Review - Puddle Duck Soap / Smooth Criminal Shaving Soap

Company: Puddle Duck Soap

Product: Smooth Criminal Shaving Soap

Founder: Elizabeth

Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky,

I found myself looking at ETSY again and came across a shaving soap from a company called Puddle Duck Soap. So I contacted Elizabeth and asked if she had samples. She told me the way her soaps are made she didn’t have any but was nice to offer me a discount of her products. A few months had gone by because of personal things but I finally got back to buying one of her shaving soaps called smooth criminal and was still able to use the discount code she gave me.

The tub came to me in clear plastic with a grey twist on lid. The label on top Black and White text and also present a silhouette that looked a lot like Michael Jackson from the music video “Smooth Criminal”. Also on the label the ingredients, url but no information on how many ounces in each tub. For that I had to go back to the website to find that each tub has 3oz. No side labels were present so if you stacked your soaps this would be a slight problem.  INGREDIENTS: Goat's milk, sodium hydroxide, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, water, rice bran oil, shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, castor oil, fragrance, titanium dioxide

The scent I really enjoyed let me quote to you how Elizabeth explains it. "Drakkar Noir and pink grapefruit blend in a uniquely masculine clean scent that will have you moonwalking across the floor and feeling like a pop star!" The strength of the scent was on the medium side.

 It all started out well, I was able to achieve a rich lather within a few minutes. Unfortunately, things started to change rapidly after that. My first application I witnessed the soaps disappearing act. I was trying very hard to stay a head of it. I was applying all the technics I’ve learned over the years to “Save The Shave,” but it was no use. If you never experienced a shaving soap that fails, please take a look at the video you’ll see it first hand.

I went back to the website looking for reviews or comments on the shaving soap and found only references to the bath soaps which people seem to really love and enjoy. I emailed Elizabeth before testing noticing the olive oil as one of the ingredients. I explained its been known to kill lather and wanted to know how did she over come this issue. Here was her reply " I go for more of a creamy lather, close shave. You'll find the olive oil, while reducing a really bubbly lather, creates this and soothes." Unfortunately, this was not the case.

I'm not sure Elizabeth knows the Wet Shaving market very well. I’m not sure that I do either but what I do know is this. Slickness, Glide, Cushion, lather and Scent (Unless no scent was the intent) matters and what makes good shaving soap, if any one of them is completely missing then it's game over. 

Smooth Criminal has great ingredients and just short of a truly good shaving soap. In my opinion it needs to go back for a reformulation to improve the lather and once this is done it would be a crime not to try it. 

Company: Puddle Duck Soap

Product: Smooth Criminal Shaving Soap $6.99 3oz

Now that you've read the article see the video