Review: Cold River Soap Works x 6 soaps

[Nick the Knife]

Folks,

To celebrate/commiserate a recent birthday I splurged and ordered six soaps from the well regarded Cold River Soap Works (CRSW). As is often the case I'd not heard much about them but saw they were having a bit of a sale and then with my interest piqued I researched the usual places. Consistently CRSW got very good reviews and were regarded amongst the top tier of USA based artisan soap makers.

This was good enough for me and hence I placed my order - the promo sale only covered their Original ($USD14, pure vegetable oil based) and Classic ($USD12, tallow based) ranges and a few of the scent's I'd have ordered were out but I was pretty happy with my end selection.

So I thought I'd put down a few of my thoughts and impressions of dealing with this vendor as I don't think many others in here have had a chance to use their products.

​

It WILL take a few posts to do reviews etc of the soaps so apologies for that in advance.

Initial ordering process:
I should note I was on the 'old version' of their website, which has recently been upgraded and looks much better - that said I found it very easy and simple to place my order. Shipping costs were auto-calculated at the checkout and Paypal was available. I didn't have to sign up or similar to place an order which is easier but doesn't allow a wishlist or a few other extra tweaks. Shipping costs were quite reasonable at $USD26.

I received an email advising that my order was received and within one business day I had another email saying the order had been shipped with a USPS tracking number. IMHO this is excellent service from a smaller operator and moreso as they had quite a big promo on at the time so would have had a surge of orders.

Initial Perceptions of Product:
This was very positive or I'd not have ordered it. Even at full price I found them quite good value. Each of the Classic/Original lines come in their own own good quality polypropylene screw top jar. 4oz (~120g) of soap in each (which I weighed on arrival and every one appeared to be atleast that or over). They're a tad unique because they use Organic Goats Milk instead of water in all their soaps (they also have a SELECT range which is their top of line and though $USD25 each arguably better value as they're 50% more soap, 6oz vs 4oz and have absolutely best in sector ingredients, also packaging etc is truly best in sector).

The only pickiest negative was fragrance oils were used (instead/with essential oils) in some most of their soaps. However in itself that means nothing and many people are as or more sensative to essential oils than many fragrance oils. They're also a French style soft soap (croap) whereas I tend to be drawn to true hard soaps but I can't say thats a good or bad thing.

SCENTS:
Bloody hell you're saying, finally something more meaningful......! Well here I'm going to almost certainly make myself look stupid by smelling and writing my thoughts, observations etc on the scent of each soap and then I will write what CRSW says to describe each one - I'm sure it'll be obvious but I will not cheat and read up so here goes:

(THIS FIRST ONE WAS DONE BEFORE in another thread for Nonick)
CLASSIC - Puro Fresco
NtK says: Citrus and floral tones dominate. I get a lil bit of bergamot too. Its very delicate and not overly sweet. Good one for summer IMHO.

CRSW says:

Clean and fresh. Light notes of bergamot, lemon, white tea and ginger enveloped by rose, nutmeg and geranium sitting on a base of musk and wood.

ORIGINAL - Bergamot & Bay
NtK says: Gawd this is tricky and I am SO tempted to cheat! Reminds me of the aforementioned Puro Fresco but MUCH more subtle has a masculine edge to it. I actually don't get any Bergamot or Bay - perhaps a tad of the latter but hard to say. It's definitely very nice but I just can't accurately describe the lesser scents within it. Would be a good one to use if you didn't want it to clash with a cologne etc - seems very complimentary to most aftershaves etc.

CRSW says:

Bergamot and Bay is a rich, rugged complex fragrance. This blend of perfume grade essential and fragrance oils results in a warm, masculine scent with base notes of bergamot, pipe tobacco and cedar wood combined with fresh pine and soft bay leaf top notes

NOTE: After reading this I can kind of smell this BUT it'd need to be a lot stronger IMHO as it definitely isn't 'rich' and discerning these lesser tones would take a MUCH better nose than mine.

CLASSIC - Bay Rum
NtK: Now the only Bay Rum I've used was the excellent Mike's Natural Soaps variant so I was very surprised by this one. It doesn't share any characteristics with the MNS one at all. Alas IMHO it has too much of a sweet scent and needs to be more masculine in nature. I would not 'guess' this was Bay Rum if you'd not told me so.

CRSW says:

A traditional Bay Rum but with a "New School" twist results in a spicy, cultural blending with a base of Caribbean bay, clove and cinnamon working into a middle of fresh juniper and a tart juicy orange finish.

NOTE: Again after reading this I can see a bit of this - the cinnamon in particular but I'm not sold on this take on Bay Rum, perhaps I just prefer the old traditional variant.

ORIGINAL - Spiced Amber
NtK: Ok now this one has winter classic written all over it and after the slightly underwhelming Bay Rum has a really strong masculine edge to it. Perhaps just a tiny bit sweet but it's really conjuring up some positives. Gawd I'm again not able to pick individual notes - perhaps thats because it's based on a fragrance oil? Dunno but this is a very pleasant scent that would revel in winter/autumn use.

CRSW says:

A warm and exotic spice blend, complex and masculine. Base notes of amber, cedar, sandalwood and patchouli surrounding a middle of rich cardamom, cinnamon and clove with a mellow aged teakwood finish.

CLASSIC - Savon No.1
NtK says: Big but not overwhelming lavender abounds. I'm also getting some green herbs and perhaps a tiny bit of bergamot? It's very nice, lean towards a warm month scent but could go winter as well.

CRSW says:

Enjoy the light, aroma of lavender with fresh, green herbal highlights and soft cedar wood base notes of perfume-grade essential oils in this perfectly realized blend.

NOTE: Phew, needed that to bolster my confidence!

CLASSIC - Savon No.2
NtK says: Lemongrass is very dominant. I have to say I almost put my nose IN IT and couldn't distinguish much if anything else - at the start perhas there a bit of a grassy freshness. Maybe a bit of another citrus???? Hard to say more - pleasant scent - definite summer scent.

CRSW says:

Our Savon Fragrance No.2 is a blend of perfume grade essential oils exhibiting a smooth, woodsy overtone with middle notes of minty herbs and light citrus top notes. This is a remarkable fragrance blend and one we are extremely proud of.

Anyway I'm buggered after writing all that - will post up my thoughts on how it shaves ASAP.

PS. Also got a nice handwritten thank you note from Larry (the owner/maker), which ok may not be worth anything but I think thats a real and nice tough.

Cheers, Nick

 

[Nonick]

Nice review Nick, sounds like all the scents are working for you anyway. It's always a gamble if you don't actually have something to smell before you order.

Interesting to see how they lather up, better post some pics when you get lathering it.

 

[Mong.]

Good review Nick, it's nice to hear some feedback on another artisan soapmaker. Sounds like they might be in a position to contend with Mike's. How do they compare for you?

 

[Monsta_AU]

Well @Cold River Soap Works has now joined, Larry will be in soon enough to say hello I suspect.

 

[borked]

What with the recent influx of artisans, do we require a sub forum for discussion upon manufacturing etc ?
It is a great sign to see noted local and international artisans joining us and hope they hang around long enough to feel comfortable in joining in the shenanigans

 

[Nick the Knife]

Well I did have my first shave with one of the CRSW soaps last night but in what was a bit of a tactical blunder I combined my first lathering up with them alongside my ongoing trial of the Muhle blades.

Cut a long story short it was one of the worst shaves I've had in months BUT I am not reading into this too much as it's kind of silly to combine two 'unknown' products together and think that you can specifically deduce much from a negative result. Was it the Muhle blade or the CRSW Bay Rum soap?

In truth I think it was actually more my technique. Being more of a hard soap fan I was very conscious not to load the brush too much (I used a synthetic deliberately to minimise the amount of soap needed and also to allow more foolproof ease of lathering) - I suspect I didn't load up with enough soap. I bowl lathered and got what looked like a very good lather but the slickness was missing.

Anyway I ended up with a shave that was unenjoyable and far below my expectations....BUT at this stage I don't think that means much at all as I genuinely feel I 'stuffed up' rather than the Muhle blades or CRSW products being the issue.

Anyway will try again tomorrow and see how that goes.

 

[filobiblic]

It takes a man ^^^ to admit mistakes. [emoji106]

 

[Nick the Knife]

It takes a man ^^^ to admit mistakes. [emoji106]

Ah Filo, when you've guffed up as many times in ones life as yours truly you just put your hand up for it, take whats coming and move on. It's the lesser of the many evils on offer.

 

[filobiblic]

Ah Filo, when you've guffed up as many times in ones life as yours truly you just put your hand up for it, take whats coming and move on.

Thankfully there's no long-lasting repercussions with a bad shave... [emoji6]

 

[Nick the Knife]

Ok, got back on the horse that threw me off and had an excellent shave. However I changed the razor/brush/blade combo over to KNOWN items within my stash. Hence went with:
Gillette Red Tip Superspeed
Gillette Dark Platinum
CRSW Bay Rum
Vie-Long 'Peleon'

The CRSW tubs are a lil smaller than the $2 shop ones I use for my other soaps so rather than loading normally I just kind of 'spun' and pumped the brsh to get enough soap on (determined to put on this time). Still only did around 10sec worth and bowl lathered. Got a very nice lather going VERY easily, next to no bubbles in it and smelt really great.

The shave was very nice and slick, cushion was good. Got more than enough for 2 passes all over plus and extra one on my chin. No irritation at all and several hours afterwards I could still detect the scent of the Bay Rum on me.

It's odd as this was the scent I was least enamoured with - but it smells great post shave. It think to be honest its just that I had a perception of what Bay Rum should be and this was in CRSW's own description a 'modern twist' on this. Its still a very enjoyable scent, quite complex.

Anyway this was a very enjoyable shave and I have to say it was a HUGE relief to me as I was thinking WTF have I done buying 6 of these soaps after that first very bad shave - but as I suspected that was purely down to my mistakes not the CRSW products etc. Anyway still very early days with them and looking forward to trying another one over the weekend.

On a side note the wife aboslutely loved all of their scents and said they're the best smelling soaps I have (which is true) - she's already asking if she can use them as well! So they're quite popular with the fillies too.

 

[filobiblic]

Sounds like winners you have there ole Nick with the knife. Just as well you ended up with a good shave out of them. A very large punt that seems to have returned in dividends... [emoji106]

 

[alfredus]

Great review and can't wait to hear your thoughts how they compare to Mike's

 

[filobiblic]

Great review and can't wait to hear your thoughts how they compare to Mike's

Sounds good!

 

[Nick the Knife]

Great review and can't wait to hear your thoughts how they compare to Mike's

Thank you Alfredus.

My earlyish thoughts is that they provide a similar quality lather to MNS (slickness/cushion etc). Definitely easier to lather, nicer and more prominent scents but not quite as good on your skin (for that post-shave feel).

 

[Nick the Knife]

Ok tried the Bergamot and Bay last night, this is from the Original (Vegan) line. OOTB this was my(and wife's) fave scent. Used it with Omega 10005, Redtip, Muhle blade (3).

It lathered amazingly well. VERY, very good quality lather and it reached the perfect usable point within only a very small time of working it! Very good cushion and a good level of slickness. I was overwhelmed by how good this soap performed.

Now I'm not sure if this was partially due to perhaps more soap loading up than usual, as it's a hot processed soap and their was a little bit of looseish soap on the very top that would have lifted off more easily when I loaded.

The scent is just as good on as in the jar. This soap is easily one of the best performers I've encountered, will be interested to see if it's stablemates can replicate this upon my next rotational use.

 

[filobiblic]

What about the face feel after the shave?

 

[Nick the Knife]

What about the face feel after the shave?

Pretty good, to be honest this wasn't something I'd like to speculate about too much as alas the Muhle blade let the shave down a tad, meaning I had to do an extra pass and a few more strokes than I normally would have.

That said my skin didn't feel stripped of moisture or chemically irritated at all. And I can definitely hold CRSW 100% accountable for that aspect of the shave and it passed with flying colours.

 

[filobiblic]

Sounds like it's shaping up to be a winner.

 

[alfredus]

Yep sounds great!

 

[Nick the Knife]

Yes, I think they're definite keepers. In a soap I'm far and away focused on how they lather and shave than any other factor - I never cease to be amazed that so many members are overly obsessed with scents rather than this but go figure.

Lathering these has been very easy with seemingly a relatively modest loading (honestly I'm lucky to do 20sec load at most and apply very little brush pressure). Their slickness is very good, nice dense cushion was really noticeable on the Original line. Post shave my skin still felt nice, perhaps not quite as nice as Mike's but not far off.

Their scents are really very good and walk that fine line between leaving enough scent on you post-shave and not being overpowering/sickly. I also like that they're all quite masculine but there's more modernish takes on this combined with old school.

Lesser attributes that are still positives over many competitor soaps are they're nicely packaged (4oz+ in a jar saves you ~$2 on buying your own) - the packaging is very classy and understated, which I find appealing - I'm not a big fan on some of the more lavish colours/designs eg on Caties Bubbles, HTGAM. Something simple thats done well will ALWAYS ahev a place in the market - hence this type of packaging along with Mike's, B&M (whose design seems very similar to these) is my cup of tea.

Value? To be fair it's not at the cheaper end of the market and I got mine at a 25% off sale which brought them down to $USD9/10.50 each, normally $12/14. For 4oz items thats a fair-good price for what I'd see as close to a premium product. The Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales had a few similar quality items (Strop Shoppe, B&M) selling for around this price per oz. There were some cheaper ones too e.g Shannons, Stirling - but feedback on these often varied in one or more key areas - eg. scent etc - which is not to say they may not be excellent but I'd expect to see CRSW a tad ahead.

Of course being a USA based maker postage is always the PITA as you either have to get a group buy, buy a bunch and hope you like them(like me!) or just get a couple and suffer something like a near $AUD30 per unit cost. I know CRSW were looking at sourcing a local vendor for their product so perhaps this will somewhat alleviate this issue.

As I've said earlier at normal prices I do think spending the tiny bit more per unit on CRSW's Select range might be the best route. At $USD25 they're more pricey but come in a 6oz tin. That per oz price puts them about on par and sometimes a smidgen cheaper than B&M and other premium soaps. Oh and I do have a sample of this line that I be trying sooner or later - so that will be interesting.