- Joined
- Jun 22, 2016
- Location
- Sydney
Soaps by Luna - Fig and Vanilla
In my search for emerging, undiscovered and interesting Artisanal soaps I was given an email address by a fellow artisan in the US, he knew I had a silly quantity of Eufros soaps (12-16 or so different varities) and was an avid fan, he suggested to me that I may like to investigate this other Spanish artisan who is gaining a solid reputation for making excellent hand made soaps with very unique and well designed, if simple, fragrance accords.
So I wrote to her and we had a conversation about her soaps, her name is Elena and she is from Spain. Communicating with her is easy, her English is excellent and like other Spanish artisans she provides an email list with what she has to offer. Email response time is fast, the transaction was very simple - she sends you a PayPal link, you pay and she sends. Soaps took 11 days to reach me, easy.
She currently makes 4 or 5 soaps, they are all hand-made small batch and they are as follows, she also has another new one but I can't for the life of me remember it.
Contact:
Email only which is exactly what I look for in an artisan. She responds quickly and provides a simple list of her shaving soaps and her hand soaps and the prices for postage. You can reach her at [jabonesbyluna at gmail.com]. Elena also has a FB post but her posts understandably are in Spanish.
Price:
125 gram soap is €13.20
65 gram tin for €7.50
Postage: Up to 500g €13.25 from 500g to 1 Kg 24.35. Postage by correos and tracks through Aust Post.
Please don't pester her for free samples, ask about aftershaves, different fragrances and so on - she provides a complete list of everything she has when you write to her and ask. A little respect, some common sense and no nonsense is all that is required. You order and provide your name and address, she sends you a paypal link and you pay as quickly as is practical with no fuss or mucking around... if you are still unsure or such like about a fragrance don't pester her, just simply order a 65 gram tin for $12.00 and if you don't like it flip it in the BST
Luna/Elena is a lovely soap maker, genuine and welcoming, afford her the respect she deserves.She does include free samples in her orders too, again a lovely person and an excellent emerging artisan wet-shave soap maker.
Fragrances:
Dama de noche (Cestrum nocturnum) - quite strong a friend tells me, I will order it shortly
Fig and vanilla
Lemon
Fauno (orange, lavender, eucalyptus and clove) - This is beautiful, ideal for Spring/summer!!
Coconut - A strong coconut fragrance, really strong!
Geranium, rosemary and clove - On my next order, this one is great I am told
Ingredients: stearic acid, coconut oil, borage oil, cocoa butter, glycerine, potash, caustic soda, vitamin E, fragrance and/or essential oils.
Packaging: The soap comes in a stout aluminum tub with a threaded lid, of the same make as other Spanish artisans. Each tin contains at least 125 grams. Despite the smaller aperture on these tubs, I found no trouble pre-loading with a Chubby 2 or a M&F 30mm whatsoever. I initially thought it would be tricky, however this was not the case.
The artwork is great, a simple water proof colour sticker with the language being of course Spanish. I own 12-15 Eufros soaps and I am therefore familiar with the Spanish language of Shaving soaps. If you are not, all the terms are easily put into google.
Feel: The soap shares the same high quality consistency as other Spanish artisans, it is not rock hard by any stretch. The soap is packed very well into the tin and demonstrates an even consistency, the density is ideal, the pressure used to pack the soap means that the pre load is effected without unnecessary overloading, or chunks coming off.
Performance: The performance of this soap is very good to excellent. Thisis not a soap that drinks and drinks water and then explodes, rather it is a soap that is thick and buttery, a beautiful consistency and a lather that is not full of air and fluff. Personally, this is my kind of lather for a shaving soap and I have grown very fond of the performance and particularly the ease of loading.
Post shave feel is excellent to superb with these soaps, the skill of the craft is evident in abundance in this regard. I would expect that Elena's extensive experience making soaps (she does all kinds of wonderful shapes, and types) is coming to the fore here, really impressive! My face felt very well nourished and moisturised from using the 3 soaps on the different occasions I have used Elana's soap, there are very few soaps that perform as well as Luna's in this regard. Sensitive skin types and in the winter months especially, take note here.
Cushion: I found the cushion excellent, the density and viscosity of the lather was flawless. I found the soap extremely easy to 'dial in' having used Spanish artisan soaps before, this one takes a little less water as I mentioned but affords very, very good cushion for the blade.
Glide: Faultless glide for me, a very slick soap that performed up there with the best, I shaved using a Merkur Progress, Timeless 0.68, Above the Tie R1 and a Gillette Slim using Feather blades for all shaves.
Scent and Lather: Good scent to a little too strong for me personally. These soaps are very highly scented soaps, to say they are fragrant would be an understatement. From the tub the fragrance is strong, when you form lather proper the smell is exceptionally strong. I didn't experience any reaction whatsoever from the soaps I used it is worth mentioning, despite one of them containing a percentage of Fragrance oil. The scent of the Fig and Vanilla is very well executed if a little strong, really nice and appealing though especially in the colder weather. Her Fauna soap will be in regular rotation come summer, it's an absolute cracker.
Overall: Well, as I said I love searching the globe for off the beaten track artisan soaps, the kind of vendors that exist through email, without any fancy advertising, spamming or broad exposure. I have found in Elena and Luna soaps another artisan who shares a passion for making hand made shaving soaps and a person that is happy doing it her way, taking extra care and time to craft an excellent product.
I like the stout tin surprisingly, pre-loading is very easy even with a 30mm badger. I could talk for hours about these kind of soaps, they embody the hand made, small batch ideology and the care and the attention attendant to the process. The performance gets top marks on all fronts for me, in every area but that of Fragrance which I personally found it to be a little to exuberant, others may find this a feature however.
I have three of her soaps and I plan to acquire the rest of her collection, it's the kind of individually made soap that I really enjoy using, the price is excellent and the variety is different and reflects her fragrance design. I have provided her contact email at the beginning and I would encourage those looking for something of very high quality to give her soap a try, it's bloody fantastic and she is good, skilled artisan.
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