So I bought a fancy piece of soap...

[jblaney]

About 2 weeks ago I was looking online and came upon a cool website for soap, of course. I liked the website layout and look of it. I could not tell if the soap was CP or M&P though. Some older pics looked like they were using M&P, but the newer stuff I could not tell. I'm not a soap snob and I do enjoy both equally. It was obvious the company had paid a good amount of money for the website and a PR firm to distribute the soaps to many companies (I did a lot of reading about them and a woman who reviewed their soaps said a PR firm had sent them samples) They were mentioned in countless magazines, Oprah, Men's Health, Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Lucky, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Allure, Instyle, Glamour, People, etc...

They were sold at one time through J.Crew and are now sold on a site called Luxury4him in addition to their own website. It's obvious they want this to be a luxury brand. I have never seen their soap or even heard of them before so I had to order a piece...for $16 plus $10 in shipping.

Anywho, I received my $26 piece soap on Monday and I put it at our kitchen sink for my husband and I to use to wash our hands. I am utterly not impressed.

First off, it is CP. I also make CP and mine feels better. My husband keeps telling me he doesn't like the soap, but I spent $16 on it so it stays. Second, it's just a grey piece of soap with a tiny crest stamped into it, nothing fancy. The fragrance is forgettable and smells generic. It has tiny vanilla beans seeds in it, which I also use in some soaps, but my husband thinks they are too scratchy. I like the way they look, but he's right and I need to stop using them. So on Wednesday this piece of $16 soap got a crack in it that keeps getting bigger by the day. Mine have never done that so I have no idea why that's happening. Also, they make many health claims on their site and on the box, Deep Moisturizing Soap, Argan oil helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, honey reduces inflammation. So I guess they are going the cosmetic route, which is fine.

The reason I'm writing this review, if you can even call it that, is to point out that it's all about perception. This soap is no better than anything most of us make, but since this company, a mother and son, spent money on marketing and a nice website, they can ask $16 for a plain piece of CP soap with the first three ingredients being Palm oil, Coconut oil & water. They are clearly not spending it on ingredients. They put Argan oil in the soap, but it's one of the last ingredients, right before the vanilla bean seeds that weigh nothing. Plus they gouged me on shipping since there is no way it cost $10 to ship this small 6 oz piece of soap.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting and wanted to share. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

 

[AnnaMarie]

Too bad on the experience. Sounds like you were paying for a name only. Maybe at one time the quality was better, but I personally believe that as companies get bigger and make more the less you get in quality. At least you know where not to buy soap
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[MzMolly65]

I call this "artful presentation of the facts" .. it's the same as calling a shovel a spade.

My wallet would like me to be that kind of marketer but my conscience won't allow it.

 

[pamielynn]

This is a sad truth in our industry. They dress it up so you'd THINK it's as good as handmade when it probably isn't. Or it is, but the manufacturer has started to skimp on quality due to quantity. I was just in a gift store that had tons of soap all over the place - and they were all dressed up like handmade soap. But one look at the ingredients and you can tell it's not. You Smell was one of the ones in the pile. It's all marketing and perception.

 

[SoapMakingTommy]

Wow, thats one expensive soap, I can sell you my soap for a third of that total price. And it will probably be better since i use no palm and use higher grade oils. Im sorry for the bad experience, it happens to all of us, Sometimes we just want to buy something and it bites us in the behind.

 

[marghewitt]

Wow thanks for posting. It is amazing to see the differences in prices and quality. I do the same thing and buy an occasional expensive bar to see what it is all about. You always learn something from it.

 

[Hazel]

The reason I'm writing this review, if you can even call it that, is to point out that it's all about perception. This soap is no better than anything most of us make,

I agree. But it may take time for many people to realize it. I've never had much confidence that my soap is "good". It's taken me a long time to finally come to the realization that some of my recipes are really very nice. However, it also took me about 9+ months to figure out my earlier batches weren't very nice. I'm embarrassed now at how I shoved them off on friends and family in my excitement of learning how to make soap. It took me approximately another year of experimenting until I settled on my basic oils. Although, this only lasted about another year when through the encouragement of other soapers, I started using lard. Thanks all you enablers. In the last few months, I've discovered the wonders of tallow. Now I'm back to experimenting again.

As a corollary to your post, I purchased a few items from a soapmaker who is well known on another forum. I'm a bit of a masochist and wanted to see how much better her products were than mine. I was shocked when I got them. Her soap wasn't better than mine. The lather was sparser and I found the soap to be drying. When I opened the lotion bar, there was a hair on it which was repulsive by itself but I could also smell the bar was rancid. The other items were all right but not anything special. I'd always had the perception this woman was an expert since she was so knowledgeable about making soap and B&B products. She also had a lovely website - nice layout, well written descriptions and professional looking pictures. She may be an expert in theory but her practical knowledge left a lot to be desired. Anyway, it was a good lesson for me. I learned to stop comparing myself to others and trust my own opinion.

this company, a mother and son, spent money on marketing and a nice website, they can ask $16 for a plain piece of CP soap with the first three ingredients being Palm oil, Coconut oil & water. They are clearly not spending it on ingredients.

Nope. As you said, they're spending it on marketing and a website.

I wonder if the crack is appearing because the soap may be manufactured like commercial soaps for mass production. I know a lot of commercial soaps developed cracks. I've assumed it was because the glycerin is removed during processing.

 

[Twiggy]

I wonder if the crack is appearing because the soap may be manufactured like commercial soaps for mass production. I know a lot of commercial soaps developed cracks. I've assumed it was because the glycerin is removed during processing.

I was thinking exactly the same thing - they took away glycerin, and soap may be left "dry" like most of commercial soaps are.