Deer herds vs soap makers

Last years Idaho winter was long and deep. Our mule deer live outdoors and had to deal with it. Basically the months of December , January, and February our deer don't get enough groceries to maintain themselves and have to live off fat put on through the easy-living summer. Summer pastures are plentiful and could feed herds far in excess of what the state holds but winter range is limited and starvation a reality. Longer and deeper winters make the winter grounds smaller still. Every winter a percentage of the herd won't make it to the green grass of spring. Hey, that's natural selection. Survival of the fittest as it were. But as a manager of deer herds knows, given a limited amount of feed, the best way to get the most deer through the winter is NOT to start into winter with lots of deer and let natures fittest survive but to start into winter with fewer deer. When we put a big herd onto a too-small winter range the available feed gets consumed in quick fashion and suddenly the whole herd is in starvation mode way too early for their summer fat to take them to spring grass. When we begin winter with fewer deer mouths chewing on the browse, the feed lasts longer allowing those fewer deer to maintain body mass until spring comes. Thus we often see a larger surviving herd in spring by starting into the winter with a relatively smaller herd.

I wonder if our soap makers are like our deer? It seems that every week there is another artisan come to market to compete for customers dollars at the expense of my current favorite makers. It also seems that weekly another soap maker shuts down because they starved to death. I've played the game of having to try all the new soaps coming out and frankly find no compelling reason why I should have bothered because they offered me nothing that my current soaps already supplied. It seems I made sure I had too many deer (soapers) on the winter range (soap purchases) risking that my tried and true soaps may not survive winter due to too many others competing for the food.

Hey, I get it. For most of us it's a hobby and part of the fun is the new stuff. As my degree is in economics I also get the free market concept and how competition breeds innovation and efficiency. But I'm personally no longer willing to risk the financial wellbeing of my main soaps by cutting the pie into so many pieces. Shoot, I already have had favorites bite the dust. if a new soapers is going to convince me to get my wallet out he's going to have to have a better story than " I just really wanted to make soap".

I'm interested in your thoughts.

I can understand what you're saying here.  I got to the point where I just had to quit buying every new soap that came out.  I had a good run, trust me, I had a very good run! All I ended up with was more soap than I can use in a lifetime. I haven't bought a shaving soap or cream in four and a half months. I am feeling the itch right now as a fairly new and seemingly innovative soap maker is about to release some new soap. I also need to catch up on my B&M purchases.(I don't currently own any of the Reserve soaps. That would have never happened in the past 3 years before. Now, the new Fern Reserve and Lavender Reserve are pushing me over the edge.)

I think that each new contender believes they can either improve on what is available or are thinking they can get a piece of the pie. For me, a new maker needs to bring something new or I'm not interested. I've donated to too many pieces of the pie to date.

OK, I've just proven that I'm a very sick man with a shaving soap problem.

I like trying new things. If something better comes along, I’ll definitely pay for it. Can’t rest on your laurels in this hobby, and things should improve, not only in performance but in value.

Some stuff are really good but too expensive for me to enjoy in the long term, so that’s not sustainable. There should be a balance and those who keep it there gets my business.

Interesting analogy. As soap makers we realize while we have a soap that performs as good as anyone else's, lots of soaps perform as good as anyone else's.
That's why we did something different in our model.


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There was a time (not so long ago) when I felt compelled to try every new soap/brand. Not anymore, and here is why:

if (almost) every soap coming out is highly praised by quite a few, that can only mean one of the two things: people giving those glorious reviews have no idea (objectively) about what they are talking about;

or soap making isn't that difficult that anyone who puts a decent effort can make a good one.

If the first is true, then I can rely on non-fickle folks on shaving world to give their opinion after prolonged use, so I don't need to try everything new right away.

If the second is true, then what I already have is good enough, so why try random things.

Also, I don't fall for gimmicky things like holy black stuff, nor do I hunt rare stuff. So that cuts a lot of new purchases. I still try new things without seeing many reviews: Grooming dept is the recent example. I must say, while I am not blown away, I don't regret my money here. I was intrigued by the ingredients.

So yes, I am forcefully limiting my purchases to the brands I trust.

Raises an interesting question. What threshold makes you willing to try something new when you already have a ton of stuff? Our biggest challenge right there.

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I think I'm at the point now where very few new brands tempt me. I'm also favoring soaps without animal products, meaning if I'm going to try a new brand, it has to be vegetable-based. I'm also fortunate because I live in New York City and can hop over to Pasteur and take a sniff of the latest hits. I can't tell you how often the intrigue about a soap was obliterated by actually sniffing the puck and thinking, "Yuck." And the opposite has happened. In any event, I am focusing on supporting the artisans that I really like, and sticking with the established brands that I really enjoy as well. So my wallet is fairly safe for now.

We cull the herd in the fall preventing them from possible starvation in the winter. But I dont think any soaper wants to be killed off before they had a chance to succeed. (to use your metaphor, not insinuating any soaper-icide)

Barrister_N_Mann has covered this topic before. Lots of people get into this sport of making soap as a hobby themselves. While there is a dollar amount invested, it may not be their sole source of income, or their daily job. So if the business fails or for whatever reason becomes unsustainable, they bow out. In the mean time they have flooded the market with decent but not envelope pushing product that will not come back or ever be improved upon. This leaves the soapers (whose day and night job is soaping) trying to maintain the focus and attention of their customers without being distracted by the part timers.

Even when these soapers bow out and become defunct, they hold tight to the remnants of the company. While they no longer make any soap, they refuse to sell or profit by selling off the LLC, recipes, ingredients etc of their now deceased company. I say this as my offers to purchase many of them have gone unanswered or declined.

Rest in peace mretzloff and QCS. I will forever miss your Vostok, Iced Key Lime, Bascilica, and Celestial Woods. Hopefully these voids will be filled by soapers of equal quality but maintain their position as producers in our market place as a generational business. Not a hobby.

I enjoy trying new things, but with the prices that new artisans are commanding for their soaps, it is quite a deterrent as I have been using one, mainly, but a few other great soaps, for over six years now, and I have yet to find a new soap that is truly any better than these older ones.
A few friends have been highly recommending a new soap that just recently came out and I am awaiting a few samples, but I don't foresee it being as good as they are stating it to be. However, it would be nice if it were. Furthermore, seeing as I can buy my favourite soap for under $10 USD, I have a difficult time paying for the newer soaps as I don't find them worth twice or even more than this price.

Obviously there has been a proliferation of start up soap manufactures in the last 4 to 5 years. I do not believe there has been an enormous amount of failures. Unless it has been companies I never paid attention to. It is also my opinion that most soap manufactures do not make a massive amount of income. Probably some do but I think the majority do not which makes it easier to close shop.

Just to look at some numbers. I own 87 soaps and creams made by 43 different manufactures. I went to the web sites of about 4 mail order houses and have determined that there are approximately 7 dozen manufactures that are new within the last 3-4 years that I do not have soaps from. I did not however, count companies such as DR Harris, Mitchell’s Wool Fat, Cella Crema Da Barba, etc that have been around for decades. So, there could be somewhere around 60 dozen soap manufactures that are currently selling soap. And it is my belief that these manufactures produce a few hundred soaps and creams. Surely this number may substantially increase in the next three years.

So I am not shocked nor concerned when a few go out of business. Yes we get used to and make favorites out of several soaps and when they are discontinued we feel shocked. Out of all the soaps I own the one that I really miss is I Coloniali Mango Oil especially because it had been around for a while. However I purchased several refills which last me for some time.

I believe in capitalism so it does not bother me if there are a some new start ups in the next few months. And if a few throw in the towel I it does not bother me either. Nor I am not going to compare them to beautiful animals. Businesses come and go. I have noticed several companies that were high fliers which everyone had to have a couple of years ago that you don’t hear much about any longer. Hard to say why, maybe it was price or people just lost interest but it happens.

How do I choose a new soap. That is even a mystery to me. I never read reviews as many of those who write them are unqualified to do so. I just pay attention to blogs and go from there. Price may or may not be a determining factor. If I decide I want that one I’ll buy it. I must admit at of all of my soaps I have only three I wish I did not buy.