Thread: SRD soaps

I'm not sure why the thread regarding SRD soaps a couple down was closed? Maybe something to do with the slightly off color comment? I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here by starting up a new thread to get it back on track...

I just wanted to let Chris L know (and anyone else who might have been curious) that I received my SRD Blood Orange soap, and had a shave with it this morning.

Let me first say that I've never really been one to notice the little nuances of this or that soap having more lubricity or whatever. Between all of the soaps that are generally well respected, I really can't tell the difference. I can really only tell the difference between glycerin/triple milled/tallow based. Within each category, most of the soaps I've tried are all pretty close for me as far as lubricity goes. I generally base whether or not I like a soap on how well it lathers for me, and how it smells. That is, how easy it is to get lather, how the consistency of the lather is, and how long it lasts on my face. I don't know if it's my hard water or what, but some soaps just disappear ridiculously fast on my face and I have to lather each section of my face and shave it right away. I've had great luck with mama bear soaps in all of these categories, and I've tried over a dozen of her scents. I have always enjoyed her scents, they lather very easily, and they last forever on my face (never had one disappear). So, mama bear soaps are pretty much my favorite so far, and I've been skeptical that I would find one I liked any better.

So, all that being said, I have to say that the SRD blood orange compares very very favorably to the mama bear! The soap lathered very easily and provided a great consistency akin to mama bear. It also did not disappear quickly, but instead lasted just as long as mama bear soaps. In fact, if I had my eyes closed, I probably would have thought this was a mama bear soap (but that's a good thing). The smell is also nice. I've never smelled a real blood orange, but IMO this soap smells ALOT like "goo gone" if you guys have ever used that stuff. It's orangey, but not quite pure orange, if that makes sense. It's orange enough that when I had my fiancee sniff to see what it smelled like, she said "oranges?"

Anyway, I give this soap two thumbs up. I have a feeling that the SRD soaps may eventually edge out mama bear even.. I actually have the sandalwood scent on the way too, but I think I'm going to end up ordering a few more as I really them so far!

Thanks for the input, I've been eyeing the SRD soaps for a while now and it's nice to hear someone else's detailed experience with it.

Now I just need to quit being indecisive and pick a soap from SRD, MWF, or Dr. Harris. So many nice looking soaps, so little money.

The SRD sandalwood came in last night!

First off, the scent. I've never smelled real sandalwood EO, so I didn't know what to expect. This soap is lightly scented. I'm not sure if this is in an effort to conserve the expensive sandalwood EO (to offer an affordable sandalwood EO soap), or if it's just that pure sandalwood EO isn't very strongly scented itself (or maybe it loses some scent when made into soap?). You can definitely smell it, but it's not as strong smelling as I expected, or as strong as the SRD blood orange for example. Anyway, you can get your nose in there for a good whiff, I just tend to like my soaps a little stronger scented.

To me, what I can smell smells like vetiver EO. I have some vetiver EO aftershave milk from TSD (which smells exactly like the EO itself), and it seems that pure sandalwood is in the same family, but maybe a little lighter smelling (not so smoky). A woodsy, earthy smell. I actually like it quite a bit!

How does it lather? Like a DREAM. It's probably my best lathering soap to date. I don't know yet if the stars just aligned today or what, but it definitely lathered as good or better than just about anything I've tried yet. It even edged out mama bear just slightly, which coming from me is high praise. It was very easy to lather up a nice, creamy lather that was very lubricating and lasted on my face (which as I mentioned I sometimes have a problem with certain soaps disappearing quickly, possibly due to my hard water).

All in all, I'm a big fan of this soap too. I do wish the sandalwood scent was a bit stronger, but due to the reasonable cost (considering the EO price), the lather!, and the fact that it's basically the only soap like it still on the market, it's not a big downer. In any event, I'm definitely adding SRD to my short list of soaps to try more of!

Thanks for the comments wanted to share a little information. You will find that our scents will open up with time. The sandalwood was a new batch. Wait a few weeks and you will see the scent will open up more and more. This is true with all our scents but the sandalwood seems to open up the most. We actually put more Sandalwood in our soaps then any other scent. It is a true high quality sandalwood different than some of the sandalwood's you may have smelled.
Thanks again!

Thanks for the info Don! Yeah, I'm loving this soap, I can't wait to see how it opens up!

I'm curious, what does the Ylang Ylang SRD soap smell like? Went to a local store to research some of the scents offered by SRD but they didn't have Ylang Ylang.

Originally Posted by Ian1974

I'm curious, what does the Ylang Ylang SRD soap smell like? Went to a local store to research some of the scents offered by SRD but they didn't have Ylang Ylang.

I'm actually curious to hear a lamen's terms description or comparison to something I would know too, but from wikipedia:

The fragrance of ylang-ylang is rich and deep with notes of rubber and custard, and bright with hints of jasmine and neroli. The essential oil of the flower is obtained through steam distillation of the flowers and separated into different grades (extra; 1; 2; 3) according to when the distillates are obtained. The main aromatic components of ylang-ylang oil are benzyl acetate, linalool and p-cresyl methyl ether and methyl benzoate, responsible for its characteristic odor.[2]

I just don't really know what custard, jasmine or neroli smell like, lol. Can anyone compare ylang ylang to something we might know? Or at least classify it into fruity, earthy, spicy, sweet, etc?

Ylang Ylang is very hard to describe and very unique. One of my favorites everyone smells differently but I would say it is a sweeter floral if I had to describe it. It is one of those you say well it smells like Ylang Ylang

One may really like the fragrance of Ylang Ylang, but how does one pronounce Ylang Ylang prior to, or after, having enjoyed the olfactory delight? Personally I have much trouble buying or trying something I have no idea how to pronounce. Rose, good; Almond, good; Lavender, good; Sandalwood, good; Ylang Ylang, not so good. Although once I get my tongue wrapped around it, the stuff may be absolutely fabulous. Then again, I haven't had my tongue wrapped around soap for a really long time, and then it wasn't that great. Then again it wasn't Ylang Ylang; more than likely it was Fels Naphtha.

Originally Posted by Bruce

One may really like the fragrance of Ylang Ylang, but how does one pronounce Ylang Ylang prior to, or after, having enjoyed the olfactory delight? Personally I have much trouble buying or trying something I have no idea how to pronounce. Rose, good; Almond, good; Lavender, good; Sandalwood, good; Ylang Ylang, not so good. Although once I get my tongue wrapped around it, the stuff may be absolutely fabulous. Then again, I haven't had my tongue wrapped around soap for a really long time, and then it wasn't that great. Then again it wasn't Ylang Ylang; more than likely it was Fels Naphtha.

Forget the Ys Lang Lang