Cube - Phoenix Artisan Acoutrements

SoapAlchemist

Joined
Sunday September 6, 2009
What is this thing which has today been brought to my attention? I see @LeeMaz uses it. What exactly does it do, and would anyone have a list of ingredients (although labelling requirements in the US are minimal). They've certainly got some cute soap moulds...I might at some stage consider a rectangle.
 
Too be honest it’s probably just in my head, but it says it’s a prewash face soap/degreaser and I feel add speeds up stubble softening and aides the glide of some poorer quality soaps, (I wouldn’t include yours in that obviously!) I love it as a facewash in the shower before I shave but in reality I can do just fine without.
I found this on Agent Shave if it helps.
 
Hmmm. Interesting list of ingredients, which proves my point about US labelling requirements for soap; because if that's all that's in it, it would have to come in a bottle, and would be an oil blend floating on water. My inquirer said it leaves his skin feeling like silk; would you agree? Would you describe the lather as creamy or bubbly?
 
I do wonder whether one wouldn't get a similar effect by just rubbing a plain soap bar on the face.
I haven't had an opportunity to try the cube out, though.

I should probably also add that while sorbitol seems to be a relatively widely used ingredient, I've never liked the smell of any products that use it. It add a sweetness that's lacking... proper integration, for the lack of a better term (and my ability to explain it).
Kind of like adding white sugar compared to adding honey.

I dislike sweetness in soap and perfume scents in general anyway, though.
 
It does leave a lovely post wash feel if just used as a face wash. It has a very thin creamy lather to it when water is added but says to just rub it on the stubble before shaving and lather your normal soap as normal. I find it helps with the first pass making everything glide a little more smoothly but after that I don’t really notice any noticeable difference.
 
Hmmm, when talking about glide, I'll mention one of my recent(ish) observations, with a bit of context.
Before I go for a run, I apply magnesium oil (https://artnaturals.com/magnesium-oil.html or ) onto my skin, massaging it in.
When I try to wash off what's on my hands:
- bar soap gets it off fine, pretty much regardless of base oils used,
- Dr. Bronner's soap struggles with it, and creates a semi-slick surface,
- Little Blue Hen soap (I mixed https://www.littlebluehensoap.co.uk/product-page/pure-liquid-soap-unscented-250ml and https://www.littlebluehensoap.co.uk/product-page/orange-blossom-liquid-soap), which is based on sunflower, coconut and rapeseed oils doesn't really seem to remove any, or very little, instead making my hands slick as heck.

I haven't tried using the combination of magnesium oil and the sunflower oil based soap mentioned for shaving, but I might have a go at it during the week and report back.

I figure it might be an interesting alternative to the Cube, if it ends up working for shaves.
 
Just realised I read the ingredients carelessly and they do mention sodium cocoate and stearate. So it's a basic soap with a shed load of added ingredients. I'm wondering if it feels tacky to the touch when dry?
 
SoapAlchemist said:
Just realised I read the ingredients carelessly and they do mention sodium cocoate and stearate. So it's a basic soap with a shed load of added ingredients. I'm wondering if it feels tacky to the touch when dry?
Click to expand...
Feels like a slightly soft/soft waxy soap, like a rich glycerin soap that’s been wet for a while and drying out! Not the best description but it’s not a hard soap by any means. It definitely rubs a layer off it when rubbing against stubble.
 

Apologies if I am misreading the intentions of this post, but as a soap maker are you looking to create a pre shave soap?

I never got to use it but I read good things about it but read good things about it but it's resigned to history.

Valobra had a soap a few used for pre shave, it was called Glicerlanolina or something along those lines. I presume it was glycerine and lanolin, maybe tallow as well. I know there are a number of fans of the holy trinity here (tallow, lanolin and glycerine).

@TomG I searched here and you have this Valobra soap, what are your thoughts on it?
 
Ach. Brito makes a pre-shave soap as well.
What is it? Proof that suckers will buy anything if it's marketed right. Pre-shaves didn't exist 20 years ago, except for that 'King of Shaves' stuff, and IIRC, the owner admitted that it was a bit of a gimmicky product years later.

As for Cube, I think that might have been inspired by the old Charles Roberts Method Shaving products.
 
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