Thread: Jack Black

In the first days of my lusting into the world of true wet shaving I happened upon a puck of Jack Black at my local all-things-fancy boutique here in Decatur. The packaging looked really cool and it promised peppermint and organic oils in a vegetable base perfect for sensitive skin and on and on... ever since I have regretted that purchase.

Not an awful shave but not something to remember either and clearly in the way of the dozen or so other top shelf soaps and creams I have accumulated ever since. And so being one not to waste have decided it better to just get it out of the way and use it up as fast as I can to get on and over with it. My fear being it lasts far too long and my good soaps and creams lose their zest waiting for me to catch up.

Delegated the puck to my old old spice cup which I has been allocated for random scraps of sample soaps that accumulate whenever you buy something more special otherwise I put it through the grater and packed it in. The oddity here is it never actually packed in but remained a powdery non binding cake which later half fell apart and out of the cup while i was trying to pour the spoonful of hot water I usually add to the cup before my shower in anticipation of prepping soap for use.

Rationally I figured perhaps it would be best to melt the powder to help it clump and keep it fixed in the cup. Throw the cup in a pot of water to boil and an hour later the water is boiling like crazy but the powder doesn't really melt. A little softer perhaps but still useless. Move it to the microwave where I have had success in the past with other glycerin soaps. Instantly within seconds the powder starts to foam up rather then melt, as though it is producing its lather. Shut off the microwave to avoid a boiled milk-like explosion and to my surprise it deflates the foam and leaves behind nothing any better then what it was with the exception of having clearly lost it's essential oils.

Try pressing it in which is finally starting to work yet each episode leaves me with a drier cake that smells less and less impressive.

So the question to you all is exactly what is this stuff? I assumed it was glycerin based from all the literature about it but it sure does not act like it.

In the end it seems only now like a flat base to add the equally un-inspiring Jack Black 'triple super' whatever shave cream purchased at the same time to hoping I can uber-lather it back to life.

Oh, and an interesting side observation is that my super badger brush seems to shed much more whenever using this soap. Perhaps it has an ingredient in it that eats badger?

i do not know anything of the jack black soap.........

/threadjack but the actor jack black i would thoroughly enjoy beating him within 1/2'' of his life simply for being a "unfunny bastard"...... /threadjack

That sounds like it wasn't a Glycerine Melt and pour.. It was a Cold Process/Hot process based soap and it sounds like either lack of water in the process, or it was heavy on the coconut oil.. CP/HP soaps (Or tallow as I have seen people call it) most can't be re-batched my remelting them. It just forms a nasty mess.. Glycerine melt and Pour was designed to do just that, for the people who want to make soap but do not want to mess with the Lye process. Still need Lye to make GLycerine, but because you can just simply melt it down.. add your additives, and fragrances then just let it harden for two days then Ta Da, you have soap.. The other takes about two to three weeks to make..

Sounds like it might have had Koalin clay in it too.. that stuff is for oily skin and will also dry a bar of soap pretty quickly..

Key Ingredients:
Olive, Almond & Grape Seed Oil: Plant-based, lightweight natural conditioners that help moisturize and condition skin. Prevent dryness and tightness associated with traditional soap. Olive is high moisturizing.. Almond is mid... and Grapeseed is more for lather.. not so high on the moisturizing though..

Peppermint Extract: A natural astringent that helps control oiliness. Anything that says astringent it means it's going to be oil stripping.. so not only are they stripping oils with soap properties but with additives as well

Rosemary Extract: A natural astringent that helps control oiliness and fight bacteria on the skin’s surface.

Mild Cleansers: Gently clean skin and break down pore clogging residue while providing a thick, luxurious lather.Again oil breakdown

Shea Butter and Glycerin: Softens, moisturizes and protects the skin through a lubricating, protective cushion.

The bad part is I ran most of these combinations through my property calc and all of them say that this soap SHOULD be highly conditioning.. with a creamy lather and super soft.. so there are other fillers in it that they don't list.. Definitely wouldn't order that one again.. It's more of a oily skin soap.. although by the sound of it more like working at a greasy spoon, and using the cooled down grease trap as a face holder type oily.. that's a lot of oil stripping stuff..

Originally Posted by Nervin

That sounds like it wasn't a Glycerine Melt and pour.. It was a Cold Process/Hot process based soap and it sounds like either lack of water in the process, or it was heavy on the coconut oil.. CP/HP soaps (Or tallow as I have seen people call it) most can't be re-batched my remelting them. It just forms a nasty mess.. Glycerine melt and Pour was designed to do just that, for the people who want to make soap but do not want to mess with the Lye process. Still need Lye to make GLycerine, but because you can just simply melt it down.. add your additives, and fragrances then just let it harden for two days then Ta Da, you have soap.. The other takes about two to three weeks to make..

Sounds like it might have had Koalin clay in it too.. that stuff is for oily skin and will also dry a bar of soap pretty quickly..

Key Ingredients:
Olive, Almond & Grape Seed Oil: Plant-based, lightweight natural conditioners that help moisturize and condition skin. Prevent dryness and tightness associated with traditional soap. Olive is high moisturizing.. Almond is mid... and Grapeseed is more for lather.. not so high on the moisturizing though..

Peppermint Extract: A natural astringent that helps control oiliness. Anything that says astringent it means it's going to be oil stripping.. so not only are they stripping oils with soap properties but with additives as well

Rosemary Extract: A natural astringent that helps control oiliness and fight bacteria on the skin’s surface.

Mild Cleansers: Gently clean skin and break down pore clogging residue while providing a thick, luxurious lather.Again oil breakdown

Shea Butter and Glycerin: Softens, moisturizes and protects the skin through a lubricating, protective cushion.

The bad part is I ran most of these combinations through my property calc and all of them say that this soap SHOULD be highly conditioning.. with a creamy lather and super soft.. so there are other fillers in it that they don't list.. Definitely wouldn't order that one again.. It's more of a oily skin soap.. although by the sound of it more like working at a greasy spoon, and using the cooled down grease trap as a face holder type oily.. that's a lot of oil stripping stuff..

I now have it packed into my cup pretty good and it does seem to still give a shave but has clearly lost at least half of its smell. So would you recommend I just dump it? I do not mind now using it as a base soap to add a decent cream to and uberlather but if you think the melting process could make it harmful to my skin I would prefer to just call it a loss. Blending it with a cream and glycerine seems to really help it out.

Originally Posted by groovyd

In the first days of my lusting into the world of true wet shaving I happened upon a puck of Jack Black at my local all-things-fancy boutique here in Decatur. The packaging looked really cool and it promised peppermint and organic oils in a vegetable base perfect for sensitive skin and on and on... ever since I have regretted that purchase.

Not an awful shave but not something to remember either and clearly in the way of the dozen or so other top shelf soaps and creams I have accumulated ever since. And so being one not to waste have decided it better to just get it out of the way and use it up as fast as I can to get on and over with it. My fear being it lasts far too long and my good soaps and creams lose their zest waiting for me to catch up.

Delegated the puck to my old old spice cup which I has been allocated for random scraps of sample soaps that accumulate whenever you buy something more special otherwise I put it through the grater and packed it in. The oddity here is it never actually packed in but remained a powdery non binding cake which later half fell apart and out of the cup while i was trying to pour the spoonful of hot water I usually add to the cup before my shower in anticipation of prepping soap for use.

Rationally I figured perhaps it would be best to melt the powder to help it clump and keep it fixed in the cup. Throw the cup in a pot of water to boil and an hour later the water is boiling like crazy but the powder doesn't really melt. A little softer perhaps but still useless. Move it to the microwave where I have had success in the past with other glycerin soaps. Instantly within seconds the powder starts to foam up rather then melt, as though it is producing its lather. Shut off the microwave to avoid a boiled milk-like explosion and to my surprise it deflates the foam and leaves behind nothing any better then what it was with the exception of having clearly lost it's essential oils.

Try pressing it in which is finally starting to work yet each episode leaves me with a drier cake that smells less and less impressive.

So the question to you all is exactly what is this stuff? I assumed it was glycerin based from all the literature about it but it sure does not act like it.

In the end it seems only now like a flat base to add the equally un-inspiring Jack Black 'triple super' whatever shave cream purchased at the same time to hoping I can uber-lather it back to life.

Oh, and an interesting side observation is that my super badger brush seems to shed much more whenever using this soap. Perhaps it has an ingredient in it that eats badger?

Thanks for the information. I have seen the product in JC Penney's Sephora section and wondered about it.

I've tried the jack black cream and it worked well for massaging in to my beard while in the shower and shaving with a cartridge razor. I tried it again once I got into wet shaving and it was pretty well worthless.

The best suggestion I've heard for disappointing shaving soaps is to just use them as regular shower soap.

Sounds like maybe recycled packing peanuts were another ingredient in this stuff.

Originally Posted by roughkype

The best suggestion I've heard for disappointing shaving soaps is to just use them as regular shower soap.

That's what I've done. I had a few soap makers attempt to make me shaving soap, All of them wound up in the shower....

This is going to be funny.. In my adventure for making soaps the one that I intended for shower... women apparently love it for shaving.. and I had one lady tell me that she prefers my old shaving soap formula for the shower...???? I asked her why and she said it was more moisturizing than bar soap..

It's really hard to come up with a shaving soap recipe.. NOW with that said anyone can do a Melt and pour... Everything is already done// and all you have to do is melt it.. then add fragrance, essential oils.. clay.. mix well.. and drop it into molds..... and it does make a decent soap.. it's heavy in glycerine and you can use it in 3 days..

However.. Cold processing (tallow as most like to call it) is an art form... you have to research oil properties and such.. and believe me it is a pain in the tail when you are creating a recipe.. and with shaving soap it is difficult because of the addition of clays.. You can put in bentonite only but then you have to ensure that the soap properties have a low oil pulling because the clay will already pull tons of oil from your skin.. and of course there are other clays too that will give a "Slick" Property and not be so drying.. My first formula dried way too fast because it had too much bentonite.. Then you have to worry about Soft versus Harder puck of soap.. Cleansing versus moisturizing.. Sudsy versus Creamy.. it's a heck of a ride and can take a long time to get the right... I am STILL researching recipes.. the big issue with it is that it takes 3 weeks to even find out if you were successful..

Sooo many failed batches.. hheheheheh

Clay, huh? I never knew. Seems like it'd introduce some wear and tear to the blade.

There are big bentonite deposits out here where I live, and you are SCREWED if it turns out your house foundation is sitting on one. Or if you've driven across one and then it rains.

So do you add bentonite to the soap for slickness, too?

Sounds like black magic!