SMF

I haven't seen a much talk about Mike's Natural Soaps of Brooklyn, NY on SMF. I recently 'discovered' them and I'm impressed. I bought his lime soap as a replacement for Trumper lime soap, as well as a few sample of other scents (including a lovely rose & cedar). For those not familiar, Mike's shaving soaps are tallow based with the addition of lanolin.

http://www.mikesnaturalsoaps.com/Mikes_ ... Soaps.html

The soaps are somewhat semi-hard produce oodles of lather, provide excellent cusion and glide, and are wonderfully moisturizing as well. I've never used a semi-soft soap before, and I'm still perfecting my technique, but what seems to work best is to load a wet (but not dripping wet) brush on the soap for a couple of minutes, then build your lather in a bowl. This soap seems to love water, and when worked correctly whips up loads of rich lather. I'll post some pictures next time I use it.

Is anyone else on SMF using Mike's?

I believe Gary and maybe Murray (brothers and CMur12 respectively) have used it. I would love to try it but for the lanolin. It does indeed receive rave reviews almost universally.

Craig, as Tim intimated, this is one of my favorite soaps. I'm a sucker for a natural citrus scent, so I have only sampled the Lime. I would call it a "semi-hard" soap more than "semi-soft," and it makes a very rich, creamy lather. I used up one cake and ordered 5 more.

http://www.mikesnaturalsoaps.com/Mikes_ ... lcome.html

I did the same with Mystic Water, which is another excellent, and softer, tallow-based soap. The woman who makes this soap buys suet from a local rancher who raises range-fed beef and she renders it herself for her shaving soap. The main thing to keep in mind with Mystic Water soap is that it wants more water, or you'll get dry, airy lather.

http://www.mystic4men.com/

Scenting of tallow-based soaps with EO is another big plus, though I believe these two also offer some fragrances.

I think that the passion these - and other - artisans put into their soaps more than makes up for their lack of pedigree. These artisans put heart and soul into making the best product they can, with no manufacturing shortcuts and no potentially toxic ingredients.

- Murray

hi craig

just a few months back if that long ago, i was getting lower on my trumpers and MWF stock

after hearing about Mikes soaps and Mystic water i took a journey into ther unknown,

ordered coconut from both makers, and its one of the better things i have done

just great shaving soap in every way, and to add a third Green mountain too

with shaving soaps as good as these and creams as good a Sultans why look across the sea.

marc

Thanks for the heads up, Craig. I'm interested in the shave sticks as my lathering technique with pucks A) sucks on its own and B) suffers from uber-hard water.

Can anyone offer any thoughts on the Pine & Cedarwood, Barber Shop, or Orange/Cedarwood/Black Pepper scents?

Mike,

The Barbershop sounds great, I ordered a sample of it but receives the Orange, Cedarwood & Black Pepper instead by mistake. I haven't shaved with it yet but I'll give you a full report as soon as I do.

maskaggs wrote:Thanks for the heads up, Craig. I'm interested in the shave sticks as my lathering technique with pucks A) sucks on its own and B) suffers from uber-hard water.

Can anyone offer any thoughts on the Pine & Cedarwood, Barber Shop, or Orange/Cedarwood/Black Pepper scents?

Mike,

I was playing with my sample of Orange this afternoon and snapped some pictures. This is a very orange scent, it smells like 10 just peeled ripe navel oranges. There's some cedar and pepper notes to balance the orange, but be prepared for a blast of orange with this one. Lather as outstanding.

When working with the small Mike's samples I find it best to push the soap piece down into the bottom of the bowl so it doesn't slide around when you load your brush on the soap.

Wow, some nice lather there! Thanks for the tip!
Tom

I just checked out the website. Nice selection of scents. Were you guys using the one like a bar of soap, or the tin?? Thanks...
Tom

I use the bar, but many guys prefer the tin.

I like Mike's bath soaps, but am not a big fan of his shaving soaps.

To be honest, Craig, that lather doesn't look very good to me; too many bubbles, too thin. Doesn't look like it would be very protective.

The barbershop scent is very sweet, and doesn't smell like a barbershop at all. Lots of guys really love the scent, but I found it rather off-putting.


In fairness, I've only tried a sample and never a full puck. I got some good lathers out of the sample bar, but never got one as good as I can get with Mystic Waters or with RazoRock products. The orange concoction sounds tempting except that I'm allergic to cedar. Even a small amount of cedar in the product would ruin it for me.

I've produced great lather with my full bar of Lime, I was just playing around with this sample for kicks and giggles and did get the lather rather wet. Mike's is my first semihard soap and I'm still perfecting my technique with these soaps, particularly in terms of correct water ratios.

i have his coconut and its in a tin

i get very good lather with it. and its not hard to lather at all


marc

Just ordered a couple of tins of this. Got the orange and the barbershop. Let you know what I think. Also ordered some Valobra. These will be 3 that I have never tried. Got to take a chance every once in a while.

On reading Murray's take on Mike's I got a bar of Lime, and really do like the way it smells and lathers. I've thought about getting a few backups, now that I've become attached to it.

Q: How do you use the shaving bars? I understand it's handheld and the wet brush is applied to generate the lather. Then what? Is the bar left on the counter, in a dish, a bag, on a spike? Or is the bar an intermediate step to being mashed into a bowl? I feel like I should already know this. Sorry for any thread-drift.

Using the bar is a no-nonsense affair. I placed mine in one of my plastic zip lock bowls, nuked it for no more than 10 seconds, then pressed it down firmly into the bottom of the bowl, where it is used to load the brush. That's where it will stay until it's all used up.

The Lime is great! Honest real lime scent. It's a thirsty soap so don't be afraid to throw water at it. Makes all the difference.

Just had my first shave with the Hungarian Lavender. This is indeed good stuff! And the scent is really, really nice. Very Caldey Island -like, IMO.

As of just a few days ago, after a puck of Marlborough and one of Windsor, I couldn't wait any longer to start using the Mike's Lime soap on a daily basis. It's got a nice thick lather, is slick and protective during the shave, and cleans up easily. It does leave the face feeling good, too. Today's shave was with the 3 Claveles horsehair barber's brush. I'd almost forgotten how well that brush performs.