Edit: It appears that the line has disappeared off the face of the earth, after a small scandal erupted following a few allegations, including that the fellow who ran HTGAM had been under different names reviewing some soaps that he made (under the Petal Pushers brand), and that the ingredient listing for at least some of the soaps was likely falsified. Here’s a bit of an overview.
Frankly, what I saw put a bad taste into my mouth, and I don’t think I’ll be doing any more business with that company. Anyhow, they’ve since rebranded into “Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements”
So I finally got around to trying a puck of Petal Pushers Fancy soap which I had kicking around, and let me say, I’m rather pleased. They’re one of a crop of relatively new soapmakers who burst onto the scene in the last year or two who, unlike so many “artisan soapmakers”, actually make their own soap with their own recipe of fats and lye, instead of just buying a commonly available soap base and fiddling with it a bit or just adding scent.
And it looks like they’ve been successful in figuring out what it takes to make a great shaving soap. They tout it as a “Kokum Butter Shaving Puck”, which makes sense I suppose given that it’s a relatively uncommon ingredient to use in soaps that I’ve seen. Even if it is only the 3rd most common fat used in the soap. But then again, if we were being that picky, then there’s no way that Mitchell’s Wool Fat would get away with referring to themselves as such, considering the lanolin there is only a minor ingredient at best, percentage wise.
Anyways, it lathers up nice and thick. I found it a bit tricky to get the right amount of water needed for the right balance of thickness and glide, but once I get it I was rather pleased. That trickiness is balanced out by the fact that the soap did leave my face feeling rather nice after the fact. All things considered, it’s a top notch shave.
This particular puck is their River City Rum, which I now notice appears to be discontinued. Alas, this is what I get for buying far too many types of soap at a time and holding on to them for too long before getting around to review!
It was a fairly nice bay rum scent, although there was just something about it that seemed a bit off to me, although I can’t put my finger (nostril?) on it. Not that it was unpleasant, mind you, but just not as nice as I find most good bay rums smell.
The strength was so-so; it started off at a medium strength, and faded away to a “relatively weak” by the time I got to the end of a pass.
- 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
- 7/10 Scent Strength
- 9/10 Lather Quality
Obviously I can’t really recommend getting this particular scent, as it’s gone, but I’d say it’s probably safe to assume some of their other stuff is pretty decent; I’ll get around to some more in good time! 7/10.
- Cost: Also no longer available are the cakes shown above which I shoved in a tupperware container; they now all come in tins, with a 3.5 oz tin going for $9.95; 5 oz for $12.95; and 8 oz (5 inch wide) tin for $18.95.
Gear used:
- Brush: Wee Scott
- Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
- Blade: Asco Super Stainless
Ingredients: Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Stearic Acid (Vegetable Derived), Organic Castor Oil, Pure Kokum Butter, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Sweet Almond Oil, Pure Essential Oils, Fragrance (unscented version does not include essential oils or fragrance)
