For Memorial Day 2018, I decided to go with a soap that reminded me of those Memorial Day picnics in Oleo Soapworks Melonade. It combines the scents of watermelon and lemonade into a single note, coming across very similar to a watermelon Jolly Rancher…quite interesting indeed. Oleo is based out of Chicago, by soapmaker Vida Perez-Velazquez using all natural ingredients. The soap has gotten some pretty good reviews across the board, so I was excited to give it a try. The packaging is nice. It comes in a PET container with a waterproof label. The ingredient list is on the bottom of the tub. The soap is not a croap, but not a hard soap either. Strength of scent out of the tub is about a 2, but any stronger and it would be very cloying. This is, at this point, the most gourmand scent in my den. Fortunately, I’m not a big candy eater, so I really didn’t have any desire to grab a spoon and dig in.
This is in their “Canard” base formula, incorporating duck fat into the recipe. There isn’t all that many ingredients in the base, though not minimalist like MdC or ThB’s soaps. The Kokum Butter and Jojoba Oil that are included in it should give a good face feel to the soap. I was curious to see how the duck fat would affect the performance. The ingredients as listed are:
Stearic Acid, Water, Kokum Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Palm Kernel Oil, Duck Fat, Sodium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Glycerin, Jojoba Oil, Fragrance & Sodium Lactate
So, this soap lathers pretty darned easily. There were a couple of bits of soap in the lather, but that was more due to some hard peaks in the tub from when it was poured than from anything else. I don’t foresee that happening again for future lathers. A 20 second load, if that, was all that it took to produce a large volume of beautiful lather. It’s a moderately thirsty soap, taking about 2 tsp of water to get to where I like it. I did add a little water in the third pass to thin it out and increase the glide. The consistency of the lather is very yogurt like, which is nice. It gave some very good cushion, and residual slickness was very good as well. It wasn’t quite as good in the slickness during the shave, which was a little surprising. That’s not to say that the slickness is bad, but just not as good as the residual. Stability was good, as the lather didn’t show any sign of breaking down after sitting for 25 minutes after the shave. The scent bloomed a little bit during the lathering, increasing to about a 3, but still not cloyingly sweet like it could get if it were stronger.
Unfortunately, this soap did cause a little bit of a stinging/burning sensation while it was applied. I’m not sure if that is a function of the soap base or the fragrance. I have another soap from them on deck next, (Rougere), so I’ll be able to tell which it is after that shave. It’s too bad that this soap reacted with my face, as I do enjoy the scent and performance of this soap. The scent is not something you’re going to wear for a business meeting or a night out, but for a hot day doing yard work, hanging with the family, picnics, etc…it fits the bill just fine!
Here are the scores for Melonade. I don’t rate strength of scent or scent preference as those are wholly subjective.
Lathering: 9/10
Cushion: 9/10
Slickness: 8/10
Moisturizing: 8.5/10
Residual Slickness: 9/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 48.5/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Fine Accoutrements (49/55)
Barrister & Mann Glissant (49/55)
Wholly Kaw Tallow (non-donkey milk formula) (49/55)
Stirling Soaps (48/55)
Long Rifle Soaps (48/55)
Lisa’s Natural Herbal Creations (48/55)
PannaCrema Nuavia (48/55)
Conclusion: All in all, this really is a good soap. Right now I’ve got it rated a tier 1 box 3 soap according to Chad’s scale. If I don’t get a reaction from the Rougere, I’ll probably use this one once more to see if there is the same sensation. If so, I’ll have to pass this soap on to someone else to use. I hope I don't, because I’m sure that with continued uses, I can get this soap dialed in even better so the scores would go up…hopefully I’ll get the chance to with Rougere.
https://youtu.be/ocFoaR8QVT4
This is in their “Canard” base formula, incorporating duck fat into the recipe. There isn’t all that many ingredients in the base, though not minimalist like MdC or ThB’s soaps. The Kokum Butter and Jojoba Oil that are included in it should give a good face feel to the soap. I was curious to see how the duck fat would affect the performance. The ingredients as listed are:
Stearic Acid, Water, Kokum Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Palm Kernel Oil, Duck Fat, Sodium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Glycerin, Jojoba Oil, Fragrance & Sodium Lactate
So, this soap lathers pretty darned easily. There were a couple of bits of soap in the lather, but that was more due to some hard peaks in the tub from when it was poured than from anything else. I don’t foresee that happening again for future lathers. A 20 second load, if that, was all that it took to produce a large volume of beautiful lather. It’s a moderately thirsty soap, taking about 2 tsp of water to get to where I like it. I did add a little water in the third pass to thin it out and increase the glide. The consistency of the lather is very yogurt like, which is nice. It gave some very good cushion, and residual slickness was very good as well. It wasn’t quite as good in the slickness during the shave, which was a little surprising. That’s not to say that the slickness is bad, but just not as good as the residual. Stability was good, as the lather didn’t show any sign of breaking down after sitting for 25 minutes after the shave. The scent bloomed a little bit during the lathering, increasing to about a 3, but still not cloyingly sweet like it could get if it were stronger.
Unfortunately, this soap did cause a little bit of a stinging/burning sensation while it was applied. I’m not sure if that is a function of the soap base or the fragrance. I have another soap from them on deck next, (Rougere), so I’ll be able to tell which it is after that shave. It’s too bad that this soap reacted with my face, as I do enjoy the scent and performance of this soap. The scent is not something you’re going to wear for a business meeting or a night out, but for a hot day doing yard work, hanging with the family, picnics, etc…it fits the bill just fine!
Here are the scores for Melonade. I don’t rate strength of scent or scent preference as those are wholly subjective.
Lathering: 9/10
Cushion: 9/10
Slickness: 8/10
Moisturizing: 8.5/10
Residual Slickness: 9/10
Stability: 5/5
Total: 48.5/55
Comparable soap bases from a performance standpoint:
Fine Accoutrements (49/55)
Barrister & Mann Glissant (49/55)
Wholly Kaw Tallow (non-donkey milk formula) (49/55)
Stirling Soaps (48/55)
Long Rifle Soaps (48/55)
Lisa’s Natural Herbal Creations (48/55)
PannaCrema Nuavia (48/55)
Conclusion: All in all, this really is a good soap. Right now I’ve got it rated a tier 1 box 3 soap according to Chad’s scale. If I don’t get a reaction from the Rougere, I’ll probably use this one once more to see if there is the same sensation. If so, I’ll have to pass this soap on to someone else to use. I hope I don't, because I’m sure that with continued uses, I can get this soap dialed in even better so the scores would go up…hopefully I’ll get the chance to with Rougere.
https://youtu.be/ocFoaR8QVT4
