Saturday, September 24, 2016

Review - Dr Bronner's Peppermint Organic Shaving Soap

Company: Dr. Bronner
Product: Dr. Bronner Peppermint Organic Shaving Soap
Founder: Dr. Bronner
Location: Vista, CA
WebSite - Dr. Bronner

If you ever had the pleasure of using Dr. Bronner’s pure castile liquid soap, then you know the experience to be amazing. Especially when you use the peppermint it’s what I use all summer. Dr. Bronner has been around since 1858 and making soap in the USA since 1948. They pride themselves on being organic and I mean truly organic. But as I found out being great at soap making doesn’t always translate into being a great shaving soap maker and this is true with Dr. Bronner Organic Shaving Soap.

I purchased the 16-ounce tube and when opened I was real surprised at how runny it was. This dark brown liquid runs out so fast that you have to tilt it ever so slightly into the palm of your hand in order to control the flow.   

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Review - Alluvian - Norwegian Spear / Aftershave Serum

Company: Alluvian
Product: Norwegian Spear / Aftershave Serum
Founder: John Cowan
Location: Peoria, IL
Website - Alluvian

Back in May John Cowan the owner of Alluvian announced on Facebook that he wanted to give out some samples of his products so I sent him a message expressing my interest and requested to try the Norwegian Spear shaving soap. After waiting a week without a reply I sent the message again but still no answer. So I thought I missed my chance and didn’t pursue it any further . Then on August 27th almost 4 months later John accepted my message request. It turns out a message filter had prevented my request from getting through to him. I told him it was ok and no worries I figured after 4 months the samples must have been gone but he really wanted to send me something so last week a package arrived.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Review - Strike Gold Shave / Madison

Company: Strike Gold Shave
Product: Madison Shaving Soap
Founder: Frank Misa
Website – Strike Gold Shave

If your into wet shaving or honing razors I’m sure you’ve come across Frank Misa.  Besides his contributions to other forums Frank runs his own Facebook group called Culinary Institute of Shaving. I first met Frank in person a few years back as part of a honing group which gathered in Belmont Lake State Park, Babylon on an overcast summer's day. Also in that group was Billy T, Peter Charkalis and 10 other wet shaver’s eager to learn this new craft. The day flew by as we learned and practice our new skills. By the end of that day we all had a good time and I was eager to try out what I’ve learned and meeting everyone was a blast. It wasn’t long after that when Frank opened his ETSY store featuring shave ready straight razors, minon inspired shaving brushes and what this review will be based on his Madison Shaving Soap.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Review - Mcstachio & Co. / Frankincense

Company: Mcstachio & Co.
Product: Frankincense Shaving Soap
Founder: Jeannie & Alexander MCGeehan
Location: Baltimore MD
Website - Mcstachio & Co.

I’ve been reviewing shaving products for over a year now and in that time I’ve come across a few gems one of them is Jeannie and Alexander McGeehan the owners of Mcstachio & Co. pronounced Mick-stash-ee-o a husband and wife team from Baltimore, MD. Jeannie’s motivation for creating shaving products came from her husband's love for straight razor shaving. He became disappointed in what was commercially available so Jeannie stepped in and after some research wiped up some shaving cream for him. About the same time Alex discovered his skin’s intolerance of traditional oil and wax based grooming product so Jeannie started developing oil-free alternatives for him and formulated a solid shave soap that was oil-free which could deliver the same level of lather and lubrication without any greasy after feel. Now as wet shavers we get to experience these great shaving products as well.