- Joined
- Jun 22, 2016
- Location
- Sydney
Stone Cottage Soapworks Inc.
Formed in 2003 after the soap maker visited London and acquired some hand made soap from one of the traditional Camden houses, this artisan who is based in Bloomsbury New Jersey has for some time now been making waves across global wet-shaving forums with his high quality and extremely well crafted range of Shaving Creams and now his soaps.
http://www.stonecottagesoapworks.com/
Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Water, Myristic Acid, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Piper Nigrum (Black Pepper) Oil, Cinnamomum Cassia (Cassia) Oil, Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove Bud) Oil, Pimento Officinalis (Allspice) Oil, Sodium Lactate, Triethanolamine, Tetrasodium EDTA.
Packaging
The shaving cream comes packaged in a nice solid tub that is quite fitting and suitable for the artisan nature of the soap. The lids are solid and the tubs have a nice semi-sturdy feel with good threading on the tops to tub.
The labelling is truly artisan and is something that had immediate appeal to me, the artisan has not spent a lot of money dressing the product up but rather lets the quality speak for itself. The artwork while basic is waterproof which is appreciated.
Feel
A very high quality shave cream, in regards to quality above TOBS and about on par with Castle Forbes in relation to look, feel, sheen and consistency of the ingredients. Loading is effortless due to the creamy uniformity of the cream. Like with most shave creams, overloading is quite easy however with prudence is easily avoided.
Performance
This was unexpectedly good, I was for the most part expecting a few issues as with most artisan products however the formulation and skill that has been taken with this range is truly flawless.
Cushion
Good to excellent across all of the creams I have sampled. Some real skill is evident in this regard
Glide
Glide is good, while obviously not up to the standard of a soap (triple milled or otherwise) the level of glide was more than sufficient to provide a smooth and very comfortable shave. Assisted ably by the excellent cushion enjoyed by this entire range.
Scent
The scents are reasonably mild in the tub but evolve substantially once a lather is created, a beautiful musk Fougère, a nice warm vanilla with underlying Vetiver notes, and a traditional floral Lavender. The scent composition and subtly is very well executed in the cream range, a great deal of patience and skill is evidenced from the cream maker in ensuring the fragrance is not muted by the cream itself. A superb effort, particularly for a shave cream which traditionally is much harder to work with when it comes to scent, perfume and fragrance.
Lather
Thick, buttery and flawless. Absolutely on par with Castle Forbes and significantly above TOBS and other commercial English soap houses. I cannot rate this highly enough.
Overall
I was expecting a typical artisan product, that is to say a high quality handmade product with the expected individual differences and the occasional less than polished edge however after the first 3 or 4 shaves with these creams I knew straight away that this was not to be the case.
The skill of the artisan in making these creams is excellent and this is reflected in the uniform performance, scent and lather that is created when using the creams.
While the artwork is basic and the packaging functional, quite frankly I am not in the slightest concerned as the product performs so well and I feel that this angle firmly anchors the cream as an artisan soap house product rather than a flash, hipster or commercial outlet.
If you are a fan of truly excellent and artisan creams, I highly encourage you to order a range of samples from Stone Cottage Soapworks to see what you like. I went with 2 tubs from the outset (Fougère and Hesperide) and was so glad I did. In the future I plan to order 3 or 4 more from the range and also try the new soaps they are now making.
