What's new

The Latest and Greatest Soap

I’m sure there are new soaps coming out fairly often from makers I’ve heard of here and more that I haven’t. I use MWF, Tabac, Proraso, Seaforth, and RazoRock soaps. I’m just curious what new soaps are out there that you love. Great scent, best lather ever, excellent skin feel, whatever you like in a soap.

What’s new?
 
I would strongly recommend Løthur shave soaps! They are croaps (think Cella) rather than tripled milled. Start with their Nude soap (fragrance free) and then experiment with their scents if that is your thing.

Like MWF I believe that they are a Yorkshire (England) based concern and Løthur Nude is the only soap I have ever used (with 14 years experience) that matches MWF for performance and post shave. It is pricier but it lasts. It was an impulse purchase for me, but I will rotate it with MWF from now on!
 
I don't know how new these are ... but they are new to me. I bought these recently in BST area here and these three soaps are just fabulous for me. Lather easily, slick and plenty of cushion and really nice scent (at least combined with my body chemistry). All three of these have just about the best lather I've come across - really terrific cushion and slickness and post shave feel.

Hoffman's Red Hollow --- this smells syrupy sweet in the tub - reminds me of cookie dough - but on my skin it doesn't have any of that - it's a lovely scent on my skin. Aged apples and Slippery Elm Bark are the main notes I get. Slightly caramel apple but not in an overly sticky sweet way - it's more the burnt/baked caramel smell to me and not the gooey caramel scent.

345 Soap Co. Rhumpkin -- this smells good in the tub and even better on my skin. Very nice Bay Rum up front with apple and pumpkin in the background. Very light and pleasant - clean and simple scent.

Hoffman's Evil Pumpkin -- pumpkin and cinnamon and vanilla are what hit me up front. Smelling it directly out of the tub it smells like it's going to be too strong and too sticky sweet -- but on my skin it is just fabulous and not at all sticky sweet smelling.
 
I have evaluated dozens of soaps. I find that the "best" soaps for my face seem to be the most recent formulations produced by well-established artisan soapmakers. It takes several years of experience to know how to formulate a great soap.

A few traditional soaps like Mitchell's Wool Fat are made with time honored formulas. However, other traditional soaps, especially in Europe, have been reformulated to eliminate animal fats. Some of these reformulations have been done for financial or social reasons rather than to improve performance. Thus, some traditional soaps are no longer traditional. Be wary of any soap that lists coconut oil, palm tree oil, or palm tree kernel oil as the primary ingredient. These sources of fats tend to be cheaper than animal fats.

There are new artisan soaps popping up on the market every year. All it takes to get into the soap business is a stove and a pot and some fats and chemicals. One of the worst shave soaps I ever used was purchased at a county fair. It was made by a hobbyist who was producing hand soaps and thought she could produce a shaving soap. The scent was nice, but the performance was not. A new artisan might learn from the other soapmakers, but it takes years of experience to become an expert. Sometimes seemingly small changes to the ingredient ratios can have a significant affect on performance.
 
For me there are many good soaps, but for me the best artisan soap is Ethos Grooming Essentials. I like both S and F base and the new F base seems to require a lot less product and has a an even better post shave feel (I think there is ostrich oil in it). I need about half the product of what I do from others to reach a creamy, thick yogurt like lather for a three plus pass shave. And I never get pimples even though I have folliculitis and have reactions with many soaps (not all).

The presentation is very nice (brushed nickel/ss cap) and jars like MC. The product may cost more but the value is there. Plus, the scents for me are top notch.

I also really like B&M Omnibus, Wholly Kaw Donkey and Tallow and House of Mammoth. Old school I’m a Prorasso white guy… and always keep a tube of cream around, too.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
After reading some glowing reviews here on B&B, I recently got a tub of Canada Shaving Soap and it lives up to the hype. While it's not cheap (about $33), the soap is very hard, so a tub should last a long time.
I have a few unscented soaps at the moment.. and a couple more in the mail... but Canada Shaving Soap, at the moment, is my favorite.... I use it for almost every shave. And yes, it does last a long time. Mine is about 1/8th the way down... after months. I only shave every other day or so... for the record.

My wife loves the Stirling Beeswax unscented out of all my soaps. I don't that the many, though.
 
One of the newest is Areffa, out of Ukraine. I see it getting quite a lot of love in various SOTD-type images.

Personally, I'm a little wary about newer soaps. There is a bit of a bandwagon vibe about wet shaving and I suspect that some of the newer entrants are pitching a lifestyle product, not a soap you actually shave with. I bought one early last year that had a lovely scent, but would not raise a lather. There is a reason that Proraso, MdC, and co., have been in business for a long time...
 
I'm just trying to stay on top of things.


How do you get oil out of an ostrich? :eek2: No...I better not ask. :)
I believe the same way you get emu oil, beef and lamb tallow; by killing the animal. Luckily ostrich meat is prized and the bird doesn’t go to waste. I happen to love it, very lean but excellent if prepared properly.

I happen to use mostly tallow-based soaps so I already know this going in it. Vegan soaps are a whole different ballgame. I don’t get the same glide and cushion from them.
 
For me, as an alternative to another cheap soap that polarises the community, you should spend a few quid on Culmak. Forget what you've read about it. It's never failed to give me a creamy lather with a hint of lavender. Not sure of the ingredients but I think it's going to be the same as all the other. Comes in a nice vintage inspired tub / bowl too.

Caveats are, I mainly use synth brushes, I'm in the UK and my water is soft.

🙂
 
Happy to give you an opinion. What do you mean by new? New as of 2019? 2021? 2023? Newer that MWF?

I mean, I assume you want a list of soap makers that are 'new' to you from a certain time forward, right?
 
The quality of the artisan soaps in 2023 is so high. Grab any of them, I can't see how they could get much better. My favorite for performance is Barrister and Man Omnibus base. But Zingari Man, Declaration Grooming, House of Mammoth, Grooming Dept, Spearhead Seaforth, and many, many others are right there with it. It's splitting hairs.
 
For me, as an alternative to another cheap soap that polarises the community, you should spend a few quid on Culmak. Forget what you've read about it. It's never failed to give me a creamy lather with a hint of lavender. Not sure of the ingredients but I think it's going to be the same as all the other. Comes in a nice vintage inspired tub / bowl too.

Caveats are, I mainly use synth brushes, I'm in the UK and my water is soft.

🙂
I’ve never heard of that one.
Happy to give you an opinion. What do you mean by new? New as of 2019? 2021? 2023? Newer that MWF?

I mean, I assume you want a list of soap makers that are 'new' to you from a certain time forward, right?
I was thinking within the last couple of years.
 
I believe the same way you get emu oil, beef and lamb tallow; by killing the animal. Luckily ostrich meat is prized and the bird doesn’t go to waste. I happen to love it, very lean but excellent if prepared properly.

I happen to use mostly tallow-based soaps so I already know this going in it. Vegan soaps are a whole different ballgame. I don’t get the same glide and cushion from them.
Oh, it’s a tallow.
 
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