they say in Italy: "Artiginiale") which enables them to make soaps according to their own recipes and alter them according to what customers would like, then Tcheon Fung Sing would be an artisan in my opinion.

 

[kmev]

The Soap Opera in Madison, WI: http://www.thesoapopera.com/Soap-Men.htm

 

[midniterambler]

add martin de candre to the list.

 

[billyboy]

and Kell's.

 

[michiganlover]

St. Charles Shave
QED
BentonClay

 

[Toddy]

Nannys silly soap

 

[JCinPA]

I agree your definition of 'artisan' is perhaps, too narrow. I am anxiously awaiting a split of Santa Maria Novella, but one could argue it is an 'artisan' soap because it has been made the same way for 400 years.

Forget artisan, just get good soaps. Cella, Tabac, QCS, RazoRock, are all good soaps. I could not care less if they have the 'artisan' moniker.

 

[BrookR1]

Nancy Boy

Damn...keep getting soaps and creams mixed up...sorry.

 

[GreekGuy]

Forget artisan, just get good soaps. I could not care less if they have the 'artisan' moniker.

^ This

 

[BillC]

Em's Place, www.emsplace.com Nice products that don't get mentioned much here - although I prefer the tallow soaps from QCS and Mike's

 

[pipskicks]

A lot of these are soaps and not creams aren't they?

 

[brucered]

Forget artisan, just get good soaps. Cella, Tabac, QCS, RazoRock, are all good soaps. I could not care less if they have the 'artisan' moniker.

agreed.

i don't care who makes them, where they make them or how long they have been making them....if they work, i'll buy them.

that said, if the OP only wants to buy from artisans who have been around this long or that long, it's his choice...but my vote goes to QCS RR and MdC

 

[KarlMaldensNose]

I agree your definition of 'artisan' is perhaps, too narrow. I am anxiously awaiting a split of Santa Maria Novella, but one could argue it is an 'artisan' soap because it has been made the same way for 400 years.

Forget artisan, just get good soaps. Cella, Tabac, QCS, RazoRock, are all good soaps. I could not care less if they have the 'artisan' moniker.

agreed.

i don't care who makes them, where they make them or how long they have been making them....if they work, i'll buy them.

that said, if the OP only wants to buy from artisans who have been around this long or that long, it's his choice...but my vote goes to QCS RR and MdC

That's swell, guys. But this is a thread about compiling a list of artisan shaving soap/cream makers and nothing more. At no point have I stated that artisan is better than others (because I don't believe that), nor have I stated that I only want to buy from artisans who've been making soap for x years. The bit about TFS's years of production just happened to be included in the quote I lifted about them being a "company", which was my point of emphasis when considering them artisan or not -- an endeavor, BTW, that I had no wish to engage in until another poster posed the question.

I thought it'd be fun to make a list. Don't read into it so much. And please do not attribute words, beliefs or intentions to me that I have not stated (or even implied... sheesh!). Thank-you.

<Ahem> Now that I got the gum out of the works, let's get back to the topic at hand. When I hear artisan, I imagine one person standing over a bubbling pot on their kitchen stove, stirring and sniffing, stirring and sniffing... That's about as much of a definition I have for all this and as much as I care to formulate. So I was surprised to hear such brands as Santa Maria Novella, Martin de Candre and Nancy Boy. I don't know much about them, but if you guys consider them artisan then let's add them to the growing list.

 

[celestino]

Mystic Water and Mike's are fantastic soaps. There is also an artisan in Montreal, Quebec who makes very good soap, in my opinion: www.mjsoapshop.com