Who are your Top 10 Artisan Soapmakers?

My sample is still limited, but based on my 2 years of doing this, these are the ones I will buy again. I'm starting to realize I prefer Tallow, and/or Lanolin in my soaps.

1. Stirling
2. WSP Formula T
3. Route 66 (I haven't seen you use them yet. You really should check them out. Another great soap maker in AZ)
4. Mystic Waters
5. The Soap Exchange
6. Through The Fire
7. The Beer Soap Company

I would say that Catie's Bubbles and Mike's are on the bubble for me. I still have quite a few that I will be trying once my sabbatical year is over, including Reef Point, Chiseled Face, Soap Commander, Tcheon Fung Sing, Italian Barber, Country Club, TSD, and Ginger's Garden Tallow formula.

Looks like I need to make some more soap...

Looks like I need to make some more soap...

I'd like to pick some up for sure!

I haven't used a ton of artisan soaps, but for those that I have, I really like stirling & B&M soaps.

Paolo's reputation for service precedes him. I read about a positive customer service experience on another forum and was very impressed by the way he handled the situation.

Which scent should I start with? I most often like fresh scents in shaving soaps.

cremoso smells amazing.

1. Stirling
2. Barrister and Mann
3. Reef point
4. Chiseled face
5. Tim's
6. Mystic waters
7. Dapper dragon
8. Soap Commander
9. Italian barber
10. Wholly kaw


Wow...I have tried all these.

I only have 3 Artisans in my den.

1. Barrister & Mann
2. Mickey Lee Soapworks
3. Cold River Soap Works

No particular order about but B&M makes up the bulk with CRSW and MLS about the same.

My list in no particular order
CRSW
DeLuxe Shaving Co.
Stirling
Mike's Natural
Soap Commander
RazoRock
Country Club for Men
Dr. Jon's

Has Mystic Water changed anything over the last year or 18 months or so?  I ask because I always enjoyed the scents but found it super finicky to lather.  It's one of the few soaps that I've gotten inconsistent results with (probably some error on my part).   I like to think I'm doing things the same way each time, but with Mystic I've gotten a good lather followed by a subpar lather.  I'm just wondering if it's worth revisiting or not.  

Unfortunately, I may not be the best person to ask about this as I have never really had any issues lathering this soap. I only wish I could up-load some videos on YouTube to demonstrate how to resolve any issues folks may be having with this soap, but I am not able to, at the moment.
Nonetheless, there are a plethora of videos on there, already, on lathering this soap via face and bowl-lathering.

I have seen a few of your videos and basing my observations of those and how you lather, I would presume you may not be loading the brush for long enough or adding too much water, too quickly. Also, if you are experiencing dissipating lather, you may need to use more paint-brush strokes or a bit longer than usual as this soap like plenty of water and requires a bit more time generating the lather.

I would be more than happy to conduct a Skype session with you to demonstrate things if you would like.

You just made me think of something. I had a very good lather when I bowl lathered but not when I face lathered a couple of times. Perhaps I need to go back to the bowl first and then move on to face lathering after I familiarize myself with it a little more.

If you have it as your #1, I need to revisit. You've been responsible for changing my view before so I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again.

Thanks very much for the gracious offer as well. If I absolutely cannot get it, I'll hit you up


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

TSEvangelist I also had trouble lathering Mystic Water, at least until I got a water softener. Do you have hard water? That seems to affect this soap rather significantly for whatever reason, at least for some folks.

Also, I find the regular formula to be less finicky than the Sensitive Skin formula. I'm not sure which one you tried.

If you don't have very hard water and are using the regular formula, the best remedy in that case would be to watch the Merkur Man video on how to lather Mystic Water soaps. It's a fairly easy technique alteration but rather unorthodox compared to how I used to lather most soaps.

I only had a MW soap briefly as it completely burned my face. However, even in my hard water it lathered pretty easily. A couple other people tried the dry load technique on it with heir synthetic brushes and had drastically better results. You may not need to go to this extreme all the time, but it could be a quick way to get consistent lathers from it as you dial it in.

I just read through this entire thread. To be honest I'm not seeing anything surprising as to who's listed. I do find it quite interesting as to which ones aren't, however.

Here's mine: (* current rotation)
*1. Barrister & Mann
*2. PannaCrema (Nuàvia specifically)
*3. Bufflehead
*4. Soap Commander
5. Dapper Dragon
6. Seifenglatt
7. Jabonman
8. WSP
9. Catie's Bubbles
10. Mike's

SharpSpine I probably would have had better luck with a synthetic, but I don't yet own one. Did you have the regular formula or the Sensitive? Both me and a friend of mine had lathering issues with the Sensitive formula in hard water, but had less of an issue with the regular formula. In any case, now that it works great for me in my soft water, I find that it's a fantastic soap, and has quickly become one of my favorite artisan products.