Mike's Natural Soaps

Reading about this guy who makes shave and bath soaps out of his apartment in Brooklyn, New York tempted me to order some shave soap samples. All of the reviews seemed positive so why not.

I ordered:
Orange,Cedarwood & Black Pepper
Barber Shop
Rose & Cedarwood

I have been using the Orange Cedarwood & Black Pepper for five days. Makes a very nice lather with ease which is not too thick and not too thin.
The smell is heaven. Provides a lot of cushion and slickness as my razor glides to a very close and irritation free shave.

Mike's soap is bar shaped not round so I bought a plastic travel case for 99cents and will use that to store the open bars. This is a very nice soap.

Here is the ingredients for the for the Orange Cedar.The others are very similar.

Distilled water, saponified tallow & stearic acid, vegetable glycerin, saponified kokum butter, avocado oil, shea butter, lanolin, saponified coconut oil, orange, cedarwood, and black pepper essential oils, kaolin clay, vitamin E.

I'm still loving mine. I got a Rose & Cedar sample in my O/C/BP order. I haven't tried it yet, as I'm not particularly a rose person.

Maybe I'll try it on the wife...

(03-20-2012, 10:31 AM)Songwind Wrote: I'm still loving mine. I got a Rose & Cedar sample in my O/C/BP order. I haven't tried it yet, as I'm not particularly a rose person.

Maybe I'll try it on the wife...

That is funny

What soaps would you guys compare it to as far as ease of lathering, slickness and cushion go?

(03-20-2012, 11:34 AM)Sully Wrote: What soaps would you guys compare it to as far as ease of lathering, slickness and cushion go?

This is kind of a soft soap but in a bar form. Nothing like MWF. I put it in a warm scuttle and then load it onto my brush. Off hand I can only think of RozoRock as a comparison.

(03-20-2012, 12:04 PM)slantman Wrote:

(03-20-2012, 11:34 AM)Sully Wrote: What soaps would you guys compare it to as far as ease of lathering, slickness and cushion go?

This is kind of a soft soap but in a bar form. Nothing like MWF. I put it in a warm scuttle and then load it onto my brush. Off hand I can only think of RozoRock as a comparison.

Thanks, RR is one of my favorite soaps.

The ingredients in Mike's soaps look pretty good.

I'd agree about it being similar to RR soaps. Once you learn how much water it wants (plenty) it is easy to lather.

I found it very slick. Where it exceeds RR is in skin care. My face feels really nice afterward.

i have been wanting to try some since i saw him advertise.
Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the review. I thought it was a hard soap and was interested in trying. Soft soaps just don't appeal to me

(03-20-2012, 09:13 PM)SteelTown Wrote: Thanks for the review. I thought it was a hard soap and was interested in trying. Soft soaps just don't appeal to me

It's got a consistency about like Conk, VDH, etc. Maybe a tad softer. Not super hard like a triple milled soap, but not soft like an Italian soap.

I've been using the Mike's Natural Orange/Cedarwood/Black Pepper every day this week to get the full experience, and I'm definitely impressed. This stuff lathers like a champ with both my Vie Long 13061 and my TNG 20mm Silvertip. It provided a nice, slick lather with plenty of cushion for both a Fatboy and a long comb NEW with Feather blades. I already have a bar of Lime on it's way here and I foresee continuing to buy more product from him.

Pro-tip: Because it has Lanolin in it, I find it performs best with cooler water, which is especially nice with summer starting to get into full swing here!

This soap is on my list to try.

(03-26-2012, 04:06 AM)Howler Wrote: This soap is on my list to try.

Same

My order of Mike's Natural Lime shaving soap came in today, just time time for my shave. Gentlemen, I have achieved Lime Nirvana! It has a fantastic Lime scent, both sweet yet sour, but not overpowering. I have been looking for the perfect lime soap and I think this is it. Performance, of course, was superb using cold water. I received a sample of Peppermint & Rosemary shaving soap as well and it was a wonderful scent as well. I can see myself buying one of each of his soaps.

I used up the sample of orange, cedar and black pepper and now on the barber shop sample. Very creamy and easy to lather. Great stuff. Will be placing a regular order very soon. It seems Mike is very busy as he runs out of scents quickly.

I bet he's in that unenviable position where he can't keep up with demand as a part time artisan, but isn't making enough cash to quit his day job.

Has anyone found a good storage container for Mike's Soaps? I am interested in trying a couple out, but need a decent storage solution for them.

I use an Ikea Grundtal canister. I had to cut off the corners, but I stuck those pieces into the side.

You could also use a travel soap container, but I haven't seen one that's very attractive.

Yup, the Grundtal looks like it may work, I will have to drive out one of these weekends. I agree, have to get something good to look at.

I got some empty pipe tobacco tins, rectangular ones, and it fits perfectly inside. Plus it looks cool.