Mama Bear

Perhaps the point of the post has been missed, by today's soap standards her offerings miss the boat by a large margin.... seven years ago she was one of the only places to get shave soap.... and she was on A lot of forums before this one existed../.. to that end I wish her well.

I totally agree. My post, in a long winded way, commented on the fact that her business model was sub-optimal as well. Some times you can have a great product and still fail because your business model works against you. In circumstances where both your product and your business model are sub-par, failure is assured.

Perhaps the point of the post has been missed, by today's soap standards her offerings miss the boat by a large margin.... seven years ago she was one of the only places to get shave soap.... and she was on A lot of forums before this one existed../.. to that end I wish her well.

I totally agree.  My post, in a long winded way, commented on the fact that her business model was sub-optimal as well.  Some times you can have a great product and still fail because your business model works against you.  In circumstances where both your product and your business model are sub-par, failure is assured.

Case in point, Mama Bears.

Perhaps the point of the post has been missed, by today's soap standards her offerings miss the boat by a large margin.... seven years ago she was one of the only places to get shave soap.... and she was on A lot of forums before this one existed../.. to that end I wish her well.

There were a number of other reasonably good soaps available back in the day, but nothing like there are now. I remember Mama Bear Soaps was going to close four or five years ago, but a rush of orders in response to the announcement allowed the business to continue. Where did you read the announcement that Mama Bear Soaps is closing? I found no mention of any recent announcement online, except for here. There were online posts dated 2012 and 2013 that mentioned Sue was going to close shop, but nothing from 2017.

A work colleague of mine uses her soaps exclusively )he doesn't like change) and his been using hers for years. After his last order Sue contacts him and told him she plans to close at the end of the year due to declining business and just let him know that so he could get a final order in after he uses up he order he just placed. He's been a customer of hers for years and she directly emailed him.

A work colleague of mine uses her soaps exclusively )he doesn't like change) and his been using hers for years.  After his last order Sue contacts him and told him she plans to close at the end of the year due to declining business and just let him know that so he could get a final order in after he uses up he order he just placed.  He's been a customer of hers for years and she directly emailed him.

As others have noted, there are so many soapmakers with excellent products now. There is bound to be fallout. I wish Sue all the best in the future.

I hate to say it, but melt-n-pour/glycerin soaps were never all that (check out Col. Conk; same deal). Where Mama Bears stood out back in the day was all the scents available. Unfortunately, as the shave market evolved - her soaps didn't. Even back then, there were some traditional soaps that were much better (e.g. Tabac, Mitchell's, various creams, etc.).

Maybe it's the fact that I can't use tallow-based soaps, but I don't think I agree with most people on this. I just used one of her soap sticks on an 8-day trip & found it quite good. Definitely several notches above, say, Ogallala (haven't used Col. Conk)...

Perhaps try The Soap Opera Himalaya or Institute Karite shaving soaps, and then compare? Both are light years beyond Col. Conk soaps. Col. Conk isn't bad, but also isn't spectacular.

Maybe it's the fact that I can't use tallow-based soaps, but I don't think I agree with most people on this. I just used one of her soap sticks on an 8-day trip & found it quite good. Definitely several notches above, say, Ogallala (haven't used Col. Conk)...

If you like the soap, then that is great, and of course, this all subjective. Nonetheless, there are quite a few veggie-based soaps that far exceed this soap in performance and you may want to give them a consideration, some time.