I recently tried a soap made by a newer type maker in PA. I used this soap on on a Wednesday and two days before I used Le Père Lucien. I thought there was a significant difference between the two soaps, but I am willing to work with the new soap some more just to make sure.
I am wondering, what factors might make one soap significantly better than another? I don't mean the subjective categories of glide, cushion, and such, but the actual chemistry.
I would guess that the ingredients for shaving soaps would be widely available, so that would rule out acquiring rare ingredients that might be prohibitively expensive for the small maker. I acknowledge decades of experience as a soap maker being a consideration. But soap making is not an exotic science, or is it?