Flooding the market with new products

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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brothers
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Flooding the market with new products

Post by brothers »

New shaving soap brands in multiple fragrances are being introduced at a dizzying pace. It seems the artisans are coming out with new soaps every two weeks or so (oddly, it seems that shaving creams are being left completely alone) in this competition.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Brutus
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by Brutus »

I suspect it is the perceived easy money that may prompt some new "artisan" soap makers to try to cash in on the market.

Artisan has its roots in the Latin "instructed in the arts" and this is what I have a problem with.

Just because someone dabbled in the basement in soap making with recipes found on the Internet and had some friends test the results does not make one an artisan soap maker.
The Internet is full of reports of shavers who have just discovered the latest "must have" artisan shaving soap.
In the past, I did try a few of these products and frankly, most left much to be desired.
So pardon me when I take all the artisan claims with a grain of salt from now on and be mindful of the gulf between ambition and capability.

Once the market is saturated and the hype has worn off; a few new soap makers will stay, but I expect most will disappear having failed the test of time.
The former will enrich the landscape, but in the meantime it may be hard to tell the chaff from the wheat (and my bathroom board and cabinet are already overloaded with soaps).

Call me a doubting Thomas; but I did some thorough research before ordering the first jar of my latest addition, Martin de Candre - and they were established in 1971. :)



B.
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

Bertrand Russell
ShadowsDad
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by ShadowsDad »

No dissention with the premise presented here. I can't address the entire industry; only myself. That's why it took me 2 years to decide on who would be selected to make my soap. I can only spread myself so thin and soap making simply wasn't going to be one of the things I was going to do, or be competent to do. Clearly it would be up to someone else to do for me using my "input". The effect when I got it right was synergism when the right maker was selected. I did make one mistake along the way... quite publically. :) (on another forum) But we learn... quickly. [-o< With help.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
CMur12
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by CMur12 »

The artisan soaps I have tried have been very good and I have been generally impressed with the products coming from our new soapmakers. The problem is that there are so many new soaps that I am no longer willing to keep trying every one as it comes along, having already found and stocked up on several soaps (Valobra hard soap, the old Valobra-made AoS, Cella, Mike's Natural, Mystic Water, and Tim's Soap) that work really well for me.

Martin de Candre is a good enough soap, were it not for the thoroughly repugnant smell of the original and of the so-called unscented. I'm just a little miffed about this brand, having bought the original and finding it unusable because of the assault on the olfactory. I was delighted when MdC offered an unscented version and ordered it, only to discover that it smelled just like the original - wretched, wretched smell! I got rid of both without looking back.

- Murray
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Raze R. Blade
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by Raze R. Blade »

brothers wrote:New shaving soap brands in multiple fragrances are being introduced at a dizzying pace. It seems the artisans are coming out with new soaps every two weeks or so (oddly, it seems that shaving creams are being left completely alone) in this competition.
I noticed that, too. There are a vast number of artisan soapmakers nowadays. Several years back, I compiled a list of all I could find using cursory Google searches. There were well over one hundred, and seemingly hundreds of others I did not add to the list. Their number is infinitely greater today, in the countless thousands or more likely in the tens of thousands. As you noted, many are now also selling shaving soaps in addition to their bath soap lineup. What they generally fail to realize is that simply adding some clay or other goodies to a soap and throwing it out on the market does not automatically make it a good shaving soap.

I have tried a number of artisan soaps, most of which did not work well at all. The problem with these soaps was invariably that the lather disappeared almost instantly once it was applied to the face. I am not sure why this happens, but it might be that the soaps are not checked for efficacy before offering them for sale. Regardless, I found that artisan soaps widely praised on the wetshaving forums typically worked well, and often very well. Those artisans frequently submitted samples to forum members for evaluation, tweaking the formula as required until they got it just right.
JRTASTER
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by JRTASTER »

Have tried a few soaps from artisans with mixed results- some ok, some really nice, at least one dud- all judged by lather quality (and quantity).

Fragrance is almost always a secondary consideration for me as my shave takes place before my shower. Those motivated by fragrance considerations,
however, can be overwhelmed by the incredible number of fragrance choices available. Fragrance choices seems to be driving these guys (and gals).

I am struck by the apparent contradictions facing the artisans in trying to come to a workable business strategy. On one hand, some of the apparent
advantages of the artisans vs the Goliaths like versatility, the ability to react/create/innovate quickly and lack of dependence on large production runs
can enable the artisan to move relatively rapidly from scent A, to B to Z- one we know markets 3 DOZEN fragrance variants!

The last "advantage" can become a liability when costs are factored in, however. Downtime between batches, the cost of carrying inventory of multiple,
similar items and the complexity of managing that inventory can all negatively affect costs and take valuable time from "mom and pop" businesses.

As pointed out, the "rush" of product intros may lead to shortcuts in quality and testing as well as consumer service issues. The big guys have learned
a "simple" change in fragrance doesn't always translate to the exact same performance in the variant, a lesson some artisans seem slow to learn.

While I am "for" the artisans, as has been pointed out, the longer-term viability of many is hardly assured. Now the FDA may be required to give greater
scrutiny to this class of business, which may cause some problems they certainly don't need. Most will probably need to undergo major re-writes
of their business model to prosper.

If I live 5 more years, I'll see many new guys showing up to compete, but only the best and hardiest of those now being adored will still be around- it
should be an interesting consumer spectacle. Stay tuned!
Enjoying wet shaving, again.
jr/John
brothers
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by brothers »

If I was artisan soap-maker I know I'd be hoping my one and only fragrance was so wonderful that most guys would become fiercely loyal to that fragrance and keep coming back for more of the same. I say this somewhat tongue in cheek, realizing that the buyers have been spoiled by such a wide variety. I will go out on a limb now, subject to being dead-wrong, but I am not aware that creams and lotions made for the female market are virtually all offered in one standard scent (by each manufacturer or brand), take it or leave it. Am I right?
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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maskaggs
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by maskaggs »

For me, any dabbling in "artisan" wares is limited to what I might be able to procure locally - within a relatively quick drive, say. Otherwise it's just impossible to keep up with everything. Go search "men's shaving soap" on Etsy. You could spend days there.
Regards,
Mike
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Squire
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Re: Flooding the market with new products

Post by Squire »

Yes, our local farmers market has a 'craft' afternoon once a week so I will support locals but only to an extent. My skin is very tolerant so I don't have to be too cautious with bath soaps though I would shy away from anything shaving related.
Regards,
Squire
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