Mikes Shaving Soap

[beardybrewer]

He seems to be running out of stock on the majority of his soaps. Hope he is just in the midst of doing fresh batches and not getting distracted from the reason why god put him on this earth.

Several times, as I love his bay rum soap so much, I have fretted about him going out of business and thought about stocking up.

Anyone have any idea how long a hard soap like Mike's would hold up and still retrain a reasonable scent?

 

[beardybrewer]

Asked Mike how long his soaps would last and got a response after 2 tries.

The amount of time that the soap will maintain its scent can vary considerably. All scents have a much better chance of sticking around if the soap is allowed to dry after use and then stored in a container in a relatively cool location. If this is done, the soap should last a year or more.

Definitely thinking of stocking up on Bay Rum. It's the best I've found so far and I shudder to think of a time I can no longer get it.

 

[Dubster]

That's the first time i've seen Mikes soap lathered. Seemed to me a lot of effort to load the brush and not a huge amount of lather delivered considering the loading time.
The end result looked very creamy, which i like, but does that soap take time to dial in?

 

[Al H]

That's the first time i've seen Mikes soap lathered. Seemed to me a lot of effort to load the brush and not a huge amount of lather delivered considering the loading time.
The end result looked very creamy, which i like, but does that soap take time to dial in?

not really the vid i made was a first quick lather done with a brush a bit too wet.

i love it, the barbershop smell is one of the nicest smell around and the glide and cushion is good regardless of lather

like any soaps, brushes and bowls you have good days and bad days, you have days when you dont load enough or use too much water sometimes you just use what you got, i never have time to start again

it is one of the best artisan soaps ive used

i wont compare it to mama bears or scent from heaven because it is not a glycerin soap but it is a much better soap than sterling both performance and lather generated

 

[Fox]

That's the first time i've seen Mikes soap lathered. Seemed to me a lot of effort to load the brush and not a huge amount of lather delivered considering the loading time.
The end result looked very creamy, which i like, but does that soap take time to dial in?

It does take some working to get a nice lather and it is a very silky soap, probably due to the presence of clay coupled with the soap. I have tried the Barbershop and Bay Rum and both require the same amount of effort to lather, so his soaps illustrate some degree of consistency.

You are right Darren, its not huge puffy fluffy lather like some soaps, but it does provide nice protection, cushion and excellent skin conditioning. Its a soap I like to use in rotation with my own. It does take a bit of time to dial in to your preferred degree of lather.

I also like the fact that his soaps are very soft, (Lanolin content) so can be pushed into a bowl and/or shaped by hand rather easy.

Its a very clever crafted soap and ticks 99% of all the boxes an artisan shave soap should. My only pet hate is clay. I believe clay/s should not be in a shave soap as there are better ways to add slip and those allow for a closer shave.

 

[Al H]

That's the first time i've seen Mikes soap lathered. Seemed to me a lot of effort to load the brush and not a huge amount of lather delivered considering the loading time.
The end result looked very creamy, which i like, but does that soap take time to dial in?

It does take some working to get a nice lather and it is a very silky soap, probably due to the presence of clay coupled with the soap. I have tried the Barbershop and Bay Rum and both require the same amount of effort to lather, so his soaps illustrate some degree of consistency.

You are right Darren, its not huge puffy fluffy lather like some soaps, but it does provide nice protection, cushion and excellent skin conditioning. Its a soap I like to use in rotation with my own. It does take a bit of time to dial in to your preferred degree of lather.

I also like the fact that his soaps are very soft, (Lanolin content) so can be pushed into a bowl and/or shaped by hand rather easy.

Its a very clever crafted soap and ticks 99% of all the boxes an artisan shave soap should. My only pet hate is clay. I believe clay/s should not be in a shave soap as there are better ways to add slip and those allow for a closer shave.

to be fair you state it is your pet hate and opinion which i do respect but in my opinion there are different ways to add slip and those allow for a closer shave

 

[Fox]

That's the first time i've seen Mikes soap lathered. Seemed to me a lot of effort to load the brush and not a huge amount of lather delivered considering the loading time.
The end result looked very creamy, which i like, but does that soap take time to dial in?

It does take some working to get a nice lather and it is a very silky soap, probably due to the presence of clay coupled with the soap. I have tried the Barbershop and Bay Rum and both require the same amount of effort to lather, so his soaps illustrate some degree of consistency.

You are right Darren, its not huge puffy fluffy lather like some soaps, but it does provide nice protection, cushion and excellent skin conditioning. Its a soap I like to use in rotation with my own. It does take a bit of time to dial in to your preferred degree of lather.

I also like the fact that his soaps are very soft, (Lanolin content) so can be pushed into a bowl and/or shaped by hand rather easy.

Its a very clever crafted soap and ticks 99% of all the boxes an artisan shave soap should. My only pet hate is clay. I believe clay/s should not be in a shave soap as there are better ways to add slip and those allow for a closer shave.

to be fair you state it is your pet hate and opinion which i do respect but in my opinion there are different ways to add slip and those allow for a closer shave

Sorry your point being? You have not made yourself clear in your reply.

---

Or is it me that is not clear?

Clays are generally seen by many as an abrasive and quite rightly so, you will find them employed in a whole array of polishing mediums.

Oils are generally seen as lubricants and again quite rightly so. The fact that soap is made from the Saponification of oils for me makes this a no brainer which to use. I also believe that clay is a sign of someone who does not fully understand how to craft a perfect soap without the addition of extra additives and in most cases unnecessary ones.

But again this is IMHO.

 

[Dubster]

I will bow down to superior knowledge here, lol
I wasn't knocking the soap or it's/ your lathering ability Al H, in fact i thank for demonstrating it for us. A big fluffy lather doesn't bother me, i prefer a lather to be creamy and slick myself. The artisan soaps i've tried thus far have been Nanny's, Razorock/TFS and Fox's own WSC. These soaps for me at least are super easy to lather and don't require heavy loading of the brush. That said, i use a synthetic brush and i believe they don't require as much product, but as always YMMV
Again, thank you very much for the demonstration

 

[Fox]

I will bow down to superior knowledge here, lol
I wasn't knocking the soap or it's/ your lathering ability Al H, in fact i thank for demonstrating it for us. A big fluffy lather doesn't bother me, i prefer a lather to be creamy and slick myself. The artisan soaps i've tried thus far have been Nanny's, Razorock/TFS and Fox's own WSC. These soaps for me at least are super easy to lather and don't require heavy loading of the brush. That said, i use a synthetic brush and i believe they don't require as much product, but as always YMMV
Again, thank you very much for the demonstration

I was trying my best to not post in this thread, as I didn't really want to get into the clay thing.

Like I said though Mikes soaps and Mike himself I hold in the highest of light as its a hard soap to beat, though I will try my best of cause!

 

[Al H]

I will bow down to superior knowledge here, lol
I wasn't knocking the soap or it's/ your lathering ability Al H, in fact i thank for demonstrating it for us. A big fluffy lather doesn't bother me, i prefer a lather to be creamy and slick myself. The artisan soaps i've tried thus far have been Nanny's, Razorock/TFS and Fox's own WSC. These soaps for me at least are super easy to lather and don't require heavy loading of the brush. That said, i use a synthetic brush and i believe they don't require as much product, but as always YMMV
Again, thank you very much for the demonstration

I was trying my best to not post in this thread, as I didn't really want to get into the clay thing.

Like I said though Mikes soaps and Mike himself I hold in the highest of light as its a hard soap to beat, though I will try my best of cause!

so clay cannot be that bad then mate :icon_razz:

 

[Fox]

I will bow down to superior knowledge here, lol
I wasn't knocking the soap or it's/ your lathering ability Al H, in fact i thank for demonstrating it for us. A big fluffy lather doesn't bother me, i prefer a lather to be creamy and slick myself. The artisan soaps i've tried thus far have been Nanny's, Razorock/TFS and Fox's own WSC. These soaps for me at least are super easy to lather and don't require heavy loading of the brush. That said, i use a synthetic brush and i believe they don't require as much product, but as always YMMV
Again, thank you very much for the demonstration

I was trying my best to not post in this thread, as I didn't really want to get into the clay thing.

Like I said though Mikes soaps and Mike himself I hold in the highest of light as its a hard soap to beat, though I will try my best of cause!

so clay cannot be that bad then mate :icon_razz:

Its the next best thing and certainly better than nothing, that's for sure!

 

[Tall_Paul]

I like it very much, but it takes a lot of work to produce a cream. It certainly isn't lather!

However it works, and works well, so I'm not complaining.

 

[beardybrewer]

Interesting, hard to lather is not an attribute I'd associate with Mike's. I suppose every soap has a sweet spot you find when dialling in and perhaps I've used Mike's for so long I take that for granted. It's pretty easy tho.

Actually his vetiver is a bit prickly by comparison to the 4 others I own which are all consistent with each other.

 

[Bechet]

Well I certainly did something wrong, not enough, whatever but that was the worst shave I've had in a long time! Having now read about the 'got to work at it' aspect of this soap, I got that wrong for sure! And I used the wrong brush for a 'work at it' soap. To make matters worse, having spread an inadequate white film over my face, I shaved with a Fa Tip and a new blade. Went to a badger brush and a cream for the second and third passes but my face was already sore.

I won't shave with this stuff again until I have learned to generate a good, slick cream from it. I thought I must have ordered a bath soap by mistake! Surely one of the requirements of a 'good shaving soap' is that it lathers well and easily? I have ultra-soft water in my bathrooms.

 

[dodgy]

Well I certainly did something wrong, not enough, whatever but that was the worst shave I've had in a long time! Having now read about the 'got to work at it' aspect of this soap, I got that wrong for sure!

I won't shave with this stuff again until I have learned to generate a good, slick cream from it.

Mostly because of how good your soap smelled before I shipped it to you, I ended up ordering a few things from Mike. Full size bar and a few samples got here late last week.

I had seen that this stuff takes a while to lather up, and the first time using it I didn't spend enough time doing that. The shave was just ok, and post shave skin care nothing special. I also didn't load up with enough product, even though this soap is very soft.

Last two times have been much better. Worked the lather lots longer (more water too) and loaded up with more soap. The resulting lather was creamy and thick, but not what you'd call merengue like and fluffy. Performance was good, and my face felt real pleasant afterwards.

Can't see buying any more because it takes more work and product than I prefer. Stay with it though Carl.......it's a nice soap when you get things dialed in.

Martin

 

[Al H]

I've got mine in an OS mug and I mixed it with a small puck of vintage surrey

The trick with this soap is to half build the lather as you are loading