Don’t Spread your Money Around

Ok, so the message is: I am supporting a few so no new competition comes up. That clearly is the opposite of a "market economy" and kills off all innovation. Support who you want. The ones who stay competitive quality and price wise will survive. Others won't. That is life! And it is great that way!

German This is a tricky market and normal economic principles don’t really apply. A great innovator in soap needs sales to survive, a saturated market makes that difficult especially when hobbyist can enter the fray with a oven, slow cooker and ink jet printer. That said, in an open and free economy, the cream will rise to the top.... it always has and usually, it means less choices not more.... hence my OP of sending your dollars to your favorite artesians and not spreading the wealth around. Inevitably, if your favorite artisan is a part time soap maker but makes great scents and a performing soap and has to compete with 100 like offerings.... when that number grows to 150 at some point if the demand doesn’t equal that jump in what soap makers are producing, soap makers will decline and leave the market space. There are a lot of great soap makers out there that make scents people love... the only way to ensure your favorite scent and soap maker stays in business is to order from them often...

So, here's the thing for me(and I suspect a lot of other wet shavers):  just because I buy something from a new artisan doesn't mean that I'm necessarily taking away from others.  I may try Brand-X, but that doesn't mean it is taking away from some of the more established artisans.  Example: over the past month I purchased four Barrister and Mann sets(soap & aftershave.)  I also bought a soap new to the market.  I bought the four Barrister and Mann sets that I wanted.  I would not have purchased a fifth set of Barrister and Mann instead of purchasing one from Brand-X.

These are just examples and I hope I'm making sense.(or is that scents?  )

I felt this way at one time that I should do everything I can to support the artisans I really like, but I must say, after trying Grooming Dept and Wholly Kaw along with Declaration Grooming and Oleo Soapworks the past few weeks, I feel like I've been really missing out.
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I appreciate the sentiment of sticking with a few artisans but I purchased almost every scent Mikes has.  Additionally, I purchased about as many Stirling Soaps as I'd like. I feel like Wholly Kaw, Grooming Dept, Declaration and Oleo have refreshed my soap interests.  Just my two cents.
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I realized something before the last few weeks, that for my own use case, I was wrong about my thinking. I thought too, that these more pricey soaps, or newer vendors had nothing for me and they were a unicorn I was chasing.  After trying many of these, I have to admit, I was completely wrong when it comes to my own personal tastes.

Those are some good points, thanks for sharing your experience!

What a great thread.  Did you notice Will's razor blade stash in the background of the video!?  Man, I have to go out and get more blades  as I clearly don't have enough.

I believe the interview was done at Maggard Razors during a meetup, but I thought the same thing: more blades! Also, I couldn’t help but wonder what the rest of that storage area contains…

Throughout this thread, lots of good viewpoints on why supporting a few favorites may be good, yet fostering innovation could also be beneficial. I appreciate all the contributions so far, truly some food for thought here.

Throughout this thread, lots of good viewpoints on why supporting a few favorites may be good, yet fostering innovation could also be beneficial. I appreciate all the contributions so far, truly some food for thought here.

I agree with Matthew 100%.

Look, I love this hobby. And I know how tiny the market is. Over the years, I have my favorite brands of soap, many of them the classic Italian soaps, some of them the established artisans like Will at Barristers, Larry at CRSW, Scott at L&L Declaration Grooming.

When one of them comes out with a new formulation, I'm on it. Do I need it? Not by a long shot. But I enjoy the process of trying a new soap.

Recently, Scott released the 'Icarus' base in the Santal Auster. Phenomenal soap, incredible face feel. It could have been a bust and I'd be OK with that. But I've enjoyed his soaps so much and read about how hard he worked on this, I figured it was worth a shot. And it was.

Peter Charkalis recently started making his own soap. Now, I know he's somewhat controversial, but I don't care about any of that. It's about the soap for me. I recently tried the Lanolin and Goat's Milk base and it's very, very good. That this was the first attempt at a soap base is remarkable.

And there are some artisans I simply want to support. An example is Mohammad. When I tried my first Grooming Dept soap in the 'old' vegan base, I recognized that there was something special about it. I read about the years of research and experimentation he did. He's continuing to do so.

As with any series of experiments, not all are 100% successful. Although the performance (superb) and the post-shave (unsurpassed) of his soaps have always been great, I've gotten several soaps where the scent was just not to my liking. I let Mohammad know, and he was unfailingly gracious and completely non-defensive in responding. A class act. By the way, ever notice his SOTD photos? I can't remember one that featured his own soap. Class act.

And so, he's one of the artisans I support by buying his soaps.

Here are some of them.

Another 'Side Labeler' I see!!

Slickness is interesting.  I've seen artisans "improve" slickness, as in the last version was slick but this one is slicker because we did a bunch of experimenting and found a way to make a good soap better.  If they were releasing soap that wasn't slick and now it is thats a different story.  They shouldn't sell soap that isn't slick, at least not shaving soap.

Another 'Side Labeler' I see!!

All new soaps will have side labels

Another 'Side Labeler' I see!!

Usually, Sourav, but not always. That would make me some kind of obsessive compulsive.

Sometimes, I put the labels on top!



(With a nod to Sheldon Cooper, who has also been tested...)

Another 'Side Labeler' I see!!

Usually, Sourav, but not always. That would make me some kind of obsessive compulsive.

Sometimes, I put the labels on top!



(With a nod to Sheldon Cooper, who has also been tested...)

I have also been tested!! . And I always put a label. But not on Tabac. Tabac can stand in a lot of 1000 and still be recognizable!! As long as you have a nose .

A few days ago I was thinking about creating a thread regarding the 'other' necessary tools of our den : Label maker, Printer, Shipping supplies, bubble wrap etc.

My labels usually look like this: https://imgur.com/a/DfJL7

If you want to ensure that your favorite soapmaker stays in business, the best thing you can do it tell someone else about them. There are hundreds of millions of people in the United States that have no clue what wetshaving is and think that Gillette, Schick, a shave club, or an electric is their only choice. Or they have heard of wetshaving but have the misconception that it is overly difficult. You can only squeeze so much juice out of one orange. Relying on the hobbyists who own 100s of soaps to keep you afloat is a foolhardy business plan. One person can only use so much shaving soap. The solution to a crowded market is to grow the market. Telling your friends, family, and co-workers about your favorite soapmaker is the best gift you can give them. When customers ask me what they can do for us, I always tell them exactly this. Word of mouth is our best friend.

The next step is product diversity, which both Will and Shawn are doing and should allow them to increase revenues while being less reliant on the product that they are most known for (soap for Will and aftershaves for Shawn).