Arko Shaving Soap in Bowl, Red, 90 gram

Product Information

Stirling Soaps is another well-established, well-respected artisan whose products are widely available. They have a wide variety of scents (three of which, Ben Franklin, Executive Man, and Port au Prince, have been reviewed here on Sharpologist) and an active laboratory cranking out updates on a fairly regular basis. The reputation of Stirling Soap’s price:performance ratio is outstanding. Southern Witchcrafts Arko has been perfecting the art of a close shave for over 50 years. The Turkish brand hails from the spiritual home of the wet shave and has become synonymous with shaving thanks to its wide range of shaving products. One advantage of bowl lathering (which I discuss in my Guide) is that it makes it easy to experiment: you can continue working the lather as you periodically add small amounts of water until the lather is clearly too loose/wet. Along the way, you can observe lather at each stage of development and figure out (by look and by (literal) feel, by rubbing some lather between your fingers) the ideal lather. Doing that sort of experiment on your face is pretty much impossible — it requires a bowl. VEGETAL GLYCERIN is an odorless liquid produced from plant oils. Glycerin is a moisturizer and provides softening benefits for the skin and amazing glide to soap. Glycerin is a byproduct of saponification but it is not typically the main base ingredient in a non-tallow based shaving soap. The main ingredient in vegetable based soaps is most likely Stearic Acid which can be derived from various vegetable sources including Palm Oil, Kokum Butter, Mango Butter, and Cocoa Butter. Stearic acid, when combined with Potassium Hydroxide makes lather. Additional ingredients like coconut oil and shea butter can enhance the ingredient mix.

The main problem with a shaving soap is that for the very best results you do need a brush, and something to mix the soap in. Many people simply do not want to be bothered with the hassle of doing that every time they want a shave. Wet Shaving Products (WSP) “Formula T” shave soap is a “croap” with some fantastic scents and a tallow-based formulation that is both “minimalistic” and excellent-performing. Read Sharpologist’s review of WSP’s “Mahogany” shave soap for details. Some Special Cases Oh sure, you could find a hardy artisan toiling away in their kitchen–if you knew where to find them. But they were few and far between (one notable “old-timer,” Emsplace, is still around, having stayed in business largely by word of mouth). Now Ease of lathering with a shaving brush using water with a variety of mineral content (in other words it works well in both “soft” water and “hard” water).VEGETAL GLYCERIN is an odorless liquid produced from plant oils. Glycerin is a moisturizer and provides softening benefits for the skin and amazing glide to soap KEPKINH artisanal shaving soap made by cocoa butter and full of unsaponified Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil Captain’s Choice shave soaps may be a bit weakly scented to some but no one complains about the performance! I find Captain’s Choice lather exceptionally long-lasting: if you’re looking for a particularly long or leisurely shave (maybe you are a beginner and taking more time as you work through the learning curve?) you will have plenty of lather to use for the entire time. Here’s Sharpologist’s review of the Bay Rum version. Catie’s Bubbles Not too many years ago there were a few high-quality, old-school, tallow-based (more on that below) men’s shaving soaps from the established high-end names (Trumper, Taylor Of Old Bond Street, Truefitt & Hill, DR Harris, etc.) that were familiar to those who use a safety razor; and some low-end, every-man products like Williams Mug Soap, Burma-Shave Soap, and (a little later) Van Der Hagen.

Top notes of Calabria's bergamot, Sicelian orange and lemon, blended with fruits into a base of white musk, Madagascar's vanilla and amber Wholly Kaw is another wet shaving artisan that has made an impact in the shaving soap world. Their “claim to fame” is the use of donkey milk (some use a less charitable term for donkey) in some of their shave soaps. Donkey milk contains a number of proteins, vitamins, and other ingredients friendly to the skin and often used as an alternative to Lanolin, which can be irritating to some people. Post-shave moisturization and skin feel are particularly good with these formulas. Zingari Man Fragrance profile: Fresh scent delivered from essential oils of pine, cedarwood, vetiver and a touch of mentholBUFFALO MILK from Greek water buffalos. It is the most fatty milk and so these fatty acids reacts with the lye, producing a friendly and gentle for the skin soap. Chronos, vegetable shaving soap with no added glycerin, requires more water during assembly than the standard to obtain a perfect result. This change is reflected in this article’s list with the inclusion of several Italian shave soaps. How Do You Make Shaving Soap? The Anatomy And an omission from this list does not mean it’s a bad product— there is a lot of great stuff out there! There are basically two ways of making artisan-style soap: hot process and cold process. They each have their advantages and disadvantages:

Hot process uses an external heat source to (carefully) speed up the soap-making process (“saponification”). Hot process soaps generally take less time to make: a couple hours for saponification and about a week to cure. Extra ingredients are added near the end of the “cook time” and the texture of the soap is generally rough-looking.

Barrister And Mann is another established artisan with a reputation for product scents, and their “Omnibus” shave soap base performs very well even in “hard” water. They have even experimented with unusual ingredients like synthetic menthol. Captain’s Choice The internet abounds with conspiracy theories, rumors, and smears. If you have some specific charge or complaint, that’s one thing. Repeating scurrilous rumors is another. So what are the “best” shaving soaps? To be sure, there are many excellent shave soaps, mostly from artisans making products in small batches with quality ingredients. But artisans come-and-go, they often have limited availability, and their formulations tend to change more often. So let me propose a set of criteria for determining what rises to the top:

Zingari Man came on the wet shaving artisan scene in 2019 and after a bit of a shaky start have been surprising shave enthusiasts and reviewers with some outstanding shave soaps that produce a really rich lather formulated with their “Sego” base. Here is Sharpologist’s review of one of their shave soaps, Wanderer. Honorable Mentions Remember, “Your Mileage May Vary” with these recommendations: although there is a large majority that like these products there will always be some for which a soap does not work as well.

Tallow + Steel has been around for a few years and their tallow soap base is definitely in the “best” range. Their scents evoke exotic destinations with names like “Himalaya,” “Madagascar,” and “West Indies” but the real focus should be the performance: most everyone comments on the lubrication ability of these soaps. Post-shave feel is also noteworthy. Availability is not as widespread as other names on this list though so it may be more difficult to obtain. Cold process may also use a heat source but it’s used to liquefy solidified oils for mixing. The real saponification comes from an exothermic heat reaction between the fatty acids of the oils and and a lye (“base”) they’re mixed with. Cold process soaps take about a day to “cook” and take several weeks to cure. Extra ingredients are added early on and the soap’s texture has a smoother look. Would we use this on a regular basis? No. This has nothing to do with performance of the soap. It has to do with 2 things. One, the scent is just ok, and with so many choices out there, an ok scent just does not cut it. Second, we prefer soaps in tubs or creams in tubes. What We Like Chiseled Face shave soaps enjoy an excellent reputation, particularly within the enthusiast community. Ghost Town Barber, their take on the ubiquitous barbershop scent, is a particular stand-out. Cryogen is another highlight among “menthol heads” for it’s extreme cooling (OK, freezing) properties. Declaration Grooming