Feedback on natural vegetable shaving soap

Hi Hande,
I don't think the clay kills the lather; at least I have never heard that it has that effect, and bentonite clay is added to several commercial brands (although they will use synthetic surfacants to boost lather). I don't think the problem is not enough lather, more not enough of the right kind of lather.
I suspect the problem is that I have been overly relying on coconut for lather and this creats a fluffy lather. In my new recipe there will be practically no fluffy lather and lots of creamy lather.........at least that's the plan. In descending order of amount -

Previous recipe
olive
coconut
shea
palm
castor

New recipe
shea
mango
palm
olive
cocoa
castor
 
Hi Soapal


That sounds like a good change - the olive oil soaps I've tried (e.g. from The Soap Shed) have thin lather but otherwise very soft and nice.

People here want a something very similar to tallow with all the lubrication of glycerine, a big ask (a bit like like my sister-in-law, although that's a big ass).

Good luck!
 
Dangerous words Hunny; let's hope Revo's brother isn't also a member!

Revo, I think it is possible to get a similar result as tallow with the right combination of vegetable oils, and with the cold process method I use, the soap will have the glycerin as well. I would be interested if some of the tallow fans out there could let me know what it is about tallow soaps that they find generally superior to vegetable soaps, and also if they could check their ingredients labels for synthetic additives. It may be these as much as the fats/oils used that are making the difference.
 
Soapal

Here's some ingredients from some nice soaps.

T&H:
sodium palmate, potassium palmate, sodium palm kernelate, aqua, glycerin, potassium palm kernelate, stearic acid, parfum, paraffinum liquidum, isopropyl myristate, tetrasodium EDTA, sodium chloride, bht, tetrasodium etrioronate, pentasodium pentetate, CI77891

AOS:
Sodium Tallowate, Water, Potassium Palmitate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmitate, Sodium Stearate, Essential Oil, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Coconut Oil, Lecithin, Petrolatum, Corn Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Titanium Dioxide.

Tabac:
Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Potassium Cocoate, Aqua, Sodium Tallowate, Parfum, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, CI 77891, Limonene, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Citronellol, Courmarin, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Geraniol, Evernia Prunastri (Oakmoss) Extract, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Isoeugenol, Benzyl Salicylate, Benzyl Alcohol, Eugenol, Citral, Evernia Furfuracea (Treemoss) Extract.
 
hunnymonster said:
soapalchemist said:
Dangerous words Hunny; let's hope Revo's brother isn't also a member!
Click to expand...

These are modern times - it could just as easily be his sister's wife....
Click to expand...

Or maybe his brother's in to bestiality and married a big ass!

african-wild-ass-2.jpg
 
Stich, no need to apologise.....maybe try it with a cream, as Fido is going to do? Otherwise, it'll work fine in the bath or shower. And if any of your family have eczema, if they use nothing else for a while, I'ld be interested to hear whether it helps.

Hunny and Pigcat, if his brother is reading, now he's going to be really mad. I'm just waitng for Revo's comments on the similarities between picture and much maligned sister-in-law.
 
Forgot to ask.....
What do people think of the colour?

And what do people think of the bowls? Do they seem sufficiently weighty, or a bit flimsy? If you were buying in a shop, would you require a bowl with a lid?

For people who got round bars, do they fit into any common brand named bowls?

Thanks again for all the feedback........more still to come I fear :)
 
To deal with your specific questions:

Very happy with the colours I have seen.

Your stainless steel bowl seems fine to me. Most soaps which come in a bowl are usually in a wooden bowl with a lid. You can buy these wooden bowls separately on Ebay for around £4-£5 and get a refill of the soap of your choice. Most pucks are around 100g.
Take a couple of typical products and ball park prices on the internet (Exc postage)

Kent Traditional (MWF by another name) Soap plus lidded bowl £13.95 Refill £5.95
DR Harris Arlington £15.95 £8.50

So these bowls work out at £8 and £7.45. (To hold a 100g puck)

Now you are charging on Ebay £6.90 including bowl for a 200g puck. You are operating at a completely different price level and that is bound to be attractive to some. Now it would be nice but not essential to have a lid. But your little bowl is very practical. Your main issue is to get the actual soap performance to appeal to as many of us as possible.

Didn't get a round bar but a pretty standard round bowl diameter is 8cm.
 
More feedback given in my "Shave of the Day" Monday 5 October.

Just one other point. I put my 200g warm spice in my Dirty Bird shaving mug. Fits like a glove. And today I used the little stainless steel bowl as a lather bowl. Worked really well in the palm of the hand. Since it was included in the price of the soap, an absolute bargain shaving bowl!
 
Hi Fido,
Thanks for the further feedback, and I'm glad you're now finding a good use for both the bowl and the soap (as per your shave of the day).
My round bars are about 7.5cm diameter, so at least they will fit into the usual bowls, not sure if the shaving soaps that go with those bowls would be a snugger fit than that.
I'm still working on the recipe; made a batch yesterday, and although the lather is less fluffy, and I would say more cushioning, I'm not convinced it is any significant amount more stable. Although so far I have only done Antdad's tile test (not so good on white tiles), may have to lather myself up with it later and compare.
Have ordered a couple of extra ingredients today which I haven't used before, but which I'm hoping will make a difference. But will probably need to make a few trial batches to different recipes to see what works best. Still only working with whole oils and natural ingredients.
Obviously, the soap is the all important thing, and that has to be got right. But once it is, I want to be ready with knowing what bowls and boxes I will use, as these will be needed to properly market it.....by that time, I expect the cost will have gone up quite a bit, as neither bowls not bespoke boxes come cheap, especially in relatively small quantities. Plust the ingredients of the final recipe will be significantly more expensive, as far as I can work out at this stage.
 
The tile test just came about as a convenient means of applying and photographing finished lather but the fairly non porous surface does provide a stern test as it is not absorbed in any way.

Applying or building lather on the skin(hand) is a good method for testing as you should be able to feel the transitional phases a lather goes through. I thought the Warm spice soap colour was fine, I don't have any particular soap colour preferences other than I prefer subtle rather than lurid. I have all manner of different coloured soaps, unfairly I only really took notice of the colour when they did not perform adequately.
 
I will try lathering in my hand to see if I can start to recognise these stages....and once Yanno's free Crabtree and Evelyn arrives, I will have something to compare it to.
Just to mention a good point of my soap; my partner has been using it since about April/ May this year, and a patch of eczema that he had had for years in the same spot has disappeared. The eczema on his legs had already gone from using my ordinary soaps in the bath, but obviously something in the shaving foam he had previously been using was still irritating his face.
I'm hoping that if I can get it improved it will retain those qualities, as I don't intend to add synthetics to it.
 
Just got back to having time to look on the boards and find you, SA, are making improvements! How dare you make improvements to something I already think is great! ; ) I guess if it's better than it is now, I'll have to post another 'commercial ad' just for the conspiracy theorists amongst you! Mind you, not sure I want to pay to be a guinea pig with a face full of foam...so how about sending me a FREE sample (as no doubt everyone else will get one) so that I can market your products with even more vigour than before!!! ; ) However, I hope I’m not scraping 2 inches of thick creamy lather off my face, there are limits to what people want. Still, I’ve just acquired a new (well, old really) straight razor from the 30’s that might well be better for me with a thicker lather. If I cut my nose and lips off, it’ll be your fault for messing with my recipe though! Mind you my wife might thank you for actually shutting me up for once.

It's funny you know, when you find a soap you like, it's quite hard to try others as a comparison. When I saw the 'tile test' on here, I rushed out (alright, strolled out) and bought some shaving creams and gels, because I know they lather well, to try. Yes, indeedy, they lather like mad with a brush but left my skin a bit tender. I can't use anything with animal fats in it as I am allergic to it all so it has to be vegetable based (or mainly so) with as few abrasive chemicals in it as possible. I'll agree, some of the lathers stay on the tiles for hours but sadly, as a shaving wimp, I only need it to stay lathered for a few minutes AND be kind to the skin. Ooops, another ruddy ad!!!! Can one become the shaving soap queen when one isn't female??? Nope, definitely not getting in drag, I’d look rotten, so sorry SA, I'll just have to commercialise my rare posts with words!! P.S. Don't forget the sample please, I need more material for my (your?) ads! :twisted:
 
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