Into the valley of death rode.....Soapalchemist!

SoapAlchemist

SoapAlchemist

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Once again, it's that time of year. Soapy offerings drop thro' letterboxes across the land. Hirsute types swoop eagerly, sniff and think....what do they think?? We shall soon find out, I hope...and fear.
Some have Lavender, some have Eucalyptus and Teatree. Some have both (Antdad, Fatmanicwop and Sweeney Todd).
I've tweeked the recipe since my last drubbing; first batch wasn't much cop, so that is sitting beside me now reproaching me. Second batch was the E & T, and I hope some improvement, and the 3rd was the Lavender, which I think is the best. So I'll be especially interested in comparisons by those who have been sent the two versions.
The main things I was aiming for was an increase in stearic acid whilst using whole oils/butters (rather than stearic acid), and using increasing amounts of potassium hydroxide in substitution for sodium hydroxide, whilst still having a reasonably firm bar of soap (anything else = landfill). No synthetic additives have been used, and no parfum/fragrance, just essential oils. I think I could improve further, but will be very pleased to hear your feedback, to know if I'm heading in the right direction.
As they are two different soaps, could you say which one you got, otherwise I won't know which recipe is better or worse. Of course, if they are both rated as badly as my last offerings generally were, it wont matter :)
If you want to check the ingredients they are listed in the Buy Sell Trade thread, topic 'Once more into the breach'.
I'ld like to thank Dr.Henk for his very useful advice in helping me work out the direction to go in, albeit we have different means of how to (try in my case) to get there.
Thank you gentlemen, for your shaving efforts in aid of my research.
 
Thanks Soapal! Mine arrived today. A nice 'round' of the lavender soap. First impression was of a nice strong scent, not one I would personally choose, but of a decent quality and strength.

I don't actually need a shave tonight but thought I'd get in there and try lathering the stuff. It lathered pretty well considering I was balancing it in my hand. I proceeded to face-lather and left it on for five minutes to see its longevity. I must say that I only managed to produce a rather thin lather, but it wasn't terrible. After 5 mins it had deteriorated somewhat, but not loads.

I then tried Palmolive so I had something to compare it to. The Palmolive did feel easier to lather and what I produced was thicker and creamier making a more satisfying noise as I squashed it over my chops. Can't describe the noise I'm afraid. The five minute test actually proved similar to Soapal's soap so they are on a par.

Conclusion as far as lathering but not shaving is concerned: I didn't find your soap as easy or as satisfying to lather as my 'control', but I am not discounting it yet. Although not to my taste your scent was good and strong. Longevity of lather seemed pretty decent.

I will try shaving with it tomorrow. If this shaves satisfactorily I would say it would be one to market at guys who are after a more natural soap that is (presumably) easier on sensitive skin than others. So mixed results so far, but hopefully you'll be encouraged by the fact that your previous effort was completely panned. ;) I will report back tomorrow... :shave
 
Thanks Pig Cat,
Glad to see that there does appear to be some improvement...I will await the outcome of the acid test. Hopefully it wont feel like and acid test ;)
 
I got the lavender today and used it tonight, like PC I found the lather started off ok but lost stability.I loaded up quite a lot on the brush and face lathered.First pass was good, slick lather but rather thin.I had to reload for the second pass.Went for three passes tonight just to see how it performed and last pass lather was particularly thin(no reload).The thinness didn't affect the quality of the shave and after three passes I was BBS close and no irritation.Compare this to the tabac lather which although unctuous I found it to be cloying and it felt like I still had it on my face after the shave (see tabac woe thread).I liked the lavender smell which complimented the liz earle face wash and A/S balm.Overall the soap worked well but if the lather stability had a bit more longevity I reckon it would be spot on.If you have a sample and don't think the lather will be enough for you then give it a go, you might be surprised.
 
Thanks Boab. Not entirely doom and gloom then. I think I can tweek this a bit more, but will wait for more feedback before deciding exactly what to do.
What's BBS close?
 
just means a nice close shave, billiard ball smooth is the preferred translation :lol:
 
Dear SoapAlchemist.
Thank you for the cake of Lavender soap that arrived yesterday.
I like the size and shape of the cake and found that it fitted easily into the designated container.
The soap being new, I filled the container with just enough water to cover the soap to soften it up for a bit.
I face lather, and having given the Hog one good shake I began whirling the brush in the container to pick up soap before transferring to my face to begin lathering.
This was done with ease, and although I feel that I used too much water the first time I still managed to get a good serviceable lather.
Although the lather was a bit sloppy (operator error) it did not "perish" on the face as quickly as other non-tallow soaps do and by working quickly I managed to get a four-pass shave without re-loading.
The shave was good - there was lube, glide and protection there and given the right amount of water this stuff will probably be as good as anything I have used hitherto.
Next time small Badger & less water.
Well done Sharon - you have arrived.
 
Sir Prize,
Thank you for your generous comments, and I hope you can improve performance further with the small badger (is that legal?) :)
I shall tweek a few of the ingredients before offering this for sale, but am hopeful that I am in sight of the Holy Grail.
 
I used a badger with it last night, will try with Boar on the next outing.I think the the water ratio is crucial to getting this to lather well.What other scents will you be making available?
 
Well, as regards scents, there is no limit...apart from I won't be using fragrance oils etc. Am daydreaming about a sandalwood soap, but the EO is extremely expensive, so I would certainly need to be certain that the soap was as perfect as I can get it before plopping a shed load of that into the mix.. I already have some suggestions from the 'what colours and scents do you like' thread.
I personally liked the Warm Spice colour and scent, but although it was reasonably well accepted in the last round of samples, wasn't exactly raved about. Ditto the Cedarwood and Lavender, which unfortunately reminded Fido of furniture polish :lol:
So all suggestions within natural parameters very welcome. As Henk is also finding, the pscent side of things is a whole different ball game, and I don't have a handy perfumer to call on.
 
I shaved this morning with the lavender soap. As with last night, I found it tricky to get a really decent luxurious lather. Admittedly I hadn't got the hottest water as our boiler decided not to work this morning. :evil: To me the lather is part of the whole experience so I will have to try working at it with this soap. Now the good bit. Lather issues aside I actually had a really good shave, especially considering my prep wasn't perfect due to lack of really hot water. :D Added some Lush moisturiser to finish and I'm now faceturbating furiously! :eek:

So well done Soapal. If you can just work on improving the latherability you will have a lovely soap. :cool:
 
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