Thread: Question about Queen Charlotte Soaps

I have some soap and cream samples from Queen Charlotte soaps that I received a while ago, but just got around to trying. I used the sandalwood cream sample this morning, and it behaved strangely. The consistency is more like a soft soap than a cream, so I mushed the sample in the bottom of my bowl to load up my brush and then face lather. I loaded more than I thought I needed and went to my face. It lathered up wonderfully creamy and slick. It had a very nice shine to it that I rarely get due to my water hardness. The first pass was fantastic. I noticed it was sticking a little to my blade while rinsing so I figured I would add more water for the next pass. It brushed on a little sticky, so I dipped the tips of the bristles in the water and worked it some more on my face. It seemed to liven up temporarily, but in a few minutes the lather had degraded significantly. It looked like it was drying out, so I dipped my brush again and tried to re-hydrate it. The issue is that it didn't really work. It shined back up for a few second and then immediately dried out. I would have thought I added too much water, except it was still a little sticky on my blade. Maybe I needed more water still? The lather was very uncooperative for the second pass and I'm not sure why, given the quality during the first pass. Usually if a soap is going to fight me it does so from the start, I've never had one turn on me halfway through a shave before.

Does anyone have experience with this particular artisan cream? if so, any ideas on whats going on? Or has anyone had a similar experience with any soap?

Because of your post today and I have not used it in a while and I wanted to see what you were talking about, I pulled out my Queen Charlotte cayman cream. I noticed that I had the same thing going on. My lather would last about one pass, but it would not last through the entire second pass, And I did not dilute my lather like you did. For me this is a problem since I shave my entire head. So I tried something different and added two drops of glycerin, and for some reason it's seem to stabilize the lather a little bit. But because I added the two drops of glycerin, I added a little bit more water because I know that it would make it thirsty. I hope this helps a little bit.

Thanks for the post,
Neil

Until recently, I had a few of their soaps from back in the day,when they were some of the first artisan soap makers. Recently I had to permanently retire them, they were not working at all for me. I can't comment on their current formulations.

Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8

Because of your post today and I have not used it in a while and I wanted to see what you were talking about, I pulled out my Queen Charlotte cayman cream. I noticed that I had the same thing going on. My lather would last about one pass, but it would not last through the entire second pass, And I did not dilute my lather like you did. For me this is a problem since I shave my entire head. So I tried something different and added two drops of glycerin, and for some reason it's seem to stabilize the lather a little bit. But because I added the two drops of glycerin, I added a little bit more water because I know that it would make it thirsty. I hope this helps a little bit.

Thanks for the post,
Neil

Thanks for the tip, I do have some glycerin on hand so I'll give that a try. Since they're samples, I'm trying to decide if it's worth a full tub or not. If I have to add glycerin every time, it might not win a spot in my regular rotation but we'll see. But your experience helps confirm that it may be the soap and not me, which is an important decision factor.

Thanks again!

I think you might benefit from reloading the brush for the 2nd pass. It is what I have always done with QCS.

That's not a bad idea. If I really fall in love with a scent I may wind up buying a tub and doing just that.

i have a tub of there "briar" formula that is no longer available and maybe because i reload the brush every time and only usually do 2 passes i havnt had any issue .... but then again it could be the diff water also but it is by far my fav soap and sent that i own ..

i also realized that when i start off i use a lot more water to make lather and start it out almost thinner then i woould other soaps although it takes me a bit more effort to get my lather where i want .. the other cream/soap i start lie this is my prorasso creams in the tubes ..