Mike's Natural Soap

Hey Mikes Soap users,

I meant to ask you all earlier.  Could you tell me how strong the following scents are to your particular nose:

Hungarian Lavender
Rose and Cedarwood
Lime
Peppermint and Rosemary
Pine and Cedarwood
Bay Rum
Coconut

I tend to like stout scents and so far, the Honeysuckle is my favorite with the Orange, Black Pepper and Cedarwood right behind it.  These two to me, have a good deal of scent strength and I love that.

I have (or had) all of those scents. To me, the Rose/Cedarwood and Pine/Cedarwood were too lightly scented, like the Lily of the Valley. The Lime and Bay Rum are mid strength. Hungarian Lavender and Coconut are stronger than the previous, with Peppermint and Rosemary the strongest of this group. Although not in your list, Vetiver and Barbershop are on the stronger end of the spectrum.

Hey Mikes Soap users,

I meant to ask you all earlier.  Could you tell me how strong the following scents are to your particular nose:

Hungarian Lavender
Rose and Cedarwood
Lime
Peppermint and Rosemary
Pine and Cedarwood
Bay Rum
Coconut

I tend to like stout scents and so far, the Honeysuckle is my favorite with the Orange, Black Pepper and Cedarwood right behind it.  These two to me, have a good deal of scent strength and I love that.

I have (or had) all of those scents. To me, the Rose/Cedarwood and Pine/Cedarwood were too lightly scented, like the Lily of the Valley. The Lime and Bay Rum are mid strength. Hungarian Lavender and Coconut are stronger than the previous, with Peppermint and Rosemary the strongest of this group. Although not in your list, Vetiver and Barbershop are on the stronger end of the spectrum.

Sounds like so far I've made some pretty good selections, especially with the Honeysuckle (very stout), Orange/Pepper/Cedarwood (stout) and with Pumpkin spice and Barbershop on the way. Along with your recommendations, it appears I need to pick up Coconut and Peppermint/Rosemary at some point due to their reported strong scent strength as well. I'd like to try the Bay Rum even though its medium scent strength. Bay Rums are scents that I typically love, but it all depends on whether they are going to irritate my skin or not so they are a gamble, some bother me some dont.

This might ruffle a few feathers.  So I have a fair amount of Barrister and Mann soaps I'm trying to use up, used up about four during the summer.  Mikes performs just as good to me.  That includes Latha (Oceana, Limon, Le Petite Chypre), that includes the White container base (Cheshire), and it includes the Glissant (adagio, first snow, Dickens, Seville).  Mikes performs just as good as all of the aforementioned soaps to me.  Both brands of soaps are thirsty, both have tallow and lanolin, but I find Mikes is incredible for its price point and performs just as well leaving a wonderful post shave feel after.  I will no longer need to pay the price per ounce for Barrister and Mann and will not buy anymore of those soaps and will either be finishing them all up or selling them to use the funds to buy more Mikes and Mystic.

Mikes is my new favorite artisan, with Mystic Waters right behind it after experimenting with both the past few weeks.  Incredible cushion, slickness, scent and the value is off the charts with only Stirling being as close on price point.  The difference is, I haven't experienced that animal tallow smell with any Mikes or Mystic Waters soap, like I have with a few Stirling soaps.  Mikes is my absolute favorite artisan soap. I love some of my favorite non-tallow soaps like Dr Jons and Soap Commander, but there is just something about a tallow soap that works best for me.

This might ruffle a few feathers.  So I have a fair amount of Barrister and Mann soaps I'm trying to use up, used up about four during the summer.  Mikes performs just as good to me.  That includes Latha (Oceana, Limon, Le Petite Chypre), that includes the White container base (Cheshire), and it includes the Glissant (adagio, first snow, Dickens, Seville).  Mikes performs just as good as all of the aforementioned soaps to me.  Both brands of soaps are thirsty, both have tallow and lanolin, but I find Mikes is incredible for its price point and performs just as well leaving a wonderful post shave feel after.  I will no longer need to pay the price per ounce for Barrister and Mann and will not buy anymore of those soaps and will either be finishing them all up or selling them to use the funds to buy more Mikes and Mystic.

Mikes is my new favorite artisan, with Mystic Waters right behind it after experimenting with both the past few weeks.  Incredible cushion, slickness, scent and the value is off the charts with only Stirling being as close on price point.  The difference is, I haven't experienced that animal tallow smell with any Mikes or Mystic Waters soap, like I have with a few Stirling soaps.  Mikes is my absolute favorite artisan soap. I love some of my favorite non-tallow soaps like Dr Jons and Soap Commander, but there is just something about a tallow soap that works best for me.

I can't see anything wrong with what you wrote. I find Mike's performance to be better than every B&M offering (except Reserve maybe, reserve is equal in performance IMO but let's see). Mike's and Mystic Water are neck and neck for me and definitely my top 2 US artisan.

One of the reasons I think Mike's and Mystic Water get less attention is that they require some effort to lather. But you sorted that problem by experimenting with both for a few weeks. The other is scent which is extremely personal.

The Two M’s also get less attention because they don’t come in fancy packaging. For some reason the bright colored labels on some artisans is off putting to me. A half naked woman on a lid is not going to improve a soaps performance.

Mikes and Mystic got their soap and understated packaging right 6 years ago.

This might ruffle a few feathers.  So I have a fair amount of Barrister and Mann soaps I'm trying to use up, used up about four during the summer.  Mikes performs just as good to me.  That includes Latha (Oceana, Limon, Le Petite Chypre), that includes the White container base (Cheshire), and it includes the Glissant (adagio, first snow, Dickens, Seville).  Mikes performs just as good as all of the aforementioned soaps to me.  Both brands of soaps are thirsty, both have tallow and lanolin, but I find Mikes is incredible for its price point and performs just as well leaving a wonderful post shave feel after.  I will no longer need to pay the price per ounce for Barrister and Mann and will not buy anymore of those soaps and will either be finishing them all up or selling them to use the funds to buy more Mikes and Mystic.

Mikes is my new favorite artisan, with Mystic Waters right behind it after experimenting with both the past few weeks.  Incredible cushion, slickness, scent and the value is off the charts with only Stirling being as close on price point.  The difference is, I haven't experienced that animal tallow smell with any Mikes or Mystic Waters soap, like I have with a few Stirling soaps.  Mikes is my absolute favorite artisan soap. I love some of my favorite non-tallow soaps like Dr Jons and Soap Commander, but there is just something about a tallow soap that works best for me.

I can't see anything wrong with what you wrote. I find Mike's performance to be better than every B&M offering (except Reserve maybe, reserve is equal in performance IMO but let's see). Mike's and Mystic Water are neck and neck for me and definitely my top 2 US artisan.

One of the reasons I think Mike's and Mystic Water get less attention is that they require some effort to lather. But you sorted that problem by experimenting with both for a few weeks. The other is scent which is extremely personal.

I will grant you the issue with Mystic and it takes a learning curve, but once you start nailing it it becomes a habit.  Mikes I haven't had the lathering problems, it just blew right up right way for me.  Perhaps my water is extremely soft? Mikes came out of the gates lathering like a champ.  I appreciate your thoughts and agreement that Mikes is a top performer.

The Two M’s also get less attention because they don’t come in fancy packaging. For some reason the bright colored labels on some artisans is off putting to me. A half naked woman on a lid is not going to improve a soaps performance.

Mikes and Mystic got their soap and understated packaging right 6 years ago.

See and I've realized that I do not need fancy packaging as well.  I want performance, quality and value.  Best thing about simple packaging means lower cost to the artisan.  To me, value matters more in shaving software than anything else now that I've been doing this a few years.  Cost per ounce, Mikes is incredible, especially since you get 5 ounces of soap and like I said earlier, if you just want to buy the soap bar its even cheaper and Mystic Waters allows one to do the same. Just give me the simple marked tin of Mikes, or the simple plastic labeled container of Mystic Waters.  Whats inside the package is more important than what's outside to me.

You are exactly right, Mikes and Mystic have been doing it their way for quite a while now.  I'm a buffoon for just now using them regularly but thats a stupid tax I've paid for all of the searching over the years. I'm ready to settle down for value and top performance along with understated packaging/marketing.

In other words, Mikes Natural Soap rules.

Nothing wrong with your statement and I have known this for the past six years, now, but my preference leans towards Michelle's soaps, only, because of the scents and post-shave.

Nothing wrong with your statement and I have known this for the past six years, now, but my preference leans towards Michelle's soaps, only, because of the scents and post-shave.

Celestino, I let the mania of wetshaving hit me several years ago. This goes for razors, brushes, and more importantly, soap. I tried everything and then some. Then I began to realize that soap didn't have the value to me that razors or brushes do and I began a quest to find the best soap for the best price. With artisan soap going absolutely nuts lately and cost per ounce, many off the charts, I found and I've said this before, the shaving world might be jumping the shark a bit on cost. I started looking seriously at the soaps that cost the least per ounce (Mikes, Mystic Waters, Soap Commander, Stirling). What I've found is these lower cost soaps perform beautifully. In fact, they perform just as well if not better than many of what are considered top tier soaps out there (with a cost per ounce to match). After trying out these lower cost per ounce soaps, I've realized that I was a bit of a fool for going whole hog into the soap market and I'm now going for value with soap and other shaving software. Mikes and Mystic Waters are two of the finest for what you pay.

celestino you are fortunate to have settled on some great brands early on, and I bet you saved alot more money than I did over the years from not buying into hype and the mania of being a wetshaving hobbyist. Nicely done sir. And yeah, Mystic Waters has maybe one of the most incredible post shaves I've ever experienced. I have EXTRA dry skin, so when I get through rinsing off Mystic Waters, it feels like my face is coated with lotion. I can't explain why it is so different but its amazing. Mike's is right behind it on post shave feel though.

Great to hear that you are focusing on a few excellent soaps!

However, I am not sure I have saved any money on soaps (or anything else) as I still do like to experiment with new ones.

I like Mike's and I have hard water. I spend plenty of time lathering and am always happy with it. It does make other soaps seem easy to lather by comparison. I especially appreciate the longevity of a tub. I do buy the bars as they are a little better value.

One thing I don't care for, and it's just me, is that the soap tends to get soggy on me. If I don't rotate to a different soap for more than a couple of days Mike's can get really soft. Other soaps do this too though. Nothing beyond what some soaps are like brand new though. Which I think actually illustrates the value all that much better now that I think about it.

His barbershop isn't for me. I really didn't care for it. I do love me some Orange Cedarwood and Black Pepper.