Review - Smith Family Soapworks

Company: Smith Family Soap Works

Product: Lime Shaving Soap

Location:  Murrieta, California

Website: http://www.smithfamilysoap.com

Every wet shaver when buying shaving soap knows if you see “Olive Oil” listed in the ingredients you normally would shy away from the product. The reason for this is olive oil tends to kill lather and if you find one that does have great lather it fades away very quickly. Well this has all changed now since finding Smith Family Soap Works. A family own company out of Murrieta, California that specializes in creating an array of Olive Oil products including a line of shaving soap. 

Open since 2011 they currently have a ETSY store along with the traditional dot com producing handmade soapbars, lip balms, sugar scrubs, lotion sticks and the shaving soap line including the following scents: Bay Rum, Sandalwood, Lavender, Pomegranate and lime.

I selected lime for this review and when the parcel arrived I was very pleased to see a step-by-step guide for the beginner also included was a business card allowing you to call direct or visit the ETSY, Dot com and facebook page locations.

The tub is a standard plastic screw on lid type filled to a generous 6oz. After a close examination I found on the bottom that each tub or batch to be numbered mine is 289. We all know that the soap is the most important thing but in this case, I think the labels are begging for an update. Mostly text except for the company logo they definitely do the job but compared with today’s artisan labels one would tend to reach for the more graphically appealing labeled soap first. This is just my opinion which is worth two cents.

The scent of this soap is right on the mark for a lime but the strength is very light. When I was placing the soap in my lathering bowl I did noticed an increase and again when I started to lather but never reached the point to where I would have liked it to be. The ingredients for this soap is Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerin, Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan Oleate (emulsifier), Soy Bean Protein (conditioner), Lime Essential Oil, Titanium Dioxide

The lather is simply amazing. If you haven't seen the video to this article then do so now. I was able to create lather that was off the charts I called it “The mother of all lathers”. The brush was so full I could hardly see it’s handle. The coverage was great getting right into my beard having enough to do another 4 to 5 more passes if I wanted. The excellent slickness and glide allowed me to go over areas more than once without the irritation.

So, if you're looking for a shaving soap with exceptional lather lightly scented and overall great performance then this is the one for you.  If I only had one thing to improve it wouldn’t be with the soap but the dot.com website. I’m not sure if they really use it as the company’s main communication tool but you can see the site could use a refresh from its 2013 debut. The soap blog stopped at March 2014 and some of the postings with links end up going nowhere (page not found). I for one would like to know what’s new for the Smith Family and do we have any new products coming out on the horizon. C'mon guys it's been three years.

Company: Smith Family Soap Works

Product: Lime Shaving Soap 6oz $12.95

Website: http://www.smithfamilysoap.com