Rumor has it that Mikes Natural will be selling splashes...

I think this sort of thing goes on more than we know - who knows, maybe Mike's doesn't make their own soaps either. To be fair, there is nothing wrong with having product made by a competent third party with capacity as long as you don't hold yourself out as the maker. Craft beer is done this way all the time with major breweries brewing the craft beer recipe under contract. Major breweries know what they're doing and can make any style of beer very well. I assume the same goes for soap makers

I'm 99.9% sure Mike makes his own soap. Contract manufacturing is more common among retailers/barbers who want their own house brand for ego/other reasons.

Beer does it because of all the laws and regulations surrounding brewing and selling alcohol. It just makes financial sense to pay a brewery to make your "recipe" instead of waiting 3 years to get all the permits, build out the building, etc. If it takes off, you get investors and get cracking. If it doesn't, you're only out a few thousand bucks or break even.

Not true for cosmetics. Since the only barrier to entry is whether you have the equipment, pretty much anyone with extra time and a few bucks can jump in. I can say that to get an SDA permit, you need a commercial building. An alternative is to buy it from a reseller who will ship it to you or buy everclear 190. Unsure if there are limits on the amount of perfumer's alcohol a reseller can legally sell to you though. And the perfumer's alcohol is usually cut further with other additives.

I'm 99.9% sure Mike makes his own soap.

I'm quite sure of it. There weren't many artisan soaps when he came out with his. It has blown up tenfold since he entered the soap market.

When the story of the splashes coming out from Mike's Natural, I wondered how he would manage the production of the additional product given how popular his soaps are.

It makes all the sense in the world that a partner would be used for the AS line. And while you can argue that it doesn't have witch hazel or "face food" in it, many products don't, Fine Accoutrements as an example.

These scented splashes will be a good accompaniment to his soaps for those of us that use them.

I've used it a couple of times now and the scent matches the soap perfectly. It does only have a few ingredients, but felt great going on IMO. Not really, "Tacky", but felt like there was some glycerin in it even though that isn't listed. The stuff has some staying power also. I put it on at 7 am and could still pick it up at lunchtime.

For $15 I say it is a good buy.