Upcoming Artisan Soap Makers?

[Klatu]

Sometimes you get lucky...I tried Tiki The Captain soap during the Soap Passaround and fell in love with the scent (and the performance with good, too.) I spent a long time trying to get a tub of it, but Tiki had one more run (that I missed the cut on) and then closed. Thankfully, she sold her formulas to the Groomatorium and I was able to get a tub.

Thanks for turning me on to the Groomatorium. I'd never heard of the shop, and it appears as if they've got an impressive selection of shaving supplies.

One of the products that struck my fancy was a shave soap that I hadn't heard of called "Studdle Buster". It appears to be a tallow based soap that includes bentonite clay which sells for a paltry $9! Has anyone used this soap? I'd love a review.

 

[ShaverAZ]

I have several Shannon's Soaps and they are all top tier . I believe Shannon has a background in chemistry and designed it for sensitive skin . I do not have sensitive skin but am happy to shave with it anytime.

I agree. Having corresponded with Shannon several times, she has the know-how to make a superior soap and the recipes that prove it. She has even sent me several samples of some not-yet-released formulas - all are first rate. I also have her Barber Shop and Aussie Ice soaps that rival Stirling and ToBS for superior shave performance.

M&M are off my buy list after having a couple of scary instances of some kind of evil fungal/bacterial growth appear on new containers of soap. Possibly someone wasn't washing his hands after a trip to the restroom?
In fairness, they've already taken steps to avoid further occurrences - maybe handling or soap reformulations.

 

[Grundi]

Thanks for turning me on to the Groomatorium. I'd never heard of the shop, and it appears as if they've got an impressive selection of shaving supplies.

One of the products that struck my fancy was a shave soap that I hadn't heard of called "Studdle Buster". It appears to be a tallow based soap that includes bentonite clay which sells for a paltry $9! Has anyone used this soap? I'd love a review.

I think Stubble Buster is Groomatorium's house brand. Several of the scents are on my To-Try list but I haven't ordered them yet (trying to work down my current bunch of soaps). They come in sample size so that's probably how I'll try them. I've had good experiences ordering from them.

 

[BarryR]

There are a lot of great Artisan soaps.
After looking over lots of recs here, I recently got Grooming Dept Charbon soap and love it. Unique scent that I like very much and great quality overall.
I also got Wholly Kaw Siero Shaving Soap (Rebelle) and was really impressed though the scent is much milder than Charbon.

 

[nemo]

I'm probably in the minority here when it comes to soap. I'm done stock pilling, done rotating, done trying new soaps and scents. I tend to gravitate to soaps and creams that have been around a while and have a proven formula that doesn't change monthly.

We're both in the minority then ... I dropped artisan soaps years ago. Old standards for me -- they're consistent, stable, not over-scented and over-fatted, and will be there when I need to restock.

 

[Timeclo]

Thanks for turning me on to the Groomatorium. I'd never heard of the shop, and it appears as if they've got an impressive selection of shaving supplies.

One of the products that struck my fancy was a shave soap that I hadn't heard of called "Studdle Buster". It appears to be a tallow based soap that includes bentonite clay which sells for a paltry $9! Has anyone used this soap? I'd love a review.

Stubble Busters are great soaps. I have a tub of Game and it lathers wonderfully. The scent is on the weaker side and neutral but it's very slick. It does have one questionable ingredient (Petroleum or smthing like that) but I find it great regardless.

 

[LewisW]

I love this discussion regarding up and coming soaps and shaver mentioning soap makers with great pedigrees. One thing I’ve taken from this is we a all kind of spoiled with our choices these days for quality shaving products.

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

So many of the artisan soapmakers out there get their "information" from message boards or new soapmaking books for products such as shaving soaps and shaving creams. Often you will see things like Castor Oil INCI name: Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil which makes a soap that bubbles but those bubbles are large and do not create the "foam" type of lather that works the best for shaving. It also makes a very "water soluble" soap which rinses away easily but it rinses away too easily which doesn't help for shaving. They also use things like "bentonite clay" for "slip and glide" but what it actually does is to dull the razor blade! These are ideas that often come from these more modern resources! Shaving Soap and Shaving Cream are products that have been around for the last hundred or more years for Shaving Cream and many hundreds of years for Shaving Soap and what most artisan soapmakers don't do is to research formulas from old soapmaking books, cosmetic chemistry books and patents which would show examples of formulas that are similar to those "old" companies who the guys here go to for as their "old standards" from long known, respected companies!

The key here is the Ingredients list!

When you are making your selections for shaving soaps and shaving creams the most important thing to do is to look at the Ingredients list! Get to know what your "favorites" out there contain, get an idea as the the order of the ingredients (which also plays a role in this) of your favorites and see how they compare. As an example here's a list for Taylor of Old Bond Street Shaving Cream: INGREDIENTS: Aqua (Water), Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Fatty Acid, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Benzyl Alcohol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone. If you check around you will find other British Shaving Creams with a very similar list in a very similar order hence there is a good chance that they will be similar in performance. The same should apply to shaving soaps. If you do your research for either of these types of products you may be able to find a commercial or artisan product that works for you! There are artisan soapmakers who do try to "emulate" older or commercial products out there and who do the proper research and those are the artisans who will be able to provide you with what you need!

 

[Billy T.]

Don't you have enough already?

 

[Granite.Glasser]

Zingari Man is another up and comer to me. I really, really enjoy their sego base.

Heather Melton of Zingari Man really hit the mark with the SEGO base!
And her focus is centered foremost on skin care and performance with less "aggressive" scents so as to avoid potential irritation from the scent compounds.
Zingari Man SEGO base soaps are absolutely top tier!

 

[fhalden]

Don't you have enough already?

Nope.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Jermo]

I just tried out Southern Witchcraft recently. Really interesting scents, was impressed!

 

[Granite.Glasser]

Some of these are far more established than what would be considered as "up and coming", but some are still emerging as relatively new-comers in the artisan shave soap market. Below is a list of confirmed vendors scheduled to attend the Maggard Razors 2020 Meet-Up on May 30, 2020, which includes quite a number of artisan soap makers. This might be a great opportunity for some folks in the upper mid-west to actually meet these soap artisans in person!

• ARIANA & EVANS
• BARRISTER AND MANN
• CAPTAIN'S CHOICE
• CATIE'S BUBBLES
• CHATILLON LUX
• CHISELED FACE
• DECLARATION GROOMING
• DOGWOOD HANDCRAFTS
• DR. JON'S
• ELEVEN
• FIRST LINE SHAVE
• GENTLEMAN'S NOD
• HENRI ET VICTORIA
• KARVE SHAVING CO.
• NOBLE OTTER
• OLEO SOAP
• REX SUPPLY CO.
• SHANNON'S SOAPS
• SOUTHERN WITCHCRAFTS
• SUMMER BREAK SOAPS
• THROUGH THE FIRE FINE CRAFT
• WHOLLY KAW
• WOLF WHISKERS
• ZINGARI MAN

 

[RigelDust]

I second (or third?) Southern Witchcrafts. I used em today. Always a great shave.

 

[ShaveNut]

Don't you have enough already?

You can never have enough shaving soaps.

 

[ShaveNut]

I just tried out Southern Witchcraft recently. Really interesting scents, was impressed!

I’ll have to take a look at them, thanks for sharing!

 

[snowman]

Great thread!

‘Do you want the ‘newest artisan’ (however you define that) product that may indeed be terrific?

I went through a short-lived ‘artisan’ phase. Sometimes, ‘The formula changed.’ Other times they closed shop or, ‘The artisan moved.’ Too frustrating!

These days I tend toward products from companies like MWF, Haslinger, MdC, etc.: small companies that are likely to be around when I need to restock.

Certainly, others can stick to the quest to find the newest, best, and most exclusive! Nice to have options!

This. Perfect response @BigJ (as usual).

Haslinger / various forms of Valobra Triple Milled / MdC are my preferred soaps. Over the past several months I was lured into trying a few of the newer artisan products. One of them was excellent, although I tired of the butter heavy formula and strong scent after a few months. The other two were mostly over-hyped. Ironically, it would seem that the one artisan soap I liked and may have considered repurchasing has since moved onto another formula. Is it better? Dunno and likely wont find out. When it comes to shaving products I'm not much for experimenting. I highly value consistency. Artisan soaps tend to lack consistency between batches and often have ridiculously overpowering scents. Dont even get me started on the scent descriptions!

End of old man rant.

 

[allyourbasearebelongtous]

Yup

I've been a long time advocate against USED soap. What I find funny is eBay doesn't allow used cosmetics, the annual auction here doesn't allow them and in this day and age.....especially right now with everything going on in the world, I can be believe used soap is still a thing.

Used Cella 80-90% remaining for $8.99. Isn't it like $12.00 new without any mystery hairs or kooties? I've never seen or heard of an online vendor selling used soaps. Sounds like a bad idea to me.

when i first found out that people use used soaps, i was flabbergasted to say the least

 

[jesseix]

Heather Melton of Zingari Man really hit the mark with the SEGO base!
And her focus is centered foremost on skin care and performance with less "aggressive" scents so as to avoid potential irritation from the scent compounds.
Zingari Man SEGO base soaps are absolutely top tier!

Zingari is one that I’ve been wanting to try and I have a few scoops so heading my way via trade that I’m really looking forward to.
I probably won’t get around to trying these for a while (if at all), but a few artisans that have recently caught my eye/interest are:
Cutting Edge Soap
Highland Springs Soap Co
First Line Shave

So much great soap nowadays, so little time...

 

[old_school]

Up and coming;
Cutting Edge.

That get little fanfare:
Beehive
Black Tie Razor