Happy Place Soap / Natural Unscented

Company: Happy Place Soap

Product: Natural Unscented

Founder: Jason Van Lieu

Website: happyplacesoap.com

Discount Code for WTF Subscribers!

Sometimes we concentrate too much on the scent of a shaving soap and ignore the most important part, performance. Today we look at Happy Place Soap a Natural Unscented shaving soap. Don’t get me wrong they have many scented soaps which are just fantastic I know because I had the pleasure of also using one called Morning Coffee a dark espresso scent that just blew me away but I’d like to change things up a bit.

This soap comes in a 4oz clear plastic tub with a white screw on lid. The label is a one color simple design it gets right to the point as to what to expect no-nonsense (Pun intended).

Wet The Face / The Quiet Man

Company: Wet The Face

Product: The Quiet Man

Founder: Don Youngner

Location: Huntington N.Y.

I remember as a kid I used to watch John Wayne movies with my dad. Most of them were westerns or war movies but one stood out to me called The Quiet Man. The setting of this classic took place in Ireland. I never forgot this movie and often watch it when it’s on it brings back memories of my dad.  One recent viewing sparked an idea for the name of a shaving soap I was working on a scent based on Creed’s Green Irish Tweed. It seemed everyone making this kind of scented soap was adding the word tweed in its title so I wanted to be different. I was hoping people would get the reference. The day I released mine I sold out my first batch in 3 days.

Review - Wet The Face / Himitsu

Company: Wet The Face

Product: Himitsu

Founder: Don Youngner

Location: Huntington, N.Y. 

The creative process is different for all individuals. For me, I’m always jotting down names and ideas for shaving soaps some of them never see the light of day and others go into production. Recently I released three new shaving soaps into my product line and they are Taboo, The Quiet Man, and Himitsu which is what this review will be about. 

Himitsu means secret and the secret to this soap is getting the right combination of the oils to work together not letting one overpower the other. Each oil used could be a standalone scent but getting them to work together that’s the secret.

Review - Mavericks / Shave

Company: Mavericks

Product: Shave

Founder: Brad Yim

Location: SF, California

Founded by MIT engineers & developed in Silicon Valley

Our review begins with a trip back to 2014 a story about a guy named Pete. Pete had a hard time trying to find the right product for his sensitive skin. Whatever he used would cause him skin irritation, ingrown hairs and razor burn. I suffer from this myself and it can be very frustrating and painful, to say the least. It was so bad for Pete he even tried laser treatment on his face but nothing seemed worked.

We now cut to MIT where Pete’s engineering buddy worked to solve this problem for him. Instead of looking at a hardware solution he found the answer in software with a little inspiration from Steve Jobs and created a 3-in-1 shaving cream solution based on science which is how Mavericks Shave Cream was born.

Greg Wagner - DE Vintage Razors / Custom Shaving Soap

Company: Greg Wagner

Product: DE Vintage Razors / Custom Shaving Soap

Founder: Greg Wagner

Location: Rockledge Florida

A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine on Facebook Greg Wagner when we got into a discussion regarding manly scents. I put forth my best argument for my selections and then Greg said he had something called Braggi and it’s the manliest scent he has ever come across and to prove it he would make me a custom shaving soap with the actual scent from the cologne. I had to accept this offer and I’m so glad I did because Greg was right.

Black Ship Grooming / Cap N Dark Side

Company: Black Ship Grooming

Product: Cap N Dark Side

Founder: Kelly Hogan

Location: Beaver, PA

Website: https://blackshipgroomingco.com

Today we look at Black Ship a company you might have known as Beaver Wood Wright Soaps. This new rebrand is so much fun I get a kick out of each new release. Today will be looking at Cap N Dark Side. 

Black Ship comes in a plastic white 6.0 oz. tub with a black screw on lid and the reason for this will become clearer as I explain about the label. As the name implies Cap N Dark Side refers to the Star Wars craze that is currently going on in our culture once again. The label has a cartoon-like picture of a man in the Darth Vader helmet sporting an eye patch a Pirate Vader if you will.

The side labels include Ingredients, Website location, Scent information.

Moon Soaps / Old School Shaving Soap

Company: Moon Soaps

Product: Old School

Founder: Melody & Zachary Kent

Location: Aptos, CA

Website: http://moonsoaps.com

This week we have something new in the den. A recent entry into the wet shaving community is Melody & Zachary Kent making there shaving soap debut with a new Tallow based shaving soap called Old School. This is the first of many more to come and will act as the anchor to the lineup. Zachary was adamant about using tallow for his shaving soaps and I believe nothing else could have sufficed.

This is a 6oz tub with a black screw on lid which allows ample room for loading your brush.
The packaging is really great showing off Zac’s talents. You see he's an artist and owns his own screen printing company as well. He’s been in the graphic design business since 1999, working with bands and business owners to design original art for gig posters, logos, t-shirts, business cards, websites. So, I’m hoping to see some amazing label art from him soon.