Artisan soaps vs mass produced

Greybeard

Greybeard

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Location
NW England
Don't get me wrong here...I'm not taking a particular viewpoint, but I am interested in gauging people's views generally.

Artisan soaps usual carry a price premium...Like every wet shaver, I find myself facing the choice of a wide range of soaps (and creams), and I can pay £2-£5 for 150ml tub or tube of Cella, Proraso, Palmolive, etc; or I can pay 3 or 4 times as much for similar amounts (or even less) for an artisan soap.

In use, I have to admit, I find it difficult often to really understand the qualitative difference between artisan and mass produced.

What's your view on what makes a 'Wickam's' or 'Exec Shaving Company Natural' or other small scale productions worth the extra cost? Is the performance that much better?
 
At first my purchases were pretty much directed to artisan soaps. Little by little I found myself drifting to mass produced ones - mainly MWF, Tabac, LEA, Cella, Haslinger and the cheap Portuguese creams. Either my technique has improved greatly or my initial soap selections were misguided, because I now getting as just good or better shaves from the cheapos at a faction of the cost.
 
JohnnyO said:
Since any soap lasts me months rather than weeks I guess the price diff is fractions of a pence. For the tiny premium involved the extra performance and top quality ingredients are a worthwhile investment in shaving enjoyment and skin health.
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This!

Nothing against Tabac or Palmolive, but for the minute price difference (spread out over the months that a soap lasts for me) I prefer buying from the smaller companies, like TFS and Haslinger.
 
I'm usually pretty straight forward. I prefer some artisan soaps mostly because the scents. If I would find similar scents for mass produced soaps, I would ignore the artisan. I also prefer veggie artisan soaps, and not tallow ones, for particular reasons.
For me, mass produced goods offer a specific level of security regarding the ingredients used. I trust that Colgate will verify their tallow for pesticides and they will buy it from reputable vendors, while I can't know that about the dude that's making soap in his basement. It's just a personal concern.

Also, the "no preservatives" thing. I had some problems with some artisan soaps, that went bad before the "best before..." period was reached. Soft soaps that started to decompose. I don't know if they performed just as good as before, but I'm not looking forward to stir my brush into something that looks like oily smashed beans and then put that stuff on my face. Shaving soaps and creams should have a generous period of use, of at least one-two years before starting to look/smell/perform differently. It shouldn't be my job, as a buyer, to test out that period.

Not saying that there aren't artisans that impressed me. They surely are. My best performing soap comes from Nanny's Silly Soaps. But, when buying from them, sometimes, it can be hit & miss. I would like to see more seriousness on artisan market. More inclination toward these artisans proving to use that their soaps are as safe to use as mass produced ones, than trying to lure us in with some nice scents.
 
It's mostly the ingredients that push prices up, most of the exotic ingredients are extreamly expensive. These ingredients add a luxurious feel to a soap.

Like @nick_s also pointed out, you will get better post shave qualities to. Mass produced soaps remove this in the form of glycerine to sell to fragrance companies. We leave it in and with some soap makers myself included neutralise any free hydroxide with conditioning oils, which is called in the artisan soap world as Super Fatting. Some of the commercial soap makers try to achieve the same post shave qualities with cheaply massed produced chemicals, not quite the same.
 
William Dobson said:
At first my purchases were pretty much directed to artisan soaps. Little by little I found myself drifting to mass produced ones - mainly MWF, Tabac, LEA, Cella, Haslinger and the cheap Portuguese creams. Either my technique has improved greatly or my initial soap selections were misguided, because I now getting as just good or better shaves from the cheapos at a faction of the cost.
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Yeah..That..:)

I have Never came Across a So Called Artisan Soap that's any Better than the Likes of Haslinger, Vitos & Valobra Etc..In Fact the Opposite has been True for Me..Those USA Made Walton Family Businesses in the Name of Artisan Soaps are Horrendous..With all their John Boy Sob Stories about having Family Members with Senstitive Skin Condition's an All..Yeah..Pull the Other One Mary Ellen..:eek:

I have Used P & B Soaps & they are Good but No Better than most Decent Mass Produced Tallow Soaps..Haslinger Blows it Right Out the Water except for Scent..:D

Billy
 
Fox said:
It's mostly the ingredients that push prices up, most of the exotic ingredients are extreamly expensive. These ingredients add a luxurious feel to a soap.

Like @nick_s also pointed out, you will get better post shave qualities to. Mass produced soaps remove this in the form of glycerine to sell to fragrance companies. We leave it in and with some soap makers myself included neutralise any free hydroxide with conditioning oils, which is called in the artisan soap world as Super Fatting. Some of the commercial soap makers try to achieve the same post shave qualities with cheaply massed produced chemicals, not quite the same.
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If it's seriousness you want from
Artisans, PM me. I'll send you some soap and see if you can tell the difference between mine and one that is produced by the thousands.
 
Sylviansghost said:
nothing wrong paying a little bit more to keep the artisans going giving us a bit more choice
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I think this is a really good point...while I am still to be convinced through personal experience that artisan soaps deliver a level of quality shave that justifies the extra cost, I recognise that artisan soap makers don't have the same profit margins that the mass producers can work to. So, despite my views about cost/quality, I'll always be willing to pay (occasionally) for some artisan soaps to support their production and, as Sylviansghost says: give us a bit more choice.

Who knows, one day I might find an absolute pearl of a soap that justifies the extra cost.

If anyone can recommend something that they think might meet the bill?
 
It's a good question. A few things to consider here. Firstly and foremost wet shaving for pretty much everyone on wet shaving forums is about quality, exclusiveness and prestige. If you are happy with a Palmolive stick and a Wilkinson sword DE then you aren't the kind of guy to wax lyrical about the after shave qualities of soap or the face feel of a £200 razor on an internet forum.
The soaps that James, Darren and Kerry (amongst others) produce are tailored, finessed and improved beyond recognition compared to the mass produced production line soaps. They aren't produced in a laboratory, tested on animals and rolled out to focus groups of scientists, they are hand crafted and improved by asking real people for input and suggestions.
The scents also are artisan by nature. They don't appeal to everyone. Mass produced soaps are designed to appeal to as many people as possible and end up bland and weak.
As you've probably guessed - artisan all the way for me.
 
I have tried most of the US & UK artisan makers with the exception of Wickhams (which I will be trying soon hopefully) and found that none of them compare to the blue collar European soaps like Tabac, MWF, Cella, Speick et al. Saying that artisan soaps are 'improved beyond recognition' is a ridiculous statement.
 
This is a YMMV matter I think. Although everyone unconsciously feels that everyone's skin is the same as their own, there will be many members who have, objectively, skin as tough as an old boot and those whose skin is genuinely delicate and easily irritated. It is to these latter individuals that an artisan soap will make the most difference, providing the greater degree of protection and conditioning which they need. I can get a great shave with Tabac and Hasslinger but most other mass-produced soaps don't protect my skin sufficiently. Soaps from our four forum-member UK artisans on the other hand I find to be exactly what my skin needs.

USA artisan soaps I do not use because I find them, in the main, to be excessively scented, which causes me irritation of a different type.
 
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